TGIF!! How did Friday get here so fast? Sheesh! And before we jump into sharing five random things about our week, I just want to say I’m saddened by the crash of the passenger plane and helicopter at Reagan National Airport. My heart goes out to all the victims, their families and friends. It’s all just tragic and there are no words to make it better.

Okay let’s jump into sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. In the coffee table sage — a new table will arrive on Wednesday. The company has been fine about it. The process is a little slow and cumbersome, but any business that is scaled up has these systems and procedures so I have been patient. We’re all proud of me. I did tell off a door banger, so my temper is in working order
2. Maggie wanted me to tell you that, according to my app, she walked over 17 miles last week (it tracks Sunday to Sunday). She has requested additional food and treats and has assured me you all will agree with her on this.
3. I made sourdough bread this week. Not sure anyone cares about this, but I now have this down to a pretty easy process. I just need to be home or close to home for a day to feed the starter, wait for it to rise, make the dough then babysit the dough for a few hours. Then I put in the fridge overnight  to bulk ferment before I shape it the next day and then bake it. It feels much simpler for me, and the dough is easier to handle.
4. It’s quiet lately, and that’s good. I think Wizard and I just tired of running around so much and needed a break. My energy is a little lower than I’d like, but I suspect that’s normal aging, and the fact that I get up early.
5. Today I’m meeting Biker Witch for lunch. That’ll be fun. This weekend, we might try to see a grandkid, plus Wizard is going racing and I have a few things to shop for (if I talk myself into doing it!).

That’s my five, not it’s your turn to share yours! I hope everyone has a great weekend.

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

1. Winds and fires have been dominating CA, but there’s hope for some rain in the forecast around Sunday. Fingers crossed! Yesterday was warmer than any day in January has a right to be. We really need some rain, but not too much as the burn areas will have mudslide. It’s a delicate balance right now. But hey, New Orleans is dealing with snow so we all have out problems.
2. We’ve looked at more dining tables. We were ready to buy one when we asked to test putting the leaf in and out — and that was a deal breaker. Our extreme pickiness is a LOT of the problem, here. And so, the seriously unimportant table hunting saga goes on
3. But we did buy living room tables! We began with buying the side tables on Wednesday to be delivered on Saturday. We’d decided we didn’t need a coffee table. Then Wizard suddenly realized Thursday morning that he puts his coffee on the coffee table in the morning. Evidently this was a big deal So I’ve either ordered (by the time this post goes up), or will order soon, that the matching coffee table. The tables we have currently have are showing wear and tear from lots of use. And yet — I’m still repurposing those side tables into guess room nightstands.
4. I’ve been tracking calories and macros right now for fitness goals. My top goal is to get a 100 grams of protein a day without overeating calories. It’s work to do it, and it’s about as boring as it sounds, but I don’t mind right now. It’s all part of what I consider a hobby I care about right now. Building strength is important to me for my future self and making sure I don’t gain weight while doing it will keep extra pressure of my joints since I have RA. What’s weird is how defensive I feel about it, and I shouldn’t! But the anti diet culture makes me think I ‘ve suddenly developed an eating disorder for tracking. We live in a weird world when I feel defensive about improving my fitness!
5. We may go see Wizards mom today and take them some enchiladas that I made for Thursday night’s dinner. As for the weekend, we have the side tables coming Saturday and I’m not sure about the rest. We’ll see if any new and fun adventures come our way!

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

TGIF!!! It’s time to share five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. The winds have calmed! I’m very happy about that. I don’t see any rain in the forecast, but I’ll take no winds as a win.
2. This week, we had pillow drama So I buy expensive pillows on my doctor’s strong recommendation for my neck. They’ve worked well in the past. Then the new ones arrived, and frankly, they were garbage. I do think I ordered the size wrong, but I did not order crappy pillows. Think sleeping on an letter sized envelope filled with few paper shreds —  they were just terrible for us. There was a long 24 hours of me being mad at myself (because I should have known the quality had gone down?) Then it dawned on me — we can still return them. The company has a guarantee. So I contacted the company, they agreed to my returning them, and I shipped them off. I should get the refund soon. This stupid little thing stressed me out more than was reasonable.
3. We have run all over the county, and we’ve seen a lot of dining room tables. They all are starting to look the same, and my very old one is starting to look better. At this point, I just need the most amazing and perfect table in the universe to ring my doorbell, or I’m moving on to other, less exhausting projects!
4. I made a version of white chili chicken yesterday to freeze for lunches. I changed a few ingredients to use what I had on hand. Fingers crossed I like it because I have six servings batched up in the freezer and fridge I also made two loaves of sourdough bread and put one of those is in the freezer.
5. Today the plan is to go to Baby Girls for a bit. Daughter in law needs to drop her car off for a few days, so Wizard will go with her and bring her home.  If anyone’s wondering, Middle Son is working so hard right now and asked us if we could help, and we’re happy to. I’ll watch the baby while they get the car into the shop. It’ll be fun for me! But when Wizard gets back, I promise to share Baby Girl with him. That reminds me, Wizard saw a funny video a grandpa holding the grandbaby and the grandma repeatedly trying to get her from him. Wizard cracked up and made the totally shocking accusation that that grandma is me! Can you believe that? I know, it’s outrageous even if it’s probably true, LOL. This weekend, we’ve talked about trying to see Turbo but we haven’t talked to his parents yet. We both are running a bit tired, so we’ll see.

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

TGIF! I guess it’s good it’s Friday? But with storms ravaging other states, wind and fires here, it’s feeling a bit forced right now.  Quick note: Wizard and I are still far enough away from any fires to be safe. I hope all of you in the path of the cold and storms are safe as well! But let’s try to do our best with Friday Five. Here’s my five random things about my week:

1. Maggie went to the Vet Tech yesterday for some standard care and was such a good girl That’s what they tell me. Obviously, we can’t trust my opinion because I’m completely biased, LOL.
2. After the vet, I had to run to Macy’s to exchange a watch I got for Christmas that just stopped working. They are sending me a new watch and I appreciate that customer service! I’d already had the watch sized and they could have refused, so that’s a positive on the week!
3. I made pepper steak from my new cookbook this week and really loved it. I think Wizard liked it fine but wasn’t nearly as ecstatic as me. I’m pretty sure that had something to do with my enthusiastic inclusion of extra veggies But he had homemade sourdough bread with it so he was happy enough. I love cooking these days, but dang it’s tiring.
4. We have begun shopping for a dining room table. I don’t mind looking in person, but it’s hard to know if stuff we see at online stores is a true reflection of the pictures on the websites. It’s a big purchase and hard to return so we’ll probably ponder this for a long time, if we do it at all. On the upside, while out shopping in real stores, we accidently found some side tables for our living room in our price range that we’ll probably get. That’s a bonus!
5. Wednesday the plan was to go see Baby Girl while her mom did some errands. We cancelled that since the winds were too wild. Instead we are going out there tomorrow (hopefully) and will watch her while Middle Son and Daughter In Law take care of a few tasks. We are so looking forward to seeing her after our self imposed ban while Wizard was sick!

Okay that’s my effort at a fairly upbeat FF. Feel free to be as happy or not as you wish to be! I look forward to hearing whatever you wish to share! Have a great weekend!

Happy New Year! This will be our first Friday sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. I missed posting a blog on New Year’s Day, sorry!! A combination of doing a bunch of stuff, and an annoyed stomach, got in my way. In good news though, early New Years Morning I took some Imodium and fully resolved my stomach problems so I could go on with my day. I really thought it was some kind of stomach virus so I lucked out!
2. New Year’s Day we had Youngest, his wife and mother in law over for an early dinner. It was a last minute plan as I had to make sure Wizard was better. He is…although the cough will come and go for a while as they do. But otherwise, he’s fully recovered and I worry too much about him, LOL.
3. For New Year’s Day dinner, I made ribs and two kinds of marinated chicken, roasted potatoes and green beans. I think people liked it? I mean they’re not going to tell me my food sucks, right? Anyway, it’s a lot of fun when people can sit at the bar while I cook. They are there to help when I need it, and also keep me company while enjoying wine, soft drinks and appetizers. My daughter in law was teasing me that it was like being at a cooking lesson. I’ve said this many times, I’m okay but not a good cook, so I thought that was funny. However I enjoy it, so its all good.
4. I tried a new recipe out of a new cookbook (I fully confess, I have a problem buying cookbooks lately!). The cookbook is “Downshiftology Healthy Meal Prep” (Downshiftology is a food blog that focuses on healthy gluten free options). I made the Chocolate Espresso Shortbread Bars, although I tweaked the ingredients to what I had on hand and what I prefer. I was really happy with the way they came out!
5. I’m happy the holidays are over, and ready to take on 2025! I don’t do resolutions, but I do like to think about goals for the year. My top is always showing up for the family I love, hanging with grandkids and this year, I’d like to really appreciate Maggie. She’s getting older, and while I expect she has many years let, there’s no guarantee and I don’t want to look back one day and think I didn’t appreciate her enough. I do have other goals, but no one wants to read that list I will say one involves a new laptop (probably a 2in1 laptop tablet) and see how I do working on that. But that’s not something I’m ready to invest in just yet.

So that’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope you all have a great first weekend of 2025 and a fantastic year ahead!

TGIF! It’s the last Friday Five of 2024! 2025 is pounding rather demandingly on the door Okay, let’s get into sharing five random things about our week:

1. We had a lovely Christmas Day. In the morning we were alone, opened gifts and had breakfast. All good. Maggie has the silly story here: Santa got her a new bed all wrapped up. Maggie knew it was a bed for her, and immediately curled up on it — while it was still wrapped! Oh Maggie…you’re priceless. Once I ripped a bit of the paper, she got into the game and unwrapped it. But she seems to love it.
2. In the afternoon, we went over to Biker Witch’s house (my sister) and had a pretty low key but totally fun dinner. I got to catch up with her step daughter whom I haven’t seen in a while. That was awesome and really made me happy. And Maggie came with us — she had a blast until she got tired, then she found a quiet spot to rest in.
3. I know this will sound crazy: But we took down the tree yesterday and got it all cleaned up. The house had gotten pretty dirty and both of us were ready. If feels good to have that done. Now I can get the house reasonably clean for the new year. I think we are both just ready to go back to our normal schedules.
4. Every year, I SWEAR I won’t bake that much again. We’ll see. For the record, I’m the problem — I want to make everything while my body laughs in my face at my delusional thinking that I can bake everything in 5 days at my age.
5. Wizard’s not feeling well. It may be a cold. Or it’s part of ongoing allergies plus another issue he’s having treated (nothing real serious as far as we know). I mean it’s good that he got through all the holiday stuff, but I hope whatever it is, he feels better soon. He could just be really tired too — it happens.

Now it’s your turn to share! I really hope you all have an amazing last weekend of 2024!

TGIF! Are the holidays always such a whirlwind? But you know what? Keeping busy isn’t a bad thing Anyhow, let’s get into sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. I went to the dentist on Monday and they did a full set of x-rays and cleaning and all is well. Considering the year I’ve had, it’s nice to get good news anywhere on the health front.
2. We bought two pictures over a year ago — and just this last week Wizard had them professionally frame. Because we get right on stuff like that, LOL. Wizard hung them then in the office and they add a lot of color.
3. I’ve been baking. Let’s see if I can remember what I’ve made: Cranberry orange bread with an orange glaze, double batch of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, double batch of Mocha Toffee cookies, double batch of Pistachio Cookies with brown butter icing, double batch of lemon cookies, gluten free lemon bars, gluten free oatmeal chocoate chip bars, and double batch of gluten free chocolate crinkle cookies. Have I forgotten anything? I don’t know! Oh wait, I also made peppermint bark.
4. Wednesday I ran to the store, and I paid $11.99 for 18 eggs. I was so mad. And then the bag guy wanted to bag my eggs separately and the checker stopped him. I watched in horror as she told him the put the eggs on the bottom of the bag, then added three pounds of butter, two pounds of powdered sugar then picked up a bag of lemons and told him to put those on top. OF MY EGGS THAT COST $11.99. That when I said,  “No. Those are eggs on the bottom. I’ll take the bag of lemons.” I’m being serious when I say that was me being restrained. But the bag guy was new, and trying. It was the checker I was annoyed with.
5. Tomorrow is the family party at Oldest’s house. He’s every excited for us to see his lights — he totally went Christmas Vacation (the movie) with his outside decor. I’m brining dessert, so I ordered an apple pie, and will make gluten free/dairy free cupcakes. I’ll probably make chocolate cupcakes and  sprinkle cupcakes, but I’m also considering a S’mores cupcake with Marshmallow icing. I have concerns about the Marshmallow icing melting so I may hold off on that one. These are not my best desserts, but they should be okay.

That’s my week, now it’s your turn! I hope everyone has a great weekend!