Author Archives: mohawkvalleygirl

Non-Sequitur Sick Day

Posted on October 9, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

On the brighter side, I haven’t had a headache in a long time.  On the darker side, there’s Darth Vader.

I am attempting to write my blog post while on a break at work, so that I merely have to type it in later, when I will be pressed for time if not brain power.  I am a little pressed for brain power now, in case you hadn’t noticed.  Unable to come up with anything of substance, I fall back on trying to be funny.

I’ve always tried to be funny.  It’s fun, it sometimes gets you friends, and it can cover up a load of insecurities.  Of course there are those times when the humor falls flat or you get accused of trying too hard or being inappropriate. Nobody’s perfect.

My headache is getting worse.

That is when I stopped writing and went back to work.  I felt fairly bad-ass for powering through a migraine.  At least, I felt that I was bad-ass, which is not quite the same thing.  What I actually felt like was Westley in The Princess Bride after Count Ruger has sucked five years of his life out of him on that torture machine (I’m just going to assume we’ve all seen that movie numerous times and and quote all the best lines).

Full disclosure:  I am in fact NOT pressed for time right now as was earlier predicted, because I called the director of the play I am stage managing (Lunch Hour at Ilion Little Theatre) and told her I was ill.  So it is a stage manager’s sick day as well as a blogger’s sick day.

It ought to be Non-Sequitur Thursday.  Unfortunately, except for that lame Darth Vader joke in the first paragraph, I’m afraid I’m kind of… sequential.  Not consequential, mind you.  However, as a consequence of my migraine, I’m going to go sit on the couch and relax.  Hope to see you on Lame Post Friday.  Have fun storming the castle!

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Non Sequitur Thursday, personal and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Overwhelming Temptation

Posted on October 8, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am going to have a Wuss-out Wednesday and I am not going to apologize.  Maybe I will apologize.  Or maybe it will be too much trouble even to do that.

Oh, quit playing that imaginary violin.  Like you never got tired at the end of a long day!  Get over yourself!  Or don’t get over yourself.  I am trying to avoid telling other people what to do, although one must admit, sometimes the temptation to do so is overwhelming.

I  worked a ten-hour day today, and it was one of those days where the tenth hour was tacked on at the end.  Why is it that so much more tiring than going in two hours instead of one hour early?  That may be a good question for some half-baked philosophy on Lame Post Friday.  Will I even make it to Friday?  I suppose there is no reason to fear I will not, but the temptation to express myself dramatically is sometimes overwhelming.

Leaving work an hour later than usual, I nonetheless headed to the laundromat, something of a nemesis to me these days.  Perhaps I could have gone out and bought new underwear, but I was running out of clean everything else as well.  I started late enough that I was not finished when Steven got home from work.  He called me on my cell phone then drove to Ilion to join me.

Naturally the temptation to send out for food was overwhelming.  Steven called Sorrento’s, which is right across the street from the laundromat.  Unfortunately, we were done folding and our food was going to be 45 minutes.  Now what?  Sorrento’s does not have a bar where we could sit and have a drink while we waited.

“There’s Crossway’s Tavern,” I suggested, not thinking Steven would go for it.  Steven went for it.

As we sat at the bar at Crossways, I said I would write a blog post about it.  However, now that we are home, in our comfy clothes and have eaten,  all I really want to write is a Wuss-out Wednesday.  The temptation to do so is, as you might guess, overwhelming.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, personal, Wuss Out Wednesday and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

What I Meant to Post Last Thursday

Posted on October 7, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

For this week’s Tired Tuesday, I present the Running Commentary I wrote but did not fully type in last Thursday (perhaps you read my post about my computer tribulations).  In fact, I had meant to run today and write about that but instead stayed at work an extra hour.  I can use the cash.  Now I am pressed for time but managed to finish typing in what I wrote last week. I always say, waste not, want not!

Regular readers and well-wishers may be happy to hear that I started running again.  According to my Running Journal I have not gone since Aug. 3.  Yikes!  How mortifying to admit it.  I suppose it is possible that I went once and did not note it, but the fact remains: I waited TOO long to begin again.  However, regret is a profitless venture.  I ran and now I shall write about it.

When  I left work Wednesday, it was near perfect running conditions.  The rain had stopped and mostly dried up.  It was neither too cool nor too hot.  There was even cloud cover, so the afternoon sun would not get in my eyes.

“It would be flying in the face of fate not to run,” I remarked to the colleague I was walking out with.  Kind of like not taking the elevator when it is right there open and your feet hurt.

I had rehearsal at 6:30 as well as a blog post to write, a shower to take and the usual problem of finding something to wear.  I mentally calculated how long these things would take and figured a twenty-minute run with ten-minute cool-down would be fine.  Oh, I also had to find something to eat.  No doubt all these things could be worked out.  What I could NOT do was get on the computer for a quick check of Facebook and email before I did anything else.

I know some of you are saying with a disdainful sniff that you NEVER get on Facebook and you have NO problem eschewing all forms of electronic distraction.  Well, that’s nice for you.  The rest of my readers are nodding wisely in agreement (with me).

I still almost talked myself out of it.  I was hungry!  I had rehearsal!  The other part of me said, Flying in the face of fate! and Oh, just do it!  So I did.

And it wasn’t bad at all.  My first feeling as I started shuffling along was one of triumph.  I was RUNNING!  (Yes, what I do counts as running!  Shut up!)  I was going to post as my Facebook status, “I ran!”  I would probably get lots of Likes.  Perhaps it is a product of my low self-esteem, but I love to get Likes on Facebook (I like to get Likes on WordPress too.  Just saying).

The run continued to feel pretty good.  My knees felt a little sore but not sore enough to stop me.  I figure running will help me lose weight and weighing less will help my knees more than anything else.  In fact, I was feeling skinnier already.

I was happy to note some patches of brightly colored leaves as I ran.  I’ve seen some leaves changing, but they seemed more brown than anything else.  I was delighted to see bright orange, my favorite.

The run was going pretty well.  My legs felt OK (other than the knees), my breathing was fine, even my feet didn’t hurt much, which was surprising because they had been aching all day at work.  I blame the steel-toed work shoes, although I was happy enough for them the day I dropped a pan of metal parts on my foot.

I ran for the twenty minutes I had set out to do.  I walked nine minutes for my cool-down, because that was how long it took me to get around the block.

I had plenty of time to make my blog post by virtue of having written most of it during breaks at work.  I did not have time to fix myself something to eat but made do with a few pieces of cheese supplemented by a candy bar purchased from Ilion Little Theatre Club at rehearsal.

Do you suppose the candy bar cancelled out the run as far as my weight loss goals are concerned?  If so, that would be unfortunate.  On the other hand, the candy bar tasted really good and helped me get through rehearsal.  Also, it is better than if I ate the candy bar and did not run, so I’ll call the glass half full and not of diet soda (I HATE diet soda!).

I felt happy with my little run and especially happy to be writing a Running Commentary.  I may have been happier yet if I could have published it the same day I originally wrote it, but this is nice too.

 

3 Comments

Posted in humor, personal, running, running commentary and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Multiple M Monday

Posted on October 6, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

“The weather is going to stick around.”  –Bill Kardas, WKTV Weather.

I think he meant that the GOOD weather is going to stick around, but Steven and I were amused by the way that disembodied quote looks. And the word “disembodied”  to me has a distinctly Halloweenish sound to it.  It brings to mind disembodied heads and hands.  Nice.

If it was not already obvious, I am having a Mental Meanderings Monday.  It was either that or a long Monday Moan, and who wants to hear more of my belly-aching?  Not me!

Soon I must run to rehearsal for Lunch Hour, the first show of the Ilion Little Theatre 2015-16 season (yes, yes, I have mentioned it before; it bears repeating).  First Steven and I have to help with a little project for the Herkimer County Historical Society.  I’ll just be a little mysterious about that for now (Mysterious Monday?  I like that, too).

As the month progresses, I shall also be preoccupied with Steven’s and my Halloweddinganniversaweenary Party.  I thought it would be fun to mention the name.  I made it up myself. Oh dear, I do hope all of my followers weren’t hoping for an invitation.  That would make it a larger party than I have resources for.  Not as large a party as SOME bloggers would have.  I say it with jealousy but also with respect.

And now I’m getting silly (Malarkey Monday?),  but I am over 200 words, so I can sign off now with a relatively clear conscience.  Hope to see you all on Tired Tuesday.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Monday Mental Meanderings, personal and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Running through the Window

Posted on October 5, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

Does that give you a dramatic image of a triumphant crashing through glass?  I’m afraid it isn’t quite like that.  However, I ran today and thought a Sunday Running Commentary might make a nice post.

Regular readers know I have been having the damnedest time getting back into running, which is a little ridiculous considering how much I love to run.  Well, I’ve been busy with community theatre commitments (as you may have read my blog posts about), dealing with physical problems (long story, not very interesting), and my ever-present depression.

Lately I have been more comfortable talking about my depression.  Part of me cringes when I bring it up, though, because, I think about those nay-sayers (some of whom, I admit, live in my own head) who think it’s not a real thing.

“Put on your big girl panties!” they say (I talked about that heinous expression in yesterday’s post). Also,  “Snap out of it!”  “Quit feeling sorry for yourself.”  “Get over it!”  “Just do something.”

That last bit of advice is actually a good one.  It has been widely observed that doing something, almost anything, will often alleviate depression.  It is also a widely observed fact that those of us suffering from depression often feel we cannot manage anything further than staying in bed and pulling the covers further up over our heads (that is, our respective heads in our respective beds; if we were all in bed together, well, I leave that up to your imagination).

What I have found for myself is that it does NOT work to just force myself to do something.  Grit-teeth determination only gives me a sore jaw.  Beating myself up only makes me feel worse (although I am really good at it, so that ought to give a boost to my self-esteem).  I have to sort of back into these things.  For example, I can’t say to myself, “I HAVE to run.  I MUST run. I OUGHT TO run.  I SHOULD run.”  I sit home and stew over these exhortations.  However, if  I say, “It would be a good idea if I ran,”  I often find myself in my running gear and going.

I ran on Wednesday using these tactics.  I felt so good about myself.  I wrote a blog post about it on Thursday, which never got typed in and published due to computer glitches (perhaps you read my Non-Sequitur Thursday post about that) (I suppose I could publish it next week, suitably introduced).  Then I did not run Thursday, Friday or Saturday, and felt predictably disgusted with myself over it.

Oh the vicious cycle:  too depressed to run, not running making me even more depressed.  Then I logged onto WordPress to see a picture of muscular running legs on Return of the Modern Philosopher, a blogger I often read.  I scrolled down and read some other blogs.  I could not bear to read about someone else’s running triumphs.  I read some earlier posts instead, making comments as I like to do.

Of course in one of his posts, the Philosopher talked about running.  I made some silly comment, he replied. I logged on and off WordPress as the day wore on, to be confronted by those legs again and again.  Hmmm…

This morning I slept in, decided that I would walk today and ease back into running.  I got up, made coffee, got on the computer.  Now, I did not make coffee yesterday.  I am on my own for the weekend, because my nice husband, who makes the coffee I like best, is visiting his family.  I had tea.  Later in the day I heated up some day-old coffee that was still in the pot (I know, some of you are saying, “EW!” while others are nodding, “Yeah, I’ve done that.”).  This morning I wanted some fresh-brewed goodness.

Logging back into WordPress, I made a few more comments and replies, saw those legs again, drank my coffee and pondered my fate.  Finally I looked up and said, “Oh, I’m going to go running now.”

This is unusual for me.  Normally I run as soon as I get out of bed or home from work or not at all.  Those are my three choices.  I guess sometimes I go at other times, though, and today was one of them.

I did not get any of them there endorphins I hear so much about, BUT I felt terrific from the moment I started till the moment I finished.  I was just so proud of myself that I got out there and did it.  Why in the world did I wait so long?  Perhaps the euphoria was the result of my first real cup of coffee in two days.  I don’t care.  I’ll take my good moods however I can get them.

I pondered the vicious cycle I mentioned earlier, and I realized something.  In the prison of depression (just to choose a really dramatic metaphor), I can’t break through the ever-thickening walls.  I can’t beat up the guards to break free (the guards being those nay-sayers that live in my head, I guess).  But every so often, a small window opens, and I can sneak through that window.

So remember that, any of you who suffer from depression or just a little blue mood, and I shall try to remember it myself:  watch for the window.  When one opens, sneak through it out into the sunshine and fresh air.  I hope to see you there.

 

2 Comments

Posted in commentary, humor, personal, running commentary and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Mature Woman Undergarments?

Posted on October 4, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is a well-known fact that if you spend too much time talking about your troubles they only get worse.  For one reason, people get tired of listening to you.  Then instead of sympathy you get eye rolls and, worse yet, advice.  And the longer you have been complaining, the less sympathetic the advice becomes, especially from the people that were not all that sympathetic to begin with.

The preceding paragraph was me trying to talk myself out of having Wrist to Forehead Saturday.  It is just about reaching the point (if it hasn’t already) when somebody tells me to put on my big girl panties, which is quite the confusing mental image, if you ask me.

In the first place, my panties as well as most of my clothes, have gotten smaller ever since I went on the South Beach Diet (not as small as I would like them to be, but let’s not open that can of worms). Oh, I know, by “big girl” they mean “grown woman,” and they don’t mean a growing waistline.  I wish they would say what they mean.

Additionally, at whatever size, “panties” does not conjure up images of toughness and the ability to handle things. I almost never call them “panties” anyways; I call them underwear.  In fact, they come in all shapes and sizes.  You’ve got your briefs, your hip-huggers, your bikinis and your thongs.  I suppose any of them could be “panties,” although the word brings to my mind the cute, lacy ones.  You try leaving the house wearing nothing but lacy underwear and see how far it gets you!

And another thing, what is with “girl”?  Shouldn’t that be “woman”?  It has been a sore point with feminists everywhere that in our language at least,  females remain “girls” throughout adulthood while males cease being “boys” and become “men” at least at some point.  At least when you’re talking about them; how some of them act is another can of worms we will leave for another day.

So, did we all enjoy that?  I started out to whine and instead dissected a commonly (over)used phrase.  I can’t help feeling I could make this a better post with a little more time, thought and effort, but, well, we’ve talked about the daily posting thing before.  We’ll just have to live with this one as is.

As a final note, and because I often over-share:  I’m trying to put off doing laundry for a little longer, so today I’m going commando.

 

3 Comments

Posted in commentary, humor, personal and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Me and Balzac

Posted on October 3, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

Hello, and welcome to another edition of Lame Post Friday.  I am your host, Mohawk Valley Girl.  To be perfectly honest, I would be taking another Blogger’s Sick Day, but it would be so tiresome in me to complain about my aches and pains.  Uh, I mean I don’t have any aches and pains.  I’m great!  I’m fine!  Everything will be delightful!

I got to work today and immediately sought out my friend, Dale, to say to him, “Balzac.”  I did not see him at first but paused to say hello to my friend Karen.  I told her, “If you see Dale, tell him Balzac.”  I thought she might not remember that, even after I explained why, but it did not matter, because I soon saw Dale and told him myself.

The explanation, which is not nearly as captivating as the word “Balzac,” is that Dale and I often work on crossword puzzles together.  Balzac was an answer we could not figure out.  While I was reading something completely unrelated the previous evening (while I waited for my desktop to boot up), I found out that Balzac was the writer referenced in the mysterious clue.  I spent the rest of the evening repeating, “Balzac” to myself so I would remember to tell Dale.

Full disclosure:  I have never read anything by Balzac.  I don’t know that I have even ever mentioned him in a sentence before this.  However, if this has been remiss of me, I believe I have made amends in the previous 24 hours.

If the ghost of Balzac is listening (and I’m sure I don’t know why he should be), I hope he is having a pleasant Friday, as indeed I hope you are yourself.

This was perhaps a silly post, but at least I didn’t whine too much.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Lame Post Friday, personal and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Damned at the Desktop

Posted on October 2, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

This is much better.

Just a little computer problem over here.  It is frustrating, because I wrote a blog post earlier today.  I think I even ended it with a little self-congratulation on not indulging in Non-Sequitur Thursday.  It was when I began to type it into WordPress that the trouble started.

I was, as usual these days, on our little Acer Netbook, a handy device given to us by my dear sister, Victoria.  It is a well-known fact that I am not technologically inclined and any device invented in this century mystifies me.  In other words, I don’t know what I did, but I messed it up.  The Acer is still working fine, but my WordPress account is suddenly in teeny-weeny, itty-bitty, minute, miniscule (I’m doing this without a thesaurus by the way) printing.  I can’t even read it properly with my glasses off (I am extremely near-sighted: me with my glasses off is the same as a normal person with a magnifying glass, as long as I hold whatever I’m looking at close enough) (that may be the only time ever that you see the phrase “the same as a normal person” referring to me).

Where was I?

Well, where I AM is upstairs on my desktop, which is for a change and perhaps only for the moment, behaving itself.  Why am I not finishing typing in what I started downstairs?  You know, that is a very good question.

The fact is, I am having a bit of a mental/emotional/physical problem lately.  I don’t mean to complain about my ills (I know, I know, for not meaning to I do an awful lot of it), but I am having the damnedest time DOING anything.  Even taking a shower required great effort and self-motivation.  Laugh, point and judge all you want.  The fact is, as soon as I said to myself, “Oh just have a Non-Sequitur Thursday and be done with it,” I felt a great lightening of spirit.

I’ll use that other post tomorrow, when I bet Steven will have figured out how to fix my WordPress.  Or perhaps this desktop will continue to behave.  I do love a full-size keyboard.  If only I could think of a snappy headline for today’s post, my life would be perfect.

 

4 Comments

Posted in humor, Non Sequitur Thursday, personal and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

But Was I Aged in Oak?

Posted on October 1, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

When Steven and I are in Rome, NY, we generally eat at Chez Mom and Dad.  the food is excellent and the company unparalleled.  the last time we were in town, however, Mom and Dad were not,  so we decided to check out Teddy’s on Black River Boulevard (“The Boulevard” to Romans).

When we lived in Rome for a brief period in the ’90s, I liked to go to Teddy’s for lunch.  As we walked in, the whole place looked different.

“You remodeled,” I said, admiring the improvements.  Imagine my embarrassment when the hostess told us they had remodeled at least five years ago.  You see what I miss by not living in Rome any more.

We were soon sitting in a booth and perusing menus.  Our waitress asked could she start us off with a glass of wine or a cold beer.  Pointing at the wine list, I asked in my most superior fake English accent if the Chardonnay was aged in stainless or in oak.  Regular readers may remember that is my one bit of wine-tasting knowledge.

“Or don’t you know?” I added, in my regular, not superior voice.  She thought it was oak aged, so I ordered Pinot Gris.  Steven asked for the Chardonnay.  I tasted it when it arrived and found it did have that buttery taste I don’t care for.  My Pinot Gris was quite tasty.

For dinner I ordered a Garden Burger, a veggie burger topped with roasted red peppers, cucumbers, spinach and tomato with pesto mayo.  Steven got Teddy’s Turkey Club.  Steven just loves a good turkey club.  We had a choice of cole slaw or french fries.  I got the slaw, Steve got the fries.

The food was yummy.  I haven’t had a veggie burger in a long time. I’ll have to look for them at the super market.  While we ate we enjoyed listening to some ’80s music over the loudspeaker.  I suppose I should be upset that this music is considered “oldies” now, but so am I an oldie.  Time passes, after all.

We were very happy with our meal.  I grabbed a take-out menu as we left.  Maybe some time when we’re headed to Mom and Dad’s, we’ll pick up dinner on the way.  In any case,  I don’t intend to wait as long before I got to Teddy’s again.

Teddy’s is located at852 Black River Blvd., Rome NY, phone number 315-336-7839.  Their website is http://www.teddysrestaurantny.com/ordereze/default.aspx.  You can also Like them on Facebook.

 

4 Comments

Posted in humor, local business, personal, Restaurants and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Me and the Police

Posted on September 30, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

I saw on Facebook (an unending source of information) that Thank the Police Blue Ribbon Day happens from 9:01 p.m. Sept. 29 to 8:59 p.m. Sept. 30.  What better time, I thought, to make my post about Coffee and Conversation with a Cop (also known as Cup with a Cop).  I attended the latest session of the program last Saturday, Sept. 26, and enjoyed it very much.

The program runs the last Saturday of the month from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at First Baptist Church in Herkimer.  One or two police officers attend (as allowed by their duties).  Anybody in the community is welcome to come and chat.  I’ve asked questions about police procedure for that novel I keep trying to write.  We talk about the state of crime in the area, local police work, and many other related topics.

I confess that when I attend these sessions I am torn between an uplifting feeling of civic virtue and a sheepish acknowledgement that I am also looking forward to the refreshments.  Then again, as a community theatre colleague once observed as we contemplated with satisfaction a large crowd for dessert theatre, “If you feed them, they will come.”

While I enjoyed several cookies, I also contributed to a lively and wide-ranging discussion.  What I really liked about it was that people’s attitudes were geared to, “What can we do to make things better?”  The underlying thought seemed to be that we actually can make it better.  I found that refreshing and encouraging.

Sometimes at these sessions, when we get to talking about the state of the world, we fall into a bit of,  “Look at THOSE people!  They don’t show any respect!”  From there, it is a short step to, “It wasn’t like that when WE were young!”  Yes, I have done it myself, but I question the validity of the assertion.  One time an older guy (older than me at any rate) was bemoaning the younger generation, and I said to him, “You realize your grandfather said the same thing about you.”  Of course I was just guessing, but I bet I guessed right.

Officer Crippen, our cop for the day, did talk about respect, but he talked a lot about how much better things go when he shows respect to others.  Obviously, sometimes you have to tackle the bad guy, but often when you come into a situation, what first meets the eye does not tell the whole story.  He finds if he can ask, “What’s going on here?” and get an answer, he often gets a better result.  He said when possible, he prefers verbal de-escalation.

Another topic that came up was the ever-increasing problem of heroin addiction.  We talked about societal and economic factors in the situation, as well as the more sophisticated techniques of the drug dealers and the police department’s troubles in combating them.  Long-range solutions, of course, are not easy to come by, but we discussed those, too.

As usual, the idea of all citizens being the eyes and ears of the police came up.  “If you see something, say something” is the rule the police would like us to follow.  This is not said with a “Squeal on your neighbor” kind of vibe but rather with the intent to help your neighborhood and make our community better.  An example of this was a question I brought up.  It seems a number of people in my neighborhood enjoy the night life, sometimes returning loudly at a late hour.  If I think I hear a fight, the police would rather I call them and be wrong than not call them and be right.  After all, the cops may be able to stop a fight before somebody gets hurt.

I felt it was a really good session and was glad I was able to attend.  Cup with a Cop has been going on for a year now.  One of the last things we talked about was how to expand the program, bring more people into the discussion, and let it spread to other communities.  One possibility is to ask other churches to host sessions. Another suggestion was to hold a Conversation at the library.

“Yes, the library,” I said.  “Then afterwards, people can stay and listen to Guitar Group!  I love that Guitar Group.”  It would make a wonderful blog post.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in Community Events, humor, personal and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
← Older Posts
Newer Posts →