Category Archives: Slacker Saturday

Late Post-Liverpool Post

I am still lame as the weekend wears on, making my Saturday blog post late Sunday morning.  I am back home from my sojourn in Liverpool and feeling quite tired.  I went for a run both mornings I was there and got lost both times.  This is as usual when I visit my sister Diane.  I swear the streets in the area where she lives were laid out based on a plate of spaghetti.  I set out to do 20-minute runs and ran for 31 minutes on Saturday and an hour today!

On the brighter side, on today’s run I petted two dogs and twice got directions from nice people (I got confused following the first set of directions, what a surprise).  I also felt pleased that my body stood up to the abuse.  I walked but did not run every day since last weekend.  So I guess I haven’t lost what fitness I gained training for the Boilermaker 15K.

Not the sneakers I ran in.

I took this picture after the run, a shower, and putting on party clothes.  I did not just sit around;  I helped get ready for my niece Camille’s graduation party, the occasion for my visit.  It was a wonderful party.  I saw members of my family, some of Diane’s in-laws, and a number of friends, including some new ones.

And now I am home and wishing I had made it to the grocery store last week.  However, I cannot do everything.  At least I finally made my Saturday blog post.

 

Also, I Made My Blog Post On Time

I had a Slacker Saturday today.  In fact, I almost put off making my Saturday blog post till Sunday.  I may yet.  We shall see.

“Well, you see, sir…”

As I type (peck in one letter at a time with the stylus on my Tablet) this, I am looking at an episode of Columbo.  I have been watching other DVDs than Columbo, but I keep going back to my beloved Peter Falk. I have not been watching DVDs all day.  I read an Agatha Christie book and looked at Facebook.  Mostly I had a headache.  It went away eventually but by then it was too hot and humid for me to feel like doing much of anything.

One positive step I took (so to speak).  I went for my first run since the Boilermaker 15K last Sunday.  It was a mere 20 minutes, but it felt pretty good, even with a headache.  I decided I would not worry how short and slow my runs are (OK, they are ALWAYS pretty slow).  I am not currently training for anything.  I may never train for anything again, but it is best not to make these decisions all at once.

I confess that I have had a bit of a bad week.  I think this is normal.  Grief is not a straight course.  You don’t necessarily feel a little bit better each day with no backsliding.  Some days are going to be harder than others.  I merely mention the phenomenon; I do not mean to complain.

He loved to dance!

I close with a picture of Steve busting a move, just to remember him when he was happiest.  I know I was blessed to have him.

 

Pre-Boilermaker Slacking

I had my last pre-Boilermaker run this morning.  A little over a mile and a half, 22 minutes (incidentally, my favorite number).  Then I pretty much slacked for the rest of the day.  Eventually I wrote a few post cards and walked them to the post office, taking the long way back for a 22 minute walk, a little over one mile.  I did a load of laundry, surprisingly not during either the run or the walk (as regular readers know, my favorite multi-task).  I did the dishes.

Now I sit, lounged on my couch, drinking more water (hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, they say) and wondering if it really is essential to eat pasta the night before a big race.  I know it is traditional to “carb up” at such times, but is it science?  Or is it merely psychological?  You see, it is very warm for me to think about cooking something to eat.  Additionally, I do not want to dirty more dishes.

Me, pondering the worth of effort in the heat.

I thought a picture would pep things up. This is me in Love’s Labour’s Lost last summer with LiFT, Little Falls Theatre Company.  It was pretty hot then, too.  My costume was supposed to have another layer, but there was no way I could stand it.  It was impractical anyways, since I played two roles and had to change.  But I digress.

Getting back to the Boilermaker 15K in Utica tomorrow, I am looking forward to it, despite my usual trepidations of parking, timing, and should I really be eating spaghetti tonight.  I hope to have fun and write a blog post about it.  In the meantime I am going to bill this as a Slacker Saturday (although my digression into theatre may make a Non-Sequitur Saturday eligible) and drive on.  Happy Saturday,  everyone!

 

Sit Down Saturday?

I am having a moment.  Not a bad moment, but kind of a blah moment.  It is in fact a rather strong bout of Don’t Wanna Do Nuthin’.  So I thought to myself, well at least you can do a blog post (did not feel inclined to call myself Shirley today).

I woke up about 3:30 this morning with a bad headache.  No, I did not tie one on last night, so stop tsk-tsking at me (you know who you are).  I am out of acetaminophen but thought maybe more sleep would help with the result that I got up at six, which regular readers know is sleeping in for me.

Weekends are my days for long, challenging runs.  I had neglected to put on coffee last night so I decided to run first.  I ignored my usual weekend running plans and made up my mind to a short run.  Thirty minutes tops.  Maybe even twenty.  Or fifteen in a pinch.

It turned out to be in a pinch,  I ran for just over a mile in a little over 15 minutes (once again too lazy to get the Garmin and check.  I drank my chocolate milk recovery beverage but never got the oomph to fix breakfast till a couple of hours later.  Sorry, body.

I forgot where I was going with all this.  Lame Post Saturday?  No matter.  It is over 200 words, and my Saturday Post is done on Saturday (no matter what my WordPress timestamp may say).  If only I had a peppy picture to close with.  Maybe a monster.

You go, girl!

I stole this from Dracula’s House of Halloween, one of my favorite Facebook pages.   I did drink all the coffee, but sadly there is no longer anybody in my house to strangle me over it.  On that melancholy note,  Happy Saturday,  everyone.

 

How Much Slack Can I Get Away With?

So I let all of Saturday and a good part of Sunday slip by without making a blog post and am feeling a bit guilty about it.  The fact is, I am having the damnedest time getting myself to do anything.  I did go for two long runs this weekend.  Yesterday I did a load of laundry and washed the dishes before I petered out.  Eventually I wrote a few post cards to my usual peeps.  However, there is a lot more that I need and want to get done.  What the hell, me?

Pretty!

I threw in a picture, before I sank into a boring morass of self-recrimination.  These are my front lawn daisies from two years ago.  They are starting to die off now, and I just spent some time trying to cut them back.  This was after mowing the grass with my non-power mower and pulling up a bunch of other stuff on the side of the house.  And that was after my 50-minute run earlier.  A woman my age gets tired.  I never made it to the back yard.  In fact, a number of failing daisies remain out front.

Now I am lounged on my couch pecking in one letter at a time with the stylus on my Tablet, and sipping a glass of wine,  because I feel any effort deserves a reward.  I think I can move on to the movie watching portion of my Sunday.  Maybe I can even do a Sunday Cinema Post.  But no promises.

 

I Slack, But I Blog

This was one Slacker Saturday.  I don’t know why I am surprised.  I spent all week planning in my head everything I was going to get done today.  Have I not often observed that every time I make a plan, the plan goes to hell?   Still, I did not make a detailed plan.  Surely I could get at least a few things done (in this context, I am calling myself Shirley).

I successfully slept in, which I am not always able to do on a Saturday.  This was not part of the plan, but it felt good.  I had made my Friday blog post on Friday, so I had that going for me.  I had some coffee and eventually went on a long run.

I entered here during my run.

Maybe the run was too long and I wore myself out. Maybe the road trip to Liverpool last weekend followed by a mid-week drive to Rome had a delayed effect.  Maybe it was just a good day to do very little.  Maybe I am just a lazy bum.

Celebrating Dad’s birthday in Liverpool: Dad and Mom with my niece Jenna in between.

In any case, after the run, I managed to do only a very few things else.  At least I got a few post cards written and mailed.   People like to get post cards.

So this is my boring blog post about my not very exciting day.  I am going to call it a Blogger’s Sad Day and drive on.  Maybe I could just go back and add a few pictures to pep things up.

I guess I like it too, Dracula.

I just put in a Hammer Horror movie with Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and Michael Gough.

 

Saturday? Sunday? Just Another Blog Post

It is a well known fact that I have never, at any point in my life, for one minute, ever had my act together.  It seems unlikely that I will achieve such a status at this late stage, even if I were to make the attempt.  Full disclosure:  I tend not to try.  At worst,  I survey the damage and make embarrassing weepy noises.  At best, I just drive on.  I am hoping for a drive on day today.

I am lounged on my couch, pecking in one letter at a time with the stylus on my Tablet, trying to remember why I did not make my Saturday blog post on Saturday.  I am further wondering if I can count this post for both Saturday and Sunday.  Would that be cheating?  I do not approve of cheating, even if it is on my own rules for me.  Still, one resorts to  these measures on occasion.

It has not been a bad weekend so far.  I went for good runs both yesterday and today, going further than last weekend and even including a few hills.  I petted a couple dogs today.

The sign is looking more faded now, and the trees in the background have no leaves.

I ran by this DO NOT ENTER sign yesterday.  Regular readers know I love to enter when it says not to.

That car wasn’t there today.

I ran by the post office today.  I walked there yesterday to mail my post cards and a letter.

I keep hoping for some of those endorphins to kick in.  One reason I try to be vigilant about running and walking is for the mental health benefits.  However, I don’t suppose anything will be a miracle cure.  Again I ask, why can’t I have a miracle cure?

And again I answer myself, never mind why, you can’t and that’s that.  However, it seems I can make a blog post.  It may be a late, foolish blog post, but what can you expect from someone who emphatically does not have her act together?

 

Flowers for a Blog Post?

As Saturday grinds on (not as grindingly as work days do, obviously), I wonder if I  have the wherewithal to make a Scattered Saturday or even a Slacker Saturday Post.  We shall see.

One anecdote I thought to include occurred to me on this morning’s run.  Full disclosure: it was neither as long nor as strenuous a run as I have done recently.  One does what one can, which is often less than others may deem one is capable of, but that is not what I meant to write about this evening.

As I ran along German Street in Herkimer, NY this morning, I stopped ever so briefly to pick up a bright yellow marigold blossom with mere inches of stem attached.   One sometimes encounters broken-off flowers of this sort.  I like to pick them  up when I can.

It reminded me of a time when I picked up a lily blossom.  I thought as I ran on that if things got to be too much for me, I could lie down with the lily resting on my chest, making a tableau.  I was not forced to resort to such measures but found a dime to pick up as I ran on.  When I got home, I handed the flower and the coin to my husband, Steven, saying, “Could you trim the stem of this lily and put it in some water?   Here’s a dime for your troubles.”

I confess to being highly amused with myself.  Today I handed the marigold to Steven with a similar request but had no tip for him.  Sometimes he is a rather ill-used husband.

And that is my Saturday blog post for this week.  It may not be such a much, but at least I did it on Saturday.  And no, I do not expect flowers for such a feat!

 

Slacker Saturday with Some Cinema

This is going to be a Slacker Saturday Post, but at least I will be making it on Saturday.  I hope.  It has not been a very good day for me, although it has had its moments.  Never mind the bad stuff; that is not my story to tell anyways.  Oh dear, did I just make a mysterious, cryptic statement?  Nah, that is just flattering myself, to feel I would be mysterious and cryptic.  Let me get on with the post.

The most productive thing I did today was to go for a run, which I believe I alluded to in this morning’s late Lame Post Friday post.  I later went for a walk, mailing my weekly post cards and stopping by Basloe Library to check out a couple books.

One of my favorite places.

Wow, that took a long time to find that picture in my Media Library.  It took a shorter time to find two books!

Well, that didn’t turn out very big.

Back home, my husband, Steven, and I decided to watch movies on out DVR.  For one reason, we have a lot of them.  We can get that frisson of virtue from cleaning out our DVR.  We started out with Phantom Lady, a stylish noir.  I found the pre-  and post-movie commentary as interesting as the movie.

I did not realize it was 1981 till I looked for this image on Facebook.

Next we watched The Howling.  This is not from my preferred era of horror movies, but I found it surprisingly entertaining.  Steven missed part of it by falling asleep on the love seat, but these things happen.

We started watching another movie but did not get very far with it.  However, I see I am over 250 words, so I say, Score!  I hope you are all having a lovely Saturday.

 

The Blog That Wouldn’t Die?

Late posts, I just can’t seem to avoid them.  No discipline. No work ethic.  And very little brain.

My brain, unfortunately, would and apparently did.

This is not the image I just spent an embarrassingly long time searching my Media Library for (and I will end a sentence with a preposition if I want to).  I wanted The Brain from the Planet Arous.  I could so get into watching some cheesy horror movies today.  Then I could do a Sunday Cinema Post.

As for Saturday,  it was a lost cause.  I got my run in, I did a load of laundry (oh crap I just remembered I was going to do another one this morning), I spent a small amount of time chipping away at the vast mess I call home, I got together with my friend Kim for a little while.  I did not make it to the Mohawk American Legion to hear The Posers, as I had mentioned in my Lame Post Friday post (which regular readers may remember that I made on Saturday morning).  I did manage to have a pleasant evening with my husband, Steve.  So perhaps the day was not a total loss.

However, I fear my Saturday blog post is.  No matter.  I can only go on from here.  I will once again try for a better blog post next time.  And as always, thank you for tuning in.