A good-ish weekend

The Good: We had fun both with Youngest helping Wizard with the fan, and with Oldest, Special K and Turbo visiting for the afternoon and dinner! Oldest LOVED the sourdough bread, and there was a battle between him and Wizard for the last piece. I think Oldest won (and Wizard let him cuz he was full.) Turbo loved the small hose for my plants on the side of the house where there’s a long strip of dirt. He played with his trucks in the mud His very cool mom was fine with it. It was hot so she put on sunscreen and a hat and let him be a kid. The before dinner, she gave him a bath and put clean clothes on him.

The Frustration: The patio ceiling fan! First it was the wiring and we had to exchange the fan for the right kind of wiring to work with our wall switches (for the fan and the light). The second fan worked — but the bracket isn’t right. The cheap brackets weren’t going to be strong enough. So Youngest and Wizard stopped again so Wizard could figure out the solution. Sunday, Wizard made a bracket that he was happy with…until he realized he cut it too short. Wizard was frustrated-mad on Saturday, but by Sunday he was fine. He had to leave anyway to go help his brother with something, but this fan is so much more complicated than it should be. But we’ll appreciate it that much more once it’s done!

The Bad: Yesterday I went to the pharmacy to pick up some meds. Maybe thirty seconds after I passed through the intersection, there was a bad accident. One car was flipped on it’s roof. I parked in the parking lot and jogged closer but I was on the opposite side of a pretty busy street so I stayed there. People on that side of the street parked where they were, leapt out of their cars and were running to get the driver and any passengers out, and others were clearly calling 911. Since the police were on their way, I decided the best thing I could do was get my meds and leave the area. I hope everyone’s okay. I was uneasy the rest of the day. I’m not usually that easily weirded out, but it was just so odd to have it all happen seconds after I went through the intersection. My best guess is a car blew through a red light.

And The Smart: I sort of took Sunday off. I did stuff around the house and just caught my breath after a really busy week. It might have taken me six decades, but I’m learning to attempt a little balance and I’m kind of proud of that This week could end up being another juggling act, but on Friday we are going on a day trip to where Middle is camping and we are so looking forward to spending the day with them and having a good time!

How was your weekend?

TGIF! Okay lets dive right into sharing five random things about our week.

1. I am off jury duty as of last night! I got lucky this time and didn’t have to go in. Wizard sulked because he not only had to go in, but got the judge that held them there for two days.
2. Youngest is having car issues, which is not unusual. But the state of California has turned what should be an inconvenient headache into a blazing migraine with no cure. It’s utter craziness. So this morning I am picking him up from another mechanic (his third or fourth) as they try to solve this problem. FYI — the car drives and performs fine. This is a state bureaucratic issued and the dealership just shrugged their shoulders and said, “We don’t know.”  I’m seriously pissed for him. Not that he needs me to be pissed, LOL. But he’ll solve it and move on because that’s what adults do.
3. I bought some pillows and a candle for my outdoor space (because I had a gift card!), and now I’m out there all the time. Wizard and I love that patio.  This weekend, we’re hoping to get the ceiling fan installed.  I mentioned to Youngest that Wizard and I could probably do it now that he has the bracket up. Guys, I was so proud of him — he was very tactful when he insisted he would do it. I know he didn’t want us trying to maneuver the fan up the ladder and because I can appreciate his concern, I told him we would wait for him. The kids seldom worry about us doing anything, so if they do have a concern, we make a point to listen.
4. So I think I accidently created a Sourdough Monster in Wizard He’s worrying that we will run out and wants to know when I’m starting on the next set of loaves. I find that hilarious. In the beginning, he was afraid of the starter, and my first efforts weren’t turning out the way we hoped. But now he’s a sourdough fiend!
5. Turbo is coming over this weekend. That’s awesome. But Turbo’s dad (Oldest) loves sourdough so I told him we’d bring out the loaf in the freezer while he’s here. Wizard tried to talk me into buying sourdough from the store and giving oldest that, and save the homemade stuff for him. I just rolled my eyes and told him I’m serving the homemade sourdough to Oldest and Special K. Wizard will find a way to cope, LOL. We are both looking forward to seeing Oldest, Special K and Turbo! Sometime today I have to go buy some snacks for Turbo since I don’t think I’ll have time to bake. I already bought him a toy when I was in Target this week. I had zero intention of doing that when I ran into Target so I’m not sure how that happened, but I do have a theory: Grandma’s have a magnetic field that draws toys into their carts and we don’t notice it until we’re checking out. By then, it’s too late and so we keep buying toys. That’s my story! (Wizard rolled his eyes at that one!).

So that’s my five, now I’d really love to hear yours! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

So I don’t have a green thumb. Wizard has a part time green thumb that only shows up if it matters to him, LOL! And together we are trying not to murder too many plants

We finally planted some pots and here’s two of my favorites:

Don’t ask me their names — I can’t remember. We’ve planted soooo many flowers! I call the second picture, the orange one my Hawaiian plant. That’s probably not the real name (I think it’s in the hibiscus family maybe?) And the bloom you see in the picture is one that bloomed AFTER we got it home and replanted it and that’s a win for me!

And for the far end of our little patio there’s a strip of dirt — youngest is going to build me two big planter boxes so I can grow my tomatoes and bell peppers next year (let’s say hopefully grow!).

My herbs are thriving, but I only have five and they are easy to grow so far so I can’t really brag.

That’s my growth report update. Since I’m not writing, I have to create something! Although I really want to make a pretty cake very soon. I miss decorating!

What’s your report this week?

I hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day! We went to breakfast with youngest and his wife. After that we came back to the house, and youngest and Wizard attempted to hang the outdoor ceiling fan. That was a fail, LOL! So the problem is the stucco ceiling that had too tight a space for the fan we bought (the patio is built on as part of the house). Anyhow, the have the bracket up, we just had to get another fan designed to fit without cutting stucco. That should be a simple fix (I know, famous last words!!). But in the scheme of life, this barely qualifies as a micro hiccup and will be solved one way or another.

Otherwise, it was a good weekend, but somehow I’m just exhausted. I think it was a just a really long week with lots of worries about people we love. That’s how life goes, and it will pass.

This week I’m on call for jury duty. I’m on standby for today (Monday) so I’ll check again tonight to see if I go in tomorrow. It’s not hard. It just means we can’t make concrete plans this week and have to remain a bit flexible, but it’s only for a week. See my jury duty attitude has improved

How was your weekend?

TGIF! And Happy Early Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! Okay, time to jump into sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. I’m actually reading a book! It’s been a while since I’ve even opened one. This book BREAKING BADGER (The Honey Badger Chronicles #4) by Shelly Laurenston. I really needed something light and funny, and Shelly is perfect.
2. We went out to Wizard’s mom’s yesterday and are mentally wiped out as I write this Thursday evening. This time we didn’t take Maggie because we needed to take care of some things. But on a sweet note, when his mom found out about all our planting flowers for our backyard, she went out and collected a bunch of cuttings from her flowers for us to plant more. Wizard and I will plant those today. I hope the flowers take and we can have “his mom’s flowers” in our backyard for a very long time. (By the way, this really is normal life stuff we’re dealing with — people get older, and other people get sick, we are just dealing with a lot of it at once lately).
3. Maggie was sad we didn’t take her to Wizard’s moms, so when we got home, we took her to Home Depot to buy some pots to plants the flowers. She forgave us then
4. Biker Witch and I planned to have coffee, do some shop browsing and then to Trader Joes yesterday, but both our lives decided took a plot twist and we couldn’t do it   I guess the good news is it worked out best for both of us, and we’ll reschedule as soon as we can.  Also, I know Trader Joes is a weird place to want to go, but it’s in the outlet mall we were meeting at and we both like the store
5. It’s Mother’s Day Weekend. Hilariously, I didn’t realized it until a little over a week ago We’ll go to breakfast, and see youngest for sure as he asked us about it last weekend. The other two live farther and it’s harder to arrange that, so a phone call is probably best. Hopefully we’ll see Turbo soon too!

That’s my kind of lame five, I bet your five can top mine!

Happy Mother’s Day and have a great weekend!

Fun fact about me — I’m a danger to myself while cooking, baking and sometimes, just breathing, LOL.

I am getting pretty decent at making plain old “white bread” sourdough, except for one minor detail.  Every time I use the special razor called a “lame” to score the top of dough, I somehow cut myself.

This last time I cut myself AFTER I’d carefully put the lame back in the box. I mean…that takes talent right? Well it slid out the other end of the cheap cardboard box and cut my index finger. The cut is healing, but it required creative bandaging and I wore a glove while prepping the enchiladas and chopping herbs for the rice to not add any unwanted ingredients.

Then I cut myself cutting the sourdough bread on another finger   It’s a gift people. It’s not the sourdoughs fault, it has a nice crust while the inside is soft and slightly chewy as we like it. But my breadknife can slip and bounce if it doesn’t catch on the first pass, and that slip always finds my finger. (Also I need new knives, but that’s another issue having to do with me not wanting cheap knives but being too cheap to invest in a good set.)

Then, I swear this is true, I cut another knuckle when I reached for my saran wrap. My knuckle barely grazed the edge of the cutting side of the aluminum foil and slit open. I swore in frustration at that point.

Now here’s an interesting part. Wizard had to deal with a difficult phone call during all my prep and put it on speaker so I could hear it. I was peeling and slicing apples for apple pie at the time (with a glove on). I listened to this call intently, not paying enough attention to what I was doing with the knife and yet, I didn’t cut myself then. Weird.

Anyway, by the time company came over, I was covered in Band Aids. To their credit, no one asked, and everyone pretended I am perfectly normal. They also seem to really enjoy all the food so it was all worth it!

What’s a fun fact about you?

We enjoyed the beautiful weather this weekend.

First we got our new patio table got go with our chairs. Wizard and I went to pick it up and I couldn’t quite lift my end of the box. I’d get it part way, the table would tilt and I’d lose control. A guy walking by saw me struggling, jogged over, took my end, and he and Wizard slid the table in our SUV. I was so grateful! Sometimes, people you’ve never met will be there when you need them! We love this space.

Here’s a pic of the table and chairs.

And here’s a pic of our view this weekend:

Then Saturday we had Wizard’s brother and sister and their spouses over. I spent two days making sourdough bread (for bruschetta appetizers), two kinds of enchiladas and an apple pie. So Maggie knew something was up. Then an hour before they came over, I put Maggie’s little scarf back on her. That confirmed her belief people were coming over. Here she is staring at the front door and waiting for company to get there! Wizard and I were cracking up. She loves company!

We had a good time with his family. These days, we just don’t get together as much as we should. And I should mention, I enjoy doing all that cooking when I have the time and energy. They were all very appreciate, but no one expects me to work that hard unless I want to do it

Sunday was our quiet day and I loved it!

So how was your weekend?