So I went to bed on Sunday without making a blog post and I don’t feel up to making one this morning. I’m just going to come out and say it: I am depressed and under stress, and blog posts may become sporadic for a while.
Hey, “depressed” and “stressed” rhyme. Maybe I could make this a poetry blog.
To start with I was quite depressed
And then I got a little stressed
It’s hard to write
When under blight
As life becomes more messed.
That was the best I could come up with prior to 5 a.m. But it will have to do.
Regular readers know, or maybe they don’t know but some people know, that I normally go to bed early, even on the weekends. Well I am up late tonight. I know, for many people this is just the beginning of the evening. It used to be so for me, too. Things change.
All this by way of introduction to what may be a rather pathetic Scattered Saturday Post.
I slept in till 5:30 this morning (this is why I go to bed early). I went for a long run up a challenging hill. One week from today is the Pride Stride K, part of the Little Falls Pride event in Little Falls, NY. I think I will be ready.
I multi-tasked by doing a load of laundry while I ran. On returning from my cool-down walk, I managed to mow the lawn (non-power mower, it takes an effort). I returned bottles and cans, which took two tries because the place was so busy. I paid a few bills. I wrote a couple post cards. I did the dishes. I dropped my car off at the shop. I visited my husband Steven at the hospital.
I guess I got a few things done. However, looking around my house, I see I have a long way to go. Oh well, I suppose that is always the case. I have heard that the biggest room in the world is the room for improvement (I read it in a book I got out of the library when I was a little girl; I wish I could remember the name of that book).
Tomorrow will be another chance for improvement. If I manage any, I will be sure to write a blog post about it. That will improve my blog as well. As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.
Late Lame Post. It’s a thing. Without going into details (as I often say, explanations are so tiresome), I am going through a stressful time, and I do not seem to be handling it well. I may even be falling apart. Come on, Cindy, pull yourself together! Sometimes that sort of exhortation works.
Last night I indulged myself by going for a bite to eat at Jamo’s in Herkimer, NY (where I live). The angel on one shoulder said, “Don’t do it! Eat at home and save money!” The devil on the other shoulder said, “It’s called self care.” Come to think about it, perhaps I have that backwards and it was the devil urging the more depressing option. Additionally (although I did not think of this at the time), I was supporting the local economy and a very nice local business.
What the hell is it with not being able to add captions? Damn it!
I sat at the bar and ordered a glass of wine. I told the bartender about how the last time I was there, I had leaned my purse against the wall, it had fallen over, knocking down my wine glass, and I had burst into tears.
“I was feeling emotional,” I said. “I am kind of emotional today.” Actually, once I had made up my mind and was at Jamo’s, I felt better. Incidentally, I wrote a blog post about the bursting into tears incident, which I would link to if I could remember the title (I can’t).
I was delighted to find nachos on the menu. I immediately ordered them. The bartender told me that favorites come and go. I will remember that and not feel too bad the next time I don’t see nachos available.
Of course I had brought a notebook, but I did not have anything to write. Then I saw a partial scene from a long-ago novel. I started this novel back in the early 00’s, and this snippet of a scene I had written maybe a year ago. I wrote the next sentence. Then a page more! It was great!
The bartender asked if I was writing down all my stress. I explained it was a snippet of a novel and that I had a problem with finishing novels.
“My sister has four novels on Amazon and I haven’t got any!”
She asked what sort of novels I wrote, and we talked about that which led to me telling her about the murder mystery dinner theatre scripts I write. I felt happy to tell her I actually finish something!
Later on a young man sat at the other end of the bar and ordered a beer. The three of us chatted about beer, church youth groups retreats, and all manner of things. It was fun! When I got ready to leave, I told them how much I had enjoyed myself and hoped to meet them again sometime. They echoed the thought.
“Maybe at Heelpath Brewing,” the bartender said, since that was one of the things we chatted about.
Back home, I took a picture of my burgeoning peonies, just to further cheer myself up.
I was happy I had gone to Jamo’s, although my stomach wished I had ordered something lighter. In my defense, YUM! I am feeling cheerier this morning, especially having written this blog post (over 500 words! Wow!) (for me, I know other bloggers write much more on a regular basis). I almost feel I should delete the first paragraph. The post can stand perfectly well, perhaps better, without it. Yet I will let it stand. There is no shame in admitting one is having problems. But I hope everyone reads to the end when I say: I will be fine. Nachos and conversation are excellent medicine!
I can’t make up my mind whether to have a Blogger’s Sick Day, a Blogger’s Sad Day, a Bloggers Stress Day, or a simple Non-Sequitur Thursday. I lean toward the latter. For one reason, I do not intend to talk about why I am sick, sad and stressed. Not trying to be mysterious; just don’t want to be tiresome. I do enough whining as it is.
Of course, this is a personal blog. I might be expected to talk about my personal problems. And sometimes I do. But not today.
Looks like aLooLoLooks oks k fun bunch.
OK, this is weird. I can’t seem to put a caption on this picture. It is strange, too, that it was in my Media Library and I do not remember using it in a blog post. Perhaps I should go back and check.
Nope, not in any post. It is me, two of my sisters and my mom at my sister’s house in Liverpool. A fun visit.
I really just threw in the photo to make the post more non-sequitur-ish. I think another pic would help.
What hump, indeed?
And once again I cannot add a caption. What the hell, WordPress? Oh, I suppose it is operator error as usual. No matter. I am over 200 words. The blog must go on!
As I continue to trudge and stumble through my four day week (YES, I am grateful it is a four day week! I can’t help it if I trudge and stumble; I am tired and clumsy! Sheesh!) (And at least I continue to move in what I hope is a forward direction) (But I digress)…
Where was I? Ah yes, Mid-Week Monsters. Or should this be Way-Back Wednesday? In either case I intend to share a few pictures, type in a little nonsense, hit Publish, and hope for the best. It has worked before, I think it will work again. Here goes.
Scary!
I quite frankly do not remember adding this picture to my Media Library, although I obviously did. I also do not remember the movie, yet the title is familiar. I must look through my DVD collections of cheesy movies. There are so many.
Not so scary!
Here is a Way-back Monster photo, although not really so far back. It is my front porch in Halloween of, I think, 2019. I went to the photos on my Tablet, since I am having such trouble with my Media Library these days. They are not dated, and I did not scroll slowly enough to keep track.
Scary again!
Here is an authentic Way-back Monster: Nosferatu from 1922. It is one of the few movies I can reliably remember the year of, because 22 is my favorite number and Nosferatu is my favorite monster.
I think that is a pretty good note to end on. Here’s hoping for a non-monstrous rest of the week!
I wanted to make a better blog post today so thought I would take a walk with my Tablet and do a Pedestrian Post with Pictures. Only where could I walk and snap where I have not snapped before? Hoping to find an answer, I set out.
My first thought was my beloved .Herkimer Historic Four Corners. For heaven’s sake, how many pictures have I taken of that? I continued down Bellinger Street. If this was yesterday, I could have gone to the Downtown Chowdown in Meyer’s Park, an event with food trucks and music. Well, maybe there would be some photo ops in Meyer’s Park anyways.
First I saw something apparently under construction surrounded by CAUTION tape. What could that be? Probably something worth a picture! Um, it turns out not so much. I took a picture anyways. I would probably mention it in the blog post (I did!), and my readers might be curious.
I’m not sure what it is.
Then I decided to take a couple of pictures of the 9/11 Memorial. I think I have taken pictures of it before but not for a while.
I didn’t sit on the bench.
Walking around the flowers, I took a close-up of some roses, then a shot of the whole thing.
I think the buds are prettier than the blooms.
The bench is behind it.
Further on was an older memorial, to soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice. I should have run by that on Memorial Day. Once again, I took a close-up followed by a longer shot.
Having taken that many pictures, I felt free to continue my walk. I am trying to walk or run every day, because my legs seem to prefer it. Exercise is supposed to be good for one’s disposition as well. Is it good for my blog? I’ll let my readers be the judge of that.
I had meant to make a Running Commentary Post. In honor of Memorial Day, I put on an ARMY t-shirt and ran up the hill to Herkimer College (previously known as HCCC) and on to the Veteran’s Memorial Park near Wehrum Stadium.
It was a long, fairly difficult run. I felt that made it a fitting tribute to my fallen comrades (yes, I am a veteran). Last year about this time, I got a little worried about my private tribute: was I just calling attention to myself? “Look at me! I’m running up a tough hill to honor soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice!” I daresay I overthink these things.
And apparently I do not know how to navigate my Media Library. To get the above image, I tried searching “May 2020” and was told nothing matched my criteria. So I patiently scrolled down to it. May 25, 2020. I tried just now to search that, because I have a couple more pictures. I only typed in “May.” It woukd not let me type further and showed me one picture from August 2019!
Ah, the troubles of a blogger who is only semi-computer-literate. I don’t really have much more to say about this morning’s run. Running Commentary Posts are best made soon after the run, when it is still fresh. As I have been saying a lot lately, I can’t always do the right thing.
I hope my readers had a good Memorial Day, however they spent it. After my run, I drove into Rome to celebrate my father’s birthday with other family members. I think time with family is an excellent way to spend any holiday,
This is my Slacker Saturday Post. It is almost a Guest Blogger Post, because, although I am still me, I am typing on my sister Diane’s laptop on her patio in Liverpool, NY. I had meant to make my blog post in Herkimer, before I left on today’s adventures. Unfortunately, I was too tired and needed to take a nap.
I got up around 4:30 this morning, because I couldn’t sleep. I went for a run, did some house cleaning, threw in a load of laundry, talked to my Mom on the phone, etc., etc. Then next thing I knew it was after ten and I had not yet make my blog post. I went out into the yard and took a few pictures, thinking an update was in order. I tried but found I just had to go upstairs and lie down. Here are the pictures I took:
Look how pretty!
I was delighted to see our rhododendrons blooming. I think the tree gets a little bigger every year, but of course I am too lazy to try to find a shot from last year for a compare/contrast.
It IS growing!
I took an update of our Rose of Sharon. It seemed a little brown earlier this year but appears to be greening up nicely.
More here, and more to come!
I went out front to get a picture of our daisies, which have started to bloom. I can see where we will have many more. Additionally, I see plenty of buds on our peony bush. So I guess this shot is in the nature of a Preview of Coming Attractions.
My niece Gillian just took a few pictures of me, my Mom, and my sisters Vicki and Diane. I thought I had downloaded one to this space from my phone. Alas, it seems not to have taken. I feel this does not matter, since I am over 200 words. Score! I am not late with my blog post! And I have a very silly picture to share on Wrist to Forehead Sunday. As always, I hope you will stay tuned.
Here it is, Lame Post Friday once again, and I cannot believe how lame-brained I feel (is lame-brained hyphenated?). Then again, why should it be the least bit surprising, given how un-brainy I feel most of the time these days. Yet I shall try to find something reasonably entertaining to post.
OK, I just spent about ten minutes trying to add a picture of my Johnny Jump-ups to this post, and my Tablet will not cooperate. How frustrating! Illustrations always pep up the post. I hate to take even more time as my meager brain power further fades, but perhaps in my Media Library…
Pretty, yes?
I swear I took a more recent photo but damned if I can find it! Never mind, let’s get back to the post. I have a busy weekend planned. I spent a good part of my breaks at work making lists of things to do. I think I did one of them so far. Oh dear.
My Friday evening has not been such a much either, but there are worse things. Then again, one can almost always think of worse things that could happen. It is unwise to do so, however, because they might. Remember what happened to Igor and Frederick in YoungFrankenstein.
“It could be worse. It could be raining.”
I can’t find a picture of the right scene, so this one will have to do. Now it is in my Media Library, so I can use it on a Wednesday some time. Waste not, want not!
I was going to make a Running Commentary Post and call it The Thursday Thunk. I was pretty sure that would describe my run pretty accurately. I was right. It is good to be gainfully employed, but it tends to put a damper on my evening activities. I am sure many of you have similar issues.
It was a nice day, not too humid, not too hot, sunny, pleasant. After two days of not running and rain predicted for tomorrow (although we all know how that goes) (however, in this case, my bunions agree) (but I digress), I knew it would be a good idea to get myself out there. I got into running gear, threw a load of laundry in the washer (my favorite multi-task) and set out.
And thunk I did. Oh was I slow! Did I ever shuffle! But I went, and I kept going. I had thought to go on a different route than what I ran Monday, but I also wanted to cross as few busy streets as possible. Additionally, I prefer to stay left side facing traffic, even on the sidewalk. It makes it easier if I do want to detour onto the road.
I saw a few things of note: a metal sculpture of a frog on a bicycle, various colored irises (my own have not bloomed yet, but I have hopes), a few people working on home improvements. I did not pet any dogs, alas, although I greeted a few pedestrians.
It was not easy, but I made my run last 20 minutes, then took a ten minute cool-down walk. With my longer weekend runs, I think I will be in OK shape for the Pride Stride 5K in Little Falls, NY June 12. It is part of a whole event. I should write a whole blog post about that (preview of coming attractions).
In the meantime, I am over 300 words. Not bad for a Thunky Thursday.
Mohawk Valley Girl 