Category Archives: personal

Does Beer Cure Headaches?

Posted on June 3, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

On the brighter side, I haven’t had a headache in a long time.

On the dimmer side, now I don’t want to make a blog post where all I do is whine about how I have a headache.

This is simply dreadful.  I want to make my blog post before going to a beer tasting at Beer Belly Bob’s in Ilion, and this damn headache won’t go away, dammit.  Ah, I see by their Facebook page, the full name of the business is Route 51 Beer Belly Bob’s Discount Beverage Center.  They recently opened.  A work friend of mine is a close personal friend of Bob.  I love small town living.

I hurried home today so I would have time to go running AND get ready to go to the beer tasting.  I got my run done.  Not too long, definitely not very fast, no hills, but, hey, one does what one can.  At least I ran.  I even stretched when I got done, which I neglected to do yesterday (don’t judge).  When I went to take my shower, I wished once again that I had one of those old lady shower chairs so I could sit down while I washed.  Oh yes, I could have taken a bath, but then I would have had to (1) wait while the tub filled and (2) get up out of the tub when I had finished.  Could I fight gravity to that extent?  I did not try.

Once clean, I had to figure out a cute outfit to wear.  No, I don’t HAVE to look cute (cue unkind remarks about how I can’t look very cute anyways).  I just like to.  For one reason, my husband, Steven, is also going to the beer tasting.  I think it is nice to look cute for your husband of over 26 years.  I finally came up with something not too contemptible.  I had been picturing something kind of sophisticated, perhaps featuring a silk jacket.  Then I remembered I was going to taste beer.  I went for an oversized men’s polo shirt and yellow capri pants.  I found my earring made from a Black Label beer can (I only have one, because I lost the other, but that’s OK, because I almost never wear matching earrings).  I put it in the ear with one hole.  In the ear with two holes, I put dangly fresh-water pearls and a silver-and-gold hoop.

I don’t know why I am becoming so detailed, but I just realized I am over 400 words.  For starting with the idea that I could not post anything because of that stupid headache (which I still have, by the way), I think that is pretty good, especially for Lame Post Friday.  Ooh, and my date should be here any minute.  Happy Friday, everyone.

 

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If Only I Could Write a Blooming Blog Post

Posted on June 2, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I ran today, thinking I would sneak in another running commentary.  It was a dull and boring run.  At least, for a while I enjoyed it quite a bit.  But I think it was only interesting to me as I was running it and it would not entertain anybody, least of all myself, to make a blog post about it.  Still, a blog post must be made (because I say it does, that’s why!). I am currently cooking, so I could do a cooking post. If only I were doing something more interesting than heating up leftovers.

If only I could bestir myself sufficiently to take the Tablet out to the yard.  At least one iris bloomed today.  I posted a picture of the buds the other day.  I think some readers would be pleased to be posted on current developments.  Just a moment first, to stir the pot on the stove and lower the heat under it.  And find the Tablet (as you may recall, I have a habit of misplacing it).

Maybe if I would have stood on my head…

I guess it’s not the best picture, because the stem is kind of bent over.  Believe me, I know how it feels!  Perhaps I should put a tomato cage over it or something. Steven arrived home while I was taking the picture, and I was able to assure him that I TOLD the young man who mows the lawn not to mow down the daisies, as Steven had asked him to do.  You see, this nice young man who lives across the street offered to mow our lawn.  In addition to being quite busy and (on my part, at least) a little lazy, we were happy to encourage this example of young entrepreneurship.  The first time he did it, he did not mow the daisies in our front yard, which have become a little extensive this year.  Steven told him to mow them this time.  At the last minute, I reprieved them, though, because they were just too pretty.  Here is a picture.

He loves me, he loves me not…

In front of the daisies is a peony bush that magically appeared after we had sufficiently discouraged the wild day lilies.  I insisted it had been planted by my stalker, a statement that has yet to be disproved.  The peonies have not bloomed yet, but look how many buds:

It started as one lone stalk and blossom, and there’s a lesson for all of us.

The main problem with the daisies is that they hide the lilies of the valley, which are also multiplying exponentially.   However, I’m finding those blooms don’t show very well even without anything in front of the greenery.  I tried to get a picture.

If you look really close, you can just see a few bells.

I’ve picked a few lilies of the valley and brought them inside.  I used a shot glass for a vase, because they are so small (Steven collects shot glasses, although we rarely do a shot of anything).  I love the smell.  I tired to get a picture, but I fear they were backlit and do not show.

It’s frogs on either side of the flowers. Steven collects those, too.

We also have some daisies inside.  Steven put them in water with blue food coloring, at my suggestion.  I think they’re pretty.

Oh, yeah, he loves me.

So for not a running post and not a cooking post, I think this makes a pretty good flower post.  We’ll call it a win for Non-Sequitur Thursday.

 

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I Am a Writer. I Mean a Blogger.

Posted on June 1, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

It’s spearmint. I’d like to get some peppermint.

This is a picture I took yesterday with my Tablet and neglected to include in my blog post.  I realized I had left it out before I hit publish but I couldn’t figure out where to add it in.  I figured I could use it in a future blog post.  I thought it might be further in the future than the next day, but, well, it is Wuss-out Wednesday, and, once again, I got nothin’.

I really, really do got nothin’ today.  Plenty of nothin’ as the song goes.  Seriously, I am forcing my fingers to keep moving from key to key to put in the words you are reading now.  When I pause to think of the next sentence, it is difficult to get started again.  This has been happening to me all day.  This morning when I was driving to work, I stopped for a stop sign.  I did not stay stopped long enough to be late for work, but I had to remind myself to go.  I did manage to get work done while at work, but it was not easy.

What is this malaise?  Am I not taking enough vitamins?  Is it that last ten pounds I can’t seem to lose (oh, all right, 15 pounds, sheesh!)?  Not enough exercise?  Poor quality sleep?  Or am I just a big fat lazy bum who was not meant to be a blogger much less a writer?  SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!

Now there’s a point to ponder, within that welter of questions:  why did I say “a blogger much less a writer”?  Am I saying a blogger is not a real writer?  What makes a “real writer” anyways?  I don’t imagine I can answer these questions without resorting to truisms or cliches (another point to ponder:  what’s the difference between a truism and a cliche?).  Not on Wuss-out Wednesday, especially.

I think I’ll go make myself a cup of mint tea.

 

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Woo Hoo! They Grew!

Posted on May 31, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am resorting to pictures for this week’s Tired Tuesday post, but I went outside and took a few of my backyard.  My impetus for doing so is that the rhododendron is in full bloom and is lovely.  I was worried it would not last another day so wanted to take a picture.  Naturally I could not find the Tablet.  Steven and I searched almost all of the house except for the dining room chair it was sitting on.  Eventually I found it and was thankful it had not started raining again by that time.

An old boyfriend used to call me his “little rah-d’den-DRAHN”

The bush gets bigger every year and has since a few years ago when I broke off a couple dead branches.  I suppose there’s a metaphor for life there, but I really do not feel like figuring out what to prune off myself for improvement.  Having captured this picture, I moved on and snapped a few more shots.

That’s the neighbors’ pool and house in the background.

My mom gave me the Rose of Sharon in 2011.  After Steven accidentally mowed it down a couple of times, it started to grow bigger.  I’ll have to take another picture after it blooms.  If it ever does.  And speaking of wait till it blooms, here are a couple more shots of plants that are going to look better later.

I suppose I could have pulled some of the weeds first.

I got the Black-Eyed Susans from a sale at the Herkimer County Humane Society back in 2011.  The chives are, I think, from Tripple’s Produce in Schuyler, NY.  They were in my container garden some years ago (I forget when but prior to 2011).  After the season, I put them in the garden to see what would happen.  Woo-hoo, they grew! (Hey, that might be a good title for this post.)

Ooh, even more weeds over here.

The irises are from my Mom.  She’s had irises in her yard for as long as I can remember.  Periodically she thins out the bulbs.  This is the first time I had a yard to put any in.  There are more very year, so woo-hoo once again.

You can just about see all the other stuff in the background.

This last shot is another preview of coming attractions.  These are the plants I purchased at T & J’s Fruits and Vegetables in Herkimer on Sunday.  They will eventually be part of my container garden. I hope to share some pictures of that eventually.  When I’m not too tired to put them in the containers.  Happy Tuesday, everyone.

 

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Memorial Day Musings on a Run in the Rain

Posted on May 30, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I said yesterday I was going to do a hard run today, in honor of fallen soldiers for Memorial Day.  When I got up it was pouring rain, and I was tired.  I don’t usually run in the rain, and it was raining quite heavily.   I really felt too sluggish to do anything.  At last I bestirred myself and went upstairs to put on running clothes with the intention of running in place on the mini-tramp.

As I sought out proper attire, I felt I must run outside in the rain.  Was this a tribute to fallen soldiers or was it not?  How could I justify making things more comfortable for myself?  Maybe I wouldn’t make it for an hour and a minute (the length of my last longest run), but dammit, I was going to run in the rain.  I put on an ARMY t-shirt with a reflective decal on the back.  ARMY for the soldiers, reflective decal for me.  Headlights would catch the decal even in broad daylight, wouldn’t they? Cars should have their headlights on in the rain.  I would be fine.

I headed in the direction of Herkimer College, thinking up that hill would be a good, tough run.  I dodged around and jumped over puddles, eventually landing in one so that my shoes went squish, squish.  I expected that.  I wondered if my plan was a good one.  For one reason, I think the hill I ran up the last time I ran in the suburbs was a longer, steeper one than the one to HCCC (can’t get out of the habit of calling Herkimer College by its old name).  For another reason, I did not think there would be any people up at the college. I like to run where there are people, in case I run into problems.  Suppose I got cramps or sprained an ankle?  I like to think somebody would notice.

“Hey, there’s a crazy old lady, out running and came to grief.  I’ll call 9-1-1.  Better not get to close, though; I hear they’re dangerous when wounded.”

Halfway up the hill, I remembered Campus Safety would probably still be around.  Anyways, I’ve never come to grief running.  I think it’s something my body tells my brain to think about in hopes I will decide to stop running. Soon I was happy for the lack of traffic, because I went out almost to the middle of the lane to avoid a deep puddle.  I didn’t want any more squish in my shoes than I had to have.

Soon I started second guessing my whole “Run for the soldiers” theme.  Who did I think I was, anyways?  Wasn’t I just glorifying myself:  “Oh, look how tough I am, running up the hill in the rain.”  Of course I did not feel particularly tough. I felt wet and old, but oddly good about myself.  Naturally I become suspicious when I start to feel good about myself. I feel I am not the best judge of what I ought to feel good about.

Oh, it took a long way to get to the top.  Did I think this hill was easier than the others I run?  I must be crazy!  But I knew I could make it.  I was running with a bottle of water in one hand but did not feel inclined to take a sip on the steep incline. When I got to the top, I promised myself.  When I got to the top, I kept going across the campus, which I have not done yet this year.  After all, you can cover a lot of ground if you want to keep going for an hour.

Campus was almost deserted.  I saw one car moving and a few empty ones parked. Nobody told me to get off campus, and I enjoyed the solitude.  Things look kind of interesting when they are grey and soggy.  I was pretty grey and soggy myself, and not just my hair; the t-shirt was grey and by now it was soaked through.  I ran all the way around behind the athletic fields to Reservoir Road, which quite frankly seemed a lot longer than the last time I ran it.

I continued my run, moving back and forth between feeling I was making a respectful tribute and wandering what the hell I was thinking.  I also ran the gamut of “this really sucks” to “I LOVE running.”  Sixty-one minutes is a pretty long run.  I finished my water and re-filled the bottle at the spring.  Then I saved the spring water for my husband Steven.  I had left another bottle of tap water on my deck to drink during my cool-down walk.

And that is how I remembered and honored our fallen soldiers on Memorial Day.

 

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Not a Wrist to Forehead Run

Posted on May 28, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I will probably be doing a lot more Running Commentary posts for the next month and a half (or so), as I continue to prepare for the Utica Boilermaker 15K.  I thought I was in excellent shape for it already, having run just over an hour yesterday.  My feeling is if you can run one hours, you can run two; just don’t stop.  And I have run the Boilermaker in under two hours each time I have run in.  Then again (second guessing myself is apparently my favorite indoor sport), I took a three hour nap yesterday afternoon.  Maybe I’m not in such great shape (although I still maintain that round and puffy is a shape).

Today I have a few things I would like to get done, and I will not have time for a three-hour nap, so I thought I would run less than one hour.  This is not my normal M.O.  Usually I make long runs on both weekend days, when I don’t have to work.  However, this is a three day weekend.  I can go for a long run on Memorial Day.  I will wear an army t-shirt and run in honor of fallen soldiers.  So today could be a shorter, easier run with no hills.

I made this plan while I was still in bed, knowing it would be a good idea to get up but really wanting to sleep some more.  I finally talked myself into rising and immediately started drinking water from the bottle I habitually keep next to the bed. I got right into running clothes and was out the door before I had decided which direction to run in.  I turned the opposite way from what I usually take, toward State Street instead of German.  I had only gotten a block when somebody called a greeting.  It was the owner of Chico and Bear, two neighborhood dog buddies of mine.

She was dressed for church and taking the pups for a business meeting.  I stopped my watch and went over to pet the pups and chat with the person. I told her I had thought of going to church yesterday but woke up from my nap twenty minutes after mass started.  When we finished our chat, I reset my watch to zero and started again.  This time I ran down Church Street toward Main.  I still had no idea where I would go but knew I could figure it out as I went.  The sun was in my eyes, so I turned up Prospect and headed toward German.

On German, I turned left, so the sun was behind me.  I decided to run up the hill by Valley Health.  Yes, I had thought “no hills” but one hill was not so bad, especially compared to what I ran yesterday and what I hope to run tomorrow.  As I got to Valley Health, I mixed things up a little by going around the building the opposite way I usually do.  It’s the little things that add interest to my runs.  Running in front of the building as I was, I realized I was on an upslope.  I had never noticed it being a downslope when I ran on it in the opposite direction.  And isn’t that a metaphor for life, I thought.  We don’t always notice when things are a little easier, but, boy, let them get the least bit harder and wham!

I did not mind the upslope, nor yet the steeper hill.  Soon enough I was running down the side I usually run up.  The view is much better the other way, but I appreciated seeing something a little bit different.  I ran down to the Jr/Sr High School, eventually going over the little footbridge.

I ended up running for 37 minutes, and I felt pretty damn good about it.  I got tired by the end but concentrated on my breathing.  I know how getting a VCD (vocal chord dysfunction) attack can rack me up later in the day.  I felt truly awesome on my cool-down walk.  I feel pretty pleased with myself that I have made my blog post already too.  It looks as if I am not going to have a Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  I hope everybody else’s weekend is going as well.

 

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Scattered, then Nap, then Snapped

Posted on May 28, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

It’s Wine O’Clock on a Saturday.  I wrote a blog post with that title once.  Some may feel I have not earned a wine o’clock today, but to that person I will explain, “Shut up.” (With thanks to S.J. Perelman.)

I managed to sleep in till after 6:30 this morning.  Ooh, did that feel good.  Ooh, did the coffee taste good when I had some of that.  I had not finished the first cup (I was nursing it) when I decided to go for my run.

What a run!  It was a long run!  It went up a long hill with some steep stretches!  I got endorphins.  The endorphins wore off (here’s a Freudian slip: I typed “whore” instead of “wore.”  Damn immoral endorphins!)  My computer thinks “endorphins” is not a word, but “endorphin” is.  I like it with the “s.”  Ooh, and look: on my headline, I added and “s” to “nap” to get “Snapped.”  Let’s hear it for the letter s!

I’m still on my first glass of wine, by the way.

After my run, a shower and some breakfast, I wrote my postcards while Steven finished a letter I had started to a sister-in-law.  I paused in the middle of that to put some stew beef in the crock pot for later consumption.  Before walking to the post office, I messaged my friend Kim on Facebook about getting together later.  When I got to the post office, I heard a voice say, “Hey, lady!”  It was Kim.  How serendipitous was that?  We made plans to meet at noon.

We drove out to the Herkimer County Humane Society for their garage sale.  I’ve gotten some good stuff at their garage sales!  I found some good stuff today, but I can’t tell you want, because a couple of them are presents (don’t shake your head at me for buying presents at a garage sale; it’s reduce, reuse, recycle!).  We looked at two other garage sales we had seen on the way out but did not find anything else to buy.

Next we went to T & J’s Fruits and Vegetables, at 221 Caroline St., Herkimer,  to look at plants.  I had it in mind to get my container garden together.  I saw a lot of good stuff but suddenly was overcome with tiredness.  Serious, my whole body just said, “I can’t possibly do this today.”  However, I ascertained that the place is open tomorrow and Monday, so I do not despair of getting something done soon.

Kim and I had a couple of other stops in mind, but when she asked if I was too tired, I had to say I was.  I got home in time to visit with Steven during his lunch hour.  Then I took a damn nap.  Yes, naps!  I love naps!  Before I slept, however, I started to read through the rehearsal script for The Tempest, which is LiFT Theatre Company’s summer Shakespeare production.  I must begin learning my lines!

After the nap, I had a cup of tea and tried to recover at least a modicum of ambition.  I succeeded to the extent of doing the dishes.  Then I poured myself the glass of wine referenced in the first sentence and turned on Snapped, my favorite television show.  And, as you see, I had enough ambition to make a 500+ word blog post.  Yay me!  Now to watch my show and crochet a little till it’s time to finish fixing supper.  Happy Saturday, everyone!

 

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“Charles Nelson Reilly Isn’t Wearing Socks”

Posted on May 27, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is that moment of the evening when a blogger has got to just pour herself a glass of wine and make the damn blog post.  Oh, I know, it is perfectly possible to make a blog post without drinking wine and, indeed, that is what I usually do.  But what fun is that on a Friday?  Especially on a Friday when one has weekends off and this is a three-day weekend.  If this is not you, don’t hate on me.  I had plenty of jobs where it was not the case.  In fact, my own husband has none of the next three days off, so even my life is not perfect.

Be all that as it may, today is Lame Post Friday.  As lame as this whole week has been, blog-wise, today I am going to relax even more and be even sillier.  I wonder if I should include pictures.

love, Love, LOVE Match Game!

This is the picture I saw on Facebook yesterday and wanted to include in the blog post.  It was on a page called Iconic Cool, which posts all kinds of awesome photos.  They posted this one because Charles Nelson Reilly died ten years ago May 25.  It brought to mind the oft-repeated line of Brett Somers on the show Match Game:  “Charles Nelson Reilly isn’t wearing socks.”  Someday I’d like to write a book with that title. Perhaps about a murder taking place backstage at Match Game 75 (year subject to change, but I always felt the show sounded incomplete without the year).

Well, now I feel I should include more pictures.  On the other hand, perhaps my readers will become impatient with me if all I ever do is post pictures I find on Facebook with my silly comments.  Back to the first hand, it is fun to use pictures, and I can always strive to improve myself with future blog posts.  Especially if I continue to post every day.

I should have led with this one.

 

Monsters is my usual default, as you may have noticed.  I found this on Dracula’s House of Halloween, one of my favorite Facebook pages.

In fact, it is not my favorite Shakespeare monologue.

To close out this post, I go Shakespearean and punny.  I was looking and looking in a Punmanship group for a good joke to share.  This one taps into my deep-seated fear of boring my readers.  I see I am almost to 400 words (oops, over now).  Way too long for a Friday Lame Post!  I hope my readers will forgive me, and I hope to see you all on Scattered Saturday.

 

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Love that John Quinones

Posted on May 26, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

As I drove home from work, I thought to myself, “Windy, isn’t it?”  Naturally I answered, “No, I think it’s Thursday,” followed by, “So am I, let’s get a drink.”  And now I am sipping a Corona while watching 20/20 on OWN.  I used to have the rule to neither do homework nor write while watching television, but now that I am older and it becomes increasingly clear that I am becoming no wiser, I do some things I  never used to do.

Where was I?  I did not get distracted by the television but by typing in a paragraph that I backspaced out.  I hope I am not starting another bout of that disease! I grit my teeth and keep typing.  Then I relax my jaw, because gritting one’s teeth is a bad habit.  I grind mine in my sleep, which is a very bad thing to do, but I can’t seem to help it.  Never mind my teeth, let’s get on with the post.  Did I mention this is Non-Sequitur Thursday?

My blog this week seems to be: pictures, running commentary, pictures, today.  So I ran earlier, thinking I could get away with another Running Commentary.  Which is too bad, because when I was on Facebook earlier, I saw a picture I would LOVE to use in a blog post.  Perhaps another time.  However, the fact is, I am not up to typing in a description of a run.  I will mention that it was longer than Tuesday’s run, that I was delighted that it stopped raining so I could run outdoors, and… OK, I guess that’s all I need to mention.

I did not mention, and WordPress did not remind me, that I recently passed my Blogiversary.  Six years ago, I started Mohawk Valley Girl.  With rare exceptions, I have posted every day.  Isn’t that swell?  I suppose there are those that do not think so, but, well, they can think what they like.  In the meantime, I want to start making more posts about the Mohawk Valley.  Perhaps I could start tomorrow. On the other hand, it will be Lame Post Friday, so I make no promises.  However, I hope you’ll tune in. Happy Thursday, everyone.

 

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Mid-Week Movies

Posted on May 25, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I KNOW I just two days ago did the picture thing, but who wants to see another post about me whining that I can’t think of a post to write? As I was looking at Facebook, trying to think of SOMETHING to write about, on my On This Day, I saw this and said, “Cool!”

I gotta get me a bra like that.

This is Man Bait from 1952.  I have never seen it, but I love the poster.  The funny thing (to me, anyways) is that I found it on the Facebook page Classic Film Freak.  I do not feel this looks like a classic.  It looks more like one of those B or C (for cheesy) movies I love.  No matter.  It is an awesome poster and I wanted to put it in a blog post.  Naturally I did not want to put just one picture in my blog post.

Returning to Classic Film Freak, the first thing to meet my eye was a poster with one of my all-time favorites:  Boris Karloff!  Yay!

He looks mad!

I never saw this one either.  It is from 1936.  I wonder if TCM will play it sometime.  I’ll have to watch for it.

Another Classic Film I somehow missed.

I thought Buccaneer’s Girl from 1950 tied in with Boris Karloff, because it starred Yvonne DeCarlo, loved by many as Lily Munster.  I see now that the film is even more closely related, as it features Elsa Lanchester, title character in The Bride of Frankenstein.  Another movie for me to seek out, I think  (Buccaneer’s Girl, I mean.  I have  The Bride of Frankenstein on DVD, of course).

It is funny that I am suddenly seeing movies I want to catch.  I recently read a blog post decrying the loss of video stores and telling Netflix a thing of two.  I am not on Netflix nor have I any idea of how to stream anything.  It was Ben’s Bitter Blog, one of my favorites.  It lets me tap into my bitterness, which I usually try to keep out of my blog (you know, because of that “totally fun” line in the subtitle).  I guess I am actually a little bitter now that I did not make a better blog post.  Then again, this is Wuss-out Wednesday.  Guess I’ll hit Publish and drive on.

 

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