Yesterday, Wizard and I went to the movies for the first time since Covid barged into our lives. We went in the middle of the day and I think there were four other people in the theater with us. I think we were probably safe

We saw THE LOST CITY with Sandra Bullock. It’s an old story: Reclusive romance writer gets dragged into one of her own stories kind of plot. This one had a few fun twists too. We enjoyed it.

The first scenes with the romance writer really hit home with me. She’s struggling to write the final scene, but with every version of the scene she writers, she’s hearing critiques in her head and hits the delete button. Wizard was laughing and elbowing me. Yep, that’s me! The rest of the movie was entertaining. I was totally surprised by Brad Pitt being in the movie too.  Channing Tatum was also in it.

For me personally, it was nice to see three well-known actors not taking themselves too seriously as they made a movie meant to entertain. But maybe that’s just me

Anyone else seen any good movies lately?

Hm, there’s not much to roundup this weekend. The highlight was that we went out to oldest son’s house for hamburgers Saturday evening. We played with Turbo (of course!) and hung out with CPA Boy and Special K.  It was a nice kickback evening. Turbo and I had a big adventure going behind a shed in their back yard. This is NOT a place I wanted to go. It’s basically a narrow, dirt strip between the shed and the fence. But Turbo said, “Grandma Jen, please?” Then he held my hand.

Being the brave and fierce grandma, I battled the snakes and spiders slithering around in my imagination, and went with him. There in his secret tunnel we discovered a magical kumquat tree (branches hung over from a neighbors yard), and guess what? Grandma Jen was actually tall enough to pick the fruit! Turbo was impressed and excited to get two paper cups full of his treasure.

Nor did we die from the imaginary snakes and spiders in my head.

FYI, Wizard knew what I was thinking though and made smirky faces at me behind Turbo’s back. Which is why I ate a cupcake when he was playing with Turbo and didn’t tell him about it until we were driving home.  Teach him to smirk face me I will get revenge with baked goods.

Also, four year olds are awesome! It’s so easy to make anything a fun adventure.

The rest of the weekend was unremarkable. How was yours?

TGIF! Friday keeps showing up like a regularly scheduled thing Time it share five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. After four days off due to pain, I successfully did yoga on Wednesday. I’m working hard thought to not aggravate the (improving!) tendonitis in my left elbow. My neck stuff is complicated, so I’m waiting to see if I need to see the doctor thing (I’m guessing that I should since it got worse from turning my head to drive yesterday, but I don’t want to, LOL). But Wednesday was a mental turning point for me. I was NOT a happy camper Monday and Tuesday.
2. I read a really cute book THINGS WE NEVER GOT OVER by Lucy Score. The book made me laugh. It’s a mix between a romantic comedy and romantic suspense I will read more books by this author.
3. Yesterday was a Maggie Marathon. She had her vet appointment in the morning (to prevent another abscess).  She’s so vocal at the vets, talking to everyone while half scared and half loving people. She also met her newest boyfriend there, I think his name was Monroe. If was a bulldog, and the only dog I’ve let her meet on leash in a vets office. In general, that’s too high stress an environment, but this dude walked in totally chill and casually ambled close enough for the two of them to sniff.  She was thrilled. Later that day Maggie went to her groomers for a bath and a puppy pedicure. Which meant two car rides in one day, life just doesn’t get any better for Maggie May By the way, did you know that Maggie’s initials are MMA (as in Mixed Martial Arts)? That’s hilarious because she’s such a submissive little scaredy cat of a dog. She crashed and slept after she got home!
4. I ordered a summer dress from Amazon that actually fit. I’ve been looking for clothes with a bit more coverage and comfort, and I think I’m going to like this one. Now I’m on a roll, and ordered three pairs of sandals from a department store, hoping that one or two actually fit comfortably. I have super comfortable flip flops but I wanted something one degree nicer but still comfortable. It’s hard to tell by pictures, but even harder to drive to store after store and find nothing since stores carry barely any stock these days.
5. We are tentatively planning to see Turbo this weekend, and next week is supposed to bring some cooler weather. We’ve had to run the air conditioning here the last two days.

So that’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! Hope everyone has a happy and healthy weekend!

I just saw an article about a romance author on trial for the murder of her husband. The article related that the judge in her case had ruled that her blog titled, “How to Murder Your Husband” could not introduced in the trial. (Link to the article here).

I swear, we just can’t make this stuff up. I mean if we write a story with a killer who wrote a blog about how to kill first — we’d get reviews saying no one is that stupid.

Real life can be weirder than fiction.

Now I don’t know if this author is truly guilty, but that headline sure grabbed my attention. And here’s why: We don’t see our own flaws and often can’t even recognize our own mistakes, like blogging about a murder then actually doing it. But we can sure see those mistakes in others! And we can often see them more clearly in fictional characters as they live out their lives on the pages. I could actually write a villain that’s so arrogant, he or she’d be sure they could convince the jury that they would never write a blog like that if they were going to kill their spouse, and therefore he or she had to be innocent. They’d be convincing too, and even the reader would wonder…was that true? Were the police and D.A. wrong?

Or was that person truly a killer that thought he was smarter than everyone else? The reader would hopefully begin to see how that killer is manipulating other’s emotions and influencing their thinking and ultimately their decision.

That’s what makes fiction so compelling; we can mirror both the good and the bad of mankind. We can show how rational people are swayed by con artists and killers, or how the day is saved by a smarter and more prepared prosecutor or maybe an average juror who rises to the challenge of sticking to the facts. We can show it all, and because it’s fiction, readers will follow along without the defensiveness and preconceived ideas that often comes into play in real people. Or in a romance, we can show the power of love even to the skeptic if the story is compelling enough.

I love fiction. I like nonfiction too. But the power of story can transcend our defenses to teach us so many things about ourselves and those around us.

Circling back to the original point of this article, if I ever had a criminal intent, I sure hope I’m smart enough not to write a blog about it first, LOL! But I might write a character who does…because fictional characters can be as fascinating and flawed as real people!

To sum up, it was a dreary weekend, both in weather and just stuff. Plus I’m cranky cause I can’t do yoga. I normally do power Vinyasa yoga about four times a week (sometimes three), to give my joints and muscles time to rest between practices. But I must have pushed a little too hard in the last couple weeks, causing RA and Age gang up on me and register a formal complain that’s annoyingly painful. Right now it’s in my neck, spine, left elbow and hips. Nothing is seriously wrong, but for the time being I’m sticking to some light walking until the complaints dial down to a mummer. I love yoga, can you tell??? Not doing it is adding to the dreary feeling.

Moving on, I made Wizard a thick rich cheesecake and hope it came out okay. Since I haven’t made this recipe before, it’s hard for me to tell if it’s done or overdone. I guess we’ll find out today, LOL. Then because I’m know he loves strawberry cheesecake, I decided to making a strawberry glaze topping late yesterday afternoon.  He was so happy when he came home and found out!

The Walking Wino’s group didn’t quite work out for me this time. I guess the main coordinator is on vacation, so the backup chose a winery that is not at a vineyard but rather, in a tourist spot. I made an attempt to go anyway just to meet people, but I couldn’t find a parking spot. Very frustrating! And since this was a tourist spot with lots of drinking, I decided not to risk park a few blocks away and walk alone to the meetup winery. But I’ll try again next month! They have other walks, but those are located at lakes and parks, and I’d like to meet the people in a public place first before I go to the other locations. I believe women going to these places alone should use some common sense caution.

One good thing about this weekend is I found myself thinking about book ideas Just thinking about it is a good step for me.

Finally, today should be a very good day because it’s Wizard’s birthday! We’re going out to breakfast, making his favorite ribs for dinner and having cheesecake with strawberry glaze and whipped cream! Not a bad way to start the week

So how was your weekend?

TGIF! Where do the weeks go? It feels like it’s Monday and I have the whole week in front of me, then I blink and it’s Friday. Anyhow, it’s time to share five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. Maggie is slowing down just a tad. She still loves going on walks, but she’s wearing out a bit faster. If we’re doing a second walk in the day (if it’s a nice, not too hot day) I probably go close to a couple miles. By the time we get home, she’s begging to go inside. She recover find after she drinks water and rests a bit. I’m mentioning this more as a reminder to myself  to make sure I don’t push her too much as the weather warms up. Dogs can and do have heat stroke. But an hour after our second walk, she was running around the back yard chasing two randy pigeons off the fence, so clearly she was fine! By the way, she was very proud that she ran those pigeons off. They were really, um, amorous.
2. Oldest sent us a video of Turbo writing his name on a white board. Then he had his dad spell out “dad”, “mom” and my name, “Jen” so he could write them. I think he wrote Wizard’s name too after the video ended.  It was so danged cute! He knew all the letters, except “n” for Jen. But daddy showed him, and he did it. I love how excited he is to learn and try things. Writing words when he just turned four is cool, but much more important thing is being willing to try and learn.
3. Yesterday I bought a few herbs, and planted them. Keeping in mind that we’re likely moving in late summer, I only got four plants: Basil, Rosemary, Thyme and Oregano. I have these herbs right outside my door off the kitchen so it’s very convenient.
4. Wizard’s birthday is next week and he wants “a real cheesecake.” He means homemade, lol. I will happily do that for him. I had to order a new springform pan. It was delivered yesterday, and Wizard was excited when he saw it I hope the cheesecake turns out well. I’ll make it Sunday or Monday.
5. If it works out on Sunday, I’m going to try this walking group that I found. Wait until you hear their name: The Walking Winos. ROTFL!!!! The meetup this weekend is at a winery where they’ll do a walk through the vineyards (I think) then a wine tasting. Since I’ll be driving, I won’t be wine tasting, but this sounds like it could be fun. It’s worth a try to see if I’m a good fit. But at the same time, my plans are a little fluid this weekend due to birthday stuff, so we’ll see if I can make it.

That’s my week, now it’s your turn to share! Hope everyone has a great weekend!