Tag Archives: tired

It Is Summer, Isn’t It?

I went for a run this morning, going as soon as I got out of bed in hopes of beating the heat and humidity.  I was successful, eventually running two miles in hopes of making a Two-Mile Tuesday blog post.  In that I was less than successful, as I sit here late (for me) Tuesday night and no blog post done yet.

In my defense, I was writing an article for Sentinel Media then trying to learn my lines for a play I am in (Preview of Coming Attractions).  I managed to go to the grocery store, where once again  I did not purchase enough food. On the brighter side, I refrained from purchasing cookies or ice cream (believe me,  I was tempted!), making my weight loss goals slightly more attainable.

She’s set to enjoy the summer heat!

I was looking for a picture of the Wicked Witch of the West saying, “I’m ME-E-ELTING!” but decided to share a more cheerful shot instead.  This is my skeleton Bonita with her friend Bonaparte.  My late, dearly missed husband, Steven, had dressed her for summer.  He purposely let the tag show on the headband, going for a Minnie Pearl kind of thing (look it up or ask somebody old if you don’t know).

I guess this is shaping up to be a Tired Tuesday post.  I shall blame it on the heat and humidity, and as always, try for a better post tomorrow.

 

Post Pride Stride Post

Well I am home from running the Pride Stride 5K in Little Falls, NY. In all, I feel I did not acquit myself too badly.  Of course, as regular readers know, what I do is called running only by the most generous definition of the term. Then again, I think it is good to be generous.

Who couldn’t be proud of this outfit?

As usual the most stressful part was getting there.  I got out of bed betimes, had coffee, made sure I ate with plenty of time for my nutritious breakfast to digest.  The second most stressful part was waiting for the race to start, especially when my carefully planned nutritious breakfast began to unsettle my stomach.  Luckily that passed.  I had some delightful conversations with the other runners prior to starting.  I was only disappointed there were not more of them.  I commiserated with one of the organizers about this.

Once we got started, the stressful part was worrying if I would get lost, especially when almost everybody went WAY ahead of me.  I managed to keep two runners in sight: a guy in a pink unicorn outfit (wish I had a picture of that!) and a lady with a better rainbow skirt than mine. I was a little worried about losing them till after the half-way point.  I managed to catch up and, miracle of miracles passed them!  I think the fellow in the unicorn outfit was finding it awkward to run.  It was one of those blow-up kind of suits.

I had to turn around a few times and ask them, “Which way?”  Then the pace car came back and led me to the finish line.  I finished strong! At least for me.  I cheered for everyone coming in behind me.  I couldn’t believe there WERE people behind me!  Unfortunately, race endorphins do not last long.  I drove home subject to a case of Post Race Letdown.

This is actually a photo I was saving for Waste Not Want Not Wednesday.

Who me, drown my sorrows?  Actually, I may have a glass of wine with friends later, but I do not plan to tie one on.  I took the above picture, because I liked the Art Deco bottle.  I share it now, because I have not found another opportunity to use it.  Incidentally, my post race letdown is passing and I am wondering with what I should challenge myself next.  Will it make a good blog post?  If so, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

Too Lame Or Not Too Lame?

It is the day before the Pride Stride 5K in Little Falls, NY, and this blog never became All Pride Stride 5K All The Time.  I have obsessed a little about it in my head, of course.  You’ll have that.  For today, I can talk a little about the run and my preparations for it, but mostly I am making a Lame Post Friday post.  For one reason, I am tired.  I do not know why I am so tired.  I have not done much today.

I took a run.  I decided to go just about half of a 5K.  It went pretty well.  My body did not protest too much.

That just made me flash on “Methinks thou dost protest too much.”  Is that the right quote?  Isn’t it, “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”  My Complete Works of Shakespeare is under the coffee table (what? where’s yours?).  I wonder if I can find the quote.  It’s from Hamlet, as theatre geeks recognized at once.

Random picture while I see if I can find the quote.

I found it!!!  The Queen says, talking about the play Hamlet has devised, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”  I’m glad we got that cleared up.

But is it a mundane post?

This is the picture I flashed on when I first detoured into Hamlet.  The so-called random picture is Weird Al Yankovic and friends as monks in Galavant, a wonderful, tragically short-lived musical TV series.  It actually does relate, because I played a monk in my first Shakespeare play with LiFT, Little Falls Theatre Company, Much Ado About Nothing.

So I haven’t talked too much about the 5K, have I?  No matter.  It would only make me more nervous.

 

Even Blogging Is Getting Harder!

What a wasted week I am having!  Tuesday I ran two miles, thinking I could make a Two-Mile Tuesday post.  I had pictures on my phone, which I transferred to my Media Library, thinking to do a Waste Not Want Not Wednesday post.  I spent at least some time each of those days staring at the blank Add Post page on my WordPress site.  Alas, to no avail. In fact, I experienced great resistance to logging on today, Thursday.  By the way, I ran three miles, wanting to have another Three-Mile Thursday, like I did last week.

I swear it was steeper when I was on it.

This is one of the hills I ran up on my run this morning.  It doesn’t look very impressive, does it?  I ran up a steeper hill next, which I do not have a picture of.  That hill continued up to Herkimer College, by some dorms in what I call the Kick Butt way to the college, because there are like three steep hills with flat(ish) spaces between.  Ahem, I did not run up to the college.  I made it up one stretch of steep then turned around and ran back down.  Later I ran up a couple more uphills.  I tell you, they do not get any easier.

Random picture, just to show something cheery before I start whining.

I learned to run in the Army, and I loved it, because it seemed that I just magically got better at it.  All I had to do was do it.  It was awesome!  Since the army, I have stopped and re-started running many times, usually because weather or work schedules made it difficult and I am notoriously lazy.  Each time I restarted, I found I was able to build myself back up to where I had left off with little or no problem.  I will admit that at no time have I ever run particularly fast.  Still, I was able to run the Boilermaker 15K several times (not in a row).

Until this year.  I decided early on not to try for the Boilermaker, but I am signed up to run the Pride Stride 5K in Little Falls, NY on June 14.  Why oh why, do my legs feel like overcooked macaroni?

Me before the Pride Stride in 2021.

Don’t mind my Old Age Existential Angst.  I really do not mind being your friendly neighborhood crazy old lady.  I only get a little disconcerted when my body behaves in what I consider a perverse, contrary fashion.  For example, if I am running on a regular basis, I feel I ought to be able TO run on a regular basis, and none of this complaining from my legs and lungs that, “We’re not going to maaaaake it!” (said in a pathetically whiny tone).  Or at least a little less complaining.

In the meantime, I see I have done plenty of complaining in this blog post, and it has run longer than my usual posts.  Considering I missed two days of posting, I think that that is not bad.  Once again, I thank you for tuning in.

 

No Mo’ No Mow!

I guess it is time to start Lawn Order posts again.  Strange that I never made that a category or at least a tag; it is one of my favorite puns, right up there with, “I fought the lawn, and the lawn won” (I know you sang it; I did).  Full disclosure:  I am going to illustrate this with pictures from my Media Library, because it is really not worth taking pictures of what I accomplished.  Did I win out over the lawn, you are perhaps asking?  I am going to say I did.  At least I acquitted myself well in this skirmish, with some help.

The grass was more grown in.

There was a lot more and longer grass in my front and back yards than in this picture, because I had not mowed yet this year.  Eric Gage of WKTV Weather said it was No Mow May.  At first I thought he said, “No Mo’ May” and we were skipping right to June, but he meant we should let things grow for the sake of pollinators.  I suppose this is all very well for people who are able to start their power mowers.  For those of us who use a non-power mower as a back-up, waiting till almost halfway through the month was not a good plan.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I hauled out the power mower and tried to start it to no avail.  I took the non-power job and tried that.  Oh dear.  I am not a young woman, and I never was a very strong woman.  I gave it up.  I tried again today, this time bringing a little more determination to the endeavor.  Again, there was no starting the power mower.  I took a deep breath and went to work with the other one.  Let me tell you, determination will only get you so far.  I almost gave up three or four times but encouraged myself by what I had accomplished so far.  In point of fact, it did not really look that good: more grass was flattened than cut, but sometimes I have to take what I can get.

Then I heard the blessed sound of somebody else’s power mower.  It was a neighbor across the street who had once offered his help in shoveling snow.  I pulled my mower across the street and asked his help.  A couple of tries and success!  I was on my way!  I got the front done!  I got the back done!  I’m afraid I mowed down some flowers, but you’ll have that. I can always plant new ones if the others don’t come back.

Preview of Coming Attractions.

I did not mow down any daisies.  They are not blooming yet in any case.  After shutting the mower off, I came back out front with some clippers to take care of some really ugly things that keep growing there (I’ll take a picture if they grow back).  My neighbor was sweeping cut grass from his sidewalk.  He asked if it had worked.  I called back that I had finished and thanked him fervently.

“Glad to help out!” he said.

I tried to sweep my cuttings too, but by then I was so tired and sweaty, I did not do a very good job.  I came in and took a second shower and dressed in my second cute outfit of the day (or do I flatter myself). I felt utterly incapable of making a blog post, but I said to myself, “Well, just try.”  I think that worked out almost as well as the lawn, but again, perhaps I flatter myself.

 

Dull Post, Flood Pictures

We got some rain on Tuesday, and I got a little worried by my street.  Not too worried to go out on the porch and take a couple of pictures.

I could have floated a boat! A toy one anyways.

I know other areas had it worse, with some roads completely closed.  However, I had not seen water this deep on my street since the flood of 2013 (I wrote a few blog posts about that).  I have not gone and looked in my basement, which flooded at that time. When I took the above picture, a friend had just given me a ride home, and I wondered if he should really be driving on it.  I should have walked.  It was still raining, but I ain’t sugar; I won’t melt.

At least my trash and recycling containers didn’t float away.

And now everybody knows I do not always neatly put away my trash and recycling bins as soon as they are empty.  Sometimes I wait till Wednesday.  Judge me if  you like.

More rain is on the way, and some roads remain closed.  I wonder how this will impact my adventuring for today.  Then again, I am not supposed to go adventuring today:  I am supposed to be cleaning my house.  Then yet again, I fear this has been a rather dull blog post.  Will a blog post about cleaning be any more interesting? This question will haunt me as I go about my day.

 

I May Kill Again

Hello and welcome to Wrist to Forehead Sunday, the day when all I want to do is swoon, dramatically posed with the back of one wrist to my forehead, onto a handy chaise lounge.  There is almost never a chaise lounge handy, but one makes do with whatever is available.  One reason for today’s swooning post is that I am dreadfully tired from last night’s performance of Recipe for Murder Royale, the murder we  presented at Herkimer Elks Lodge to benefit Herkimer County Historical Society on Saturday.

I did want to include this delightful artwork.

This chalk art was done by an Elks member who happened to be at the Lodge that afternoon. I’m sure you can easily understand why I just had to take a picture of it.  This member did not attend Saturday’s performance but offered his services as the dead body for a future murder mystery.  He had a great dramatic sense, saying how he would like a blood pack in his chest, which could bleed out as he staggered around, breathing his last.  He even said he could be dragged offstage, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.

Naturally this started me thinking about the next murder mystery.  It is true that I often end these things thinking I can never manage another one, but I don’t think anybody is much impressed by that.  I will get to writing and see what I can come up with by the fall.

 

More Pictures than Post

When I was still working, I let myself off the hook on Mondays.  I would say to myself, on Monday, all I have to do is get through the day.  Now that I quit my day job (I can’t say I’m retired, because I am still  not done being tired the first time), I continue the tradition.  Oh all right, I let myself off the hook a lot.  What a weird expression that is anyways.  “On the hook” sounds like I am suspended, perhaps by the nape of my neck, like a coat neatly put away, not currently useful but waiting to be so.  Not the best metaphor, I’m thinking.  There are more gruesome mental images conjured by “on the hook,”  but never mind that now.

Where was I? Oh yes, making Monday’s post late(ish) Tuesday morning.  I have not been completely useless this morning.  I finished a story about a Herkimer Town Board meeting and emailed it to Sentinel Media Company, and I went for a good run.  Yesterday I was less useful, but I took a nice walk during which I took some pictures.

There are some daffodils!

These lovely flowers are in front of Trinity Lutheran Church, which is near my house.  Some critter ate my few daffodil buds.  Oh well, critters gotta live, too.

It’s kind of crunchy to walk on.

Improvements to German Street are ongoing.  They replaced the bridge; now they are working on the sidewalks.  For now we have a stone path to walk on.

They have a wine tasting room.

I took a picture of the Raindrops of Roses Bed & Breakfast sign, just to give a shout-out to a local business.

I think stones are cool.

I continued towards the high school.  The kids are off this week.  I noticed the stones when I ran by there on Sunday, so I took a picture of them.  I’d like to have a stone fence in my yard.

I continued my walk and took a few more pictures, but I’ll sign off today’s post here, since I like to keep my posts short.  For another reason, you guessed it, I’m tired.

 

Once Again, Technology Eludes Me

Can I manage a Throwback Thursday Post today?  Full Disclosure:  I was at the Herkimer Elks Lodge and had a few glasses of wine.  In my defense, I had to go and answer a few questions about Recipe for Murder Royale, the murder mystery we are presenting there to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society.  I know, I only could have answered the questions and gone home.  I chose the more fun option.

Oh swell.  I can’t figure out how to get the flier of the murder mystery onto my blog post.  I suppose it is not very surprising  considering my full disclosure.

Here it is!

It is now Friday morning, so I call this a late post and do not despair of making a Lame Post Friday post later today.  I still haven’t figured out how to get a picture from Facebook to my blog on my Chromebook, but I can do it on my phone.  I didn’t think of doing that last night, silly me!

And while I was at it…

I also managed to share the flier from the show at Salisbury Grange, a week earlier.  That makes this NOT a Throwback Thursday post.  Oh dear.  Should I edit the first paragraph or continue in my stream of consciousness way?

This was a fun one!

One throwback, to the original production of Donate to Murder, presented at Herkimer Elks in 2019 (we presented it again a couple years later).  I’m in the feather hat on the left, then Tucker Lester in the Steam Punk goggles, my late dearly missed husband Steve, and Laura Powers.  I would love to work with both Tucker and Laura again, but they are very busy these days, alas!

I see I approach 300 words, which is pretty good for a late post.  I think I”ll bill this as a Non-Sequitur Thursday and drive on.  As always, I thank you for tuning in.