Never Give Up! Never Surrender!

Posted on March 24, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Earlier this evening, I wrote the following two paragraphs:

Is this Writer’s Block or a panic attack?

OK, I just wrote that, so it isn’t Writer’s Block, although maybe you could call it Write Anything Good Block.  I have to leave soon for rehearsal for He Laughed Himself to Death, the murder mystery to be presented at Morning Star Methodist Church April 1, and I’m afraid I am letting myself become overwhelmed with what-all I have to do.   How self-dramatizing of me.  Then again, with all the theatre I’m involved in, how can you blame me for being dramatic?  I know, I know, a time and a place.

Then I went to rehearsal, after deciding to get a grip on myself.  In my defense, it has been rather a dreadful week, and it seems to be taking forever.  However, I have plenty of blessing to count, and I must not discount them.  I have a daunting amount of things to get done, but I feel certain that if I can make the right plan, I can get most or all of them done.

As you see, I am in a better mood now.

Rehearsal went very well.  I think He Laughed Himself to Death is going to be a great success.  As we left rehearsal, Charity, the actress playing my daughter, called her father, Jerry, for a ride.  Jerry has agreed to be in Who Shot JS?, the murder mystery benefit for Herkimer County Historical Society April 22. Charity asked me to wait till her father got there, because he had to ask me something.  I thought it must be about rehearsals or rides or something.  When Jerry arrived, he got out of the car carrying a beautiful bouquet.  He thought I could use a little pick me up.

Do I have the sweetest friends or what?

So here is my reminder to myself to not surrender to these little panic attacks.  Just take a deep breath and go to rehearsal.  You just never know when a wonderful friend is going to give you a lovely surprise.  Thank you, Jerry.  And happy Thursday, readers.

I put them in water right away.

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Picture Me Not Making a Blog Post

Posted on March 23, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

One of the finest casts ever to grace the Ilion Little Theatre stage.

When your brain fails, look for a picture to post.

Hmmm…  What kind of a Freudian slip do you suppose made me first type “ficture”?  Would that be a “fictional picture” or perhaps a combination of “fail” and “picture”?  That’s it!  I failed to come up with a blog post, so I looked for a picture!  These things are really very simple, when you get right down to it.

In any case, the above picture is from Leading Ladies, the play I had the delightful experience of directing for Ilion Little Theatre last spring.  I would love to work with any and all of those people again.

I’m the one with the really short hair.

This is a backstage selfie, done with a selfie stick (don’t judge).  This one includes me and the backstage crew.  It was a month after I participated in a St. Baldrick’s Day fundraiser.  I miss my short ‘do.  I thought it was sophisticated (or do I flatter myself?).

 

And in this one, I seem to be getting what some people feel I richly deserve.

I don’t have another shot of the Leading Ladies cast, so I will include this one of the Rubbed Our at Ruby’s gang (I use the term advisedly).

I guess I’m going to call this a Wordless Wednesday post, which I understand is a thing.  It has a nicer ring to it than Wuss-out Wednesday, which some may feel is more accurate.  Then again, who am I to judge?  Happy Wednesday, everyone.

 

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R.I.P. Spunky

Posted on March 22, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

What a cutie!

Our sweet pooch, Spunky, left us this morning.  He woke up when Steven came downstairs, then he laid back down, fell asleep and never woke up.  We petted him, and watched him breathe, but we pretty much knew he was dying.  I am too sad to make a blog post about it, but I thought I could share a few pictures of Spunkman, as Steven liked to call him.

The first picture was our first view of him, posted on Facebook by the Velvet Dog, who was fostering him when his first owner died.  He was just as cute in person.

One of many beds Spunky adopted.

The basket was given to me by my sister, Cheryl, to keep ongoing knitting or crochet projects in.  That is an unfinished afghan Spunky is getting comfy on in this picture.  I had to admit, the basket was a perfect size for him.  I took out my unfinished projects and made an afghan for Spunky to sleep on in the basket.  Now I suppose I can have it back.  Spunky had several places he liked to snooze:  on the end of the couch on an afghan, on my clothes I left lying around.  Um,  I mean, I never leave my clothes lying around.

 

Doesn’t he look comfy?

And here is one more picture, just to make it three.  I loved my little Spunky.  I hope there is a doggy heaven and that Spunky is there now.  And if people heaven is different from doggy heaven, I’d rather go to the doggy one (oh yeah, right, like I think I’m going to heaven).  Good-bye, little doggy friend.

 

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Mental Health Monday?

Posted on March 21, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

People who whine and cry about their problems are tiresome.  Regular readers will recognize that as my usual preface to whining and crying.  The fact is, I am in a bad, bad space.   Can I find my way out of it?  Perhaps I can.  Or perhaps I have to spend some time in the bad space.

I am sitting on my couch with my sweet doggy Spunky snuggled up next to my leg.  He is not feeling well, and Steven and I are quite worried about him.  He has an appointment with the vet tomorrow, so we shall see.  But I feel happy that he decided to snuggle close to me right now.

I went running after work with the intention of making a Running Commentary post.  I expect I will be doing a lot of Running Commentary posts in the coming months, as I train for the Boilermaker 15K.  This will be good news for anybody who was hoping for a Running Commentary, because I don’t think I can manage one today.

And now I seem to have run dry.  That might be a good thing, if it means less whining and crying.  I don’t think I’ve been too bad so far (or do I flatter myself?), so perhaps I should just quit while I’m ahead.  We’ll call it a Blogger’s Sick Day, or maybe Mental Health Day.  That’s a thing, isn’t it?  I hope to see you all on Tired Tuesday.

 

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Stirring the Blog

Posted on March 20, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Why do I persist in thinking I am going to get anything done on a Sunday? I am clearly not, and then I just feel bad about myself. Can’t I just embrace the uselessness and enjoy the day?

I interrupt my Sunday festivities to make my usual Wrist to Forehead Sunday post, and I lead off with my Facebook post from earlier.  I did not quite embrace my uselessness, unfortunately, but I am striving to enjoy the day.

Regarding usefulness, I did one load of laundry, the dishes (there were not that many, for which I was grateful), grocery shopped, chopped vegetables and made a salad for the upcoming week’s lunches, and I am in the midst of cooking what promises to be a delicious dinner (if I do say so myself).  I am cooking with wine, by the way, and have not put any in the food.

As a matter of fact, I need to go out to the kitchen, stir and add other ingredients, so I’d better blog quickly. I must confess, I do enjoy these off the cuff posts.  It is fun to sit here, typing away, and know that I will probably amuse somebody somewhere (OK, I suppose sometimes it is only myself; you don’t have to disillusion me) (you know who you are).   It doesn’t always work, you know.  Sometimes I start typing, then I erase it, then I say to hell with it, I’ll blog later (I think “blog” is a funny verb, don’t you?) (oh, YOU probably never have) (once again, you know who you are).

OK, what do we have here so far?  Some silliness, a couple of parenthetical comments, over 200 words.  I’d say that’s about par for the course for me.  I’m going to hit publish and call it a day.  For one reason, Steven just stirred dinner and it is time to add more ingredients. Happy Sunday, everyone.

 

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Spooky Space on Scattered Saturday

Posted on March 19, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

So I registered for the Boilermaker 15K.  And then I went running.  Not immediately, but soon enough.

OK, I think it is fate that I use the above sentence.  You see, earlier I typed it in, then erased it, then decided I would make my post later so exited out of WordPress.  The computer asked me did I really want to leave, as what I did might not be saved.  I looked at the blank space and hit “Leave.”  Now, returning to WordPress and wondering what I will say, I see an untitled draft saved from earlier.  It is the sentence I erased!

Could it be returning to haunt me?

The question is not an idle one.  I have been in I guess what you could call a spooky space lately.  I shared pictures of Nosferatu a couple of days ago, yesterday I wore a spider earring and Halloween socks, I am currently sipping Malbec out of my Trick Or Treat wine glass (purchased at Pumpkin Junction in Sauquoit, NY) (and, yes, I did flash on Bela Lugosi as Dracula saying, “I never drink… wine”).  OK, so now I have my headline.

There really wasn’t much to my Scattered Saturday this week.  I worked. While working, I dithered some more about whether or not to run the Boilermaker 15K (the 5K isn’t even on my radar, by the way).  I decided to run it.  Then came home and changed my mind.  Several times. And you see by my lead what my ultimate decision was.  Yes, yes, I could still opt out, transfer my registration or get a deferment (because, you know, shit happens), but I feel fairly confident that I will follow through on this.

I had meant to write a Saturday Running Commentary about my run, but such a post was not forthcoming from my brain.  It is not a well-trained brain.

I have not done much else today.  I am currently cooking supper for my dearest husband, Steven.  Perhaps a cooking post tomorrow, instead of Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  Or maybe Sunday Running Commentary?  A little uncertainty will add interest to my weekend.  Happy Saturday, everyone.

 

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It Was the Halloween Socks

Posted on March 18, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Sometimes the right outfit can make you feel better about everything.

Until you remember you still have not found the papers you need to bring to rehearsal and you have no idea where else to look.

Luckily, I came up with a few more ideas of where to look and found the papers.  It would really behoove me to become more organized.  However, I’m afraid that in order to accomplish that, I would need to basically tear myself apart and start from scratch, you know, like emptying the refrigerator or dumping everything out of your desk (oh dear, I just had a very unpleasant flashback to fifth grade when a mean teacher did that to me and I cried) (I cried a lot in those days; don’t judge).

Anyways, today is Lame Post Friday, so I’m not too exercised about my blog post. A little exercised, of course.  I always worry my readers will say something along the lines of, “Why am I wasting my time with this trash?  Let’s look at a real blog for a change!”  Or is that my low self-esteem talking?  (Sorry, I’m still recovering from that flashback.  Do you suppose I need therapy?)

But perhaps some of you are waiting to hear about my outfit.  I had to have one, you see, because I have rehearsal for He Laughed Himself to Death, the murder mystery dinner theatre Ilion Little Theatre is presenting at Morningstar Methodist Church in Ilion on April 1.  I don’t need to dress up, but I do need to be dressed (I just gave some folks a bad mental image, but I will not apologize for such a thing) (you know who you are).

As it happens, the outfit isn’t such a much.  I have on leggings, a t-shirt and a flannel shirt.  The t-shirt is large enough to cover my butt and the flannel shirt is even bigger.  I know it is quite the thing to let all your contours be lovingly outlined with your pants these days, but I prefer to be more circumspect.  The flannel shirt is green and black plaid, green for St. Patrick’s Day.  I wanted a green t-shirt as well, in case I had to take the flannel shirt off for a hot flash (which is much less unpleasant than the flashback mentioned earlier, by the way).  I found one from Jeremiah’s Tavern, our old watering hole in Norwood, NY, roughly a hundred years ago.  There is a big mug of beer on it.  How appropriate is that!

For earrings, I put on my spider in a web, because the web is green.  I noticed that earring earlier today and thought I might wear it.  I put it in the ear with two holes and put a hoop in the second hole.  I put an earring made from an Angry Orchard cap in the other ear.  You see, the spider would jump through a hoop to get an Angry Orchard.  Full disclosure:  I have never had an Angry Orchard myself; the earrings were given to me.

I completed my ensemble with Halloween socks: orange with green and purple bats.  I think that final touch was what made me feel good about the whole thing.  Until, you know, the lost paper incident mentioned in the second paragraph.

And now I have found my papers, made my blog post, and may even have time for one more task before rehearsal. Score!  Happy Friday, everyone.

 

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Nosferatu on Non-Sequitur Thursday

Posted on March 17, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

“I’m kind of in the middle of something here.”

I am sitting here at my laptop, trying to come up with something suitable for a Non-Sequitur Thursday post, and I thought I would look through our downloaded pictures, to see if anything sparked a thought.  Nothing did, but I do like this picture of Max Schreck as Count Orlok in Nosferatu, arguably the scariest movie every made (not that I want to argue about it; I always lose arguments).  I added the caption, or could you tell?

When I went to the Facebook page for Nosferatu, I immediately found another photo I liked:

Scary!

I find the shadows eerie.  I feel there is a profound point to be made here about no shadows without light.  I think it is something I ought to keep in mind when I write fiction.  I’m afraid I’m not up to profundity this evening.  Let’s bear that thought in mind though, light and shadow.  If anybody else would like to write a blog post about it, please comment with a link to it.  I would be happy to read such a post.

I’m thinking he did not bring her coffee.

This was my Facebook cover photo for a while.  I include it, because I like to have three pictures.  Three is a good number, and not just because of three wishes and third time’s the charm.  It has other connotations, like Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau.  That, too, is a good subject for a future blog post.  Happy Thursday, everyone.

 

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Can You Dig It?

Posted on March 16, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, it is Wuss-out Wednesday today.  I got the day off work due to Winter Storm Stella (I like “winter storm” better than “nor’easter”; it makes me feel like I’m under 70 and I still have all my teeth) (was that a dreadful thing to say?  There is nothing wrong with being over 70 and toothless; I may be there myself one day) (but this is not that day).

Where was I?  Ah yes, telling you a little about my day.  The best part was going back to bed after I got up and found out all shifts were cancelled at my place of employment.  The worst part was spending over two and a half hours shoveling the driveway. However, even that had its moments.

I wanted to take some “before” pictures for this blog.  When the extent of the task became apparent, I abandoned the Tablet and just started digging.  For another reason, I was afraid the sheer whiteness of the view would make it harder to see where the snow ended.  I could barely see where the snow ended, and I was right there.

Our neighbor, who owns half the two car garage and has driveway rights, had snow-blowed a path from his half of the garage (where he keeps his snowblower) to the sidewalk.  That definitely helped, because the rest of the driveway was quite impassible.  I think he also blew out the very end of our driveway, because although it was completely filled in by the plow, it did not look as deep as other areas.  We dug and dug. I tried to keep my spirits up.

“We are bad-hyphen-ass,” I assured Steven.  Many things become more bearable if you can feel that you are bad-ass when you do them.  I paused to admire the bare trees against the grey sky.  No, I did not make it back outside to take a picture of those.  Sorry.

I sang, “High Hopes,” you know, with the verse about that little old ant who thinks he can move a rubber tree plant.  I tried to put new words and make the song about us, but I could not think of a word for “old farts” and a word for “snowbank” that rhymed.

“How you doing, honey?  How you feeling?”  I kept asking Steven.  This was not just me being silly.  People have heart attacks while shoveling snow all the time, and my husband is not a young man.  He also does not lead the healthiest of lifestyles, but perhaps I can help him improve on that.

At one point, the neighbor kids were out playing.  The boy did a cannonball off his deck into the snow.

“I wanted to do that!” I said.  Unfortunately, I did no such thing.  As we shoveled, my feet and hands were becoming more and more cold.

Finally we decided that good enough was good enough.  Both vehicles are clear enough to move, with enough space to make it to the road.  It ain’t beautiful, but it’ll do.  I hit the showers.

And almost cried when the warm water hit my toes! My thighs, which were bright red, stung like hell as well.  What a dreadful feeling!  It is good we did not take any longer than we did with our shoveling.  I do not need to lose any toes to frostbite; I need them to count to twenty!

 

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About that Nor’Easter…

Posted on March 15, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I confess, I thought the nor’easter I mentioned yesterday (I disparaged the term, if you recall) would be an anti-climax.  Some folks at work were saying, “We’re going to get sent home early tomorrow!”  Well, I didn’t believe that for a minute, New York or otherwise.  When I got up this morning about 4:30, I felt vindicated as I looked out the window and saw that it had snowed not a flake.

By six, when I left for work, I stood corrected.

Yes, we got sent home early, at 10:30 a.m.  I said, “Woohoo!” and hastened home for the bra off, sweats on, movie-watching portion of the day.  I had some wild thoughts of getting out and doing some shoveling, so as not to have so much do to tomorrow.  I did not act on these thoughts (which one cannot say about all my wild thoughts, but that’s neither here nor there, as the saying goes).  Finally, I thought we ought to take our dog, Spunky, out and give him a chance to do a little business.  I volunteered to do it, but Steve said if if was going to be done, he would do it.  I thought it could be a couple activity.

I said I would get out first and shovel a space suitable for a small dog.  There was, in fact, more snow than I had expected.  I shoveled a small space, which Spunky utilized accordingly.  Then I took some pictures, thinking it would make a fun blog post.

The path does not go much further after going around the corner.

It was difficult enough getting the steps clear, but I managed it and began a short path.  I also marveled at the snowbanks hiding our vehicles:

Steven’s Stratus has not left the driveway

 

My SUV has been sitting there since 10:45 a.m. or so.

 

I took this standing in the driveway, looking across our yard into the neighbors’ parking lot.

 

I took this standing on the deck.

 

Another angle on the deck.

Well, I don’t know how wonderful my pictures are, if at all, but I thought they would make an OK blog post for a Tired Tuesday.  Now I have to get back to the movie-watching portion of the day.

 

 

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