TGIF!! This week has been warp speed and somehow we landed on Friday again. Now it’s time to share five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. So last week I went shopping for tops. I found some at Macy, then went to pay and discovered they were having a “presale,” which meant that in order to get the 30% off, I had to pick up the clothes at a later date. I agreed, and save $40.00! I also had to drive back out yesterday to pick them up. But Wizard came with me and we went to lunch so it turned out to be a nice time.
2. This week has been a bit of juggling with medical stuff (it’s boring to talk about) and changing pharmacies because our old pharmacy closed. But both Wizard and I got it all organized by the end of the week! This is a big win. My frustration is trying to get through to my ENT’s office, but once I do, they are super helpful, so I’m not complaining. I understand they are juggling a lot more than I am!
3. I listened to the book IT’S ONE OF US by J.T. Ellison. I really loved the book, but didn’t love very end. Still it was a good book and I’m looking to read more of her work!
4. I worked my first volunteer shift at the animal shelter. I have a lot to learn, and definitely need more experience getting the martingale collars on. I had one mishap (not the dogs fault!) that left me with a scratch on my arm. I don’t consider that a big deal, but my arm had to go the drama queen route and bleed a lot. I cleaned it up, it’s fine. I had a more experienced dog walker collar the dog (she even struggled!), and then I walked him and returned him safely to his kennel. He was a good boy once we got going and I didn’t have any more problems. I’m going to order the arm guards the other dog walker suggested. By the way, she wanted to give me her arm guards to use right then — these are really nice people who were so very patient with me. I will get better! Last comment — Wizard had a moment when he saw the scratch, but quickly recovered and realized I was fine. It’s going to happen and Wizard knows that, he’s just been a little protective of me lately.
5. This weekend we are going to see Turbo play baseball on Saturday and Sunday, I’m having lunch with a friend while Wizard goes racing. It’ll be a fun and busy weekend.

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

Yesterday I was helping Wizard by shoveling ground cover into a trash can. Wizard has it all raked into piles and we’ve been disposing of it little by little each week in the green (for stuff like grass clippings, etc.) trash can. I insisted on doing this part as it’s easier for me than Wizard (which he will deny, LOL). It’s a quick job, and one I don’t mind doing. But I can’t convince Wizard to just let me do it. He’s physically incapable of letting me do it.

So he got another shovel to help. And missed the trash can, hitting my back with a shovel full of ground cover.

We thought we got it all off. By the way, I wasn’t mad, it was just an accident. Anyway, we finished shoveling, then I took off my shoes, went into the house and washed up…then discovered I left a pile of ground cover on the floor. It’d gone down my pants but evidently got stuck until I tried to clean up. After awhile I was just laughing because a quick, simply job always turns into more than is should!

And that was pretty much how my day went yesterday, LOL!

How’s your Wednesday going?

We had so much fun at my oldest son’s birthday dinner! I’m really happy it turned out so nice for him, and that’s thanks to his wife. She definitely made him feel special. And his brothers made sure to harass him, LOL. There were many memorable moments, but the one that stands out is from Turbo (my grandson). So Turbo sat between his parents and across from me, quietly doing a mini building project at the table. Everyone else was chatting. I was teasing Oldest about getting old, and he said something back. I can’t even remember what he said – it was all just teasing stuff.

But Turbo heard and snapped his head around to glare at his dad. “Don’t be mean to your mom, Daddy.”

We were all so stunned we just sat there for a beat. Then my son hugged his boy and told him he was very smart. I love both father, son and my daughter-in-law so much, and appreciate that have taught him that. Truly.

But it’s also funny because the first few years of Turbo’s life,  it would blow his mind when we explained that Grandma is also his daddy’s mom. But he clearly gets it now And he protects me from his dad, LOLOL!!! Because my other two sons aren’t going to protect me when they are too busy getting in on the teasing. I mean…maybe I started it? But still, I have Turbo Protection!

There was so much more going on. Youngest and his wife carpooled with us, and they are always fun. I saw in the back with my daughter-in-law because she’s the most fun   Also Wizard had a bit of a stressful week, and they way, he could chat with Youngest and decompress.

Middle son was in a great mood — he has a child on the way and we learned, a big promotion. He was definitely celebrating and he wove some hilarious stories. This child, well his a full grown man, has always been a charmer and I can see he has refined his ability to draw his audience into his story web — even when he’s making crazy stuff up on the spot. The way his brain works is, um, unique (in the best way). Oh and his two dogs have figured out how to open their crates, but he can’t figure out how. That’s a mystery that’s bugging him. Thankfully, they have great dogs, so it’s not actually a big deal. But how are they doing it???

Here’s a pic of me and Wizard at the restaurant:

How was your weekend?

I’m enjoying the book I’m currently reading: The Serpent & The Wings of Night, by Carissa Broadbent. I will admit, it was the cover attracted my attention:

What’s weird is snakes give me the creeps. But I love the colors and design, so that’s what caught my attention. And it’s about vampires, which I can usually take or leave. But I’m enjoying the book so far so the cover did it’s job.

In general though, my top ways of choosing books to read or listen to are:

1. Authors I love are my top choices.
2. “Word of mouth” by people I know.
3. Social media posts about books the poster loved. One of the my favorite things I love coming across is posts like “My top five books.” Posts like that will have been pulling up all the books on my vendor of choice to read more about them.
4. I guess then I’d probably list covers and blurbs.
5. When I’m unsure, I will read reviews. I know a lot of people claim they don’t, but I skim then looking for consistent things that either I know I’ll really enjoy, or tip me off that this book isn’t for me.

How do you select books?

Not much happened this last weekend. We didn’t go to Turbo’s game, and made a new plan to go to his game on the 27th and then lunch with my daughter-in-law and Turbo (and CPA Boy if he can — tax season can cut into his weekends). Naturally it ended up not raining during his game. But if we had gone, it would have rained

Otherwise, Wizard’s dealing with stuff with his brother’s house (we’ll be so glad when he’s finally done handling with the estate), and I was working with my  middle daughter-in-law’s mom to find a location for the baby shower. We don’t have a house located central enough, so we need a venue that fits our budget. We made some progress and will hopefully get a venue nailed down this week or the weekend. I really like her mom so I think we’re going to enjoy this.

Sunday I spent two hours trying on clothes in Kohls, and came home with a dress, a shirt and sunglasses. Then I ordered two pairs of sandals to see how they fit. I’m trying. The styles of clothes just doing suit me. I need my basic summer clothes before we go to Hawaii Mid-May. I ruin, wear out or hate most of my shirts lately. Wizard is nagging me to buy clothes that I want.

This week is shaping up to be full of appointments and more waiting. I’m having the throat procedure on May 3rd (assuming nothing changes as we are still gathering tests and results), so I’m doing the bloodwork Monday and need to go buy a volunteer shirt at the animal shelter. Tues is my eye doc appointment. Wed is errands. Thursday is my Dog Walking Class, and Friday is something I can remember But things are getting done so that’s always a win.

I also began reading THE SERPERANT AND THE WINGS OF THE NIGHT by Carissa Broadbent and am enjoying it. It’s a vampire paranormal.

How was your weekend?

TGIF! It was a fast week for me. Okay, let’s get into sharing five random things about our week;

1. The temperature was in the 80s and hot yesterday, yet it’s supposed to rain on Saturday. The wacky weather is creating lots of allergy and sinus issues.
2. I bought some pitted dates, filled them with peanut butter and covered them in dark chocolate. They are in my fridge plotting ways to make me fat. They are also way too easy to make, and that’s just dangerous
3. I’m trying to volunteer for my local animal shelter, but I’m having to work around some scheduling issues on my part. Of course, I’d like to do the most popular thing of walking the shelter dogs, and that has a prerequisite class “Dog Walking Level 1.” That class is always full. But I had a stroke of luck yesterday, and a spot opened up for next Thursday. I signed up! I want get qualified and commit to future dates to walk dogs now, so once it’s hot, I don’t decide to wait until summer is over. Dog walking is between 8am and 10am, so it’s shouldn’t be too intolerable. In the meantime, I may put in some hours doing anything else they need — washing bowls, folding blankets, cleaning tools in the clinic, however I can help for a couple hours here and there. I’m a big supporter of our animal shelter and I really hope volunteering works out, but we’ll see if it works out.
4. I had coffee with Biker Witch yesterday in Barnes and Noble. We were mostly catching up, and I love that. But we also book shopped, which is always fun. I bought one book that was really random — I think it’s a Young Adult, but I’m hoping it’ll catch my interest enough to keep me reading. My sister bought two books because she must outdo me in all things, LOL!
5. Tomorrow we hope to go see Turbo play baseball if it doesn’t rain. The weather app is insisting it will rain, so we’ll see. If we can’t go this time, we’ll go on the 27th. Otherwise, I need to do some cleaning and maybe do some clothes shopping.

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

When I first saw the term “Yoga Butt” I thought, “Wow someone must have worked really hard to get a yoga butt! Good for them.”

Sadly, I was wrong. It’s basically a version of a pulled or strained muscle deep in the butt-hip area. I’m pretty sure I have it. It’s soooo annoying and takes way too long to heal.

Even more annoying is that this hip has been warning me for a couple weeks by twinging more and more each day. I just kept ignoring it until Monday morning when I tried a new yoga practice and felt the muscle go hot and angry (but not the burn of a tear, or at least not a significant one). So not only is Yoga Butt not good or impressive, it’s my fault that I got it. I had this injury several years ago, and thought I was doing all the right things to prevent reinjuring it. Obviously, I was a tad overconfident (as well as being an idiot for not slowing down when the twinges started!).

Oh well, it will heal. And the good news is this week is calm, so I don’t have to rush around which will also help. Although, I probably shouldn’t have been shoveling dirt today

How’s your Wednesday going?