Category Archives: personal

Some Semblance of Christmas Decorations

Earlier I had great ambitions of doing a real post, taking pictures of the Christmas decorations my husband Steven has put up. Later on I had thoughts of completely wimping out and trying to do two posts tomorrow instead.  Now I am tapping one letter at a time into my Tablet with the stylus, hoping to come up with some semblance of a Lame Post Friday post.

I just don’t imagine he could actually crack a nut.

I thought I would pep the post up with a picture I took last night at Jamo’s, where Steven and I had supper last night.  Steven threatened to try to sneak this guy out under his coat, but he was only joking. He does have a nice collection of nutcrackers, but none of this size.

I hoped the lights outside would not be too obtrusive.

Here is another shot of Jamo’s. I do love Christmas decorations.

I took another picture of Jamo’s decorations, but it turned out blurry.  I guess some people have blurry vision later on a Friday evening, but that is no reason to add to anybody’s lack of focus.

I have a few tentative plans for Mohawk Valley Adventures on Saturday.  I hope to write some good blog posts about them.  In the meantime,  Happy Friday, everyone!

 

 

All Dressed Up for Non-Sequitur Thursday

Oh, the days when I have Mohawk Valley Adventures and then feel too tired to write about them!  It is for just such an emergency that Non-Sequitur Thursday was invented (by me).

I got home from work, showered (I have the sort of job you shower after, I mention for the sake of those who did not know or had forgotten), and put on a cute outfit (although I daresay I flatter myself).  Steven and I had planned on shopping and dining.

We went to Rose Quartz Stand.  I had a gift certificate I had won at a Herkimer County Historical Society fundraiser.  We took a long time walking around and deciding.  I will probably return for even more Christmas shopping (and a little shopping for me).  After making our purchases, we walked down the sidewalk to Jamo’s for dinner.  Yum!

Now we are home relaxing.  I hope to write more about both our stops later.  In the meantime,  here is a brief shout-out to two Herkimer businesses.

The Rose Quartz Stand is located at 105 Mohawk St., Herkimer NY, phone number 315-868-5199.  They are open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday,  11 a.m. to 5 p.m, Saturday, closed Sunday and Friday.

Jamo’s Restaurant and Bar is located at 123 Mohawk St., phone number 315-866-1746.  They are open 4 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday,  11 a.m. to 9 p.m, Saturday and Sunday.

 

Great Run on a Gloomy Day

Here is the Running Commentary post I should have made yesterday!   I knew I had to run; I had not run for two days, and the Reindeer Run 5K is a week and a half away.  Additionally, I LIKE to run!  And I like best to run when I am in good shape to do so.  That means running on a regular basis even when I do not feel particularly inclined to do so.

As I left work, however, I did feel inclined to run.  For one reason, it was a grey, gloomy day, whereas yesterday had been bright and sunny.  I love a grey gloomy day.  Steven says I am part Addams (Morticia, not Ansel, of course).  It was not overly cold, either.  The roads and sidewalks were just as much of a mess, but one must deal with these things.

I wore my road-guard vest (that’s a reflective vest, for you civilians), because I knew I would be running in the road where the sidewalks were not plowed, blown or shoveled.  I made sure I was on the left side, facing traffic.  I like to give myself every advantage.  As I started, I remembered the good thing about running on snowy roads and sidewalks:  it takes more effort.  That mean it burns more calories!  Of course I mostly run for entertainment and general health reasons, but a little help towards my weight-loss goals is always welcome.

The run was great.  I was able to spend most of my time on the sidewalk, but I kept mostly to the lesser traveled streets just in case.  I had told myself that 20 minutes would be an acceptable run, then caught a second wind and decided to go for 25.  Then I got confused and ended up running for 26 minutes.

Hmm… this is not the most entertaining blog post I could have written. On the other hand, it isn’t overly long.  I think I’ll chalk it up to Wuss-out Wednesday and drive on.  I hope you are all have a swell mid week!

 

It’s Not a Crime to Wine Instead of Whine

I did not go running today, so anybody can feel free to judge me, if they are so inclined.  I don’t know if I can manage much more than a Tired Tuesday post.  But maybe I could share a few photos of a previous Mohawk Valley Adventure I did not write about.

I stupidly cannot remember her name!

We often go to wine tastings at Valley Wine and Liquor in Herkimer,  as I believe I have mentioned.  We took a number of pictures at a recent tasting of 19 Crimes wine, one of my all time favorites (what a surprise).  Above is the lovely lady who poured.

Kim, me and Steve, looking criminal.

They had a few props for even more photo opportunities.

And one with more criminal expressions.

19 Crimes wines have a different crime printed on each cork.  Naturally I am trying to collect all nineteen.  Full disclosure: I don’t have any idea how close I am.

An employee of the store also got in on the fun.

We had a fun time tasting the wine and taking pictures. And now I have managed to make a post NOT whining about how I can’t make a decent post today.

Valley Wine and Liquor is located at 326 S. Caroline St., Herkimer, NY, phone number 315-867-5800. They are open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday,  12 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

 

Welcome, December!

The view from the deck.

I think I mentioned yesterday that winter has arrived in the Mohawk Valley (too lazy to look at yesterday’s post and remind myself; what do you want from me on a Monday?).  We woke up to a winter wonderland this morning.  Mostly I wondered why I was out shoveling my driveway at 5 a.m. instead of hiring some guy with a snowplow attachment or owning a snowblower.  Full disclosure: we have my father’s old snowblower, but we have never been able to get it started.

I don’t mind the shoveling so much, really.  Most of the time it is a mere matter of pushing fluffy stuff around.  This morning things were a little heavier, especially where the street plow had filled us in. Steven helped then spent a great deal more time shoveling while I was at work.

Further disclosure: after I went to bed early, as I like to do on a Sunday, I heard a neighbor snowblowing.  I wondered if I shouldn’t get up and take a layer off my own driveway.  Of course I was too comfortable.  This morning I questioned my choice, but obviously it was to late.  What do I always say about not indulging in regrets?  I kept shoveling.

When I got home after work, I grabbed my Tablet to get a few pictures of the snow, to dress up my blog post.  First I took the above shot.  Then I wanted to get one of the remains of the Brown-Eyed Susans.  I love the look of dried plants against the snow.  Unfortunately  I was not able to zoom in (I am SO unhandy at these things!).

I couldn’t make myself walk into the snow for a close-up.

I like to have three pictures and at last decided on one of Frankentree.

He’s all decorated for Christmas!

By this time it was snowing on my Tablet.  I know it is not good to get devices wet, so I retreated back to the house.  So, three pictures,  over 300 words.  I call that an OK post for a Monday.  Tune in tomorrow, to see if I manage to go running in the snow.  After all, it won’t be that long till this blog goes All Reindeer Run All The Time.

 

Has Wrist to Forehead Sunday Become a Cliche?

A winter storm, or at least winter weather started hitting the Mohawk Valley this morning.  I went running well before the precipitation, although it was frightfully cold.  It turns out I don’t mind running in cold weather. If I had gotten on here earlier and made a Sunday Running Commentary post,  I would be all set right now.  Oh well, that ship sailed, as they say (I have many times observed that one can often get away with using a cliche, if one adds “as they say” or “the proverbial”).

Where was I?  Ah yes, indulging in cliche and trying to make a blog post. I think we can legitimately call this a Wrist to Forehead Sunday. I am feeling a bit swoony on the sofa and I don’t care who knows it.

Clearly this is not me, but I know just how she feels.

I really am sorry to be making yet another post about not being able to make a decent blog post.  I’m afraid it has become the rule rather than the  exception.  On the other hand, I am making my Sunday post on Sunday. That has to count for something, doesn’t it?

Oh dear, is “has to count for something” another cliche?  I would hang my head in shame, but I am pretty sure that IS a cliche.  I bet it is also a cliche to promise to try to do better tomorrow.  How embarrassing!  I’ll have to sprinkle “the proverbial” over this post out of a salt shaker!

But Happy Sunday, everyone.

 

Late on Friday, Ambitious for Saturday

So Thursday I managed a foolish post while tired, but I could not accomplish such a feat on Friday.  I know I proclaimed Wednesday Lame Post Friday,  but I think I will have to dub it Wuss-out Wednesday and have another Lame Post Friday today.  Uh, yesterday.

Today, in fact, is Shop Small Saturday,  a holiday tailor made for Mohawk Valley Girl!  I have actually been saying lately, ” EVERY Saturday is Shop Small Saturday for me!  I hardly ever shop big!”  That said, I plan to make a few local stops today, perhaps even venturing out of Herkimer into Frankfort, Ilion, Mohawk, and Little Falls.  Hmm. That may entail quite a number of stops. We’ll see.

However, there are other things I need to accomplish. I must get some writing done other than a late, lame blog post. It would be a good idea to run. And there is always my house that needs a lot of cleaning…

I think more coffee is first on the agenda.  We’ll make this post a little shorter than my usual, and I’ll try to make up for it later.

 

Too Much Turkey to Type!

Must… make… blog… post…

You know, like in a super hero comic book, or graphic novel or something.  I am VERY tired and SO tempted to just bag it.  After all, I made a blog post earlier. True, it was not today’s blog post, but must we be didactic about these things?

How good of a blog post do I need to make on a holiday, anyways?  Well, considering the low quality of most of my recent offerings, I guess it could go either way.  Perhaps I SHOULD make a decent post since so many others have been foolish.  On the other hand, if this is another foolish post, it will only be par for the course.

It might be nice to make a Thanksgiving post, saying how grateful I am for things.  I am SO grateful for my family.  I got to see almost all of them today.  That is, parents, siblings, nieces and nephews.  I’d like to see some aunts, uncles and cousins sometime too.  Then again, how many people can you reasonably visit with in a day?  At least I got a lot of hugs.

It is difficult to blog after a heavy dinner, two pieces of pie and, yes, a few glasses of wine. But  I can’t feel too bad about another foolish post.  I feel wonderfully happy, because I had a delightful day.  Happy Thanksgiving,  everybody!

 

Late, Lame, and Like a Friday

It turns out yesterday was Wuss-out Wednesday.  I fell asleep on the couch without making my blog post.  I have been wanting a lot of sleep lately (cue jokes about my sorely needing beauty rest).  Well, yesterday was kind of like Friday, because I am off work today, so why don’t I dash off a traditional Lame Post Friday post, with random observations and half-baked philosophy.  Traditional kind of fits, too, since today is Thanksgiving.

One random observation I have been making lately is that people are putting up their Christmas decorations.   I LOVE Christmas decorations!  Some folks say it is too early, please can we wait till after Thanksgiving.  This leads me neatly into some half-baked philosophy.

Quite frankly, I can see the point of the Please Wait crowd.  I have been known to speak sternly to those that start talking about Christmas in October.  “Halloween!” I beseech them, “Wait till after Halloween!”

We could go on to ponder how we got to be in such a rush, or why some of us feel the need for three months of Christmas, and how much of this is a profit making scheme of big retail.  Oh, that sounds like a lot of trouble for a late post.

Anyways, I want to go running, and I believe it is not currently precipitating, so I need to get while the gettin’, as they say, is good.

 

Don’t Walk, Run! At Least Don’t Whine!

My health woes continue, and I am just going to have to keep annoying people about them.  I actually felt a little better today.  True,  I kept saying to myself, “Holy crap, I feel like shit,” sometimes mixing it up a little and saying, “Holy shit, I feel like crap.”  But I did not feel desperately ill all the time.

I hoped I would be able to manage at least a short run.  Yesterday  I did not try to run but after writing some post cards tried to walk with them to the post office.  I got about two houses away when my body said, “Oh please, no.”  I cravenly turned around (no autocorrect,  I do not mean “gravely” when I typed “cravenly”).

I can see I am still not back up to blogging ability.  I just spent two paragraphs whining about being ill (ill, not I’ll, dammit!), and I haven’t even gotten to my run yet.  Maybe I should throw in a picture,  so this post has a shot at some entertainment value.

“Oh woe! Oh anguish!”

This is how I often pose with a headache, but I fear I am nowhere near this skinny.  Maybe if I went on a few more runs.

This was Halloween.

I was looking through the photos on my Tablet for something else for this post when I accidentally hit this one. I like it, though, so it can stay.

OK, today is the second day of a three day week for me.  That means it is Tuesday (the day it actually is), Wednesday (the middle day of the week), AND Thursday (because tomorrow is “Friday”).  That means I can call this a Non-Sequitur Thursday post.  Yes!