Author Archives: mohawkvalleygirl

Dressing for Dinner

Posted on October 1, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought my Friday nonsense was getting out of hand, so I determined to do something blog-worthy on Thursday. All I managed was to go to dinner at Applebee’s. Regular readers (both of them) know I don’t usually blog about chains. Still, I rationalized, this particular Applebee’s is in the Mohawk Valley. As I sit here writing this (rough draft in my notebook in the break room before work), I think: I will compromise between nonsense and business by entertaining you (I hope) with my gyrations getting ready. In other words: welcome to another Lame Post Friday.

Following my after-work shower, I looked for something to wear. I don’t have a lot of clothes that fit since I lost weight. Most of my skirts still fit. I usually wear them with long johns or leggings instead of pantyhose. However, since I no longer wear pantyhose to work, I will occasionally wear a pair after work, especially if I’m trying to keep my long johns clean for the weekend, which I am.

A side note here: I once worked with a rather obnoxious girl who would sniff, “I wear tights.” In fact, the package mine came in was labelled “Microfiber Tights.” It’s all pantyhose to me.

I grabbed a black pair at first, then noticed my sexy (or do I flatter myself?) silver pair.

“Hey, should I be sexy?” I asked my husband.

“Sure.” Of course his line should have been, “You’re always sexy,” but husbands do not always know their lines. He is a very good husband in other respects.

Pantyhose on, I searched for my black velvet skirt. It’s not a mini skirt, but at knee length, the pantyhose would show. I modeled a blouse for Steven. He approved, but I decided it needed ironing. I was not about to go that far. I settled on a green top which was not exactly low cut, then pondered my jewelry choices.

I have to say, this was the most fun I’ve had getting dressed in a long time. I even wore nice shoes, with a bit of a heel. I was ready for dinner with the hubby.

The only sad thing was we could not sit at one of my favorite tables, the tall ones in the bar area. I suggested we sit at the bar, but Steven did not want to. The hostess offered a booth in the bar area. We accepted, but I must say, it was a real compromise on my mental picture of the evening. It is difficult to look sexy, or even dignified sliding into and out of a booth, especially when the seats are real sinky downy, which these were. The sinky downy quality, while comfortable, also made the table a little taller on me than I like. However, these were minor discomforts. We were prepared to enjoy our meal.

We took advantage of the “2 for $20” special. I indulged in a Perfect Margarita, while Steven had coffee. Our appetizer was Potato Twists, which was new. My entree, Bruschetta Chicken, was also new. Steven rather boringly had Chicken Tenders, which is what he usually gets. Applebee’s does make tasty Chicken Tenders. It was a satisfying dinner; for once we were too stuffed for Dessert Shooters. The food and service were both very good.

It was a fun evening. I did not feel that my glamorous outfit was wasted. As a side note, we are headed to Vermont this weekend (as soon as I finish this post, in fact), so my next few posts may not have that Mohawk Valley flair. But stay tuned; I won’t be away from home for long.

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Running in the Unknown Park

Posted on September 30, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yes, it is another post about running, but this time I ran someplace different.

There is a park off German Street, a couple of streets before the turn to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC), heading west, I think (I don’t know from directions). There is no sign saying the name of the park, but there is a gate between stone pillars that is sometimes closed, bearing a sign reading “Park Closed for Season.” I don’t run into the park very often, because it is merely an out and back run, and I am more into turning here and there, or at least going around the block.

The reason I turned into the park Wednesday is that I was on that side of the street. Now, crossing German Street at four in the afternoon is no easy matter. I accomplished it, because I had some vague notion of running up to HCCC the back way. My legs were instantly trying to talk me out of that. Still, I had crossed the street. Then I saw the park and my legs said, “Look! That goes uphill, and we haven’t run that way in a long time!”

The incline into the park is not what you would call a real hill, especially compared to what I had thought to run, but a little more effortful that the fairly level sidewalk I was on. As I ran on, I realized a little more effort was entailed, because the road through the park is not smoothly paved, but comprises uneven stones and gravel. Not so uneven as to put one at risk of a turned ankle, but a little more effortful. Sometimes that is the best I can accomplish: just a little more effort.

I’ve run into this park a few times and rarely encounter anybody. Wednesday I saw a sports game in progress. I was too far away at first to see which sport it was. Soccer? Rugby? Lacrosse? I couldn’t tell if they were holding sticks or kicking a ball. Then I saw white on everybody’s head. Oh, helmets. Let’s see, what sport requires helmets? Oh, football. Silly me. This from a girl who listens to Sports Box on WVHC. I ought to be ashamed. Well, embarrassed anyways (but not too embarrassed to include this in the blog for a cheap laugh).

Unfortunately as I got closer the banks were such that I couldn’t see the game any more. I did see a man in the distance, tossing a toddler in the air the way most toddlers love to be tossed. There’s a sport I could get into: the Toddler Toss. Watching, not participating. I’ll confine myself to the Toddler Lift and Carry. Any toddlers handy? By the time I reached the man and tot they were sitting in the back of a pick up truck, watching the game.

After the sports field, things got more woodsy. I remembered the problems we had with mosquitoes on Saturday, but I wanted to keep running.

“Let ’em have at me,” I thought, “I’ve got witch hazel!”

I ran by an area with a pavilion, picnic tables and hibachis. I remembered that during the DARE run we went on a path that came out on this area. I thought briefly of exploring that, but I know the other end of the path is gated off, and I was not feeling sufficiently rebellious. I ran on to the end of the park.

A man made stream flows through the area. In fact, there is a cute little footbridge to the picnic area. I call it a man made stream. It may actually be a drainage ditch, but doesn’t man made stream sound better? As I got to the end of the path the man made stream started to look more like a nature made stream. I could have explored that, but there was a forbidding looking fence with no gate. One could perhaps go around the fence, but one might be asking for trouble to do such a thing. Also, as it got more wooded, it got more mosquito-y.

As I ran back out of the park, I got to pet a cute dog briefly. He was off his leash and much more into running around than being petted. I left the park and managed to cross German Street without mishap. Another cute dog that wanted to be petted, down a couple more streets, and back home.

A different setting with different thoughts to distract myself with. Not a great run, but a good run, and a fairly lengthy blog post.

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Sports Radio

Posted on September 29, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

This will be a short post, but I thought I would give a shout out to something I’ve been enjoying on the radio on the way home from work: Sports Box on WVHC, 91.5 fm.

WVHC is the Herkimer County Community College radio station. I’ve been listening to it since I came to Herkimer. They mostly play, as the promo puts it, “straight ahead jazz.” I love jazz, so my radio is usually set at 91.5. I can get the station in my car pretty clearly in Herkimer, Mohawk, Ilion and Frankfort, and sometimes all the way into Utica. Then it statics out. But they also stream online. According to the website, you can get them on your mobile phone too, but being so technically illiterate, I don’t know anything about that.

Sports Box features a group of young men talking sports. I used to catch it at noon if I happened to be in the car then. Recently they moved it to 3:30, my drive time.

I’ll be honest, I don’t follow sports. I don’t know a lot about sports. But I like listening to these guys talk. They are knowledgeable and articulate. They have confidence in their own opinions, and it’s not just the confidence of youth. They back up what they say, and they seem to know what they’re talking about.

They cover all kinds of sports: baseball, football, basketball, NASCAR. If you like sports, and you like good commentary, check out Sports Box on WVHC, 91.5 fm. For more information, visit their website http://www.herkimer.edu/wvhc.

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More Running Commentary

Posted on September 28, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

Sunday I did not run the Falling Leaves race in Utica, perhaps to my discredit, but I did run.

I began my run with indecision. I wanted to go right on German Street, because I usually go left. My normal Sunday run is up to Herkimer County Community College the front way. I was not up for that. But in turning left, I usually run into Nicky, one of my favorite dogs I stop to pet.

I looked to the left. No sign of Nicky. I turned to the right. There he was!

“Oh, this is fortunate,” I said.

“He wanted to go the long way around,” his owner explained.

I ran on, feeling I was headed in the right direction. I went up a hill, only I won’t say which hill, because I did not run past a Road Closed sign. Uh, what I mean is… I ran up a hill. That’s all.

As I ran down Steuben Street, I remembered that on another Sunday I had seen a group of orange t-shirts gathered in the parking lot of this big grey building that looks like it used to be a school but now has offices. The building is on German, but the parking lot is readily visible from Steuben and vice versa. The orange t-shirts belong, I believe, to a run team or club. I didn’t want to run by anyone hard core. I would feel self-conscious, although they probably would not notice me. If they did, they are more likely to think of something charitable, like, “Isn’t that nice, that old lady is trying to run.” And I wouldn’t know even if they did think something mean, because I can’t hear people think. And who cares what they think? Not me! After that lengthy inner dialogue (and yes, dialogue, not monologue; I was talking to myself and I answered), the parking lot was empty. I ran on.

I scared a lady on the path over what used to be a hydraulic canal. I always know how slow I’m running when I come up on a pedestrian, because I see how long it takes me to catch up with them. I said, “Good morning!” when I finally passed her.

“Oh, you scared me!” she said. “I don’t usually see people at this hour.”

“It is pretty early,” I agreed, as I ran on.

No further mishaps, no dogs to pet, no coins from the angels. Just a nice Sunday run in the Mohawk Valley.

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Walking By Water

Posted on September 27, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’d been thinking for a long time that Tabby would like to walk on a path I saw along Route 5S. Saturday Steven suggested we check it out.

The path begins where Mohawk Street crosses Route 5S, between Herkimer and Mohawk. Parking is available near MOVAC, but I did not point that out to Steven till we had already driven by. He knew there was a parking area near the Humane Society, on the opposite side of the highway, so he drove there.

We walked back towards Herkimer, Mohawk River to the right, highway to the left. At least, I think it is the Mohawk River. It could very well be the Erie Canal or even the Barge Canal. Computer literate people will tell me “just google it.” I tried, but I am not very adept at these things. Can we just say it was one of those three bodies of water and have done with? Thank you.

After a short distance the path is a little further separated from the road. There are even a few houses in between. Steven pointed out that if we had bought one of those houses, I could have run on the path every day. I pointed out the great view of the water we would have had. Luckily, we like the house we did buy just fine.

We were soon being bothered by mosquitoes. I blame it on the damp weather. Mosquitoes are not usually a problem during the day, and in many places around here — notably my back deck — they aren’t too much of a problem at night, either. At first we slapped and persevered, then we turned and walked back to the car.

Our original plan had been to then walk in the other direction, and come out at German Flatts Town Park, where Living History Weekend was taking place. Of course, if we did this we were hoping not to walk into a battle reenactment. For one thing, Tabby would not like the gunfire. However, with the mosquitoes what they were, we got back in the car and drove back to town.

We felt we had not seen enough water, so we first drove to the Ilion Marina. We’ve taken Tabby there before and walked up and down. It’s not large, but it is pleasant.

Saturday it was much quieter than when we were there previously. The Dockside Cafe was closed for the season. We saw a few RVs, but no people. I speculated they were out boating. I suppose they could have been hanging out inside the RVs, perhaps playing cards and having a beer. I know some of these RVs have all the comforts of home and probably some have more comforts than mine (my home, that is; I don’t have an RV).

We started to walk down a path near some trees, but were once again driven back by mosquitoes. Really, we should have known better. Are mosquitoes likely to be in Herkimer and Mohawk, but give Ilion a miss? But we’d gotten some good exercise, so we felt pleased with ourselves. We’ll check out those walks again, on a drier day or with bug spray.

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Living History

Posted on September 25, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

Saturday I had a chance to attend an event I have always been interested in but never had the chance to go to: Living History Weekend at German Flatts Town Park.

The event ran from Friday Sept. 23 to Sunday Sept. 25 in the park, which is located adjacent to the Fort Herkimer Church, something else I’ve always wanted to check out. Steven and I drove out route 5S Saturday morning. We were too early for the battle reenactments, but reenactors were present with tents set up and fires burning. We admired their costumes.

I heard one Union soldier asking a Confederate soldier what was the quilt tied around his shoulder for.

“That’s my bed roll,” the other soldier said, in a quit asking stupid questions kind of voice.

“That’s you rebels,” the union soldier said. “You never know when they’re going to want to lie down and take a nap.”

“We don’t have supply trains following us around,” the Confederate told him. “We have to carry what we need with us.”

“That’s not something to brag about, Mr. Confederate Guy,” I told him, but he wasn’t listening to me. I started to give Steven an American history lecture about how much better prepared the North was for the Civil War, but he was not listening either. I don’t blame him; I was being rather didactic.

We walked around the tents they had setup, and checked out the vendors as well. A band was playing. We enjoyed the music, but I did not catch who they were. We purchased a Living History Weekend t-shirt and a plate of cookies.

The historic Fort Herkimer Church was not open, but we walked around the graveyard which surrounded it. A lot of the lettering on the grave stones had worn away. Some were obviously replacements of historic markers. We found one grave marked with the name of the street we live on (I won’t tell you what that is, because I don’t need anybody walking by my house and seeing how much the grass needs mowing). Steven said he knew our street was named after a prominent local family. I’ll have to research that a little more. Historic prominent local families might be a good subject for a future blog post.

We also looked at some displays of historic artifacts. Steven said the dental instruments looked scary.

“Modern dental instruments are scary,” I said.

“Modern dentists are scary,” said a man in a uniform. I agreed, although my own dentist, Dr. Zilka, is a very good dentist who I have never found to be particularly alarming. Hey, most of us don’t like going to the dentist.

We left for home, toying with the idea of returning for the afternoon’s battle reenactment or the evening’s fireworks. I mean to watch for future events at the Fort Herkimer Church, and I will definitely mark my calendar for next year’s Living History Weekend.

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A Not So Lame Run

Posted on September 24, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

I like blogging about Saturday morning’s run on Saturday. Today’s run was not devoid of interesting features.

It rained Friday night (my lame excuse not to run, but I have mentioned that on Friday I’m lame) (Actually now that I think about it, being lame is a great excuse not to run, although I guess that’s a different definition). Ahem. Parenthetical comments aside, I made up my mind to run around the puddles and got my butt out there.

Running down German Street I saw a nice little dog named Nicky, further down and on the other side of the street. I often see Nicky on my Sunday runs. I ran across the street, putting on a slight burst of energy because it was not in a crosswalk and a car was coming (actually in Herkimer being in a crosswalk is not much help; cars don’t like to stop around here). As I got closer I called, “There’s my friend Nicky!” His owner and I exchanged greetings. She had seen me cross the street and was pleased about that. Both Nicky and his owner are very nice. I ran on.

This put me on the proper side of the street to run up the hill to Herkimer County Community College or up a smaller hill by Valley Health. I opted for the smaller hill. I have not been very hard core lately. I exchanged good mornings with a couple of healthcare workers smoking outside the building.

Running down by the school I decided to run down the street where the angels sometimes leave coins to encourage me. At least, sometimes people drop coins there and I like to believe the angels leave them for me. Then I thought I really wasn’t in such need of encouragement today; it was shaping up to be a not bad run. More humid than I like, but good temperature. And there were no coins. Was this the angels’ way of telling me I was on my own? More likely they had other things on their heavenly minds. I ran on.

I passed a young man in a red shirt and black cap. I thought he might be walking home from a job at a fast food place. His back was to me so I did not greet him. I saw a rather large woman pushing what looked like a cart of laundry down the street. Ah, I remember those days. Neither car nor washing machine, we do what we have to. I did not greet her because she was looking quite miserable and did not make eye contact. I could sympathize. I uncharitably reflected that she could use the exercise. Then again, I don’t know this lady; she could be overweight for reasons quite beyond her control. And nobody knows better than me how hard it is to lose weight. But oh how good it feels when you do. This encouraged me to keep running, because I do not want to gain back my hard lost weight.

I had to run slower at one point to let a car back out of a driveway. I wondered where they were going, and hoped it was in search of adventure. They seemed casually dressed, not that I was staring. Adventure is what I seek on Saturdays. After my good run, I felt ready for the search.

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Lame Self Indulgence?

Posted on September 24, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

As I contemplate the weekend and all the events the area has to offer — and there are a lot this weekend — I have to ask myself, why am I sitting here wishing for a Bette Davis movie marathon on TCM? Yes, it’s Lame Post Friday, the day I have designated for myself when I can indulge in random observations and half baked philosophy.

Indulgence is the right word. Self indulgence. That used to be considered a bad thing. Now look around at the advertising and entertainment industry. Self indulgence is in. Many products are touted as ways to indulge your self, or your senses, which is really the same thing. And how about all those reality shows? You know, the ones everyone scorns but almost everyone watches at least one. I think it’s pretty self indulgent to have cameras follow you around broadcasting your every move and thought.

Come to think of it a blog is fairly self indulgent all by itself. Here I sit recording my thoughts and observations for other folks to read. Nobody asked me to. Actually, a blog is kind of like a reality show. Oh my God, I’ve jumped on the bandwagon!

These random observations are not having a good effect on me. Or is this half baked philosophy? In any case, I’m thinking I should not be so self indulgent. I should go indulge somebody else. Like my husband with a cup of coffee or my dog with a good long walk. Wouldn’t that be unselfish of me? After all, it’s not like I would enjoy coffee or a walk. Well, what I mean is…

I think my post has gone from lame to ridiculous. At least it has been short. Next week I will endeavor to find some real Mohawk Valley stuff to blog about and lay off the lame self indulgence.

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Another Schnoodle Stroll

Posted on September 23, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of walking in Herkimer. Or of writing about walking in Herkimer. I have not been running much, but having an energetic schnoodle is great motivation for getting out and walking.

Yesterday we did not have a purpose for our walk, so we walked what I call the Tabby Way, meaning we let Tabby decide which direction at the intersections. She led us to our church. First she looked around the yard where they do the Blessing of the Animals in October. Nobody there. Then she wanted to go in the door to the social hall, where we brought her on Saturday when we dropped off brownies for the spaghetti dinner. I told her nobody was there, either. I’ll say this for Tabby, she takes her disappointments with grace.

We walked by the county office buildings. In between two buildings is a little park looking area with a circle of flags and a rock with a plaque in front. Tabby wanted to sniff the rock, but I hurried her along because I did not think it was a respectful place to pee. Then I thought I might like to include the flags in my blog post, so we walked back to read the plaque. It said the flags represented the nineteen towns and one city of Herkimer County. We walked into the circle to count. Twenty American flags, with one big one at the head of the circle (that is, directly opposite the rock). The big flag had a POW/MIA flag underneath it.

Feeling we knew a little more than we did before (like for instance there are 19 towns and only one city in the county. Can’t say I knew that), we walked on. We imposed our choices on Tabby a few times, for example when she wanted to follow an interesting-looking dalmatian. It looked as if the owner had made a turn to avoid us. Maybe not, but why look for trouble?

As we walked down German Street we met a lady who asked if she could pet Tabby. Tabby politely allowed it. The lady asked how old Tabby was. When Steven said almost six, she wished Tabby a happy birthday. We met another lady who did not ask to pet Tabby. Oh well, to each his own, as the old lady said when she kissed the cow.

So it was a fairly uneventful walk, except for the flag stuff, but we enjoyed it. One of my favorite things to do on a Mohawk Valley evening.

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More Running Commentary

Posted on September 22, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have not been good about running lately, but I have tried to keep my feet in, so to speak.

I made myself run on Monday, because I did not intend to run on Tuesday and Wednesday was iffy (in fact, this is Wednesday and I’m typing this in instead of running. My bad). I got myself going by the simple expedient of telling myself that of course I did not feel like running, but once I started I would feel great. Is it wrong to tell a lie to achieve a laudable object?

Then again, it was perhaps not a lie but a miscalculation. I might have felt great. Turns out I did not. I felt grateful for a comment I received on a blog post about another not so good run. Alexandra said it could be empowering to complete a difficult run. I told myself I was doing that again. Then I started looking around for bloggable observations. That served the dual purpose of improving my next post and distracting myself from the terrible run (I guess I can multi-task after all).

I noticed that some people’s flowers are not over like most of mine are. I particularly noticed some spiky things (no idea what they’re called, but I have red ones in my container garden). These were different colors, still bright and spiky. Mine are discolored and droopy. Probably the wrong amount of shade or water. I thought, I must research my garden better next year. And by research I don’t mean call my mom and ask what she does. Although that is not a bad method. My mom has gardened for years. She knows a lot about it. Still, they print books about gardening which I am sure I would find helpful. I’ll look in the library.

After a while I found a penny. I’ve mentioned the theory that angels leave coins to encourage us. Sunday they left me three quarters, and that was a pretty good run. I could not believe the angels thought I needed less encouragement on Monday. Then again, maybe it was a statement about my attitude. Did I have 75 times better an attitude on Sunday? Probably, but I didn’t need the angels pointing it out to me. Thanks a lot, angels! (Just kidding; I picked up the penny. I like angels.)

“Run, Mama Q!” It was one of my boys from National Guard (when I used to be in National Guard), leaning out a second story window. I waved but had neither the breath nor the brainpower to reply.

I ran by some windows and looked at my reflection. Not too bad. I didn’t have to feel embarrassed when I ran by people. Not that I usually am. Hey, what you see is what you get.

I found another penny. That was all right. Now I could put my two cents in. I love making that joke.

By the end, as usual, it had not been a bad run at all. I just always expect it to get better before it actually does. Perseverance. A word to live by, and definitely a word to run by.

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