Tag Archives: widow

I’m a Monstrously Bad Blogger

Posted on August 28, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

I attempt once again to make a blog post today and then one tomorrow etc.  I do not, unfortunately, attempt to make a blog post about one of those Mohawk Valley adventures I keep promising to report on.  I guess I’m going to play the widow card again.  I am having a hard time getting my act together, but I try every day to do a little something.  Sometimes that something is just to get through the day.  I hope to up my game.

An oldie but a goodie.

I was thinking about this meme today, because I wore a shirt that I usually wear on Friday.  I was, of course, aware all day that it was not Friday.  I was only happy that it was also not Monday. One must count one’s blessings, after all.

“But… you said it wasn’t Monday!”

Having missed Monstrous Monday (as well as Saturday and Sunday), I thought to share a couple more monster pictures.  Of course I include my favorite, Nosferatu from the eponymous 1922 silent movie. I think he looks a little bit surprised in this shot.

See? I’m not the only one.

Jumping around, I found this profound caption with Elsa Lanchester as The Bride of Frankenstein.  It is true I have many good intentions:  to blog every day about the Mohawk Valley, to clean my house, to write a novel, to get my act together.  Will I fulfill any of these intentions?  A little uncertainty adds interest to my week.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Tired Tuesday and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

I’m Still Here!

Posted on December 13, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh dear, it has been ten days since I last posted.  How embarrassing.  I have a few (very few) good Mohawk Valley Adventures to write about, but I feel I should first make an apology if not an explanation of not being here for my lovely readers, which I hope I still have.

May be a doodle of 1 person and text that says 'Please do not accept friend equests from my husband. ...He's been hacked. Mrs. ROXALANA DRUSE,'

These crack me up.

I throw in a picture which has very little to do with anything, but I saw it on Facebook this morning (yes, I peeked at Facebook before logging on to WordPress, judge me if you want to be that way), and it made me smile.  My lawyer assured me he is still working on the appeal.  Longtime readers may remember that I had the honor to play Roxalana Druse in Roxy, the fact-based play about the local murder presented by Herkimer County Historical Society at Ilion Little Theatre.  I wrote several blog posts about it.  In addition to giving me a laugh, I guess it helps me to remember past triumphs.  I trust I shall not continue in the wallowy rut in which I have become mired (what an image!) (and autocorrect seems to think “wallowy” is not a word, but as usual in these cases, it is exactly what I mean).

Regarding the wallowy rut:  I try, I really do try to do things other than sit around and feel sad, try to sleep, or read books (reading books is great, but it doesn’t clean the house, do the dishes, or make blog posts).  At first the insidious voice in my head said, “I can’t!”  I could sometimes overcome it with a gentle, “Just try”  or “Just do one thing,”  occasionally even specifying an actual thing.  Then the voice switched to, “I don’t care!”  That is more difficult to overcome, but I have had some minor success with, “Do it anyways,” or striving to ignore the voice.

I throw in a Christmasy picture to liven things up (I was sure Christmasy was a word!).

What a dull, self-involved post.  I will play the widow card once again.  This is my first Christmas without my beloved Steve.  I remind myself that it is going to be hard, don’t be surprised by that, just try to do a few things to make the season merry for somebody at least.  I guess I have gone over these thoughts before, but I must repeat them constantly to myself so inevitably impose them upon others as well.

And I see I am over 400 words.  I hope to make a real Mohawk Valley Girl post later today or tomorrow.  I thank everybody who is still reading.

 

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Early Tired Tuesday or Late Monstrous Monday?

Posted on August 1, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Is this going to be an entire week of late blog posts?  It is too early to tell, but I do not like the way it is trending.  Of course it is within my power to change the trend, but last night it did not feel that way.  So I started my Tired Tuesday early.  Sue me.

Isn’t he nice?

I put in a monster to cheer things up.  This pleasant fellow is from The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, one of my favorite cheesy horror movies.

Getting back to me (it is all about me, isn’t it?), I have been wanting to tell somebody a kind of a weird thing I have noticed about myself lately.  Everything I do, I keep saying out loud I have done it, so I don’t forget.

It started out innocently enough: when I would cook myself breakfast in the morning, I would say, “Turning off the stove on Monday” (it was especially helpful to say the day, as I have breakfast every morning) (it is the most important meal of the day, so I have heard).  This saved me calling my husband Steve from work and asking if I did, which was good when I went in at five and he went back to bed.

The habit is also helpful with things like car keys or my purse, which I tend to set down in handy places while getting ready to go out the door.  Yes, yes, I know: leave them in the same place all the time.  I’m talking about when you pick up your keys and say, “Oh yeah, I need a blahblah” and have to set your keys down to fetch it.

“I don’t know why she wanted me in this blog post.”

Another monster to interrupt what I fear are too many words.  I’m sure regular readers recognize Nosferatu.

Anyways, I find myself narrating a lot of my actions these days, “Putting on deodorant on Tuesday” (which I am sure my co-workers appreciate), “Putting my socks on the coffee table,” “My keys are on the floor next to my water bottle,” and of course, the very important, “Turning the coffee maker off, the stove was never on, the toaster oven has cooled off.”  Because I can no longer call Steven to make sure I do not burn down the house.

And I guess that last sentence says it all.  Widow brain.  It’s a thing.

 

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Monstrous Monday, personal, Tired Tuesday and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Are Wednesdays a Thing Again?

Posted on May 4, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

After deciding last week that I was going to stay home every night this week, I  decided to go to Fratello’s Pizzeria in Frankfort, NY for food and music, as I used to do almost every Wednesday.  A quick check of their Facebook page told me Justin Smithson was playing acoustic guitar.

He is an excellent musician.

As I walked in, I was greeted by Geno the bartender and Justin Smithson himself.  I ordered a garlic pizza with sausage and mushrooms.  It was one of Steven’s favorite things to order.  I was sipping some Chardonnay, also a favorite of his.  The music started shortly.

I was loving it right away.  Justin started with a beautiful James Taylor song.  Then I dissolved into embarrassing tears as he got to the chorus:  “But I always thought that I’d see you again.”  This is what happens.  Every day I realize I will never see my husband Steve again.  However, I must try not to make a spectacle of myself.

This one turned out a little dark.

Justin moved on to play a variety of tunes.  At one point he asked for requests, and a man said, “Cat Stevens!”  Justin played “Wild World,” which is a song that plays in my head when I am running and go by a WildWood camper.

“Made my night!” said the requestor when the song was done.

I greatly enjoyed hearing the music.  I will be back at Fratello’s again soon!

 

4 Comments

Posted in humor, local business, local music, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Vermont Memories

Posted on April 21, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I attempt a Throwback Thursday Post, because I do not wish to be making my Thursday blog post on Friday morning.  I thought that sentence might give me a little spurt of happiness by reminding me that tomorrow is Friday, but alas, not so much.  No matter.  On with the blog post.

Wrong season, so sue me.

This is a picture of the area of Vermont where some of my late husband Steve’s family lives.  I love the covered bridge.  Anyways, this was in my Media Library in April 2017, so I say it is a Throwback photo.

Nice doggies!

This is a really old snapshot, taken at Steve’s sister Ruby’s house, with one of those disposable cameras we used to use all the time.  It is Ruby’s dog Sapphire and our own Tabby.  I put it on a napkin and took a picture of it with the Tablet so Steven could share it on Facebook.  That may have been back in 2011, but I am not at all sure.  We never did learn how to use a scanner, although I think we have one my sister Diane gave us.

Gobble, gobble!

And here are some wild turkeys in Ruby’s backyard.  We had some wonderful afternoons and evenings sitting on Ruby’s deck, enjoying nature.  She had many small animal visitors.   She also had the occasional bear, but not when we were there.

Oh dear, I just remembered, I think there was once when we saw a bear although did not get a picture.  It was dark and we were looking out the kitchen window, as I recall.  If I recall correctly.  This is where it would be so nice to be able to turn to Steve and say, “We saw a bear at Ruby’s, didn’t we?” I am still getting used to widowhood.

There he is, with a friend.

On that note, I end with a picture of Steve.  He is at the So Sweet Candy Shoppe in Utica, NY, with our friend Margaret, the proprietress.  I guess that doesn’t really fit with my headline.  Does that mean I can also bill this as a Non-Sequitur Thursday Post?

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Non Sequitur Thursday, personal, Throwback Thursday and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

It Is Monday. I Muse.

Posted on February 21, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Monday has traditionally been a day I let myself off the hook.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I let myself off the hook all the time!  There’s Tired Tuesday,  Wuss-out Wednesday,  and who could forget Lame Post Friday? That said, I let myself off the hook today.

For one reason,  I returned to work, at a previous place of employment.  This is not a work blog, so I will not elaborate except to say that it was not a bad day at all.  My former co-workers welcomed me back, which felt very nice indeed.  Still, work is work, and I am not a young woman.  I returned home tired and mentally revising the to-do list I had compiled this morning.

See, this is how hard I worked today.

I was afraid the post was a bit dull, so I threw in a picture.  Joan Crawford with an ax, there could be no possible objection.

Four things I felt must be done on my list:  take out trash and recyclables, fix tomorrow’s lunch, put on coffee, and make my blog post.  I have done (am doing) them in that order.

It was not on my list, but I did watch Dateline.

I am navigating my life as a widow with varying degrees of success.  I believe that is to be expected.  I look at other people who have greater tragedies to deal with and fewer supports to help them, and I count my blessings.  This does not necessarily alleviate my feelings, but I try to let it inform my behavior.  I don’t know if that makes any sense.  Do you suppose sense is overrated?

I see I am over 250 words.  Score!  I am going to bill this as a Middle-aged Musings Monday, although a friend recently pointed out that if I am middle-aged now, I must live to be well over 100.  Don’t you just hate those didactic types?

 

2 Comments

Posted in humor, Middle-aged Musings Monday, personal and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.