Jennifer Apodaca's Blog, page 96

Maggie Has Another Story

Hi, it’s me, Maggie! I’m here blogger-talking to you all cause my mom is sulking.

She’s kind of mean when she’s sulking. You all see that picture of me? I think my mom photo-magiced it cuz I’m not that gray. Honest-face, I’m not!

What mom? Photo-magiced is too a word. I’m google-pawed it, so there. Can I get back to blogger-taking?

Anyhow, so I have this story about my mom and me. See I’m super friendly like, and I try to make friends with all the lizards. We play chase, and it’s like super fun.  Then the lizards love to play hide and seek. One of their favorite hiding places is outside under the big trashcans. They wait and wait for me to find them.

When I find them, we play chase again. It’s the best game ever! Except mom is always yelling at me, “Maggie don’t eat your friends!”

Mom just doesn’t understand that I tag the lizards with my mouth. Sigh…she’s a good mom but sometimes, I wonder what she does all day when she doesn’t even understand the easy stuff, you know?

But back to the story. I can’t move the trashcans by myself. So I get my mom to do it. I go to the door, I wait for her to open it then I run to the trashcans.  That’s how we’re supposed to do it. But last Saturday, I didn’t even have to tell mom, she went out to the trashcans all by herself. Cool! It was hide and seek time! She must have known the lizards were hiding, and wanted to play. So I went with my mom, and at the trashcans, I went into my Seek Pose. I was all poised and ready to pounce and as soon as mom moved the trashcan.

Only she doesn’t move it. Instead she opens the lid, which is weird cause she wasn’t carrying anything to put inside.

Then she pulled a bag out of the can.

Even weirder. Mom never plays in the trash, and she won’t let me do it either. That’s the rule.

But then…PLOT TWIST!! Really, guys, you’re gonna be so surprised. Mom opened the bag of trash and pulling out all these ripe, wet, smelly things. It was like awesome gross, and mom was making all these shrill human noises. Totally hi-lar-i-ous!! I laughed and laughed! Finally mom got a small bag out of the bigger bag of trash, then she put the rest of the yucky-good smelling pieces back in, tied it up and put it back in the big trashcan.

Then she ran in the house and washed her hands like seven or thirteen times. I’m not sure exactly how many, I’m not as good at math as I am at playing chase, and hide and seek.

As it turns out, Mom had bought some gold chain and shiny stones for her jewelry making, then after showing Wizard, she accidentally threw them in the trash and didn’t remember until the next day!

How funny is that? Guys, when mom buys me something, like a new bone or toy, I never, ever accidentally throw it away and have to dig in the trash a day later to find it.

Do you?

P.S. Mom says she’s letting me play on the Wednesday blog for now until she works out what she wants to do for sure.

Weekend Roundup

This weekend, we worked on a project with Youngest Son (BLB) and his fiance. I’m excited for them, but until that’s all finalized, I can’t say more

We also bought a new dishwasher. Not really exciting, just necessary. My old dishwasher has been great, it’s just wearing out from a lot of use. We should find out today when the new one will be installed. Fingers crossed nothing goes wrong installing it.

On Saturday, Wizard decided to clean the downstairs windows while I was gone doing errands. He soon realized our screens are old, so he rescreened all the windows. We have a lot of windows, so that was a ton of work. But Wizard being Wizard, kept going over two days until he got them all finished. I sure appreciate it! We’ll wash the upstairs windows together, probably today, and that project will be checked off as done.

As for me, I got an non-writing related idea. Remember the TV stand I was excited about? Well we didn’t put the doors on, because the satellite receiver and other equipment tends to get hot. But the doors are pretty–a distressed gray wood with glass inserts. So I decided to repurpose those into frames, and that set off a round of going to stores to figure out how I wanted to hang them. I decided to use pictures from our Hawaii trip, which meant I had to search through 100 pictures in our digital files and get them printed. That turned out to be a comedy of stupid errors (mostly mine) that resulted in me having to have some of the pictures reprinted twice. But that’s done, and here’s how it turned out (this is a small wall, and you can see part of my office on the right of it):

Anyhow, this little idea somehow turned in to A Project. Or possibly a way to avoid writing, LOL

We also had the 7.1 earthquake roughly 100 miles away, and we definitely felt it here. This far out from the epicenter felt like a slow roll similar to being on a boat. While there’s significant damage to area around the epicenter, the injuries are minor and no known deaths. We were incredibly fortunate. Were that size and intensity of an earthquake to happen in one of the more densely populated areas of Southern California, we likely would have had severe injuries and fatalities.

So that was most of my weekend, how was yours?

Friday Five, Late Edition

TGIF! Now let’s get to sharing five random things about our week.

I expect the blog to be quiet today, but for anyone who heard about the earthquake in Southern California, we’re fine. The epicenter of the quake was something like 100 miles from us. We felt the quake for sure, but we’re fine. My concern is for those close to the center, and we’re all aware that another, bigger one could come. Fun Fact: A part of the San Andreas fault line runs right through my city
Wizard and I had a great 4th of July day with drinks in the jacuzzi, ribs for dinner and peach pie for dessert.
4th of July night, however, was like living too close to war zone. I have never actually been in a war zone, but this is what I imagine it sounds like. I was on the couch with my trembling dog, and the massive booms were coming from out the front of my house in a half circle to the back. It looked like lightning flashing. Those were the ones that had my flinching, and clearly these are not the legally sold fireworks, but the dangerous ones. Maggie wouldn’t leave my side until I told her it was time for bed and she ran in her kennel. She was a very brave girl throughout the rest of the night. She stayed in her kennel with no crying, whining or barking, and she even ate her treat. I’m proud of her.
We saw Turbo this week. He was a blast as always. Wizard and I were playing with him outside, and when we went for a little walk, the boy reached for both our hands. We both looked up at one another, feeling the love that transcends time: There were all the moments that our sons reached for our hands, and now in this moment, our grandson reached for out hands. That kind of love and trust is a priceless gift.
I have a new TV stand! After two years of searching, I finally found one that we like and that fits into the awkward corner! We put it together and it’s all done. It’s not expensive or anything, it just makes us happy.

So that’s my five. I know it’s kind of a holiday weekend for most, but it you’re here and have time, I’d live to hear five random things about your week. Have a great weekend!

Happy (Early) 4th of July!

I wanted to wish all those in the U.S. a Happy (and Safe!) 4th of July tomorrow. To all those outside the states, Happy Early Thursday

So originally I asked Maggie if she wanted to pose for a 4th of July picture and write a post. She declined because she is not a fan of the holiday. Well not that’s not entirely true, she loves BBQs, parties, and all the fun stuff, but like many of her canine friends, she is afraid of fireworks. She doesn’t really trust humans to use good judgement, and I have to say, she’s not wrong in that some humans are careless and downright foolish. Wizard and I staying home with Maggie. We’ll make ribs and peach pie, and hang out in the pool.

If you’re celebrating, what are you doing?

And please, Maggie asks that everyone remember their pets on what she has proclaimed to be the scariest holiday of the year.

Weekend Roundup

Eh, it was a weekend. Not exciting since we chose to stay home, but not bad. The high point was planting some hydrangea plants in my front planter. As an aside, Maggie loves going to the garden shop at Home Depot! So many smells, and as a bonus, a nice little girl there petted her too. Best day ever for Maggie!

I tried to write, and I’m chipping away at Writer’s Block the only way I know how–with total Bulldog stubbornness. Saturday while I was supposed to be writing, my brother called. Then oldest son called. Then middle son called. I just laughed, because there are worse things in life then my family calling while I’m trying to work.

Lastly, it’s July 1st and the year is half over!

So that was my quiet weekend, how was yours?

Friday Five

TGIF! It’s time to share five random things about our week!

Wednesday we went out to see our grandson, Turbo.  He’s having so much fun in his new home, and especially, his new backyard where he can run, explore and play. Wizard has a selection of shirts with cars and trucks on it just because Turbo gets excited to see them. He’s such a grandpa!
So yesterday, I went online to look for shirts with dogs on them for me (because Turbo loves dogs as much as he loves cars and trucks), and I accidentally typed in “dong” instead of “dog”. FYI, I don’t recommend doing that.
I made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins this week for Turbo. That might sound like a weird combo if you haven’t heard of it before, but it’s actually good. Anyhow, Turbo loved it! Later, Turbo was holding his mom’s hand to go for a walk, and reached for my hand too. I turned to Wizard and said, “Ha! Muffins win!” Special K cracked up at our competing over who Turbo loves more. (Wizard and I are just kidding, we don’t really compete for Turbo’s love, we just enjoy teasing each other to keep life fun).
In some ways, it’s been a challenging week. First Wizard’s cousin lost her husband to illness. We’re sad for her and her family like. Then we found out my brother is facing a serious health challenge. However, a positive note is that my brother’s prognosis is very good right now, and he’s otherwise in good shape, which will help him a lot. That’s two things, and while I’m not generally superstitious, I’m waiting for that third thing to happen to fulfill the “Bad News  (or Luck) Comes in Threes” saying. Logically I know it’s silly, but emotionally, I’m a six-year-old girl avoiding cracks on the sidewalk while mentally chanting, “Step on a crack and break your mother’s back.”
This week, I helped Wizard plant new flowers in the four big pots we have around the pool. After we were done, the flowers were in shock, and I was worried. I really don’t have a green thumb, and I was concerned my help doomed the poor plants. But yesterday they looked perky and happy, so I’m not a flower killer!

That was my week, with very little writing. Now it’s your turn to share your Friday Five!

Wednesday Worthy

I’m a little bored with Wednesday Worthy, and trying to think of replacement ideas. If you have any thoughts–I’d love to hear them!

In the meantime, here’s our candidate for today. He’s been on a blog before, but not in this pose (at least as far as I can remember!).

So what do you think, is he worthy?

Weekend Roundup, by Maggie May Apodaca

Hi! It’s me, Maggie. My mom is a little busy doing…people stuffs. Plus, I have a story to tell you! FYI that’s an oldentimes picture of me, but mom uses an oldentimes picture of her on a lot of her Official Author Pages, so I did it too. Cool, huh?

**What? Mom, I’m bloggertalking here! Okay, fine.**

Mom says I have to tell you some other things before I launch into my story. First, a super important Writer Lady name Judith Krantz has passed over the rainbow bridge. Mom is sad for her family, but says she made a lot of readers happy in her lifetime, so yes, she was super important. Dogs get this stuff. Think about it, we makes people happy like as our full-time job. I hope when Ms. Krantz gets lots of big kisses and tail wags from all the dogs waiting for their humans to thank her for giving joy to so many people. That’ll make her feel special, yes? Mom says we should toast Ms. Krantz for a life well lived, and cherish the legacy of stories she left us.

And Mom said also to tell you she had a good weekend. Well duh, she has me!

Last thing, I also had to tell you that mom typed all lots and lots of words and made them into a whole chapter thingie that she’s been working on for-freaking-ever. Although I don’t think I spelled freakin’ right. Or mom says it wrong after a long day in her pretend world and a glass of wine. I’m not sure which.

Okay now for my story!

Mom was upstairs in her room. Did you know, she has a special room that inside her room? In there is all kinds of cool stuff. I’m not supposed to touch most of it, but I have my very own blanket and a basket full of toys. Anytime she opens that door, I can play with my toys or snuggle in my blanket. Well two nights ago, mom opened the door.

Yay! I darted in and…suddenly the room went dark. The door closed! Oh noes!!! I was alone in the dark.

Ha, I’m joshing you. Not about being alone in the dark, mom really did close the door with me on the inside. But I wasn’t scared at all. Nope. I have my very own blanket, so I go all comfy. Later times, I heard mom calling me. Then she whistled. Sometimes humans are weird. How can I run to her if I’m on this side of the door? I waited for mom to figure the out.

Then she did! The door opened and she and Wizard-dad were both soooo happy to see me. I just walked out totally casual, but Mom was like, “Oh Maggie I’m so sorry! You’ll forgive me tomorrow because I have something special coming for you. Seriously! Amazon is delivering you a treat!”

Guys! It turns out mom closed the door on me by mistake, and when moms make this kind of mistake, they buy you treats!! Did you know????

So here’s I am Sunday, waiting for the magic Amazon dude. Also this is my mat, mom brought it to the door for me so I didn’t have to sit on the hard tile.

And then…my surprise came! It’s a chew stick with cheese and stuff in it! Nom, nom!

I love my surprise!

Shhh…don’t tell mom but I was in that little room for like three minutes, and I didn’t think it was a big deal. But mom thinks it’s a new chew stick major deal and who am I to argue?

So that’s my story. Pretty exciting, right? Probably like an action-adventure about a super brave dog with a happy ending, right? Do you all have any stories about your weekend? I’d love to hear them while I’m chewing on my stick!

Friday Five

TGIF!! It’s time to share five random things about our week. Here are mine:

I’ve spent too much time and money replacing old towels, rugs and a few other random items in our bathrooms. I still need a few more things, but my time-and-money budget is exhausted.
Wednesday, I played with Turbo all day in his new house. I was doing things like scooping him up and swinging him around, which make him laugh, which made me do it again and again. Ouch! LOL! I used to be able to carry two boys with the third one hanging on my leg. What happened?
I wasn’t the only one tired. This is Turbo after all that playing. He climbed up on the couch where blankets were stacked (they are still  unpacking), curled up with his pacifier, and conked out. It was freaking adorable. When he’s awake and going he seems older than 15 months. But like this, I still see the baby in him.
I took Maggie in for a bath and grooming this week, and the lady there who knows her well told me that she’s getting really gray. She definitely is! That doesn’t bother me much. We don’t know Maggie’s age or background, so we just accept her as she is.
I’m not sure what I’m doing this weekend. We were expecting out-of-town friends, but those plans changed, so now…anything could happen

That’s my five random (and boring, LOL) things. Now it’s your turn to share! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Wednesday Worthy

Warning: Don’t try this at home with a shirt and protective gear And yeah, the pic is a bit dark and shadowy, but here’s our candidate for today.

What do you think, is he worthy?