Category Archives: Monday Mental Meanderings

Monday Menu Meanderings

I really, really want to finish my blog post before my dear husband Steven arrives home from work.  Alas, I did not write anything while at work today.  I worked on anacrostic puzzles in a puzzle book I really should have left at home.  In my defense, I LOVE anacrostic puzzles!  And doing puzzles is good for your brain.  Surely my brain needs all the help it can get.

The sad thing is, I’m really supposed to be figuring something out for dinner, not typing in a blog post.  I’m hungry.  Steven will be hungry. There is food in the house, but I fear it requires work.  Unless we just heat up the beef soup I made yesterday.  Ah, I know, a few words about the soup will serve for today’s blog post.

We recently purchased a lovely roast that was on sale.  I can’t remember what cut it was, but it was substantial.  It went into the freezer to  await cooking.  Then last Sunday (that is, a week ago yesterday), I discovered the few carrots I had left had gotten kind of… not crunchy.  I thought they were still good, they just didn’t look as if they would be good raw, which is pretty much the only way I like carrots.  However, one does what one must, in this case, cook the damn carrots.

A day or two later, I put the carrots in the crock pot with the beef, half an onion, Worcestershire sauce and water.  I had to add water, because the beef had not thawed in the refrigerator.  How delightful it was to arrive home that evening to the smell of roasting beef.  It made a fine supper.  I even ate some of the carrots.

Steven saved all the drippings, which were considerable due to the water I had added.  I said I would use it to make beef soup, which I did on Sunday. There really wasn’t much to that recipe.  I chopped two potatoes and put them on the boil.  Then I put the liquid, onions and carrots in a pot on the stove.  I chopped up a goodly amount of the beef to add.  When it was boiling, I added some frozen green beans for good measure.  When the potatoes were done, they went into the pot too.

We ate it with slices of Heidelberg French Peasant bread, my new favorite (edging out sourdough).  It was a fine dinner for a cold day such as Sunday.  Today is a cold day too.  I wonder how Steven will feel about leftovers.

In any case, this concludes my blog post.  Can we consider it a Monday Mental Meanderings or should I start a new feature: Menu Monday?  Any thoughts?

 

Musings on Medium (or Medium Meanderings?)

Today is a real let myself off the hook day.  I did not run, I have not done anything remotely useful around the house, and I did not write a blog post earlier today.  It’s going to be a Monday Middle-age Musings or Monday Mental Meanderings (take your pick; I’m not even making myself choose one).

One thing I often notice in my writing is how what I’m writing on and writing with makes a difference.  At least, I have not done a real study on if it makes a difference in the writing itself.  But I definitely notice a difference in how I feel.  I’m thinking this is because I love the physical act of writing so much.  Putting words on paper (or screen, as the case may be) is fun.

I like writing by hand in a spiral notebook.  My handwriting is messy, and I sometimes get writer’s cramp, but in general I love the movement and I love watching the squiggly lines appear.  I write in pen these days.  I prefer a thin ballpoint.  I can live with a medium point, but anything over 1 mm is too bulky for me.  I used to write almost exclusively in pencil.  I liked the sound of the scratching.  I must try that again one day soon.

When I first started this blog (May 23, 2011, in case you were wondering), I would write my post on paper, then type it into the computer.  Sometimes I would write it the night before, sometimes just earlier in the day.  Of course, being me, I could not keep up that level of preparedness and was soon composing at the keyboard, as I am today.

Today I am on my desktop, which has a full-size keyboard.  For quite a while now I have been typing my posts on our Acer, which has a smaller keyboard.  Not one of those bitty, baby things you see on some people’s devices, but small enough that it took some getting used to.  Right now my hands are rather enjoying stretching out.  They feel bad-ass.

Of course, if I really want my hands to feel bad-ass, I must haul out my old manual typewriters.  I used to whale on a manual typewriter!  I have a minor collection now.  Sometimes I find them at garage sales or second-hand stores.  My parents recently gave me a fabulous old Remington.  I must clean it up and display it somewhere.  Maybe I’ll first roll a piece of paper into it and see what comes out.

For now, though, I see I am over 400 words.  That is more than respectable for a Monday!  I’ll try for something other than a Tired Tuesday post tomorrow.

 

Want More Raisins?

Won’t Steven be surprised when he finds out I’m using that for the title of today’s blog post? I’m a little late doing today’s post, and, sadly, I do not have much to write about.

Earlier today — much earlier — I had thought to write about my eventful ride to work.  Oh, OK, it wasn’t all that eventful.  The unprecedented thing was that I turned around and returned home to retrieve a forgotten cup of coffee.  Usually I just do without.  I thought I could make something out of it.  Sounds kind of dumb when I put it this way, doesn’t it?

Steven fixed dinner just now by pouring us bowls of cereal, toasted rice for him, raisin bran for me.  He asked did I want extra raisins in mine, which I thought was very kind of him.  I normally put extra raisins in when I pour my own, but I do not expect others to go to such trouble for me.  He was putting honey and cinnamon in his so asked if I wanted it in mine.  I said it sounded good.

It was good.  Hmm… It seems my dinner was as uneventful as my ride into work.  Still, I thought the raisin line made a good title.   Oh what the hell, it’s Monday.

 

Stop Stalling and Start Blogging

I wish I had something that starts with an ST to do.  Then I would have a thoroughly alliterative title.

The sad truth is that once again when it comes to my post, I got nuthin’.   I don’t have much when it comes to other aspects of my life either, but I won’t get into that.  This isn’t Maudlin Monday after all.  I’ve been waiting all day and half the evening for inspiration to strike.  I went to “On This Day” in Facebook.  I always share my blog post, so it is an easy way to see what I published, you know, on this day. Then I re-read yesterday’s post.

You will probably not be surprised to hear that inspiration did not strike.  I finally had to sit down and just start typing.  Hence, today’s title.

My Post-Christmas Letdown kicked in full force today, not surprisingly, since I was back at work.  Oh, it was not a bad day at work.  But work is, perforce, work.  I like my job. I would just prefer to be independently wealthy or at least be on vacation the week after Christmas.  I know, I can’t have everything; it is best to appreciate the things I have and not dwell on what I have not.

Steven fixed us a nice dinner tonight of tomato soup and grilled ham, cheese and tomato sandwiches.  Adding pretzels and a glass of milk, I ate too much.  I suppose that was a seasonal thing for me to do.  You would think it would have alleviated the Letdown, but not so much.

No matter (as I like to say to myself).  I have managed to ramble on for more than 250 words.  I already have a title.  I’m going to categorize this as Monday Mental Meanderings, hit publish and call it a day.  Perhaps you’ll tune in on Tuesday, when I will hope not to be Tired.

 

Merry Mental Meanderings

I do not see why this blog should not go All Christmas All The Time for the rest of the week.  After all, Friday is Christmas, it’s practically here! (Said in a Boris Karloff narrating How the Grinch Stole Christmas voice.)

At times, I fear, the Christmas spirit eludes me.  Today I spend some time stressing and obsessing about all I need to get done before the end of the week.  Then I stressed over the fact that I was stressing, because, dammit, I’m supposed to be enjoying this! I LIKE Christmas!  I like to give presents!  I thought I had planned better than this.  I hasten to add, I am not completely without the Christmas spirit.  I get it in spurts and try to enjoy it while it lasts.

As I pointed out yesterday, it is difficult to talk about my gyrations preparing for Christmas without giving away key points about presents I may or may not be giving (already I’ve said too much).  However, those gyrations (that word is so descriptive of my life) are the reason I am posting this later than I like to and why I did not write something earlier while at work (on a BREAK, I hasten to add).  Oh, I know, I could stress about Christmas and still write a blog post.  In theory at least.  The fact is, I did not.

After work I had three stops to make.  I can mention one, because it did not involve anything Christmasy:  I went to The Medicine Shoppe in Ilion to pick up a prescription.  Of course, there is also no need to expand upon that, because as I have often observed, people who go on about their health problems become tiresome (I know, it almost never stops me, but I try to keep it short) (I said TRY! Sheesh!).

Where was I?  Oh yes, a brief shout-out to the Medicine Shoppe.  I called in my prescription renewal to their automated line last night and my prescription was waiting for me after work this afternoon.  How cool is that?  They are also super nice there.

After the Medicine Shoppe, I made two more stops that were Christmas-related. They were relatively successful.  I would love to go on, especially about the second stop, BUT…  Perhaps I will revisit the subject in January.   In the meantime, I continue to chase that elusive Christmas spirit.

The Medicine Shoppe is located at 10 Central Ave., Ilion, NY, phone number 315-894-7283.  You can Like them on Facebook.

 

Are Cuff Links the Same Thing as Cuff Buttons?

Well, this is what happened to me today.  I opened my notebook (my paper, spiral-bound notebook; I was on a break at work) and found a blog post I wrote last month about a cheesy horror movie I had seen.  Of course I read it (I like to read my own writing, although I feel rather conceited that I do).  It was OK. I could use this.

Today’s blog post taken care of (so I thought), I turned a few pages (I had written other things in that notebook besides the movie write-up) and began a post about some fun in Little Falls Steven and I had on Saturday.  That was going pretty good, too, till I got a little bogged down.  No matter,  I told myself, this is Tuesday’s post well started and I can just use the movie post for today.

When I got home I briefly considered typing an off-the-cuff Monday Mental Meanderings just because I was so tired (it is Monday, after all).  Then I told myself to not be such a bum and start typing.  I got my notebook, found the movie post, and started typing.

Boy, do I write a lot about those cheesy horror movies!  I got tired of typing real quick but kept going.  Till I got even more tired.  Then I looked at how much more I had to type.  No way!  Why knew I was that prolific?

What now?  Type in what I have on the Little Falls post and finish that?   I’m not up for it.  I should have gone with the off the cuff post to begin with, because, to be honest, by this time I have nothing on my cuffs.  I probably never did.  Where did that expression come from, anyways, “off the cuff”?  Is that from when cuffs were separate pieces that got attached to shirts with cuff-links or cuff-buttons and people wrote notes to themselves on them?  Did people write notes to themselves on their cuffs?  It sounds like a handy spot.

Oh, will you look at that?  I just had an authentic Mental Meandering and it’s still Monday.  I declare this post done.

 

More Nonsense on a Monday

So there I was, without a blog post.  This is not an unusual situation for me, as regular readers know (if I still have any after all these lame posts).  Earlier today I thought I remembered something I had written for Mohawk Valley Living magazine which they had not used.  I could post that!

First I thought I had better check if I had posted about that subject before.  Sometimes for Mohawk Valley Living I combine or modify blog posts.  Um, yes, that is what I did this time.  That idea down the drain.

Well, Steven and I had dinner at Sorrento’s in Ilion last night.  Surely another shout-out to a local eatery would be acceptable.  I searched my posts to see how many times I had written about Sorrento’s.  Turns out to be a lot.  That really shouldn’t matter.  I give multiple shout-outs to lots of businesses.

Unfortunately my Writer’s Block or Blank for what have you continues.  Could I overcome my resistance and write it anyways?  Or should I give it up and write about not being able to write?  I searched my posts for ones about not writing.  Holy crap, what a lot of posts!  How embarrassing!  What kind of a writer am I, anyways?  I clicked on one and read it.

You know, it really wasn’t too bad.  And it got a few comments from other bloggers who liked it.  I started thinking about how some bloggers re-post old posts when they don’t have a post for the day.  Why couldn’t I do that?

I don’t know why, but the fact is I can’t.  I can, however, type in almost 300 words of this nonsense, remarkably similar to other nonsensical posts I have published.  I wonder if months from now I will look back at this post and think, “Why, that’s not too bad.”  I have this sinking suspicion I will not.

 

Musings on the MRI

Have you ever had an MRI?  They’re freaky!  I felt like I was being operated on by a mad scientist, and that was the fun part of the experience.

Am I really going to write a blog post about getting an MRI?  Well, nothing else presents itself, and it is Middle-aged Musings Monday (or Mental Meanderings Monday, take your choice).  I did not get a post written on breaks at work, because I was writing something else (yay me, at least I wrote), and I am home late and want to get this post published so I might have a little time to relax before bed.

I’ve often remarked that it is tiresome to go on about one’s health problems, but I have often observed that that does not stop most of us (don’t pretend you’re the exception to the rule; I won’t believe you).  Well, I won’t go on and on, because I like to keep these off the cuff posts short.

What I liked best about the MRI was that I got to lie down with my eyes closed.  I didn’t have to close my eyes, but they told me not to move my head, and I believe blinking counts as movement.  Best just to keep them shut.  Then too, when your eyes are closed you can’t see the cage-looking thing they put over your face and you don’t see the low ceiling they roll you under.

You don’t have to do anything but lie as still as you can and listen to all the noise.  Boy, is there a lot of noise!  I thought lying still like that I might fall asleep.  I’m sure snoring would count as movement in addition to being pretty embarrassing, so I guess I should have been happy for the noise to keep me awake.

The other good thing about this MRI was when they injected some stuff into my arm, I didn’t even feel the needle go in.  That’s some skill by the medical professional involved, that is.  In turn, they appreciated my prominent veins.

Probably the worst part of my medical ordeal was driving home in the dark afterward.  I took a wrong turn and ended up following an extremely dark road back to the highway.  At least by the time I was on that road, I was pretty sure I knew where I was.

And that is my story about my MRI.  I’ll see what I can do about not having a Tired Tuesday post.  As always, I hope you’ll tune in.

 

Write, Write Again

So you may have noticed that I have been going through some crisis about writing or rather not writing.  Too many foolish posts, not enough writing otherwise.  What’s a blogger to do?  Seriously, I’m asking.  What do other bloggers do?  Never mind, I probably couldn’t do what they do anyways. We all must find our own path, or something profound like that.

All that by way of saying here is another Monday Mental Meandering, BUT… I actually wrote something other than a blog post.  I need to get my articles written for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  I tried to work on them over the weekend, but, well, if you read my blog posts you’ll know that didn’t work out too well.  I went to work early this morning and tried again.

At first I failed. I sat at my little table (there is a little table near my work area I can sit at during breaks.  It is most convenient) and stared at a blank page.  I just couldn’t get the lead.  I could just hear some superior type saying, “Never mind getting the perfect lead, just write SOMETHING.  You can always revise it later.”  Well, I have found that that method — if I can even do it and I can’t always — is only effective some of the time.  I turned back a page and worked some more on a letter to a friend.  One could argue that that is at least writing something, I suppose.

Anyways, I made no more progress than that until lunch.  When I wrote two perfectly good pages!  Yes!  I’m back!  Fist pump!

I went back to work feeling better about everything.  As usual, my mind began to wander.  I thought in a vague sort of way about writing this and writing that.  I thought about some totally unrelated topics such as a doctor’s appointment, the upcoming holidays, and the present I have to get for my great-nephew’s first birthday (not sure the exact date; must check that).

And then I started to think about a story.  I liked the idea (NO, I’m not going to tell it to you now!).  Suddenly the first sentence was in my head, and I liked that. I grabbed a piece of scrap paper and wrote it down.  I wrote another sentence or two as I continued to work.  Then when I finished my clean-up and still had a few minutes before time to punch out, I sat at my table, opened my notebook and wrote some more.

It was fun!  I LOVE to write!  I want to write some MORE!

I see that there is one small problem with this blog post.  I think writing about writing is much more interesting when you actually talk about what you are writing.  Well, sorry about that, but if I do that I may never write it.  However, once I actually finish something, I may write a more interesting blog post about it.  I’ll include a Spoiler Alert.

 

Multiple M Monday

“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.