The weekend felt like a whirlwind, but it was a good one overall.

Friday morning, I walked Maggie, got home and found a new mosquito bite — on my face! Oh yay. I began icing it to try and prevent it from turning into the lobster red boils covering my legs from mosquito bites. For some reason, it’s worked better on my face than it has my legs, so I’ll take that win! After doing my best to tone down the redness and swelling with my limited makeup skills, I headed to my neck ultrasound 50 miles away. That’s four freeways, two of which are notorious for traffic. I left two hours before the appointment and got there an hour early. Oops. I found easy parking, went in and confessed I was there an hour early. After some good natured teasing from the receptionist, she signed me in and I sat down to wait. I had time to send a text off to my sister, then got called in. I was shocked! They technician saw I was there early and decided to do my scan before she went on her lunch break. I was out of there by 11:25 and my actual appointment was 11:45. I don’t know the results and probably won’t for a while. But nice to get that done so quick and easy.

Then I got home, ate, and finally got a call from the nuclear medicine nurse to schedule my full body scan. Great — except I found out that I have to go on the low iodine diet for two weeks before the scan. Sigh…I’ll do my best but I’m going to feel sorry for myself now and again I can, however, have coffee and red wine so it’s not all bad. I can be a caffeinated drunk, as long as I don’t have any iodized salt (which is in everything), dairy, soy products (also in a startling amount of products), or you know, food. Okay now I am exaggerating. I can eat some foods like raw nuts, seeds, a few fruits and veggies, egg whites and a very limited amount of meat and unsalted grains. See why I’m gonna need coffee and wine?

And at the end of the two weeks…I’ll be doing three days of 100 mile round trips for a set of two shots, a radioactive tracer pill that I have to take in a nuclear medicine pod at UCI or maybe just in front of a nurse? I don’t know. But since I’m doing this the week of Halloween, maybe I’ll glow brighter than any pumpkin! Anyway, the following day I go back and have a scan that will make the TSA envious. The idea is that any cells that escaped my surgeon’s scalpel will be detected — and possibly they’ll find that green gum I swallowed when I was seven.

Yes, I’m being a little silly with the descriptions, but I do take all this seriously. Both Wizard and I do which is why I’m doing a lot of work to get all this done.

Saturday, we did stuff. I made the chocolate chip and peanut butter M&M cookies for Turbo’s baseball team. My son doled them out (after checking with parents) after the game, and I saw a few extra hands grabbing cookies I made plenty. Better grandmas than me would have brought something healthy. And I could have, but Turbo and I planned these cookies on Facetime so that’s what I brought.

Sunday, we went to see Turbo’s game. Turbo hit three times, and made the winning run! The kids all had a fun. The other team made some great plays too. Youngest and his wife were there, and we all went out to a super early dinner afterwards. Before the game, Youngest and his wife hung out with Middle, his wife and Baby Girl. Oldest went by too. We resisted stopping by ourselves The aunts and uncles should get their time in. I’m pretty sure I should get a medal for that self control, LOL.

How was your weekend?

TGIF!! Whoa, Milton, was a doozy. Maybe a bit less than it’s full potential, but still…enough with the disasters! We need to have good news for awhile! Now let’s shift into sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. I’ve mostly stuck close to home this week and loved it. It’s not that I don’t want to see everyone and do things, but I think I needed the break I got a bunch of things done, but the prize goes to Wizard! He cleaned out the overgrown mess in our front planter — it took him a few hours– and now it looks so good with the new yard. He’s a rockstar to me this week!
2. Today I’m trying to make homemade sourdough bread sticks. I followed the suggested timeline, but I think that was mistake as the starter was past it’s peak effectiveness when I used it according to the timeline. So the breadsticks may not rise enough and come soft and fluffy. But this is a practice run for the 20th when I’m making dinner for Special K’s birthday of Manicotti with homemade breadsticks, so I can fix any problems by then Wizard is pretty excited and hoping this batch is good enough for him to enjoy! Which he would definitely deserve after cleaning that planter our and I didn’t have to do it!
3. I’ve been spending money this week, LOLOL! This is weird, maybe it’s a side effect of my thyroid meds? I’m joking, it’s more a side effect of I need stuff and put it off for so long, I have to buy it all now. So the first thing is a cordless stick vacuum. I ordered that on Monday and it’s not coming until sometime next week.  Then Amazon Prime Day got my attention I ordered a zip-up sweatshirt, a few long sleeved shirts for what passes as winter here and a small wallet. That was all necessity stuff and I didn’t actually spend much as the prices were cheap. But it felt like a lot after buying the vacuum.
4. And yesterday…that’s the one that surprises me! I needed a better suitcase than the one the size of a clumsy unwieldy tank in the set we bought for Hawaii. Wizard is keeping the smaller suitcase and overnight bag from that set. So I’ve been searching for a few weeks for something for me. I ended up buying a London Fog 24 inch suitcase and the under the seat rolling overnight case. The cost was crazy to me!!! I’m in shock, but I also had 30% off, Kohls cash, a gift card and some extra cash I’d saved so it came out to something reasonable.  But still! I normally buy the cheapest thing I can. Wizard is happy that oversized suitcase bugged us both will be donated and out of our closet. Now can I pack less when I travel??? We will see when we go to Cambria in November with Oldest, Special K and Turbo!
5. Today we are going back to UCI for a routine follow-up ultrasound for me. Wizard is insisting on driving me, which I don’t need but appreciate all the same. Saturday I think we’re staying home and I’ll clean. Sunday we are going to see Turbo play baseball then we’ll all get something to eat. Next week, I hope to get to see my grandbaby and maybe help her mom if I can. She’s a month old now (the baby, not her mom, LOL!

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

Hi guys, it’s me, Maggie. I am sad to say that my mom is mean. Like, the meanest! She gave me a bath. Outside!! In the 100 degree heat!

And then she tried to make me pose for a picture!

After I showed her that I absolutely would NOT look at her or the camera, she did this! And she was laughing, probably even cackling like a witch!

Sigh…I’ll probably forgive her because she gave me a treat with peanut butter on it. Also she said I have to tell you she’d been doing tons of cleaning before that photo — I don’t know she thought you all needed to know that. She’s so vain. But anyhow…back to me. Can you believe what I have to put up with???? Is it even worth treats smothered with peanut?

What do you think?

Mom also says, Happy Wednesday! And she hopes everyone is safe from Milton (I don’t know who Milton is but I don’t think I like him).

At the top of my roundup is Hurricane Milton — Go Away! We need to get the No Hurricanes Allowed sign up pronto! This just is too much on top of Helene’s destruction.

And given that others in the world have much bigger problems, I’ll table my whining about the heat here And instead, talk about the weekend.

Friday, I went to lunch with Biker Witch and had fun! She’s looking great! I had a lunch salad with tri tip added and it was delicious. I also had a berry cobbler, that while good, was not as advertised and “Made on the premises.” I suspect it was assembled and baked on the premises which is a different thing. Not that I’m being picky or anything, LOL! On the other hand, I haven’t had cobbler in probably a decade and enjoyed it. Then I went home and made lemon cookies.

Saturday, we ended up having the morning free so we did a little gardening in the backyard, and I baked some sourdough bread. Then we left to go to Middle Sons. Middle Son had called me on Friday evening and asked if instead of us just coming by, we’d babysit he and his wife went out for an early dinner. We instantly said yes!  They had two pretty big things (aside from their beautiful daughter) to celebrate, and I’m so happy they got out. It’s very hard to leave a baby that young, but they were smart to do it. We, of course, loved spending time with her. And those cookies I made on Friday?  Those were lemon cookies for Middle son because he always says I make cookies for youngest and not him. That’s sort of true because Middle rarely eats cookies I took him a half dozen and he might eat one of those. The rest I have here, half for Wizard to eat now and half in the freezer.

Sunday Wizard went racing and I met my friend for lunch. It’s always good to see her and I’m proud of us for getting together more. She’s going to retire in a few months and we’re starting to think of things we can do for fun then.

I’m really not sure about this week, except that if the weather is bearable for us, we need to clean up the front planter that was already there before we had the yard done last week. And we need to buy and plant some flowers in the barrels. Otherwise, I’m not sure yet how the week is going to shape up.

How was your weekend?

TGIF!! Let’s get right into sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. It’s HOT! This is the time of year where I’m seriously side-eying Mother Nature when she drops 100+ Heat Bombs on us in October! That’s just rude.
2. I did my bloodwork on Wednesday to start the follow-up process after the Thyroidectomy. Part of the blood test results has come back and I can see a medication adjustment in my future. I already knew that, though as I haven’t felt right for the last two weeks (can’t tolerate hot or cold, a bit anxious. maybe some weight loss, and lots of muscle aches — typical stuff for thyroid hormone issues). It’s all going to get worked out and I’m just living life the best I can in the meantime. I also need to schedule the nuclear med scan to make she no rogue cells escaped and are trying to set up camp elsewhere in my body. I’ll get that done…soon–ish I have to do a serious diet prep I’m not looking forward to. But these are all just clean up details in the Health World and I remain grateful and happy for the health I do have these days.
3. I’m worked on making Sourdough bread because Wizard got all worried we might run out. He cracks me up.
4. The big news: Our front yard is done! It took four days with the hardest working crew I’ve ever seen! Even neighbors say that, so it’s not just us. In fact, the crew has already gotten more jobs from neighbors. Overall though, we are so happy! Here’s a pic of the yard:
5. This is a busy weekend. Today Biker Witch and I are going out to celebrate her birthday. Saturday we’re going to see Middle son and Baby Girl and Sunday I’m meeting a friend for lunch. But I’m looking forward to it all, so I’m not complaining!

That’s my five now I’d love to hear yours! Hope everyone has a terrific weekend!

Happy Wednesday! Let’s talk food — a tale of a success and failure

So I’m not a good cook. I’m an okay cook and perfectly capable of keeping people alive via cooking :-). I’m a better baker in case anyone thinks I’m just being modest or something. But I have more time and resources these days to try things. So I tried two things:

My success: Balsamic Grilled Flank Steak Caprese (title is hyperlinked if you’d like to see the recipe). I made this last Friday and it was a hit! We loved it. Now I think I’m going to make it to take it to the new parents this weekend. That’s a bit of a test because my daughter in law is an excellent cook. She has both the skills and the instincts that really good cooks have to turn a solid recipe into amazing meals. So I’ll be interested in her thoughts.

My failure: Was not a total failure but I was not happy. That was a stew recipe I’m not going to link it here. I normally make a shortcut stew that is fine for me and Wizard. But I wanted to make something better and healthier and take half of it to my daughter in law and son when I went to visit them yesterday. And I chose it because it wasn’t too spicy, too complicated and only had some wine it in to deglaze the pan that I could cooked off (nursing mom!). It should have been great, but it was bland and sad. But you know what? To my surprise, my daughter in law ate it anyway. This excellent cook who I know is particular about what she eats, ate it anyway. She said bland was better for her now, so she didn’t lie about the stew, she just accepted it as my effort and ate it. I was to touched. So my failure…wasn’t too bad, and it certainly made me appreciate my daughter in law all the more. And Wizard and I are going to eat it tonight (which is last night — the time-paradox of writing a blog and setting it to post the next day). But I’m still mad about the stew. It’s probably fine, I just wanted it to be really good.

Also, Baby Girl is amazing! I canNOT believe how strong this tiny girl is. She’s doing things she shouldn’t be able to do like turn herself from one side when she’s sleeping to the other side. In case you all think I’m biased (which I am!), others are noticing this too. She’s so active, alert, curious and sweet. She’s also giving her parents sleepless nights and the usual baby drama. But of course, when I come over to help, she turns into a little angel just to prove her parents wrong. Man, I remember my kids doing that! I’m sure I’ll get to witness one of her “witching hour specials” soon enough

And being a Grandma, I can’t talk about one grandkid without mentioning the other: Here’s a picture of Turbo getting a hit in baseball:

How’s your Wednesday going? Any cooking successes or failures you’d like to share?