It was a quiet weekend, and I enjoyed it. I tried to work–but let’s not talk about that.

Maggie is loving the nice weather and has been really enjoying the backyard. Although we’ve had to have a chat with her about good manners as in, DON’T EAT YOUR FRIENDS!

So I was out back doing some stuff and moved a trash can, a lizard ran out and Maggie caught it. Dang she’s fast! She was so happy, dancing around and showing me the lizard with his tail sticking out the side of her mouth. I, being a very calm and mature woman, spun in circles while cringing and hopping up and down, all while screaming, “Put it down! Maggie, PUT IT DOWN! NO! DON’T EAT THE LIZARD!”

She dropped it, and the little guy ran under another trash can.

Ugh. He looked okay, but I don’t know for sure and I’m not moving the trash can to find out. Maggie isn’t biting down. For her, the game is to chase and catch. But the lizards won’t play, then she gets sad. So I told her, “Don’t eat your friends, and maybe they’ll play with you.”

I don’t think she’s getting it. She’s chased three more lizards that she’d flushed out–all of which got away. Go lizards! Sigh, she’s being a normal dog and hunting the fun critters that run. I do love that she’s spending a lot of time in the backyard having fun. She never barks like most of the other dogs around us, in fact she ignores them, nor is she destructive. She either lays in the sun, “helps” Wizard BBQ, or chases lizards.

Otherwise, I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (I blame B.E. for that, and Wizard says Thank You to B.E.), spent hours looking at houses online as we’re making a long-range plan and I tend to get obsessed about things like that, and I did a bunch of normal stuff.

Today, I’m going to try to hit the gym, then hit the book for a session of Kick Butt Writing instead of this endless P&A (Procrastination & Avoidance) I’ve been doing.

So how was your weekend?

TGIF! It’s time to share 5 random things about our week.

1. The poppies, also known as the Super Bloom, have been declared dead! The city has been spreading the word, and the L.A. Times wrote a tongue-in-cheek obituary piece that I found amusing. I think my favorite line is the first two clauses in this sentence: In lieu of sending flowers, as that would be horrifically insensitive, Super Bloom enthusiasts are encouraged to donate to their favorite Lake Elsinore charity, or maybe just send a nice thank-you note to city leaders. There will still be some people who come hike the trail into the hills, and that’s fine–heck I want to hike the trail with Maggie some morning. We are just crossing our fingers that it won’t be massive crowds that the city isn’t prepared to handle.
2. I’ve been to the gym on average about twice a week. If I make it there today, it’ll be three times which is my goal. Although, I’m pretty happy with twice a week right now as I slowly regain some upper body strength. Plus I walk every day too.
3. I finally gave in from endless brick-and-mortar store shopping, and ordered three pairs of jeans and three pairs of shorts online. Four out of six items fit me, which isn’t too bad of odds. I’m going to return the two pairs of pants today, and once again, try some old-fashion shopping in the actual store. But I’m not holding out much hope of finding anything. My experience is usually: If I like it–they won’t have my size, or they’ll be something wrong with it.
4. We went to see our grandson, Turbo, yesterday. It takes most of the day, but it’s always worth it! His daddy ordered him some washable crayons that showed up while we were there. Turbo loved the crayons, and carried two around with him while we went on walks and toddler-exploring outside. Then once back inside the house, he discovered he could put the two crayons in one of the dog dishes–and Mommy was so busy on a phone call (we were watching him so she could make the call), that she didn’t notice and stop him. Grandma and Grandpa let him play with the clean dog dish and two crayons. Best Day Ever for Turbo! They are so easily amused at this age, LOL! (FYI, Grandpa secretly checked with Mommy, and she said it was fine, she’d just wash his hands before he ate lunch. What a good Mommy!)
5.  Maggie swears she’s not getting gray. Um….

So that’s my Friday Five. Now I’d love to hear yours!! I hope everyone has a super-fabulous weekend!

Happy Hump Day! Today my personal trainer is our candidate.

Okay, you caught me, he’s not my personal trainer But he is our Wednesday Worthy candidate this week.

So what do you think, is he worthy?

I’m tired after a long, busy weekend, so forgive my typos.

The Good: Part 2 of Wizard’s birthday was so fun and relaxing! We went to Middle Son’s, had pizza, we gave Wizard his big gift from all of us (it was a milestone birthday for him this year), and we had a blast going for rides in Middle Son’s Razer off-road vehicle. It’s like a dune buggy. And I got two rides cause I had my daughter-in-law take me out too She loves driving it and I loved hanging out with her. It surprised Wizard and my sons that we did this for some reason, LOL! Eventually, once I’m fully healed, I’d love to try to drive it too Wizard has had a good birthday, and he truly deserves it.

The Weird. Maggie and Jett (Middle Son and daughter in law’s dog) did great together again. However, at one point, Maggie got possessive about something and growled at Jett. I was shocked, and put an immediate stop to that. The hilarious thing is Jett–who is three times her size–submitted to her. Later, she was laying in his favorite sunspot on the floor and poor Jett cried because he wanted to lay there, but was scared of Maggie. I made Maggie move, and he happily snoozed in his spot. OH! And Maggie was doing GREAT with Middle Son, even rolling over and showing him her belly. She never does that with boys or men! While I don’t like the one episode of possessive growling, seeing it and dealing with it is part of expanding her world and socializing her more and more. Jett is easily one of the sweetest dogs I know. In fact we left the two dogs alone together in the house a few times for short periods and they were fine.

The Bad. Many of you saw my FB post, so I’ll keep this the short version. A CHP (California Highway Patrol) officer was killed this weekend by an (allegedly) drunk and very reckless driver while the officer was conducting a traffic stop between two of our city exits. He was there helping control poppy traffic, and most of us in our town are incredibly sad and angry. We didn’t know him, but our hearts break for him and his loved ones. We’ve now had two major accidents in two consecutive weekend in this same place.

So that was weekend, how was yours?

Happy Friday! It’s time to share five random things about our week, here’s mine:

1. Yesterday was Wizard’s birthday. We went to a steak and lobster dinner. The lobster was amazing! We had a great time together.
2. Yesterday on my walk with Maggie, I fell. Sigh…I’m fine. I was winding around the edge of the mostly dry creek bed, and stepped on a soft spot that gave way. I slid, and hit my left arm and shoulder, but it wasn’t full impact since it was a sliding-fall. And thankfully, I didn’t hit a rock! I imagine I’ll be a bit sore today but I don’t think I did any damage except to my pride.
3. Allergy season is here   Even Maggie sneezes a couple of times on our walks. Benadryl is my new friend. I’ve never had allergies this bad.
4. Maggie stood like this for five minutes because she believed there was a lizard hiding in that plant. I wish I could concentrate on my book like she does on finding lizards!
5. This weekend we’re going to Middle Son’s house to continue celebrating Wizard’s birthday.

That’s my Friday 5, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

You know the drill!!

Okay so I’m on the fence about this guy, but that might just be my mood.

What do you think, is he worthy?

Who let April in??? I wasn’t done with March!!! LOL!

Saturday, the wedding shower for my nephew’s fiance was beautiful and seeing everyone was fun! It was long drive, over a 100 miles each way. So I drove to Special K’s (my daughter in law) house, and she drove from there. That helped! Plus I love spending time with Special K :-). It all went well until I got about 15 miles from home, and hit a dead stop from an accident on the freeway that required life flight helicopters to land on the highway. The whole thing was much worse due to the Poppy Mania traffic that has already caused road closures to control that traffic flow, which complicated the process of trying to route traffic around the accident.  So the last 15 miles of the over 200 mile round trip was a brutal crawl. Between that, all the sitting, and twisting to talk or see at the shower activities, I’m a little sore but that will get better in a day or two.

Sunday, the swimsuit I ordered came in. I drove to the store, tried on the suit and promptly returned it. FAIL!! I may just wear a one-piece I already own with board shorts in Hawaii. Either way, I refuse to stress over how I look.

I am stressing over everything else, including why 4 out of 16 files my formatter uploaded into our shared cloud service won’t update. Weird & frustrating. I’ve spent way too much time fighting with this for an update that is just correcting 2 minor typos. I finally walked away and poured a glass of wine. I suspect by today (Monday morning) it will sort itself out and update, or I’ll find a solution.

Can the Poppy Mania be over with now????? Okay being serious now: The poppies seem to be fading, and we have a hot week coming up that may hasten their demise. They aren’t as vivid now as they were two weeks ago when I snapped from the freeway:

I appreciate the beauty as much as anyone, but I’m ready to go back to being the town no one wants to visit

So that was my weekend, how was yours?