Jennifer Apodaca's Blog

Happy Monday!

Friday, I vacuumed and then washed all the floors while Wizard worked on outside planters. Not really exciting, but it feels better to both of us to get some stuff done.

Saturday, I made gluten and diary free brownies, and topped them with a brown sugar icing. I’ve never made a brown sugar icing, so I cooked the brown sugar in melted vegan butter to help mitigate any graininess from the brown sugar (most icings are made from powdered sugar for that reason). Did it work? I don’t personally know because I didn’t eat it But two of my taste testers said it was good. The whole thing looked too rich for me to eat. Anyhow, after than, I went over Youngest’s house to dog sit Phoebe for a bit and left the brownies in Youngest’s fridge. I also accidently left my Diet Coke in his fridge, and the next day, Youngest sent me a picture of him drinking my Diet Coke. I really need to get me some new kids. On the upside, he did thank me for the brownies, but was the Diet Coke taunt strictly necessary? Fine, I’ll admit I laughed.

Sunday, I met Biker Witch for coffee. I enjoyed seeing her a lot! I enjoyed it even more because Phoebe (my grand dog from above) gave me a gift card to Starbucks. I know what you’re thinking — How can a dog buy you a gift card? I don’t know, but the note with the gift card said to Grandma and from Phoebe. I don’t know about you, but I don’t question the details when someone gives me a gift card. So I thanked Phoebe and then we played with her toys.

Overall, it was a nice, low key weekend where I tried to not clean or do too much. I’m not sore or anything, but I’m older and know to pace myself a little bit more these days when I have the opportunity.

How was your weekend?

 

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

TGIF! I need to let you all know that we’ve put some safeguards on the site that might require extra steps for you all to comment. I’m sorry about that inconvenience but there was some suspicious activity going on so my web person suggested it and I told her to do it. Now, let’s get right to sharing five random things about our week.

Tuesday, I got to hang out with Phoebe, one of my granddogs. She’s 15 years old now, moving slow and dealing with some of the challenges of aging. But she was happy to see me! It was a nice smile for me week.Wednesday I saw my regular doctor. He was not happy that he hadn’t received my scans (CT and Mammogram). I knew he hadn’t because he would have contacted me. They have a new computer system that’s taking a while to get the bugs out. Anyhow he put in my referral for an ENT and we wait. My doctor was more upset over it than I was — I solved the problem by making an appt and getting us both on the same page. These results are just something that needs to be addressed, but not serious so no harm was done.There’s a gloom over the week with another school shooting, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, September 11th Anniversary and something else we’re dealing with. That said, I still try to get up each day grateful to be alive and functioning, and I try to make sure I’m not contributing to the anger and hate in the world. I can’t control how others choose to express themselves, but I can choose to not be part of the problem or ugliness.Maggie went to bath the groomers yesterday for a bath, and I bought her a new collar. She’s all pretty and clean. But when I got home, I didn’t have my wallet. I panicked. The weird thing is I remember putting the wallet back in my purse after I paid. Anyhow, I called the groomer, and they were looking there for it, but the owner suggested I look in my car. I found it in the car…WHEW I was relieved. It spilled out when I set my purse down. I felt like an idiot, but at least I was a relieved idiot. Oh and I called the groomer back to let her know I was an idiot who found her wallet and to thank her for her help. Anyway, here’s Maggie laughing at me:The weekend, Wizard is racing. I don’t have any firm plans at the moment, but that could change at any time! I do know that between writing this on Thursday and Sunday night, I need to wash all the hard floors in my house, and I **should** clean the carpet in my bedroom. We’ll see…I’ll give up cleaning for any other offer!

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

The server that hosts my website is doing scheduled maintenance today so this may or may not  post as scheduled. Of course, if it doesn’t post, then you won’t see this warning that it may not post…so why am I writing it?

I dunno…my brain made me My brain nags me about the dumbest stuff. I find life is easier if I just do it and make the nagging stop.

So in reading I’m just finishing up JD Robb’s Framed in Death on audio and I really liked this one. It’s been perfect for lots of driving and cleaning. I also bought TO KILL A BADGER by Shelly Laurenston for Kindle, but haven’t started reading it yet.

What are you reading/listening to?

Happy Wednesday!

The post Wednesday Reading first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

I’m writing this around noon on Sunday before I leave for the rest of the day. Wizard gave me a much needed break by insisting I come out to his mom’s later, and then Ill come home at night so that, hopefully, Maggie and I will sleep. He’s wicked tired too, but he can sleep better away from home than I can. Smart people do that. Other smart-challenged people like me have insomnia with the mistaken belief that we can solve the world’s problems as long as we never sleep. Spoiler Alert — we are wrong

Okay, so CiGi is turning one this week, and we had her birthday party on Saturday. She was a superstar and very social. She was especially happy with all the kids, like her cousin Turbo, who came to her party. I know there were some great pics of her with her cousins, but I don’t have them yet. Her party was wonderful, and here’s a couple pics that Wizard took.

This pic is her opening our gift. She was seriously happy with the box…because who wouldn’t be? Inside that box is a special toddler stool for one of her parents to put together. I originally felt bad not getting her anything fun to go with it, but it turns out, she was thrilled with the box so I’ll call it a win.

The second picture is CiGi with her smash cake that her mom made her. It’s a special no sugar cake as her mom is is very intentional about how she’s developing Cigi’s palette. I’m all for it because I’m the grandma and do what mom says. Also, I see this as the right time to do it before CiGi thinks she’s missing out on anything. Unless I had a serious concern (and I don’t) I keep my mouth shut and support Mom and Dad (something I learned from my mom and mother in law as they were both very supportive).  Anyhow, it’s a really cute cake, and CiGi loved it, but she was really delicate with it. Unlike my boys who loved the idea of a smash cake and totally demolished theirs!

This party was a ton of fun, we got to see people we don’t see often enough, and everyone was in a great mood making it an amazing celebration.

Sunday morning was truly the small break I needed. I did little stuff a few things like ordering Maggie’s food, reconciling accounts, cleaning up various details…just stuff. I also worked out. Upper body only! Cigi decided she was my personal trainer this week, and used smiles and hugs as bribe to get me to do a zillion squats of various kinds. Trust me, I had the best leg day ever on both they day I saw her, LOL! Don’t let her smiles fool you either, she’s merciless as a personal trainer. Weird fact about me: I rarely kneel but often squat or do a knee bend and hold it. It drives Wizard crazy because it looks uncomfortable but for me, it’s better than pressing my right kneecap into the floor in a kneeling position. That kneecap has been wonky (it’s a medical term) since my teenage years when I hurt it twice in one summer.

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

TGIF!! And we know what that means — time to share five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

It’s an exhausting week and it’s not going to let up until next Wednesday afternoon. So if I’m scarce, that’s why I’m making more sourdough bread this week because I gave away one of the two last loaves I baked. Wizard has tried to make a rule that I can’t give sourdough bread away. I love that he thinks he makes the rules I went to Trader Joes yesterday and I can still buy my dairy free chocolate for a good price. Everywhere else I’ve checked, the cost is rising so fast, that I’m stunned. Although one could wonder why, when I’m so busy and not baking much, I’m still making time to look at prices of chocolate, LOL. I will tell you, I make a yogurt bowl at night sometimes with nonfat plain Greek yogurt, peanut butter powder and my beloved, dairy free chocolate chips. It’s weird, but I’ve actually grown to really like it! However fair warning, it took a long time to get to the place where I can even eat plain free yogurt. These days, I’ve almost convinced myself it’s a substitute for ice cream.Yesterday I went out to babysit Cigi (my granddaughter). We had so much fun! She’s into everything now, and considers Grandma her personal playmate. For four hours I played with a nearly one year old and I survived! She had to have crashed for a long nap after that! When she stands by herself, she claps for herself. I love her confidence! But for speed and efficiency, she crawls, and I can personally vouch for her being very fast.Saturday is the the big One Year Old Birthday Party for CiGi. It should be fun! Sunday we’ll be helping Wizard’s mom for a couple days. Not sure how posting on Monday will go, but I’ll try!

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a fun and restful weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Happy Wednesday! I finished MAGIC HOUR by Kristen Hannah, and I really enjoyed that book. I don’t know what I’m reading next. I may just find a book hanging around here that I haven’t read yet.

While on the subject of books, I told my Daughter in Law (Cigi’s mom) that I really liked Colleen Hoover’s VERITY awhile back. I didn’t realized she’d get it and read it. Over the weekend, she said, “You didn’t tell me that VERITY was dark.” I laughed. I mean…she’s known me for many years now, is she really surprised???? But yeah, I didn’t mention that and I should have.

On the other hand, she loaned me a book that ripped my heart out and smashed in into a trillion shards, and I forgave her, so she’ll forgive me. Also, I loved that same book that destroyed my heart, so clearly my judgement is suspect

What are you reading? And how much can I trust your judgement????

The post Wednesday Reading first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

First order of business: I’m sorry I didn’t answer the blog on Friday. I read all of your Friday Five things on my phone, but didn’t get to my computer to answer.

Happy Labor Day! I hope everyone is enjoying the day. Now let’s get to the Weekend Roundup. We had a good weekend. Going back, we had a nice, fun dinner with youngest and his wife for her birthday on Thursday night. While there, Youngest mentioned they may or may not have a pool party. It was dependent on Oldest and a software issue at his company — it’s a long story. But knowing the story, I figured the pool party was unlikely.

Friday, I decided to feed my sourdough starter to make bread later in the day, then I’d ferment it overnight in the fridge, shape it the next day and bake it. Then I did normal stuff, ran some errands, and all was going well. Then I got a message that the pool party was on for reals That was fine, but subsequent texts said Turbo requested cupcakes with sprinkles. Now this caught my attention because, obviously, only Grandma can do that. Grandma, however, also had a starter growing and needed to make the dough, and begin a couple hours of stretch and folds. I also needed to go to the some ingredients for the cupcakes in order to make from scratch so youngest could also eat them. Somehow, with all this going on, Grandma forgot she is not a youngin’ anymore. So Grandma decided that she could do it all.

Grandma did do it all, but then she sparked a massive nose bleed in the process and the various things that go with it. Long story short, at said pool party, I didn’t go in the pool. I was genuinely too tired and didn’t want to deal with another bloody nose. But I did have a blast anyway! Seriously. Turbo’s mom didn’t want to go in either, and we hung out in the house with Phoebe (my grand dog) and chatted without interruption.

Both the cupcakes and the sourdough bread were a hit. I’d brought the sourdough mostly for my daughter in law’s mom, who is limited in what breads she can eat. She was delighted, and dug in. But once she cut into it, then everyone was eating it. She was a good sport about that!

Also on Saturday, I got the results of my sinus CT scan. I have a deviated septum (duh, any idiot with a flashlight and eyes would know that) and a bone spur. That’s causing all the bleeding. I’m weirdly relieved because I kept wondering if I was doing something to cause it. I know that’s illogical, but apparently, I just like to take credit for everything, LOL.

By the way, there’s zero excuse for me having endured this for two years — if the original ENT had just done his job. But I’m fine, and this will get taken care of, so I plan to think of that doctor as little as possible. And try to keep Wizard from thinking of him at all, because his anger hits a lot higher on the chart than mine does.

Sunday was my first quiet day in quite a while. Wizard went racing, and I worked out, washed bedsheets, dusted, baked off my second loaf of sourdough…it was nice to have an easy day.

How was your weekend? Are you doing anything special for Labor Day?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

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

It was an eventful week, but some of it isn’t my personal news so I can’t share it yet. Don’t you hate when people tease like that? I do! And yet…I did, LOL.Wednesday, I did blood work. This was a personal record for me: 13 vials! It was so much, the tech used a butterfly needle so that I wouldn’t get sore from changing the vials. It worked! I usually don’t have any problems with blood draws and I’m not squeamish about it, but I still appreciate the tech’s care.After that, I went to lunch with a friend, then we browsed a nearby store for a while.  It was nice to see her. We talk a lot about grandkids now which is kind of surreal.Thursday, I had my mammogram done. It was pretty easy, and I should have results in a couple weeks…yeah, it’s stupid slow these days. This is the last of my latest round of tests and labs. Man I’m glad to have it all done. And I think this should slow down next year, but that could be wishful thinking on my part. I’m also annoyed/frustrated/aggravated that I don’t have my results yet from my sinus CT scan that I did a week ago Wednesday. I know, I know…everything is backed up and I’m not special No one has ever said that patience is one of my virtues!Thursday night we’re taking Youngest and his wife to dinner for her birthday. I’m writing this beforehand, but I’m really looking forward to that. This weekend is a we’ll see what happens kind of thing. Wizard plans to race Sunday and I’ll do all I can to make that happen for him. As of right now, we don’t have any special plans for Labor Day and we’re fine with that.

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours. I hope everyone has a great weekend and a Happy Labor Day!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

I’ve been really enjoying the book, MAGIC HOUR by Kristen Hannah. I see it categized as mystery or contemporary women’s fiction. There’s definitely a mystery, but with a woman’s fiction feel to it. It’s about a child who appeared out of a forest, and appears to be a “wild child,” as in she lived in the forest. So far  in the book, it’s thought she lived with wolves. The child is mute and “feral” although I don’t love that word. This child is the mystery, and two sisters, the town Sheriff and a big city psychiatrist, are trying to solve who the child is and what happened to her. There’s also a hot town doctor involved. Normally I’d be annoyed by the hot town doctor in this type of story, but his past is mysterious and I think he adds to the story.

Otherwise, I have a book on Audible but haven’t listened to it yet. It’s a busy week in a busy month. It’s weird as August is usually a quiet month, but the upside is I haven’t had time to be bored

What are you reading?

Happy Wednesday!

The post Wednesday Reading first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

It was a good and okay weekend.

Friday was great. We went out to visit our granddaughter Cigi and had a ton of fun with her. She’s really cruising around furniture and holding onto toys to walk around. She will be toddling on her own any time now! But as independent as she’s getting, she still likes to hug Grandma! That was a good day.

The rest of the weekend was fine. We spent it with my Mother in Law and all went well. It’s just tiring, but with all the siblings in the area helping out, it’s manageable. I’m playing more cards than I’ve played in years, LOL. My Mother in Law loves cards, although she only remembers one game now. What’s amazing is that math skills (in keeping score) are still sharp. I’m impressed. These days, her memory isn’t great, so it’s fun to celebrate the skills she can still do.

Maggie had fun as always but she is very happy to me home

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.