Yesterday, MoMo went with me to Barnes & Noble. She chattered the whole way there. That’s always nice because small talk is not my thing. She fills the empty spaces which is fine by me. Though some of what comes out of her mouth … well … unfiltered nonsense. I got this bright idea for a new category (fastest way to kill the category is to actually add one) so I’m just “thinking out loud”. I already have a title The Mother-in-Law Chronicles. Pretty sure it’d only be funny to us but then again, I’m writing for me.
Today, I baked a lemon meringue pie from scratch. My meringue never peaked but I used it anyway. Sure hope it tastes okay. The lemon curd part that I was worried about was surprisingly easy. Guess I watched enough cooking shows to learn how not to scramble the eggs.
My baking kick has been fun. Ever since I dusted off grandma’s old pie crust recipe, I’ve been experimenting. Lately I have seen few memes asking what would you be if you had the job you wanted at age 12? Me? I wanted to be a baker. Maybe I’m trying to capture some of that now. In addition to harvesting tomatoes from the garden, this baking kick is giving me stress relief. Of course my LDL is 109 and B’s A1C reads as prediabetic. Maybe we should cut back? Not cut out mind you since everything in moderation, including moderation.
Now I’m off to harvest. Later than usual since I’m on vacay. Peace out.
Melanie gives us some thought provoking questions and I stream right through them, all in the here and now. Ha!
QUESTIONS
If you could be anywhere else right now, where would it be? Hmm, Ms. Eeyore Jilly thinks “anywhere but here” Then I pause. I like that question because as luck would have it, I’m on vacation this week. My time off was a “before you do something stupid necessity”. I’m staying around the house because I didn’t plan far enough in advance to go somewhere plus with B now being self employed, taking off with me isn’t as easy. Also with the delta variant running wild, I’m fine staying put. I’m pleased with a staycation since I’m getting all sorts of stuff accomplished. Still no final agreement on the roof but bids are rolling in and the variance between companies is wide. I really don’t want to be screwed over.
What Wastes The Most Time In Your Day To Day Life? Indecision, <blank> or get off the pot. I’m telling ya what. “This indecision’s buggin’ me (esta indecisiĂłn me molesta)” …
How would you describe your greatest enemy? If you don’t have one, share your secret!  I have no enemies, not really. Or none that I know of … No trick to share either. I’m older, wiser, and have more insurance … Bonus points if you guess what book/movie that line is from. Seriously, I stay in my lane. You do you and all that jazz. I don’t have time for an enemy. Plus I’m a big a scaredy cat.
If you were a bird, what kind of bird would you be? A peacock of course. In 2010 or 2011, I was in charge of a unit that had one of the first third party contracts. Sridevi took a beautiful picture of a peacock and had it turned into postcards. We all got one that year. Very special because she took the photo herself but also due to the symbolism. The national bird of India. How cool is that?!??!
GRATITUDE SECTIONÂ (As Always, Optional)
I’m grateful for the laughter in my life. Things are good y’all even when they aren’t. Ahhh now that’s the stuff.
Channeling my inner Karen … Carpenter that is … I have an earworm … Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down …
And on this Monday without work I should be in a better mood. Lately the rain creates an anxiety in me that is unprecedented. I remember as a kid, staring out the big picture window from the living and loving the rain. Mom made sure we were not afraid of thunder and lightning. Proper respect but nothing to fear. Watching a thunderstorm, lights off in the house, was thrilling.
If it a was just rain, during the day, on a day off much like today, we’d make our way onto the front porch. Eventually dashing on and off the porch to dance in the rain. Mom would bring us towels heated up in the dryer. With such fond memories, I’ve no idea why all of a sudden rain causes almost a panic in me. The fear of internet outage maybe? Since all that happened with LuLu during her first job? Three people depending on a good solid connection that we take for granted. Maybe that’s it?
Anyway, the book store is calling my name. Loudly. See ya on the flip side. 10/4 good buddy.
With Styx too much time on my hands, I am organizing. What a way to spend a Vacay. You do you. And I do me. And organizing is Nirvana. Smells like Teen Spirit or rose and ivy scent bulbs. Plus after having watched an episode or two of hoarders this morning, there is nothing more I’d rather do than clean up. Part of me thinks that salacious TV should come with a warning. Oh wait, come to think of it, there was a warning. Rambling on …
On my first or second day of return to office, I found my health assessment card from February 20, 2020. Because of corona, health assessments were suspended for 2021 until now. Which means on July 16, 2021, I masked it up and went to Quest Diagnostics to have my screening done. I may have already shared with you that the phlebotomist after drawing my blood said “thank you Jesus that’s over. What a tough draw!” or something to that effect. My thought bubble was pretty much “if you think it was tough for you, what about me?” I’ve officially got old lady veins that roll. Ewww.
I got the electronic results by email almost immediately. Maybe in a day or two max. And the Healthy points towards reduction of my healthcare costs were uploaded this week giving me 400 out of 500 points. And with that, the goal of 3000 points achieved! Yay me! I get the hoodie. Two actually. One from Healthy points and one from our leadership team. They’re doing “just because you are all awesome” gifts. I picked a hoodie for that too thinking I might not reach 3000. Now I wish I’d picked the Yeti wine tumbler. Rambling on …
I’m still kind of borderline healthy though. Despite passing pieces of this. I can’t ever get the BMI points. Though at 25.2, I’m closer to the requisite 24.9 than I’ve ever been. Also, I noticed some inconsistency for LDL. Is the optimum range under 130 or under 100? And what’s difference between LDL and non-HDL? Time to put my Dr Google skillz to werk.
I’m only really worried about my blood pressure. It was 128/81. 120/80 is the preferred range. They give credit for 130/85 which means I got 100 points despite being borderline. What’s nice is that from the July 16 assessment, I got a book that is called a blue print to wellness with 18 pages of recommendations on how to be healthy. Much of it common sense. All of it appreciated.
Alrighty, lemme let you go. Back to my organizing. Happy Sunday folks.
The year is flying by at quite the usual rate. Is that an oxymoron? Can something be both fast and measured?
Let’s move along shall we?
Jim prompts us with Alluring, Beautiful, Charming, Graceful, Seductive. As Lulu Belle and I were riding around yesterday, the song I picked came on the radio and my was choice sealed. I hadn’t heard the song in a while. The message is good though and always nice to hear again. Before the transformation, and even a little bit after, and even now I guess, she needs this reinforcement from the BF.
Oh! I guess I need to name the song huh? I went with What Makes You Beautiful Writer(s): Carl Falk, Rami Yacoub, Savan Kotecha, performed by One Direction (1D). 1D was a flash in the pan (my own two cents) though individually some (think Harry Styles) have made it big and are still contemporary. I think? Ah what do I know?
LuLu have an almost 1D sighting story. On our first trip to NYC, we were strolling along in Times Square and a crowd of screaming girls ran by us shouting all sorts of unintelligible squeaks. Lulu was able to make out that they were chasing 1D who had just played a concert there the night before. We turned to follow maybe a few steps then decided we’d never catch up. Plus, their fans were rabid. No one had time for that noise. We turned back around to our destination, the local TGI Fridays, to get our grub on. The place was empty except for the staff. They had just reopened after shutting down the place for none other than (you guessed it) One Direction.
Alright enough blathering. Here is the video. Hope you enjoy.
[Liam:] You’re insecure Don’t know what for You’re turning heads when you walk through the door Don’t need make-up To cover up Being the way that you are is enough
[Harry:] Everyone else in the room can see it Everyone else but you
[All:] Baby you light up my world like nobody else The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed But when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell You don’t know Oh, oh You don’t know you’re beautiful If only you saw what I can see You’d understand why I want you so desperately Right now I’m looking at you and I can’t believe You don’t know Oh, oh You don’t know you’re beautiful Oh, oh That’s what makes you beautiful
[Zayn:] So c-come on You got it wrong To prove I’m right I put it in a song I don’t know why You’re being shy And turn away when I look into your eye-eye-eyes
[Harry] Everyone else in the room can see it Everyone else but you
[All:] Baby you light up my world like nobody else The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed But when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell You don’t know Oh oh You don’t know you’re beautiful If only you saw what I can see You’ll understand why I want you so desperately Right now I’m looking at you and I can’t believe You don’t know Oh oh You don’t know you’re beautiful Oh oh
[Harry:] Baby you light up my world like nobody else The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed But when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell
[All:] You don’t know Oh oh You don’t know you’re beautiful
Baby, you light up my world like nobody else The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed But when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell You don’t know Oh oh You don’t know you’re beautiful (Oh) If only you saw what I can see You’ll understand why I want you so desperately ([Harry:] desperately) Right now I’m looking at you and I can’t believe You don’t know Oh oh You don’t know you’re beautiful Oh oh You don’t know you’re beautiful Oh oh
A blur, a whirlwind, a blink of an eye. That was my week. I started early and stayed late, one day even going into the office, all to get into a good enough position to take the entire week off.
And I tell ya what, I’m not peeking at work stuff from my phone either. The whole thing can go to hell in a handbasket (it won’t). I’m replaceable. We all are and this work to the bone bullshit must stop! Work life balance and self care isn’t just for elite gymnasts.
I’ve always loved the Olympics. This year I’m only catching clips versus sitting there glued to the TV. I’ve seen some powerful things, nothing more moving to me than the Phillipines getting their first gold. The look on Hidilyn Diaz’s face, along with those watching in the wings, was priceless.
Ok, recap time. Mixing it up, we’ll go forward versus reverse. Oooh, that should be fun!
Friday 7/30/21 – #WATWB – I love this message of the youngster teaching a lesson to us all
Saturday 7/31/21 – #SoCS – most recent picture happened to be of our bumper crop
I might be around more often this week since “this is my time” said in my Ray Walston playing Mr. Hand voice over voice. I get to do what I wanna do when I wanna do it.
That’s what I’m talking about. Yeah buddy. Start to my stay-cation. I’m also ready for another rebel rousing rendition of #SoCS where Linda writes and I copy paste Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “the last photo you took.” Take the last photo you snapped. What’s the first word that comes to mind when you look at it? That word is your prompt. Enjoy! Check out the link to the rules and ping back.
Here ya go … I don’t have a first word when I look at our bounty but I have a feeling of a novella coming on.
More maters ...
This snap was taken on July 30th, at 7:12 a.m. Central Standard Time (CST) in the year of our lord 2021.
Every morning I take a walk to check on MoMo and PoPo, bring up their paper, and other assorted tasks. They are hanging tough despite a variety of ailments. It’s the least I can do considering all they did for B and moi when we were starting out and the kids were younger. Turnabout is fair play and not in a negative way. We OWE them. We’d be remiss not to admit that. But everything we do is in the spirit of giving. If you don’t know me by now, I’m kind of a diva, queen, comma drama. Jilly doesn’t do anything Jilly doesn’t want to do. Fuck ’em she says. Dirty mouth? Clean it up! … the tagline for Orbit gum.
Anyway, where was I going with this? Glad it is stream where we roll with the flow.
After I check in, I wonder back down the lane between our properties and head straight into the garden. I get my pickin on. The harvest is about 15-20 tomatoes a day for at least the last three weeks. My math is fuzzy y’all maybe more than three weeks. B planted all the things in March. Usually our garden grows like this, yellow squash and zucchini are always first to come up, followed by cucumbers and tomatoes at the same time. We have jalapenos and chili pequin year round.
This year the tomatoes were late but worth the wait. We’ve been done with the cucumbers since end of May. We think the extra rain this year helped the tomatoes. Plus for the first time ever B started them from seed. Prior he bought tomato plants, decent size, and they came in quicker. Just now he tells me the seedlings took forever to get big enough. Hmmm. And here I thought he put the seeds right in the ground and the starter kit was material to go along with them to spur growth. But no, the starter kits were lil pods to start the plant from the seed. He kept them in his shed about a month. Well duh 🙄 Anyhoo, as I live and breathe. March 1 give or take a day, the tomato seedlings went in the ground.
We are fortunate y’all. The fruits of our labor. Growing groceries and all that noise. Not to be screwed with this time. If ya know, ya know.
And on that note, lemme let ya go. Lulu Belle and I are outta here or will be soon when the sun comes up, after I take my morning stroll.
Following the video, here are some thought provoking questions to ask yourself:
Who in the video had the most authority and what did you observe them doing?
Who in the video had the least authority in the video and what did you observe them doing?
Who in the video had the most influence?
What other challenges were faced?
How did others respond to the boy in the video?
When I watched this video, I cried. To be fair, I cry easily. Don’t worry, they were happy tears. Words not needed, pictures worth 1000 words.
#WATWB is a blog hop on the last Friday of every month. Here are the intention and rules which aren’t being maintained any longer but I’m using just in case. Find #WATWB on FB and Twitter.
I took off a day last week, in part because I needed a break but also to catch up on things. The proverbial ‘to-do’ list was burgeoning. I still have a lot going on but I’m better y’all. And, I plan to stay that way.
Besides dropping off my vehicle for repairs (at a new place) sorry old place, I reconciled all the bills from my recent medical services. I tried to be mellow but oy vey. What a freaking racket.
I needed anesthesia. There was a doctor for that purpose who flew into the room all clipboard in hand, asked questions but appeared not to care enough to wait for answers. I don’t think he did anything but he still had to be paid. His nurse was the one that watched me as she was planning her wedding. No I didn’t dream it, this conversation went on before I went under. She too sent a bill. Here’s the rundown of both:
His charge was $1360 with insurance paying most of the member rate at $223. Yep without insurance that mofo could have claimed and received $1360 for a 3 minute conversation to ask me some questions. $223 is bad enough.
Her charge was $1040 with insurance paying most of the member rate at another $223. Funny how the member rate was exactly the same despite her original bill being less and her doing more work (if watching me for 20 minutes as I sleep is considered more). Well of course it is.
The leftover for me after insurance paid was $25 to each person. That means I paid $50 out of pocket. When you count the insurance payments of $446, $496 was paid in total. Why? Because I have insurance. Without insurance, we’re talking $2400. More than quadruple. Something is greatly wrong with that picture. I mean seriously!!!! Rotten.
I’d love to know the true cost. The medicine, the equipment, a fair fee for the provider. The insurance company contribution makes this feel like a pyramid scheme. I’m glad I am only out of pocket $50 bucks but I feel for anyone else without the same means.
Alright, I’m worn out. Until next time, be safe. Peace.
