TGIF!! I can’t believe it’s Friday again. Let’s jump right into sharing five random things about our week.

1. Yesterday was Wizard’s birthday. We went to dinner to celebrate, which we really enjoyed. Saturday, the kids are coming over for a second celebration. I’m looking forward to that! I love that they are bringing food too, so all I had to do was easy appetizers, cake and drinks.
2. I went to my little cake store this week. I was only there 20 minutes, but it was fun. I haven’t done many cakes lately, due to health, house projects and inflation. The cost of baking ingredients plus supplies has me pausing lately. I certainly don’t make cakes we don’t need. But it was nice to get out to the cake decorating store, and get some suggestions from then on the filling for Wizard’s cake. This one will be simple cake, not super decorated.
3. Oh, Monday we got our passport pictures to renew our passports and Wizard broke the camera, LOLOL!! So first they staff did my pictures, and they uploaded and printed fine. Then they took Wizards, and they would NOT upload to the computer — the pictures would just vanish. It took about 20 minutes and 4 different employees to finally get a set of pictures that would upload to the computer. I was cracking up so hard. The employees were all laughing too. I, being the loving and supportive wife, accused him of being a vampire. Why he puts up with me is anyone’s guess. And then, we headed over to the At Home store and bought a six-and-a-half-foot artificial tree (I think it’s a dracaena tree?) for a corner in our great room. I was surprised that Wizard didn’t even blink at the cost — after I publicly accused him of being a vampire Both of us really like that fake bamboo tree that we probably won’t kill…hopefully.
4. Today I’m going to the doctor’s for a pre-op clearance. It sounds like a big deal, but it’s just for a throat biopsy to see if we can determine what weirdness is brewing in there. The MRI ruled out most serious things, which is great. Here’s the funny thing. Wizard was in the doctor’s office with me, and I asked how the doc wanted to do the biopsy. He asked how strong my gag reflex is — and I look over at Wizard who was suddenly pale and leaning toward the door. He thought the doctor was going to do it right there and was panicking. He wanted out of that room. Wizard is squeamish, LOL. In his defense, he’s been very supportive and making sure I keep following up on this for 8 long months. Anyhow I told the doctor my gag reflex is a 10 out of 10, so we’re doing it under anesthesia. That’s why I need need a pre-op clearance from my regular doctor. So not a big deal. But trying to coordinate all this plus an ultrasound (another thing that is likely nothing to worry about), getting approvals and scheduling has been time consuming!
5. I’m sure hoping I can start to catch my breath next week.

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

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

1. It’s going to rain this weekend. It’s been very rainy this year, but we don’t generally get the same deluges in my area that other spots in California do.
2. My frustration was pretty high yesterday. I spent hours making phone calls and trying to do other people’s job. I really wish people in one medical group or organization would pick up the phone and call the other. I’m just the patient who doesn’t actually have all the various info (and that’s another rant, but we’ll save that for another day). In one case, it’s taken me two days worth of phone calls, but I finally got it resolved yesterday afternoon. On the other issue, I’m still waiting for a return call. The bright spot in all this is that I have spoken to a few really nice people who have genuinely been trying to help, so that’s a win, right?
3. Poor Maggie was so restless while I was trapped on the phone, that I finally ended the call, ate lunch and took Maggie for a long walk. I was proud of myself for just walking away and having fun with Maggie. We found huge fogs and lots of tadpoles in a storm runoff pond. Maggie “pointed” to a few birds. Maggie is not a pointer breed (she’s a mix) but she definitely points. I’ve had a German shorthair pointer and know what that looks like. It’s pretty funny. She actually has a pretty good pointer stance.
4. I’ve been sitting on some good (not professional) news in our family. But still waiting to mention it. It makes me smile every single day.
5. It’s going to be just me and Wizard for Easter, so I think I’ll make ribs. That’s been my plan, but i don’t buy the ribs until a day or two before. Neither one of us care for ham, so ribs it is! I really hope everyone who celebrates has a lovely Easter!

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! Happy Easter and have a great weekend!

TGIF!! Let’s get right to sharing five random things. Here’s mine!

1. My happy news for the week is hearing from Silver. She’s recovering now and improving. I think it’ll be a while yet before she shows up online regularly. If anyone hasn’t seen her story, you can check her blog here.
2. We hired the painters for the inside of the house. They begin Monday. The house will be all one color (Agreeable Gray) with white trim and doors. Are we ready? Heck no. We’ve had multiple complications making getting ready a Herculean task. On the other hand, this will do it for the big tasks inside the house that require so much work, and be worth it (I hope!) when it’s done. Yesterday afternoon and last night I did get a chunk of packing done so at least we have a good start.
3. One of the complications is that we went for my MRI on Wednesday. The machine was broken, and they had to order parts. To their credit, they were nice and really got me in again this morning. Hopefully I will get this MRI done this time. It took me 8 long and frustrating months to get this far.
4. Wizard is partially sidelined due to no fault of his own (nor does he have a virus — it’s a long story I don’t want to get into). He’s so frustrated that he can’t do a lot right when we need to get so much done. But today may be better for him.
5. We plan to go to dinner tonight with Middle son to celebrate his wife’s birthday. They live an hour or more away, but it’s worth it to celebrate our daughter in law’s birthday as long as Wizard is up to it. Saturday we are going to see Turbo for his birthday (also an hour or more away from us). Sunday we’ll be packing and we’ll get all we can done.

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

TGIF! I’m sorry for missing Wednesday. I don’t have an excuse aside from just running out of energy to post on Tuesday And since I’m not writing, I don’t have a focus for my blog, so I run out of things to say. Lastly, this blog has probably run it’s coarse, but I just haven’t been ready to let go. So I’m hanging in here for now. Okay lets move onto posting five random things about our week:

1. We had more rain, and now comes the talk about a Super Bloom. And it’s truly breathtaking when we get those. In fact, the hills surrounding our house are gorgeous now and will become even more stunning soon. But having lived through the super bloom a few years back when people acting with incredible stupidity and created serious havoc, injuries and the death of a motorcycle officer, I actually flinch hearing it, LOL. The good news is the city closed the trail. Which will protect the land and keep the snakes from biting those who forgot their caution and common sense.
2. This week is weird. Too many of my friends are sick, mourning or worried about one of their loved ones. Saturday I’m plan to go to one memorial service.
3. I got blood work done Wednesday and I was in and out so fast, I was pleasantly shocked! Wouldn’t be nice if all our medical stuff was that easy!
4. I gave Maggie a hoof filled with peanut butter and she’s too funny. I only let her have it for an hour or two, then take it back. When I do this, I require her to move away then I pick it up. It’s just conditioning, so if a kid in our family grabs something from her, she’ll move back from the item rather than bite or growl (I hope!). Then she looks at me with super sad eyes, but I don’t fall for her puppy eyes Anyhow, the last few times I gave her the bone, she has tried to “hide” it — right in the middle of the floor of the small hallway to our bedroom. My dog will never be a criminal mastermind, LOL.
5. I spent yesterday with Biker Witch and had a blast. First we had coffee, then went shopping in Home Goods. It was nice to see her. That said, I am so not gifted at home decoration. But I get points for trying, right?

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I’m pretty sure your week is more interesting than mine! Have a great weekend everyone!

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

1. Well start with Monday. My friend’s husband passed away. I didn’t even know he was sick, which makes me even sadder. Even worse, her daughter passed away just a few months ago. My heart just breaks for her. On top of that, I’m worried about Silver, but trying not to bug her for an update. I just want her to get well, and I’ll wait as long as it takes to find out how she’s doing. The rest of the week was much better.
2. I accidently had a package delivered to our old house. Sigh…anyway, I went over to pick it up and discovered the new owners have a 2 week old baby! I am thrilled for them. They had mentioned to us they could envision themselves having and raising a family in that house, and now they are living their dream. I seriously smiled the rest of the day. Also the baby was so cute!
3. I ran to Target for one thing, and if you know anything about Target Math, you probably know that I went into buy a tub of Greek yogurt for roughly $5.00 and came out spending more than $80.00, LOLOL. But what I remember was the little girl sitting in the front part of the shopping cart swearing. And the mother’s seemingly slow and uninspired reaction. I’m NOT blaming the mom — I didn’t have long enough exposure to her and her child to really know the situation. Heck the “mom” could actually have been the big sister and a babysitter for all I know. Little kids swear, but what I was thinking about is how much more small children are exposed to the things we once tried to shield them from until they were a bit older and could begin to understand things like how and when it’s acceptable to use certain words, general politeness and the consequences of breaking rules (and embarrassing mom in the store :-). Cell phones and social media have changed the parenting game in a way that just makes me tired. I don’t have answers.
4. Today, I’m meeting Biker Witch for coffee. I’m really looking forward to that.
5. This weekend, I have a vague idea of seeing Turbo, but I haven’t talked to my son or daughter-in-law yet to see if they’ll be home. They are super busy as Turbo is starting his baseball season now, plus his martial arts, and there’s always kids playdates and birthday parties. He keeps his parents busy, so we’ll see!

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

TGIF!! The weeks seem to be flying by. Now it’s time to share five random things about our week, here’s mine:

1. I got a call from my medical group that my Humira medication has been authorized. I’m really surprised it happened that fast. I’ll call the specialty pharmacy today to see if the authorization has shown up in their system. If all goes well, I’ll get it next week and only be roughly a week late, which usually doesn’t cause me problems.
2. I found a way I like sweet potatoes. I don’t hate them, I just don’t really like them and will usually choose something else if I can. Anyway, I roasted them in some olive oil and taco seasoning, then I use them to build a taco salad. I loved it. I still prefer russet or most of the other potatoes over sweet ones. And don’t even make me look at those yams covered in marshmallows I don’t even know what that goop is supposed to be — a starch or dessert!
3. With this house, our great room (kitchen, dining and living area) is in the back. Maggie has window to the world in the front of the house, and has taken to alerting us if she sees someone coming to the door, often to drop off packages or leave flyers. She just barks a time or two and comes to get us, wanting us to check it out. I’m not sure if it’s age, access to a front window or just the layout of the house making her feel she needs to alert us to people walking to the front door. Dogs are interesting! We always check and tell her she’s a good girl. She doesn’t harass people walking by, so it’s a behavior I like.
4. I’m listening to Kristin Hannah’s THE WOMEN, a fiction about an army nurse serving in Vietnam and her life after that. I like it. I just started reading Larissa Ione’s THE LEGACY: A Demonica Birthright Novel. I’m not far into it, but really like it so far.
5. Today the plan for Wizard and I is to go to his brother’s house (his widow’s house now), and do some power washing on the outside. We borrowed Middle Son’s power washer and then the rain keeps delaying getting this done. I don’t think Middle needs it back soon, but Wizard and I want to get this done and return it soon anyway. Otherwise, the rest of the weekend is up in the air. We have some ideas but no solid plans yet

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

TGIF!! Time to share five random things about out week. Here’s mine:

1. Thursday night, the last storm blew in, bringing high winds and rain. All was fine here, but it was pretty dramatic and kept me and Maggie awake. Wizard slept through through it, LOL.
2. We continue to love the new floors. Although they aren’t self cleaning, so there’s that
3. The other day, the microwave refused to start and claimed I hadn’t put the food in. I swore at it, and then went into a mini tirade lecturing the microwave that it did not get to tell me how to do my job. Why doesn’t it just do it’s job?? Huh? Yeah, I was annoyed. Wizard was sitting at the bar laughing his butt off. Which, of course, made me laugh. It’s just a day in our life. But the microwave was wrong, just so you know. I’d put the food in, but it had forgotten that small fact (because some arbitrary amount of time passed — and it’s short term memory sucks…just saying). The microwave is lucky I need it to heat my coffee.
4. Since walking has been hit or miss with weather, I’ve upped my yoga and added some very very light weights and I’m also doing standing crunches. It’s  been a few weeks now and is going pretty well. So far, I haven’t triggered any neck or shoulder spasms. It’s been a quiet week so the little things are exciting, LOL
5. It’s Superbowl this Sunday! We are going to Middle Son’s and I can’t wait! Maggie’s invited too, she is going to be so happy! Going in the car is always the best day ever for Maggie. Wizard and I are looking forward to seeing Middle and his wife, their dogs and just hanging out for a few hours.

That’s my five, it’s been a quiet week! Now I’d love to hear yours. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!