Author Archives: mohawkvalleygirl

Go Jump in the Lame

Posted on March 15, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Here I am on Lame Post Friday and once again, I got nuthin’.

How can this be? How many posts have I written about how once I start writing, I just write more? It’s true. I write the blog post every day, and then I write the novel. And then I write more. So how come I’m not writing right now?

I know, writing about not writing is still writing. It just isn’t very interesting. It’s kind of — dare I say it? — lame.

Ah, but Lame Post Friday is for random observations and half-baked philosophy, and I believe yesterday I brought up some half-baked philosophy. A minor confession: I often declare things “half-baked philosophy suitable for Lame Post Friday” merely because I don’t feel like dealing with them on whatever day it happens to be. But when you get to Lame Post Friday and there isn’t a random observation in sight…

I think my question was something along the lines of is there a discernible reason for me to be writing this blog at all? Kind of a silly question, but consider the source (me). I don’t know if it’s half-baked philosophy after all. I write the blog because I like writing the blog. Even on days when I can’t think of a non-lame thing to say.

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World’s Dumbest Obsession

Posted on March 14, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I don’t really have anything except that title, which I thought of several days ago, not really intending to use it. I mean, is there any reason to do an entire post about “World’s Dumbest” on TruTV and how I can’t seem to live without it? On the other hand, someone might observe that there is little discernible reason for me to be writing this blog at all. To that person I say, questions of why run into half-baked philosophy, suitable for Lame Post Friday, not Non-Sequitur Thursday (which is today). In other words, nice try, but I’m not stopping.

Where was I? Ah yes, nowhere. I’m sitting in my living room, netbook (I think that’s what it’s called; it was given to me) on my lap, dinner in the oven and “World’s Dumbest” on TV in front of me. I’ve seen this episode before. I’ve seen most episodes before (see headline about obsession).

Tabby got a little miffed at me earlier, when I “ran” on the mini-tramp instead of taking her for a walk. I deemed it too cold out for cute little doggies. It was definitely too cold for me. I walked to a doctor’s appointment this morning from work. That was the longest ten-minute walk I have taken in a long time. On the brighter side, it is supposed to be warmer tomorrow.

Paragraph #3 was the non-sequitur of the post, in case you were wondering.

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A Toast to the Police

Posted on March 13, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’m sure some of my regular readers are interested to hear about the HPD/MPD Wine Tasting which Steven and I attended last Saturday. It was a wonderful event and we had a lovely time.

The fundraiser was sponsored by the police departments of Mohawk and Herkimer, NY. Money raised was to be split between the departments’ Special Response Teams and the memorial for K9 officer Ape. Ape, you may remember, lost his life during the tragic events of last March in Mohawk and Herkimer.

The evening, at Francesca’s Banquet facility in Ilion, was to feature wine, beer and liquor tastings, hors d’oeuvres, a Chinese auction and a 50/50. It ran from 6 to 10 p.m. Steven worked till 6:30, so the event was in full swing when we arrived.

The first table we stopped at was staffed by a local winemaker representing the Crusaders Winemakers of the Mohawk Valley Tasting Event (I foolishly did not make a note of his name). The Crusaders’ tasting is an annual event we have attended in the past (perhaps you read my blog post about last year’s). This year’s will be held April 27 at the VFW in Herkimer (preview of coming attractions). The gentleman at the table poured us a taste of a very good burgundy.

Next we went to the Bully Hill table. The St. Croix I tried there earned my ultimate accolade of “yummy.” Bully Hill is a prominent winery of the Finger Lakes. I’ve never been there, but I hope to make it one day soon. Vintage Wine and Spirits of Herkimer, one of my favorite liquor stores, also had a table. I tried some Cabernet Sauvignon there (always a favorite of mine). I hope they do another wine tasting in the store soon. That’s always good for a post.

We skipped ahead to Finger Lakes Distilling, where I felt very racy sampling some gin. I don’t drink much hard liquor, because i like it straight. That can get you into trouble. Next to Finger Lakes Distilling was Lakeland Winery, from Syracuse. I had some Pinotage, a wine I am not familiar with. I liked it. Lakeland offers Wine Parties, tasting and making. How much fun would that be!

Then we enjoyed a sample from Hummingbird Hills Winery out of Fultonville. The fellow there was a little surprised we knew where Fultonville was.

“Why, we go right by the Fultonville exit when we go to Vermont,” I said. “We may have to make a detour one time.”

“We’re open every weekend,” the guy said.

I was happy to see Ommengang Brewery there. I have been wanting to make a road trip to Cooperstown to visit them. I hear it’s a great place for lunch as well as beer tasting.

I think the Thousand Islands Winery table was the most popular spot. Every time we went over there (yes, we visited the tasting tables more than once), we had to wait for our tastes. It was worth the wait. The wines were good, and the guy pouring was fun.

Really, everybody at the tasting tables was friendly and helpful. Everything we sampled was tasty. We had to tear ourselves away to purchase tickets for the 50/50 and Chinese auction. Somewhere amidst all this tasting and ticket buying, we visited the buffet table for some very elegant hors d’oeurves. There was some good stuff there.

Everybody we talked to seemed to be having as wonderful a time as we were. Here’s hoping the Mohawk and Herkimer police departments make this an annual event.

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Writing AT ALL

Posted on March 12, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’m afraid Tired Tuesday is going to be a regular feature for Mohawk Valley Girl, because, quite frankly, I am. This is what I wrote during the 9 a.m. break at work today. Full disclosure: I mostly wrote it just to get my pen moving and hoped I would come up with something better to publish. But perhaps this will do.

The one thing I have a horror of is staring at a blank page. What happens is that one daydreams one’s time away and where does that get one? I suppose there is something to be said for daydreaming, but most daydreamers are too busy daydreaming to say it (ooh, I just flashed on the Monkees’ “Daydream Believer.” Love those Monkees).

I’m having problems with the blog as well as the novel. I have a few things to write about for the blog, but I just can’t seem to put the words on the paper. I really hate admitting that. I can hear scornful voices saying, “Just write it, you big baby.” And I’m afraid the scornful voices are me.

I read a metaphor once that seems appropriate here. You probably won’t be able to batter down the door by main force. Try another door. And return to the first one every so often and give a gentle tap. It might let you in.

Actually, I feel a little better about myself right now, because I am actually putting words on a page. If I can write at all, I can potentially write something good. Ah, and that leads me into the similarities of writing and running. When I was trying to build up my run time in the army, my goal for myself on a run was to run a little faster than I really wanted to run. Very often that pace translated to “at all.” And, lo and behold, as long as I kept running AT ALL, eventually I improved.

Will it be so with my writing? Hard to say. I guess I’ll wait and find out.

NOTE: During my lunch break I wrote two pages on my novel. I wrote another page while doing laundry after work. Maybe writing AT All helps.

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Boilermaker Ambitions

Posted on March 11, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

OK, I’m just going to put it out there: I might run the Boilermaker this year.

I say “might” because I still have to register. Registration filled up in something like 50 hours last year. You have to register online, and my computer is notoriously unreliable.

This year’s Boilermaker ambitions started when a friend expressed an interest in running it. To encourage him, I said I would run it with him if he wanted me to.

I think my friend could benefit greatly from running the Boilermaker. Training has well-documented physical and mental health benefits. Setting a goal and working toward it is a life skill that anyone might like to enhance. The satisfaction of crossing the finish line would be a nice boost. For my friend.

Who, me?

Do you think I need all those benefits? Setting a goal, training, making a commitment? Getting back into shape, organizing my life so I have time to get back into shape, planning ahead so I am in the right shape at the right time? Are you suggesting I could benefit from these things?

Yuh think?

Maybe I am just jumping on my friend’s bandwagon so I will have an excuse to experience another Boilermaker adventure myself. I don’t think that’s such a bad thing. Oh well, sorting through motivations and the right reasons for doing things sounds like some half-baked philosophy better suited to Lame Post Friday.

So now I am looking at the weather forecast and the calendar and figuring out my training schedule. The first year I ran the Boilermaker, I started training in March and I did OK. I think I was in worse shape that year than I am now, so bonus. Of course I’m older by — eek! — five years. I’m in the over-50 age group now. Only a few months over 50, but still.

My main worries right now are registration and getting to the starting line on the day of the race. The last time I registered, it was quite the hideous experience (I wrote a blog post about it). Getting to the starting line should be less of a problem.

I can just see that annoying hypothetical reader shaking his head at me. “Maybe you should worry about actually RUNNING before you worry about that other stuff.” Oh, fooey on you, I’ll worry about whatever comes to mind at the time. In the meantime, stay tuned for the return of Running Commentary.

NOTE: Regular readers may recall that in a recent post I alluded to this post but said I could NOT publish it because I had not actually started running. If you deduced by the post’s appearance that I did indeed run, you are correct.

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An Hour Less Wrist

Posted on March 10, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh I meant, I really truly meant to write a good post today. Maybe I had too good a time last night at the police department fundraiser (don’t tell my mother) (oh, rats, I think she reads this blog) (now I’m being silly, what a surprise).

Where was I? Ah yes, another Wrist to Forehead Sunday or, to leave the day of the week out of it, yet another post about Why I Can’t Write a Post Today. I just took a nice walk with my husband Steven and my schnoodle Tabby. I had meant to write about that. The only thing that stands out, however, is the cold wind that kept tormenting us and our relative lack of success at dodging puddles.

Let’s blame the clock change. What a dumb idea that is! “We get another hour of daylight!” somebody will say, in that bright, squeaky voice I hate. We do not! We get the exact same amount of daylight! Only the clock says a different time. But I must ask myself, why does it bother me so much? One hour less of sleep one day (and it wouldn’t have been that if I had gone to bed earlier) does not seem such a great thing. One often gets up an hour earlier for some good or stupid reason. That’s no reason to go all wrist-to-forehead on us.

I think it is just my usual Sunday malaise. I just don’t feel like doing anything useful on a Sunday and I probably never will. Perhaps I can get my act together to the extent of writing an extra post during the week so that on Sunday I only have to hit Publish. But let’s not get our hopes up.

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I Just Have to Chat

Posted on March 9, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’m having something of a Wrist to Forehead Saturday, but I will attempt to write a post about What I’ve Done So Far Today. Instead of the post on Why I Can’t POSSIBLY Write a Post Today, which is what my meager brain seems to want to dish out.

We got up fairly early. Tabby woke us up, which is unusual, because she usually waits until we are stirring, in a manner unusually polite for a cute little dog. This was good, because I had to go get some blood drawn for a medical appointment next week. I got to Centrex in Herkimer, NY about two minutes after seven, their advertised opening time. There was a line of people waiting at the door.

“It looks like we’re lined up to buy tickets for a rock star,” I said. You know me; I just can’t help but chat. “Those guys have been here since 3 a.m.” A man at the head of the line assured me he had not. A few minutes later I said, “I just saw a light go on. Which is not the same thing as a light going on over my head, which hardly ever happens.” The lady in line ahead of me rewarded that silly joke with a chuckle. When we had all signed in and the first man in line got called I said, “You see, it paid off, getting here at 3 a.m.”

This is how I amuse myself when I have to get stuck with a needle on a Saturday morning.

You know, I was going to continue my post including a visit to the post office, a stop at the ATM, putting air in my tires… but I’m approaching 300 words. That is quite respectable for a post when I started out without anything to say. I just love writing a blog.

I hope to see you all (figuratively speaking, of course), on Sunday, when I will strive to keep my wrist off my forehead.

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Not Lame Hair

Posted on March 8, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

In lieu of my usual Friday Lame Post, I would like to give a brief shout-out to the Hot Spot Salon and Spa in Herkimer, NY. I just got a really cool haircut there.

The cut was important, because Steven and I have an event to attend on Saturday, March 8 (um, that’s tomorrow). It is the HPD/MPD SRT Tasting Event from 6 to 10 p.m. at Francesca’s Banquet Hall in Ilion. Proceeds will be split between the Herkimer/Mohawk Special Response Team and K9 Ape Memorial. K9 Ape, you may recall, was killed last March during the shootings which shook Mohawk and Herkimer.

The evening promises to be fun, with several wineries, a brewery and a distillery offering tastings. Hors d’oeuvres will be served. Some of the members of the Special Response Team involved in last March’s terrible events will attend.

So naturally I want to look my best. I’ve been agonizing over what to wear, but I knew my hair would be OK if I could get an appointment at the Hot Spot. I was lucky enough to get in with Claire right after work on Friday.

Clair remembered what she did with my hair last time, which I liked. I told her she could go even shorter on top this time. I do like my hair short. While she clipped, we talked about the tasting event. It turns out Clair and Amy both plan to attend.

“What are you wearing?” I asked. She was undecided, so we discussed options.

My hair turned out fabulous. While I was paying for it, I chatted up Amy on what she was going to wear. We are all excited about the different wineries who plan to be there.

“I’ve been to some of them,” I said. Amy has been wine tasting in the Finger Lakes, too, so we talked about some of our favorites.

“My sisters, cousin and Mom are going again on April 5,” I said. “I was undecided on if I was going with them, but now…”

“You’re going,” Amy said.

So I had a fun time, and I got a good cut. The Hot Spot is located at 121 Albany St. in Herkimer, 315-866-9113. Their website is www.hotspotsalonandspa.com.

If you’re all interested in going to the tasting event, contact the Mohawk or Herkimer police departments. But if you do, better hurry. Last I heard, they were selling out.

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Just Saying

Posted on March 7, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Earlier today I wrote the title of a blog post. Then I drew a line under it and wrote a paragraph of a different blog post. Then I turned the page and wrote pretty much an entire other blog post.

And here I am, typing off the cuff. Yes, I am taking another Blogger’s Sick Day. I have had a dreadful headache for most of the day. I know, other people have debilitating headaches and manage to write decent blog posts, or at least not to complain to all and sundry about them. Well, you may have noticed previously, in most cases, I am not other people.

The sad thing is that last Friday I had a much worse headache and actually managed a not bad blog post. Or do I flatter myself? Probably. In my defense, I had that post already written and had merely to copy it.

Ah, my astute reader asks, what about the entire other blog post you mentioned in paragraph one? Can’t you just type that one in? Somehow, I just don’t feel I can. You see, I wrote about how I MIGHT run the Boilermaker. Only, you see, I wrote the post, but I did not come home and run. How hypocritical is that? A whole post about running the Boilermaker from a person who did NOT run? I can’t do it.

I did take my dog Tabby for a walk. As I walked, I reflected on a saying I made up earlier in the week:

Standing burns more calories than sitting, walking burns more calories than standing, running burns more calories than walking, and walking your dog is just always a good thing to do.

I will now try to come up with a silly headline and wish you all a pleasant Non-Sequitur Thursday.

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Steve’s Birthday Dinner

Posted on March 6, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

As part of Steven’s Birthday Weekend, we enjoyed dinner out at PK’s Pub in Herkimer, NY. I’ve given PK’s shout-outs before, but I always like to give another, because it is always a good time and a great meal.

We arrived shortly after 4:30. Pete escorted us to the room with the fireplace. We chose a table by the window. I debated what kind of wine to order, because I wasn’t sure yet what I wanted for food. Then again, I am not that knowledgeable about food and wine pairings. I don’t think my palate is sophisticated enough to notice a less than ideal combination. I finally settled on Cabernet Sauvignon. Steven had Merlot.

For food I got Chicken Riggies while Steven chose Chicken Marsala. Yes, we both had red wine with chicken. Wasn’t that bold of us? I said I don’t know much about wine and food, but I know the most basic rule of white wine with chicken, red wine with beef. Perhaps real oenophiles are horrified (I don’t even know how to pronounce oenophile), but I thought it tasted pretty good.

I did not eat all my entree, because I was saving room for dessert. That worked out pretty well, because I was able to heat up the leftovers as part of our dinner on Tuesday, when I was tired.

Desserts are always a highlight at PKs. I got chocolate chip cheesecake. I completely cannot remember what Steven’s dessert was called. I know, if I was a real blogger, I would have made a note of it at the time. Let’s not open that can of worms. It was a kind of cream pie with chocolate and nuts and other stuff. I know it was yummy, because he nicely gave me a bite.

PK’s Pub is located at 221 King St. in Herkimer, phone (315) 866-3494. They are open Tues. to Fri. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sat. 4:30 to 9 p.m., closed Sunday and Monday. You can Like them on Facebook. I did.

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