TGIF! I hope everyone had a great week! Let’s get right to sharing five random things in our week:

1. Clearly I can read a calendar, because until last night, I thought I was on jury duty starting this Monday. Wizard informed me that the 15th isn’t until the following Monday. It works out well for me as I had a few things I’d like to do next week but thought I couldn’t make plans. So that’s happy news.
2. My Monday doctor appointment with my GI doctor was great! I have a diagnosis of elimination of IBS (Irritable Bowl Syndrome) which is a vague  condition they don’t fully understand yet so they call it a “syndrome”. This doctor has been tremendously helpful in giving me tools to regain control, and once he pointed me in the right direction, I have done (and continue to do) a huge amount of research. When the doctor found that out how much effort and real change I’ve put into this, down to making my own bread, he was so pretty excited. I’m technically “released” with the caveat that I call him if I experience symptoms that I can’t get control of pretty quickly. I can’t let myself get to a point of losing weight uncontrollably for weeks again, and I’m understand that. I don’t really want to go through it again either :-). But yay for no more doctors, tests and labs for a while!
3. I got my hair done yesterday and really like it! She redid the color to a cooler tone which I love. Wizard liked the warmer reddish tones but it’s my hair and he’s smart enough to be happy that I’m happy I really love the cut too. I’d take a picture but I don’t want to, LOL!
4. Maggie wanted to say something here: Guys guess what? I got a bath and a mani-pedi! And my friends at the groomers put this jazzy scarf on me too! My mom said I’m beautiful!
5. This weekend we are having some of Wizard’s family out. I’m making chicken and beef enchiladas, rice and apple pie. I hopefully will get some sourdough bread made too and plan a bruschetta to go with it but that depends on how all I get done. We are looking forward to seeing them!

So that’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours!

TGIF! It’s once again time to write the Friday Five post. So we’ll start with mine

1. So far, I only have five herb plants, but they are doing great. This morning I was watering them while Wizard was cleaning the BBQ. I wasn’t bothering Wizard, I was happily chattering to my plants. I was complimenting Cilantro because he is growing better than I expected. Now Rosemary and Thyme are independent and don’t care. But Basil got a little upset because Basil wants to be the best like he always has been in the past. So I was reassuring him that he’s still an Herbal Rock Star in my eyes and I’m going to use him for some bruschetta soon. Wizard suggested I consider therapy. Rude.
2. We finally got out to see my mother-in-law this week. She liked her belated birthday gift (that I’ve had for weeks, and I’m still mad we had to give it to her late!). It was nice that when we got there, my 91 year old mother-in-law was working in her garden. Pretty cool, huh?
3. In my mother-in-law’s back yard, the back planter has huge trees and guess what (or who?) lives in those trees? Squirrels! Maggie saw her first squirrel and she was captivated! She once again jumped a wall that is counter high, showing off her athleticism. The squirrel ran up the tree of course. I went over there to make sure Maggie didn’t attempt anything insane — and that’s when I got yelled at. By a squirrel! It was hilarious. He was high up and scolding me something fierce. I told him to come down and say it to my face, but he declined Maggie was utterly fascinated. She did finally leave her squirrel post to get treats from Wizard’s mom. We let his mom spoil her with the treats I bring because Maggie helps her with some normal aging issues in a way makes Wizard and I appreciate Maggie so much.
4. We made the tri tip and loved it! Here’s the base recipe https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/236992/santa-maria-grilled-tri-tip-beef/   And my adjustments to the dry rub: I reduced the cayenne to a strong sprinkle and added 2 tablespoons brown sugar. To the mop sauce: I used red wine (I had cabernet on hand) in place of red wine vinegar and reduced the garlic because of my stomach issues. Wizard and I enjoy trying these things so we were willing to put in the extra work. Part of why I’m doing it is to get as much pre-processed food out of my diet as I reasonably can.
5. This weekend the plan is to go to CPA Boy’s to have a little post tax season/late birthday celebration for the immediate family. But Turbo had a fever this week so we’ll see how he’s doing. If we go, I’m going to use those cupcakes in the freezer and make all the normal people chocolate cupcakes with Baileys-chocolate frosting. Turbo will get a special one with plain chocolate frosting and sprinkles (I don’t care of it’s only a small amount of Bailey’s in the frosting, I see no reason for a five-year-old to eat that. And Turbo will be happy because he’s will look better to him with sprinkles). Then yesterday I made some gluten and diary free ones for the two of us in the family who like to be difficult Okay neither of us is really difficult, both of us easily eat around whatever is being served. I just wanted to make something for that son too because he just made it through another tax season. It’s fun. And I can eat them too

So that’s my five, now I’d really love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

TGIF! You know what that means! Time to share five random things about our week. Let’s do this!

1. The week is ending better than it started. You know those cupcakes in the fridge? They have to be dizzy by now! I’ve had them in and out of the freezer quite a few times (but never long enough to defrost) in an attempt to go to Wizard’s mom’s. But it just didn’t happen this week. He called her on her birthday, we have a gift and cupcakes, but life is just a little twisty. Every plan we make gets changed multiple times. We thought we’d go today but…
2. Wizard got called in for Jury Duty. Here in CA, you’re on standby for a week, and you’re call each night to find out if you go in the next day. Each day has been a mystery, and then last night, he was told to come in. So far, he’s called me twice and texted twice, and he’s not impressed. He got a judge who has decided to treat possible jurors like prisoners or kindergarteners. I’d gloat but…guess what came in the mail for me yesterday?? My jury duty summons. This is a plot to annoy us. Yes, yes, I get the whole civic duty thing. Whatever.
3. So yesterday we had to stay home for an appointment. So we’ve lived in this house more than six months now, and the day we picked up the keys, we were told that the garage side door had been keyed incorrectly. This is an easy fix — all they had to do was replace the doorknob and key it to our housekeys. We were promised this constantly, but for reasons that confound logic — no one could ever manage to find a doorknob and do it. Even though houses are being built in this same track all day every day. And they all have doorknobs keyed to the owners keys! It’s like magic! Finally we got annoyed and submitted a claim higher up. What we thought would happen is the higher up would tell the foreman to grab a doorknob, and spend four minutes replacing and rekeying it. Nope, they put in a call to Door Specialists. I can’t make this stuff up, the sent out an employee of Hakes Sash & Door to resolve this complex problem. The expert confirmed the obvious problem — we needed a new doorknob. But of course he didn’t have one because this is not a call they get. Like ever. So they had to order a doorknob. It took 8 weeks to arrive. Why? No freaking idea! Then they scheduled an appointment with the same door expert to install it.  And finally the new doorknob was installed. And that is why we stayed home yesterday. Is this not a dumb boring story?? I’d like to point out that we wanted to go to my mother-in-laws, but we were trapped at home waiting for a doorknob. That’s like a worse excuse than my dog ate my homework. It’s been a truly weird week, trust me.
4. I put Willa my previously freeze-dried sourdough starter to work! I used a new recipe for sourdough yesterday and Willa did her job so well! I fermented it overnight and baked it today. The bread looks good. I don’t know how it tastes yet as I’m writing this yesterday before we ate any. I’m looking forward to it! I eat very little gluten but a slice of sourdough if it’s long-fermented is usually okay. (If you’re are interested, the long fermentation helps breakdown some of the troublesome fructans and gluten). Here’s a picture of one of the two loaves (the second one goes in the freezer to keep the cupcakes company):
5. Tomorrow we are going to the airshow. At least that’s the plan, although with this week anything could happen We haven’t been in a very long time, and decided to pay for actual seats (on folding chairs, LOL). Naturally, the heat chose this week to show up, but we should be fine for a couple hours or so. We both are looking forward to it if nothing else decides to go wonky this week.

And that’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I’m sure yours will be vastly more interesting and not involved a long winded story about a doorknob.  I hope everyone has a great weekend!

TGIF! Once again, I’m shocked how fast Friday arrived! The days are just whizzing by. But it is Friday, so it’s time to share five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1) Outside where we just planted flowers, we have something called Dog Vomit Slime because it looks like dog vomit (or scrambled eggs…but lets not go there). It’s so weird, but apparently harmless. When we first saw it appear one morning this week, we thought Maggie had been very sick and were concerned. Then we learned what it was…LOLOL! The best part is that Maggie is fine.

2) It’s been another busy week, mostly because I keep trying to do too many things in too few hours I used to think it was because I spent so many hours writing or trying to write, but now I’m getting a clearer picture of my…uh…let’s call it optimism on how much I can actually do in a day. I blame my brain that refuses to let me sit down or do fun things if I have not checked off the tasks I put on my mental check list. I mean I should be able to hit a delete button somewhere right? But my brain is not a believer in the delete button.

3) I bought a bunch of shirts. I’m desperate for clothes for various reasons, and made myself start somewhere. It’s just a few t-shirts and tank tops, but I’m proud of myself for finding that much. Although I was shocked at how much it cost. I mean I shopped at The Gap at an outlet center and all the shirts were on sale. Maybe I just hate spending money on clothes that don’t turn me into a young supermodel   Next I have to clean the crap out of my closet. I have some basically unwearable things in there I’ve hung onto “just in case” but I’m never clear on what that “just in case” might actually be. Like a locust invasion where no one will notice shredding seams because I’ll be covered in buzzing grasshoppers???

4) I just began hydrating my new sourdough starter that I bought freeze dried. I’ll know by next week how that’s doing. It’s for a white bread sourdough, meaning it’s basically all-purpose flour and water. Rye-N, who is now misname because I’ve converted him from a rye flour starter to a wheat flour starter, is doing amazing! I feed him roughly once a week and he rises like the superstar every time. I hope my new starter, Willa, does the same. (Willa came to me with that name, so I’m keeping it).

5) The plan this weekend is for Special K and Turbo to come over on Saturday. CPA Boy will come too if he can, but he’s still in tax season so he’ll play it by ear. We’re looking forward to that! I may even try out a new chicken enchilada recipe while they’re here — we’ll see. It all depends if I can get some prep done, and if I can’t, no one will care. The point is to just have fun with Special K, Turbo and maybe CPA Boy.

So that was my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

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

1. This week, I hit the ground running and it hasn’t let up! Of course it’s mostly Wizards fault for daring to have a birthday He seemed to have a really good one though, and he loved the mini cheesecake topped with raspberry sauce and fresh whipped cream. I took one bite, and it was good. Overall making two small mini cheesecakes worked out really well, and I’ll do it again if the need arises. And an added note: I wasn’t deprived, I bought a dairy free, dark chocolate bar for myself and was very happy.
2. I did a fairly dramatic hair cut for me. I have a pic with it after I blow dried it and did a bunch of errands, but it’s not officially styled. I love the cut, and I’m growing the bags so that they will eventually do a side swoop. The darker color was a shock, but I knew it would be. We may adjust it a little, but I wanted to live with it for a few weeks to see what I like over time. I was so tired of my hair that this is a fun change and easy for me to blow dry and go.
3. We got the big back planters done! Wizard did all the drip lines and dug all the holes. He planted about half the plants too when I wasn’t home, and I did the rest. We are really happy with that! Here’s two late afternoon pics after the work was done, but you get the idea:
4. I finally made Maggie’s appointment to get her teeth cleaned and the small lipoma on her belly removed. It’s really overdo and that bothers me a lot. I’m not worried about the lipoma, we are reasonably sure that’s not a problem but it should be easy to remove since she’ll already be under sedation. But small dogs can get really ugly problems with their teeth. So while her appointment isn’t until June 8th, I feel better just having the cleaning arranged.
5. Today we plan to go see Wizard’s mom. Then I’ll come home and bake easy cookies to take to our friend’s house tomorrow. I had to change that plan from cupcakes I was excited to make due to a time crunch. Life does that sometimes

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

TGIF!! Let’s dive right into sharing five random things about our week.

1. In super weird news, we had a tornado in Southern CA that tore the roof off a commercial building. Tornados are rare here. So is the crazy amount of rain we’re getting.
2. Maggie and I took a LONG walk yesterday after the rain stopped. It was so pretty and we just kept going. We both enjoyed it, but about a half mile from our house, I noticed Maggie drooling a little bit. She never drools. They day was cool and perfect for walking so a part of me wanted to semi-freak out. The other part of me mentally slapped myself. Instead, I slowed down, gave her plenty of breaks and got her home. She was fine. I am clearly and over-protective pet parent!
3. Thanks to the rain, getting any more work done in our back is slowwww.We (and by we I mean mostly Wizard, LOL) are trying get the hill irrigation done. We all the values installed, we just need to finish laying the drip line and connecting it to the values but it’s just too wet to get it done. This isn’t any kind of problem, just a little bit of a patience issue. I also want to get a planter box for my herbs but holding off on that too until we’re ready to buy the plants. But again, this don’t even qualify as a problem.
4. I’ve had Rye-N, my sourdough starter, in the fridge for a week, then took him our to feed him twice and he definitely rose to the occasion. Sadly, this was exciting to me. I may be a little bit housebound, LOL! I will make more sourdough bread in another week or so, but for now, Rye-N is back resting in a dormant stage (meaning I’m not feeding him) in the fridge and continuing to mature.
5. Today I’m getting out to meet Biker Witch for lunch. I’m so looking forward to that.

So that’s my five and now I’d love to hear yours. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

TGIF! Time to share five random things about our week!

1. I have not made sourdough bread yet, but I’ll introduce you to my sourdough starter, Ryn-N. He’s really excited for his debut. I even had to move him to a clean jar and put a name tag on him. The first picture is Rye-N right after I “fed” him. The blue rubber band marks the level he’s at then. The second pic is him doubling in size after 6 hours, which means he’s a very active sourdough starter!
2. This is a gluten free bread I made yesterday. It was made with my expensive flour from Italy. I should have browned it more under the broiler, but I wasn’t sure the pan I was using could handle the broiler. The bread came out good, but I think it’ll make an even better pizza dough! I took this before I cut it because the sun was going down and I was losing natural light.
3. Wizard has been working on the sprinkler system for the hill. So the builder put one in, but it’s not adequate. Wizard took it out and was putting a better one in with four values so that we have options in the future. This project turned into a challenge for a lot of reasons, but today he got that part done. I am so proud of him! With all the frustrations and rain delays, he was patient, and he willing to walk away for the day when necessary. We have reached a age where projects we want to do take more planning, time and patience (and a few more sore muscles!) to accomplish but we’re doing them! Well he this part, he did, I just ran to Home Depot a few times to pick up parts But next week I get to move rock around so yay me!
4. This week I had what I hope was my final scan. This was to take a closer look at my gallbladder function and it looks good (my gallbladder is getting pretty arrogant at how many tests she’s aced, LOL). That great news. I’m hoping the doctor will agree with me that we can continue to try to manage this with diet and no more labs, tests or scans for awhile. I mean, if we keep this up, I’m going to start glowing in the dark from the various doses of radiation! But seriously, I’m not complaining, I was pretty sick and they were all taking my symptoms seriously. I’m very grateful as that is not always the case for everyone. I have to add that if sucky digestion and a restricted diet is the biggest problem I have, I’d say I’m pretty danged lucky. At least what I eat is something I have full control over, and I have time in my life these days to deal with that. Not everyone is that fortunate and I’m vividly aware of that. I am feeling better, stopped losing unintentional weight and have more energy. That’s progress.
5. It’s supposed to rain today. It’s projected to be very heavy in other parts of the state, but we’re not expecting too much here. There’s what appears to be a bigger event coming next week, but we’ll see as that can change. Rain is a good thing, I just hope it’s not too much in the areas already dealing with too much rain or snow.

Bonus! Maggie wants to say hi! Don’t let her all her gray fool you, this dog can fly when she runs and jumps onto the hill. It looks like she floats through the air! I wish I could catch it on video! She might be getting older, but she can still got some moves! (She made me say that!)

That’s my 5 plus a Maggie bonus. Now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a fun and safe weekend!