Jennifer Lyon
Monday, July 1st, 2024
Weekend Roundup

We had a nice weekend. Some key points:

I bought the second book in a paranormal series that I said I wasn’t going to buy. I bought it before we went to Hawaii so I’d be sure to have enough books to read. Anyone else worry when they’re traveling that they might run out of things to read :-) Anyhow, I wish I’d listened to my instincts and NOT bought it. I canNOT get into this second one after days of trying. The reason I knew buying the second book would be a mistake is because at the end of Book One, the heroine ended up back in her bedroom where the first book began. The beginning to book two is reading about a bunch of brooding in both main characters and we’re waiting for heroine to, once again, “snap out of it” and start fighting. I feel like I’ve already read this storyline in book one. But I deserve it for not listening to myself! I hate when I do that.

Sunday we went to Turbo’s house and visited. It was lowkey and fun. The effort to get there was a total pain for a few reasons, however once we got there, Turbo was happy and full of hugs and chatter. That made all the hassle of the morning worth it! Turbo and family will be going on an amazing trip to Rome and then a cruise to a few spots. I’m excited for them. I would love to go to Italy some day, but right now, this is their moment to go and enjoy!

I’ll back up to Saturday for this story. While eating lunch on Saturday, I told Wizard I was going to go to a candy store. He planned to stay home and do something or other. Seconds before I left, he decided he wanted to go with me. While I looked for the perfect candy for Turbo (Candy shaped like Lego blocks that you can build and eat fit the bill!), Wizard found himself two containers of candy. I was highly amused by this. Wizard has really developed a sweet tooth since he retired. And Turbo liked his candy-gift. Hilariously, his dad (my son) tried to get it from me before I gave it to Turbo for some silly reason, but I easily bypassed Dad’s sad attempts to get between me and my grandson! Also — this is only funny because I told Turbo he couldn’t open it until his dad said it was okay, and he agreed. I wouldn’t actually break the rules, just bend them more to my liking :-)

And lastly, tomatoes!! Here’s a quick pic of my first crop of bing tomatoes from my little plant!

How was your weekend?

Friday, June 28th, 2024
Friday Five

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

  1. I like cookies. This feels important.
  2. Maggie can still catch a lizard! And I can still sort of jump up and down while screaming, “Drop it!” Maggie dropped it–minus one tail–and the little guy scurried under a fence. Maggie was very proud of her stellar lizard catching abilities. I’m not as proud of my reaction, LOLOL! She’s confused by me acting hysterical because I normally don’t act that way. I reassured her I wasn’t mad at her.
  3. Monday I had an appointment with a general surgeon who told me this surgery requires an ENT. By the time we got out of that office, I had a blazing headache and a furious husband. So that was fun. It’s a long story why this happened, but it absolutely will get resolved, in fact I talked to a person in my group that assured me it’s already approved. But if not, I’ll could just do the surgery myself, I mean I have a brand new set of knives and I can follow YouTube directions….  (Do I really have to tell everyone I’m just kidding???? But I do really like my new knives for cooking!)
  4. I bought a new Bluetooth thingie (it’s the technical word, LOL). I have Bluetooth earbuds that are great for listening to podcasts, books etc. But they suck for anyone on a phone call with me. It’s super staticky and they have trouble hearing me. So I’m trying the single ear device thing. BLB sent a link to one, but I chose a different one. If I was wrong, BLB will make fun of me forever! But also, if I’m wrong, I’ll never tell him, so there’s that!
  5. This weekend Wizard and I plan to see Turbo (our grandson). Otherwise I’ll work on some projects and clean. Can you believe next week if Fourth of July????

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

Wednesday, June 26th, 2024
Wednesday Reading

Grr, I got sucked into a book before I read the blurb. See I saw a list of books recommended by readers on FB, and I downloaded some samples. Then I random began reading samples, and found this one entertaining. I bought it — then read what I bought.

This category is generally not for me.

But I’m sucked in!

What do I do??? (That’s a rhetorical question — I’ll keep reading because the author is talented enough to suck me in enough to click buy without checking out what I was buying.)

Does this ever happen to you?

P.S. I’m not naming the book because I don’t want to :-)

Monday, June 24th, 2024
Weekend Roundup

It’s HOT!! Summer in here in So Cal! Wizard went racing yesterday out in the heat, but he was prepared and came home fine. I appreciate so much that he uses common sense. This kind of heat is dangerous.

My weekend was good. I finally had a couple days that moved at my pace, and I love that. I still did a lot, but I did it on my own timeline without feeling pressured. Plus I made cookies :-) Sunday I went to lunch with a friend I value so much. She’s still working, so we have to meet around schedules, but certain friendships are worth the effort. The only frustrating thing is…well let me back up a bit. I haven’t been feeling great, but I was determined to bring my A game to this lunch. Okay, it was more of a C+ game, but still.

Full makeup, did my hair, choose a cute outfit — black and white striped shirt, white pants, black sandals, and jewelry. I was set. I felt good. I met her at the restaurant. We sat down, ordered some sparkling water and dove into talking. And that’s when I had a sudden nosebleed. In a packed full restaurant. It was my one of my Big Dreads with my nosebleeds come true. I had tissue and eventually it stopped — after getting on my pants. It was, um, a prolific one. Sigh, I tried hard to get the blood out of the pants. It’s faded but still there. I’ll try again tomorrow.

Thankfully, my friend isn’t squeamish and was very helpful. But me and embarrassment got real close in those moments :-) And hopefully no one else saw it. Once that drama was over, we had lunch and a great time. In the scheme of things, it’s wasn’t a big deal.

So overall my weekend was a win – minus a pair of white pants :-)

How was your weekend?

Friday, June 21st, 2024
Friday Five

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

  1. I finally bought some knives! They were on sale which always makes me happy. I think they’ll be fine for me.
  2. The receptionist at Maggie’s vet is my hero! I spent days with Chewy trying to sort out a prescription snafu with Maggie’s food. Basically we just needed a one bag of food and treats before she sees her vet for her annual exam and shots in August. But Chewy was doing things like approving the treats, but saying there was no prescription for the food. Then they sent me an email that the food was approved, but not the treats. Does that sound logical to you? I tried to explain this but customer service could not figure out anything and suggested I get a new prescription. I went in circles for days, and finally I took Maggie to her normal bi-monthly vet-tech appointment, and told the receptionist what was happening. I told her I’d happy cancel the chewy order, and order the food from them instead. But she wasn’t having it, and called Chewy. Within a couple hours, the problem was fixed, the food shipped and now I have it! Maggie won’t starve! In the receptionist’s words were: “They had 85 reasons why this snafu happened, and not one of them made any sense.”  I laughed in relief. It’s not me! I’m not the problem! I also thanked her profusely. (Maggie has prescription food to help prevent bladder stones).
  3. I also spent this week trying and failing repeatedly to get test results for my surgeon appointment next week. This would be hilarious if it were a skit on Saturday Night Live. At this point, I’m just going to trust the surgeon’s office has the report. They said they did, so all should be fine. Let’s hope so because I think my patience is running on empty :-)
  4. My Cilantro Plant is moody and probably looking to unalive himself. Well, actually, he’s actively trying to unalive himself. My other plants are all happy and well adjusted. But my favorite herb to use just has to be a delicate, moody, unpredictable creature. I may have to decide to NOT like cilantro in my food because I can’t take this heartbreak anymore :-) Or I suppose I could just buy it at the store as needed.
  5. This weekend, I’m seeing a friend for lunch! She just got back from Hawaii, so I can’t wait to hear about her trip with her family. It’s a total coincidence that she and I both went with our families about a month apart. We’d both booked the trips before we found out the other was going. Life is so weird sometimes!

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

Wednesday, June 19th, 2024
Unexpected Company

I had a weird thing happen at Costco. It’s only weird because it hasn’t happened in a long time.

While checking out I noticed the checker’s name was Norma. All I thought at the time was, “Hmm, I haven’t seen that name in a long time.”

Then I went to the guy who checks the receipt on our way out to make sure we’re not stealing. (It’s so freaking annoying after just spending a big chunk on money). His name was Frank. Okay, well that’s a pretty common name.

I was freed from Costco, loaded my loot and jumped in the car. On the way home, two characters, Frank and Norma, popped into my head. I don’t know anything about them, except this is unlikely to be romance because those aren’t names I’d pick for a romance. I don’t even know what they’re doing except hanging around and making me ask a lot of questions.

So that was my unexpected, but welcome, company. I don’t expect anything to come of this pop in visit, but it sure was fun to let them keep me company as I drove home from Costco. We’ll see if they stick around nor not :-)

How’s your Wednesday going?

Monday, June 17th, 2024
Weekend Roundup

Oh look, Monday arrived right on time :-) So our weekend was good. Saturday I cleaned and prepped to have youngest and his wife over on Father’s Day. They are absolutely the easiest people to have over for dinner. So the cleaning and prep was most anxiety driven to keep myself busy while dealing with an insurance curveball in my treatment. Things will be fine, it’s just my inner control freak doesn’t like it, and I had to physically exhaust her to shut her up :-) And yet she still wakes me up in the night to uselessly fret. She needs drugs, LOLOL! The same inner control freak drove me crazy when I was writing, along with the characters waking me up to chat in the middle of night. I’m used to voices in my head :-)

Sunday (Father’s Day!), Wizard and I went out to breakfast to a place we haven’t been to since well before Covid, and really enjoyed it. I had a Mediterranean omelet with feta cheese. It was so good! That afternoon, youngest and his wife came over and we had a fun and relaxing time. We ate and laughed way too much :-) Maggie was exhausted when they left.

How was your weekend, and if you celebrated Father’s Day — how was that?

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