Author Archives: mohawkvalleygirl

Add more Monster Pictures and Keep Typing!

“You called?”

I am having a Nosferatu kind of a day.  By that I mean that I just feel like opening my blog with a picture of my favorite guy (uh, I mean my second favorite guy.  Obviously Steven is my FAVORITE guy).  And since it is Lame Post Friday, I shall. Oh who am I kidding?  When I feel like putting in a picture of a vampire, I do.  That is one of the things that makes blogging such a fun hobby.

I have had quite a day.  Work was stressful, but that was mostly my fault.  Fortunately, this is not a blog about work.  After work, I went and worked out.  It did not go as well as I could have hoped, but you’ll have that.  I feel certain that my body derived some benefit from it.  After coming home, having my usual recovery beverage of chocolate milk, and showering, I went out on a mission.

My mission was to find artificial tulips for props for Spring Into Murder.  I went to every dollar store in the area and then to Wal-Mart (I know, these are not the kinds of stores I normally plug, but in the interests of accuracy, I mention them).  I met success at my last stop.  If I have success in constructing the props, perhaps I will write a blog post titled Adventures in Tulips.

In the meantime, this is my Friday Lame Post.  Unfortunately, I see now that my picture of Nosferatu is completely unrelated to my post.  What to do?  Add more monster pictures and keep typing!

But the full moon is not until Sunday!

In fact, I do not intend to howl tonight.  I am sitting on my couch, chatting with my husband, and watching Dateline.  I believe another episode will follow, or at least one will be available on another channel.  I would like to crochet.  I think one more monster picture and I will be on my merry way.

Next Friday, I think I’ll go dancing!

 

Looking for a New Throwback on Non-Sequitur Thursday

So last week I did a Throw Back Thursday with Non-Sequitur overtones.  Then I realized I had used the same photos together in a previous post.  I suppose these things happen, but I hope to avoid such a thing today.  I am posting in haste (posthaste is a word you don’t here much these days, but I like it).  I have rehearsal for Spring Into Murder later, and I am doing laundry now.  You know, that murder mystery we are doing at Morning Star Methodist Church on Saturday, April 28.  I wonder if any tickets are still available.  I should share the Facebook event again, in case local readers are interested (see what I did there?).

“I don’t always do Shakespeare plays, but when I do, it’s with LiFT.”

This is Tucker just before a performance of The Tempest last summer with LiFT, Little Falls Theatre Company.  Tucker is in Spring Into Murder as the trophy husband of Holland Mills, CEO of Two Lips Cosmetics.

“Whoooo says Cindy can’t write a blog post?”

This cute little owl caught my eye.  As I type this, I see part of the title of the book he’s sitting on:  I Hated, Hated, HATED This Movie! by Roger Ebert.  I just love reading unflattering reviews, although I disagree with Ebert on some of his assessments.

Here’s to hasty blog posts!

I end with a shot of Steven and me doing what we do best:  hanging out and having a good old time!  My sister, Cheryl, took this picture at Woodland Farm Brewery in Utica, NY.

Well, three pictures and over 250 words, I call that good enough for a pre-rehearsal post.  I hope to see you all on Lame Post Friday!

 

What Weight-Loss Goals?

In lieu of my usual Wuss-out Wednesday nonsense, I shall give a brief shout-out to one of my stops on Scattered Saturday:  Franco’s Pizza in Ilion, NY.

Kim and I were having great luck finding fashion at New 2 You Consignments, but we were getting hungry.  We were discussing where to go and mentioned that Franco’s was right next door.  Robbi, the proprietor or New 2 You, highly recommended the place, so we went right over.

I was immediately charmed with the retro 1950’s decor.  We looked at entrees and desserts in the case and pondered our options.  Finally I settled on a small antipasto salad, and Kim got a roast beef sub.  We also had a couple of garlic knots. Yum!  We both took leftovers home.

Naturally I am making plans to bring Steven to Franco’s at the earliest opportunity.  I still have to try their pizza and their pasta and their subs and, oh yes, their desserts!  Also, I will want their antipasto and garlic knots again.  No wonder I have such trouble meeting my weight-loss goals.

Franco’s Pizza is located at 6 Central Plaza, Ilion, phone number 315-894-5580.  They are open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.  For more information, visit their website at www.francosilion.com.  You can also Like them on Facebook.  I did.

 

I’m a Fool for Tired Tuesday

Tired Tuesday it is!  I have been rushing around like a fool since I left work, and all I want to do now is crochet and watch Dateline.  That gives me about 30 seconds to make a blog post or miss the introduction and perhaps the first couple of scenes.  Yes, missing the beginning!  Damn!  Oh, it is an episode we’ve seen.  And one I don’t like.  A teenage boy is coerced into confessing to a crime he did not commit.  Well, that give me plenty of time to make a decent blog post, doesn’t it?  Or rather, shouldn’t it?

I worked out after work today.  I have been keeping kind of quiet about this, but I started going to the YMCA in Mohawk, NY.  I am not as consistent as I would like to be about these things, but one has to start somewhere, after all.  The important thing is: when you miss a few days, you do NOT say, “Oh to hell with it, this isn’t working!”  You begin again, much the same way I do with my running (and writing).  Begin again.  And again.  And again.

After getting home, enjoying a recovery beverage of chocolate milk, checking Facebook and email, and showering, I headed out to the store.  I ran out of healthy, not fattening things for lunch.  I got some good stuff.  Believe it or not (I was a doubter myself), I actually made the salad, and chopped radishes and celery.  I eat the celery and radishes on a break and the salad on lunch.  In case anybody was interested in my eating habits.

One thing I have not done is the laundry.  I hope I have sufficient clean clothes for tomorrow, because I am quite done for the day.  Except for a little crochet.  I am making a baby afghan for a co-worker and I want to finish it before the kid gets too big for it.  Happy Tuesday, everybody.

 

Murderous Mental Meanderings.

I do not think it is any too early for this blog to become All Spring Into Murder All The Time.  I have six days to get my act together!  AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!  OK, got that out of my system.  I have just time for a fast Monday Mental Meanderings post before rehearsal.  And I just thought of my headline. I bet I’ve used it before.  Well, these things happen.  We must make the best of them.

I just walked to the library to print out a sort of a program for Saturday night’s performance.  I say a sort of, because it only lists the character’s names with a short identifying phrase.  No actors’ names, not even the title.  After all, WE don’t know there is going to be a murder.  It is always a little disconcerting when an audience member says, “So there’s going to be a murder tonight”  or, worse yet, “We’ve never been to one of these before, what are we supposed to do?”  I don’t want to break character (as we actors say), but I also don’t want to leave people in the dark and/or rudely not answer their questions.  We find ways of dealing with these things.  That is part of the fun of live, interactive theatre.

Yes, I am tired and definitely feeling Monday.  Luckily, I am not driving to rehearsal but bumming a ride from my friend, Kim.  She is very tired too, but I hope to keep her awake enough to drive with chitchat.  I am rarely too tired to chat.

The murder mystery, once again, is Spring Into Murder, at Morning Star Methodist Church at 36 Second St., Ilion, NY, 5 p.m. Saturday, April 28.  $20 includes a delicious roast pork dinner (I know this, because they feed the actors and this will be the third one we’ve done there).  Advance tickets must be purchased by Thursday by calling 315-894-4093.  You can go to the Facebook Event for more information.

 

 

Fast Post on a Sunday

Every Sunday it is the same thing.  I start the day thinking I’ll get all sorts of stuff done. Sometimes I even do a thing or two.  But at some point, I remember, because my body reminds me:  there is no point in trying to get anything done on a Sunday.  I had rehearsal for Spring Into Murder (MUST write an entire blog post about that!).  Steven and I have a dinner date later.  Having gotten a couple of things done but feeling inclined to accomplish nothing further, I thought, “I’ll do my blog post.  Easy, fun, and useful.”  Of course the usefulness can be debated, but you may discuss that among yourselves if you are so inclined.

To make a long story longer (I bet you thought I was going to say, “make a long story short,” and you were taking a breath to say, “Too late!”  Gotcha!), I could not do a blog post earlier. I just sat there scrolling up and down Facebook and watching the clock till it was time to go to rehearsal.

Rehearsal went pretty good, by the way.  We discussed costumes.  I had brought what I intend to wear:  loud purple pants and a louder jacket.  Actually I had two colorful jackets to choose between, and one cast member insisted I must wear the louder one.  I agreed.  Kim had brought every glamorous black dress in her wardrobe for our inspection.  Oh come on, like none of you has more than one glamorous black dress?  I personally have none, but I’m weird. We all know that.  I am unusual among women in that I do not long for the elusive little black dress.  Be that as it may, Kim has some wonderful frocks, and we all enjoyed voicing our opinions.

More importantly, we ran the scripted part of the show a couple of times.  I think it is coming together nicely.  We discussed the black tulips, which are so important to the plot. We discussed the next rehearsal.

The murder mystery, Spring Into Murder, will be presented next Saturday, April 28, at Morning Star Methodist Church, 36 Second St., Ilion, NY, at 5 p.m.  $20 tickets include a roast pork dinner and must be purchased in advance by calling the church at 315-864-4093.

Now I must get changed for our dinner date.  Perhaps I will wear black, but not a little black dress.

 

I Scatter It Good!

It is the moment of my Saturday when I pause in my gyrations for a Scattered Saturday post before returning to the bra off, sweats on, wine drinking, TV-watching, husband hanging out with portion of my evening.  And I have scattered it pretty good today!

I did not leave the house till shortly after 10 a.m., when Steven headed out to work. I went to a rummage sale at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Ilion, NY.  It was $1 for three bags day.  Woo-hoo!  I only got two bags worth of stuff but felt I had gotten way more than $1 worth of goods.  Back home, I wrote one more post card (I had written four earlier) and walked to the post office.  I took the long way home, making for a half hour walk.  Remember, if you are too busy to exercise, you are too busy!

After contacting my friend, Kim, via Facebook, and making plans for her to come over, I spent almost a half hour frantically cleaning my living room and bathroom.  There is nothing like somebody coming over to motivate one for housework.  Did I make much progress?  Well, let’s just say that, luckily, Kim is not one to judge.  It was about 12:30 when she came over, which we deemed a good time for a mimosa.  For one reason, I had a bottle of Prosecco which I purchased yesterday when we went to the tasting at Valley Wine and Liquor.

Our first stop was at an estate sale I had noticed while on my walk.  The main thing I like about estate sales is walking through somebody’s house.  This was a really nice house!  Other than that, I find a lot of the stuff is priced higher than I want to spend and some of it is downright depressing.  For example, family photos.  Didn’t these people leave behind any family or friends who would want these pictures?  Perhaps I am over sensitive about these things.

Next we headed to Ilion to search for costumes for Spring Into Murder (you know, the murder mystery we are doing next Saturday at Morning Star Methodist Church in Ilion?  Perhaps I will write a blog post about it tomorrow).  First Kim pointed out a shirt she said would be perfect for me for any time.  After trying it on, I had to agree.  She found a gown we liked for her character for the mystery, then I found a shirt I liked for mine (I already have the purple pants).  Then it was on to New 2 Your Consignments, where we almost always have good luck.  And there were the perfect shoes for my character!  I also found a black tux shirt with rhinestones that I totally fell in love with.  Kim found  bunch of stuff as well.

By now we had worked up quite an appetite so went next door to Franco’s Pizza.  I had never been there before.  What a cool place!  Good food and retro ’50’s decor!  I’ll have to write a full blog post about it.  I even took some leftovers home which will be great for my lunch on Monday. Back home, we had another mimosa before Kim headed out.  What a great day!  I even had time for a nap before I had to start supper for Steven.

I have some great plans for tomorrow, too, including rehearsal for Spring Into Murder and Adventures in Housecleaning.  No, the second one is not another play, it is me cleaning my house. I thought if I put it in all caps I could generate a little enthusiasm in myself. I’ll report if it worked when I make my Wrist to Forehead Sunday post.  I hope your  weekend is turning out as fun as mine.

 

Dinner Indecision on Lame Post Friday

Full disclosure:  I was supposed to cook.  Well, with one thing and another (one thing being working out after work, another being going to a tasting at Valley Wine and Liquor with my friend Kim), I wasn’t ready to start cooking till about 20 minutes before Steven was due home.  Only I didn’t feel like cooking.  I wondered if Steven would be interested in going out to dinner.  I kind of thought he would not be.  I wasn’t sure I was.  I had put on a cute outfit to go to the tasting (although I daresay I flatter myself), but I was also looking forward to the bra off, sweats on portion of the day.  And the wine drinking portion of the day.

At least I could do something about the latter.  I poured myself a glass of Chardonnay, put Snapped on the television, and awaited events.  In due course, Steven came come.  He didn’t mind that I had not started cooking but did not immediately commit to going out.

“Let’s have a glass of wine and think about it,” he suggested.

“I’ll make a quick blog post,”  I said.

He said, “A blog post about whether we’re going out to dinner or not?”

So that is what my blog post is about.  I think we are going to Salvatore’s in Herkimer.  As soon as I finish my wine and Steven gets changed.  I hope he puts on a cute outfit.

 

 

Memories Before Murder

Today I am going to do a Throwback Thursday post, but I will call it Non-Sequitur Thursday, because that is what I like to call my Thursday silly posts.  I am in kind of a bad space lately, and I think some happy memories would help me out.  And this will be an easy post, so I can get back to watching 20/20 on OWN.  A little murder and mayhem always cheers me up.

I need a new 1920’s outfit.

This is my friend, Kim, and me at Gerber’s 1933 Tavern last year.  It was their Prohibition Party.  Good times.  Kim is the tall, gorgeous one.  I am wearing a tiara.

I miss that cute little doggy!

I mix things up a little with a picture of our late, much loved Spunky.  That is my crochet basket he decided would be a good bed for him.  Naturally I let him keep it, although I removed the unfinished afghan.

Now there’s a cast of killers!

And I zip back to the 1920’s with the cast of Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, the interactive murder mystery LiFT, the Little Falls Theatre Company, did at The Overlook Mansion in Little Falls last year.  Yes, that is me being strangled.  No doubt I was asking for it.

Not a murderer amongst them!

One more happy theatre memory:  the cast of Leading Ladies, the play I directed at Ilion Little Theatre in 2016.

Well, I think with this post I managed to be both Throwback and Non-Sequitur.  Yay  me.  Now for some murder and mayhem.  I hope to see you all on Lame Post Friday.

 

Spring Into Wuss-Out Wednesday

Let’s see if I can finish my Wuss-out Wednesday post before my ride to rehearsal gets here.  Rehearsal is for Spring Into Murder, the interactive murder mystery dinner theatre at Morning Star Methodist Church in Ilion, NY on Saturday, April 28.  I’ll try to get a number for tickets, in case any local readers are interested.  In the meantime, I thought I would write about spring.

WHAT SPRING????  you may well ask.  I ask it too.  My thermostat said it was 41 degrees out this afternoon.  I am in desperate need of exercise, so I went for a walk.  I love to walk and thought I might be able to write a decent Pedestrian Post about it, but I’m afraid it was a depressing walk.  Everything was brown and crappy-looking.  We are over half-way through April, for heavens’ sake.  Would a few flowers, maybe some green spouts, buds on the trees be too much to ask for?  Apparently so.  Additionally, I have some things on my mind which I will not bore you with (Freudian typo:  I started to put “now bore you with,” which tells me it is boring of me to mention them at all, so sorry).

When I got home, I thought I saw a tiny flash of yellow in my back yard.  Was it… could it be… it WAS!  A crocus!  I rejoiced. Then I got my Tablet and took a picture:

Note the brown grass. Tsk, tsk.

Then I took a better picture:

It does my heart good.

I went out front, to see if there were any more crocuses.  There were not, but I saw some green stuff that might eventually be tulips and lilies of the valley.

I think this is the tulip.

I think these are lilies of the valley.

As you can also see, I have some yard work to do.  There are lots of last year’s leaves still to be raked, and some garbage to be picked up.  It isn’t my garbage; it blew there in one of the recent wind storms.  At least nobody came along and dropped a house on me.

While I was out front, I took a picture of what the sidewalk plow did to us, and to almost everybody else in the village.  I had wanted a “before” picture of that, so when I fix it I can see what a good job I did (or not, let’s be honest).

You know, I think those are new cracks in the sidewalk as well. Damn!

Look at me, I’m over 400 words!  I think that’s fine for a Wuss-out Wednesday!  Now I’d better get ready for rehearsal.  There is nothing like a little murder to perk things up midway through the week.