Category Archives: personal

Wrist to Chores to Walk to Galavant

Posted on February 1, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have been so not into making a blog post today.  Then I thought, “Oh, what the hell, it’s Wrist to Forehead Sunday, just type something in and hit publish.

I dithered through most of the day first, enjoying intermittent bursts of relative ambition.  I intend to start the South Beach diet tomorrow (not for the first time), so I went to the grocery store to buy some stuff.  As the young man was checking me out — uh, I mean cashing me out (I was old enough to be his mother), I said, “I’m buying all this healthy stuff, because I’m going on the South Beach Diet tomorrow.”

“I was wondering what that was all about,” he responded with the utmost gravity.  That is the kind of cashier I enjoy.

At home again I made a tossed salad, did a load of laundry and a couple of other useful things.  Then I took a nap till my husband got home (did I mention I’m still suffering from a cold?).  We went for a nice walk.  I thought briefly of doing my blog post about the walk, but it was strictly non-memorable (but fun).

Then I said, “Let’s watch Galavant!”

Galavant is this awesome series on ABC.  It’s Monty Python and Mel Brooks meet Glee.  That is, a musical set in the middle ages with plenty of contemporary references. The lyrics are clever, the characters are compelling, the plot MAKES YOU KEEP WATCHING.  I am in love with it.  We DVR it to watch at our leisure, because of my abnormally early bedtime.

Now we are looking at one of our favorite movies, Being Julia, starring Annette Bening, for  whom I would change my religion (oh, well, perhaps I would not go that far, but I adore her), Jeremy Irons and Michael Gambon.  It is based on Theatre by Somerset Maugham, one of my favorite books. It is a marvelous adaptation. I highly recommend it.

So this is my Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  A few chores, a nice walk, and now I’m watching television.  I must get back to it, because I just started a baby afghan for a co-worker.  I think he will be surprised.

Happy Sunday, everyone.

 

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It’s Still Scattered Saturday After All

Posted on January 31, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: people who go on about their health woes are tiresome, yet here I go.  Now it’s a cold!  I have a crappy, sicky headache and a sore throat.  I feel like crap!  I can’t write a blog post when I feel like crap!

Well, apparently I can because, well, here I am.  I got myself out the door to go adventuring earlier.  I drove all the way to Dolgeville, NY (preview of coming attractions).  Then I came back home and have been nursing myself, not very successfully. Now I want to get the blog post typed in and published before Steven comes home from work.

I intend to cook some rainbow peppers, yellow onions and sweet sausage.  That will not make much of a cooking post, however, because I’m just going to throw them all in a casserole dish and put the casserole dish into the oven.  Then we might make sandwiches (sammiches, as some say) using French Peasant Bread from Heidelberg Bakery in Herkimer, NY.  I mention the bread just to give my post a little local flair.

Ooh, and I just remembered that the sausage has a local story too.  I stopped on the way home from work yesterday at the Mohawk Village Market.  They have a regular old-fashioned butcher department.  All the meat there looks wonderful!  I intend to return soon for some absolutely beautiful London broil and perhaps stuffed pork chops.  Yum!

As I walked back to the meat counter, I saw a Little Library.  There was a doll house and bookshelf filled with books.  You could take one, leave one. I’ve heard of these Little Libraries but had never encountered one, much less in a store.  I found three books I wanted to read.

“Can I take these books and bring books back at another time?” I asked.

“You can do whatever you want,” the lady behind the counter assured me.  “Bring them back, keep them, bring others in, whatever!”

You can imagine my delight.

Mohawk Village Market is located at 24 W. Main St., Mohawk, NY, phone number 315-866-3344.  You can also Like them on Facebook.

 

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Is It a Saying or a Cliche?

Posted on January 30, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Another common saying revisited:   Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

I once heard somebody say it was a good way to land on your ass.  Ain’t that the truth!

I’m not saying you will inevitably land on your ass.  However, it seems to me you’d better have strong bootstraps, killer abs, and a completely non-stick surface.  Of course you might have these things and you may, indeed, make the bootstrap thing work.

Yes, I know it is just an expression.  It means, if I am not mistaken, that rather than wallow in your problems you can use your own power to overcome them or, to return to the metaphor, rise above them.  However (still in the metaphor), I’m thinking there are easier ways to rise.

For example, you might push yourself up, maybe even rolling over onto your front side to get more power from your arms.  Tis would work best if you are on a clean, dry surface rather than a muddy, mucky one. In other words, it depends on the problem.  Maybe sometimes it is better to not worry about presenting the tough, I-got-this-covered persona and just get up the best way you can.

You could also pull yourself up.  This, of course, requires something sturdy and firmly fastened to pull on, for example, a strong rope tied by a square knot to a solid wall.  How did the rope get there, you may ask?  Well, maybe you put it there earlier, in case of just such an emergency.  Maybe it just happened to be there.  Maybe a friend put it there.

Ah yes, my favorite aid to rising above our problems:  the hand of a friend.

Some may argue that this is not necessarily reliable, or that it is far better to depend only on one’s self, or that it is foolish to spend so much time and energy dissecting an old metaphor that few people use any more anyways.

There may be merit to these arguments.  I don’t know; I’m no genius.  I’m just a silly blogger enjoying Lame Post Friday.  Have a marvelous weekend, everyone.

 

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And the Killer Is…

Posted on January 29, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Just kidding.  This is a Pedestrian Post masquerading as a Non-Sequitur Thursday.

I have been having trouble re-starting my run regimen (I use a most generous definition of “regimen”).  My knees have been bothering me.  Not horribly, but they do ache.  It is sometimes less than pleasant to go up or down stairs.  I have a dreadful suspicion that it is age-related.  I feel sure that if I lost more weight, that would help. Running may bother my knees,but it will help me lose weight, which will  be good for my knees. It’s kind of circular.

Monday I went for a nice walk with my husband.  Tuesday I ran.  Tuesday night/Wednesday morning I woke up with my left knee THROBBING!!!  I couldn’t go back to sleep at first because it hurt so bad.  Oh, crap!  I limped through work on Wednesday and neither ran nor walked afterwards (as you may remember, it was Wuss-out Wednesday).  However, if I don’t use my legs, they start to feel really crappy.

My knee felt better today, but I was not sure running was the best idea.   Additionally, it was Steven’s day off and you know how I love to maximize my husband time.  I made up my mind I would either run in place on the mini-tramp, while chatting with Steve, or go for a walk with Steve. Obviously, a walk was the more attractive option.

It was warmer earlier in the week, but it was not at all bad today.  We had to walk around some puddles, but surrounding grass was not too muddy.   There were a few patches of ice, which Steven boldly walked over.  I mostly skirted them.   We noted a few houses that still had their Christmas decorations up.  We like Christmas.

It was a very pleasant walk, and my legs felt wonderful with the exercise.  I will attempt another walk tomorrow or Saturday, I hope.  I’ll probably write a blog post about it.

 

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Blame Edith Wharton!

Posted on January 28, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

My nice husband gave me a volume of novels by Edith Wharton for Christmas. I’ve been reading House of Mirth, and tonight I just could not put it down till I finished it.  So I have a very literary reason for this week’s Wuss-out Wednesday post.  Doesn’t that sound higher class than “I’m tired”  or “I’m drinking wine”?

In fact I am tired, and I have to admit that it is for no discernible reason.  I worked for a mere eight not very strenuous hours and did not go running after work.  I obviously did not write a blog post while at work.  Did I write? Oh my, yes, I did.  Just not a blog post.

I am working on the actual script for the murder mystery Ilion Little Theatre is putting on for a church’s fundraiser.  I started it yesterday, dragging one sentence at a time out of my brain. I knew how I wanted it to start, so I wrote that.  Then what?  Another line. What next?  Another line.  Then a line that gave me a few more lines after that.  Maybe this would work.

Today it was different.  I had ended yesterday not exactly sure where to go next, but thinking in a vague sort of way that I would figure it out.  While I worked I just sort of let the characters float around in my head.  Full disclosure:  I’m not even sure who the murder is yet.   Soon a few lines of dialogue magically appeared.  Then a few more.

When it was lunch time I wrote like a maniac, quickly getting down everything I had been composing in my head.  Then I came up with a few more things.  The only problem was, what I came up with does not follow consecutively with what I wrote yesterday.  This is a problem I shall easily solve in editing.

Ah, now I must get to editing, mustn’t I?  I came home and fired up the desktop to type in what I wrote.  Then I was overcome with fatigue. I called my mother for a pep talk.  I told her how tired I was, but when I got off the phone I said I would try to do something useful.  She said I should do something fun,  “like read a book.”  So I picked up Edith Wharton JUST FOR A MINUTE.

And that brings us to the present.   Ooh, and it’s 400 words.  That’s pretty good for a Wuss-out Wednesday.   Hmmm…. would that have made a better headline?  “Pretty Good for a Wuss-out Wednesday.”  Discuss amongst yourselves.

Or do you suppose I used it before?  I’m too tired to check.

 

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But I Think My Attitude is Improving

Posted on January 27, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am sipping my first taste of wine in 2016.  Isn’t that nice?  I had not meant to write a blog post about it.  I went running earlier with the specific thought that I could do a Running Commentary post.  Before making my blog post, however, I ate dinner, read some more of a book (I must NEVER pick up fiction unless I can just sit there and read the whole thing; I become obsessed) and of course dithered (I always say: go with your strengths).  This being Bad Attituesday, I don’t think my writing muscles are going to cooperate.

Regular readers may remember that I have been doing without wine for 30 days.  It started as an experiment to see if it had any effect on my headaches, then it morphed into “Well if I can’t go 30 days without wine, maybe I have a problem,” and then, well,  I just got stubborn.  But I made it 30 days, so I felt a little pleased with myself and thought I deserved a glass of dry red.

I went to Ilion Wine and Spirits after work to get my bottle. This is handily located next to The Medicine Shoppe, where I had to pick up a prescription.  So, you see, I give shout-outs to two local businesses as I sip.  When I walked into the liquor store, I immediately saw some bottles of Chianti on sale.  I had purchased one of these bottles prior to Christmas.  Steven drank the whole thing himself during my dry 30 days (not all at once, of course; he’s no lush either).

First I looked all around to see if there was something I’d like better. I hesitated over a bottle of Barefoot Pinot Noir.  When I was at church two Sundays ago, during the sermon the priest told a story involving Barefoot Pinot Noir.  “That’s a good wine,” I told my sister.  Imagine, me having something in common with a priest.  I decided to stick with the Chianti, but I may go back for some Pinot this weekend.

It is Chianti Superiore made by Banfi of Montalcino, Italy.  It was imported by Banfi Vintners of Old Brookville, NY.  So you see I am being international and buying New York State.  It’s pretty tasty wine, too.

Ilion Wine and Spirits is located at 10 E. Main St., Ilion, NY, phone number 315-894-8142.  The Medicine Shoppe is at 10 Central Ave., phone number 315-894-7283.  Don’t let the different streets fool you; they are just a parking lot away from each other. It is most convenient.

 

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Dither then Dinner

Posted on January 26, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I shall begin my blogging week (we’re all agreed that the week begins on Monday, aren’t we?) (I KNOW some of you just said, “I never agreed” with a snotty sniff) with a shout-out to a local business: Carney’s Corners in Herkimer, NY.

I had several good reasons for wanting to send out for food on Sunday.  To begin with, I did not want to leave the house. I also knew that part of our order could be a salad, leftovers from which would form part of my lunch today, so I would not have to make one.  These two reasons dovetailed rather nicely, because I did not have any salad fixings in the house.  Additionally, I lacked several ingredients for the delicious dinner I would have liked to make, if I actually felt like cooking (I was ambivalent on that point).  The last consideration was only a partial reason.  I am pretty good at making something acceptable with what I have at hand, and I often get into cooking after I start, if I wasn’t in the mood to begin with.

I still spent the morning and part of the afternoon dithering over whether I ought to leave the house, go to the store, and make dinner as well as a salad for lunches. I felt it was the right thing to do, but I had my doubts about my ambition holding up till I got everything done.  It would be discouraging to buy salad ingredients and not make the salad.  What if the stuff went bad before I actually made the salad?  Then I would REALLY feel terrible!

Eventually we decided to call Carney’s Corners for delivery.  We got a large roast beef sub and a large chef salad with ranch dressing.  Yum!  Delivery was prompt, the price was reasonable.  What more could I ask?  It was a delightful part of my Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

Carney’s Corners is located at 232 N. Washington St. in Herkimer.  Phone number is 315-866-7191.

 

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Wrist to Forehead Sunset Boulevard

Posted on January 25, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

“All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.”

And earlier she just says, “I’m ready.”  At no time does she say,  “I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille,” as I have heard many people quote.

We just watched Sunset Boulevard for perhaps the 8,467th time (I just made that number up, it’s probably a lot fewer than that).  Usually I like to spend my Wrist to Forehead Sunday watching crime shows, most notably Snapped. Sometimes we mix it up a little by watching movies.

It was not always that way, if I may be forgiven a short detour down Memory Lane.  There was a time when I was quite burnt out from my Monday through Friday job and Sunday was a very sad day for me.  The saddest sound on that sad day was the ticking clock on 60 Minutes.  My solution in those days was to watch movies all day, so I would not be constantly reminded what day it was.

These days I do not find Sunday to be so terrible (see? Detour over).  For one reason, Steven only works till 1 p.m. if at all, so we get to spend the afternoon together.

Why then, one might reasonably ask, is it so often Wrist to Forehead Sunday?  My first impulse is to answer, “It just is, leave me alone.”  However, since I am trying to get a blog post out of this, perhaps I could attempt a better explanation.

I think my problem is that I get very little done during the week.  On the weekend, I have two whole days to make myself useful.  Write, clean, organize, cook, and, oh yes, have Mohawk Valley adventures to write about in the blog.  Why in the world would I think I can get all that stuff done in two days? It is especially silly of me to think it when I have the experience of many previous weekends when I did not get stuff done.

And yet, I keep hoping.  I tell myself that I KNOW I won’t get EVERYTHING done. I find it not unreasonable to suppose that I might possibly get SOMETHING done.   It becomes a little wrist-to-forehead-inducing when I do not.

Then again, is not the purpose of one’s days off to relax and renew?  I spent some time relaxing.  And is it not of great importance to me to spend time with my most beloved husband?  I certainly enjoyed watching Sunset Boulevard, especially watching for the famous quote.

I did, in fact, get a few things done.  Some laundry, the dishes, cooked one dinner, typed up character sheets for that murder mystery I’ve been talking about. And two blog posts.  This is the second one.  Happy Sunday, everyone.

We’re going to watch Network next.

 

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Cooking Without Wine

Posted on January 24, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

The only reason I cooked dinner tonight was so that I could write a blog post about it.  I’m afraid it was not a very inspired dinner, but it was cheaper than sending out (although then I could have given a shout-out to a local business), and it was quite tasty.

Basically, I cooked some sausage and garlic, then added tomato sauce, tomato paste, canned mushrooms, basil, oregano and a VERY few hot pepper flakes.  I put this sauce on Spicy Tomato Linguine from The Pasta Shoppe in Utica, NY.  My favorite sister, Cheryl gave me and Steven the pasta for Christmas.

What makes this recipe different from many of the recipes I write in the blog about is that I did NOT cook with wine.  I did enjoy a wine glass of seltzer with fresh lemon while I cooked.  Yes, I continue to resist the devil on my shoulder I mentioned in yesterday’s post.

WARNING!  I am about to mention my headaches.  If you are sick of reading about them, READ NO FURTHER!

I feel especially happy I did not have any wine yesterday, because I woke up with a horrendous headache this morning.  In spite of the pain, I enjoyed the vague feeling of vindication with this further proof that alcohol in not the source of my headaches. And then I started to feel like I shouldn’t feel so delighted about it.

And now I begin to feel like maybe I shouldn’t be writing so much about it. Am I obsessed with wine?  Ah, wait, no I’m not. I talked about this before.  It’s the Doughnut Effect (I’ll put one of them there links so you can click back and see the blog post where I talked about that).

In any case, my headache has subsided by now.  Dinner is eaten and the leftovers put away (Steven nicely put them away). Time to get in with my Saturday evening.  Hope to see you all on Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

 

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Waiting for 19 Crimes

Posted on January 23, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought I would take today’s Friday Lame Post to give an update on my 30 Days Without Wine.  Or you may call it 30 Days of Whine, although I must confess to doing more than my fair share of kvetching even with the wine.  Be that as it may, this is Day 27.  Yes, I’ve been counting.  How else would I know when I got to 30?

Earlier today the little devil on my shoulder (you know, like in the cartoons, when the character has a little version of himself in horns on one shoulder and one with a halo on the other?) kept saying, “27 is practically 30.  Aren’t you being a little anal retentive about this?” She went on to say, “Anyways, isn’t this no alcohol thing a bit self-aggrandizing?  Just another way of calling attention to yourself? Shouldn’t you just get over yourself and have a beer?”  I didn’t even know she knew the word “self-aggrandizing.”

The Devil Me would probably also call me out on thinking something magical might happen if I go all 30 days.  How illogical and immature, she would say.  Of course I stopped listening to that bitch when I remembered she is also the one who thinks I’m such a terrible writer.

The Angel on my other shoulder did not contribute a whole lot to the discussion.  She merely pointed out that while PROBABLY nothing magical would happen on Day 30, how would I know if I didn’t wait that long?  Anyways, there isn’t a bottle of dry red in the house, and that is what I chiefly feel like drinking.  For Day 31 I have promised myself a bottle of 19 Crimes, one of my favorites.  I think that’s worth waiting three more days for.

Right now I am reinforcing my dry behavior by watching World’s Dumbest Partiers (why is my computer underlining “partiers”?  That must be a word! What else would you call these people?).  I don’t imagine the one little glass of 19 Crimes I intend to have on Tuesday will cause me to act like one of those guys.  However, if it does, I promise to write a blog post about it.

 

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