Miscellaneous Monday
It’s Girl Scout cookie season! Do I love Girl Scout cookies? Not really. There are definitely better cookies out there, and even better would be homemade. Do I buy Girl Scout cookies? Absolutely, because I love the organization and want to support them. Just typing this, I remembered New York City Troop 6000, which is a troop for girls living in temporary housing. I just popped over and made a donation, which you can do too if you’re so inclined. You can also order cookies from them. Anyway, I bought a few boxes from some GS in front of the grocery store last week. I ate a few too many Samoas, and Maya took the rest to her office.
Anyway, I didn’t get around to my regular Friday Randomness post, so here we are. All of the same Randomness, now on Monday! Let’s start with my FIGS for Elisabeth’s FIG Collective.
My Week of FIGS
Last week’s FIGS ended on Friday, so I have some catching up to do.
Saturday – Facebook Memories
Sunday – Pretty Sunrise
Monday – Rest Days
Tuesday – Flowering Trees
Wednesday – Plant Advice
Thursday – My Blog Friends
Friday – Black Power Kitty
Saturday – Penelope the Porcupine
Sunday – Yoga
Facebook Memories
I enjoy looking at old posts on Facebook when they pop up. I mean, there are sad ones that break my heart and remind me of losses in my life, but then there are funny ones. I liked these two from February 6th. Sigh, David Bowie, my first husband. Generally when famous people die, it doesn’t bother me much. I mean, I’m sad for their families, and I acknowledge their contributions to the world, but it doesn’t hurt. When David Bowie died, it hurt. I’ve been having dreams about him since I was about 18 though, so this wasn’t new.
Do you ever have these weird dreams when you nap? Where someone is in the house walking around, and you can’t make yourself wake up to see if it’s real or not? I thought I was the only one, but then I heard about it once on This American Life. I’ve had these dreams for decades, only when napping on the sofa.
Pretty Sunrise
I saw this pretty sunrise outside my kitchen window Sunday morning. Sunday was the Super Bowl, and Ted wanted to watch it with his parents, and Maya and I had zero interest in watching, so he went to their house and we stayed home. We watched the halftime show so we could see Bad Bunny, but we forgot to watch Green Day. Bad Bunny was wonderful. I don’t know his music at all, but the vibe was so joyous and awesome, it was great. Fun tidbit, my mom lived in Puerto Rico for a bit when she was a kid, her stepdad was in sales and they moved a LOT. My aunt was born there.
Rest Days
Mondays and Thursdays are my rest days from strength training, and it always makes me SO HAPPY to not have to do that boring chore on a Monday morning. I have a 7:30am meeting for work on Mondays, which is stupid, but I don’t have to look at a screen too much and just call in from my phone on my morning walk. Excellent. I’ve taken to listening to audiobooks while I do my weights. It makes it SO MUCH BETTER. Even better than listening to music, for me. Ted has recently started doing some Caroline Girvan videos, he says she looks like she’s computer generated. Fair.
Flowering Trees
Last week I mentioned that the tulip trees in my town were not yet blooming, but then later that very day I went downtown and saw a glorious huge tree in full blossom. I was driving though, so no picture, but let’s compare apples to apples anyway, this is the flower progress on the same tree from my last post.
Plant Advice
Hello, my name is J and I kill plants. See these lovely houseplants? I bought them all at the Farmers’ Market last September (these healthy pictures are from then), and none of them survived. The one on the right was doing poorly and I thought I would cut it back so it could start over. But I didn’t clean my pruning shears first, and I introduced bacteria in there and the stem turned black. I sent my cousin, the Master Gardener, a text, and she said, yeah, it’s dead. What I’m grateful for here is not so much that I killed three perfectly lovely plants, but that I have my cousin to ask for advice, and that she can tell me when it’s OK to let a plant go. It’s sad to have dying plants around the house, but I am always hesitant to get rid of them if there’s a chance they could bounce back.
Blog Friends
You all know I adore you, right? Being able to text random thoughts to you, and receive random texts, is kind of a game changer for me. So fun. It makes me so, so happy.
Black Power Kitty
Friday I was at a card shop looking for Valentine’s Day cards for Ted and Maya, and came across this Lego set. My friend Cherry’s husband, Eric, always raises his fist in solidarity when at an Asian restaurant with one of these little cats, and he calls them ‘Black Power Kitty’, which I love. So of course I had to snap a photo and send it to her.
Penelope the Porcupine
Saturday we went for what we call a ‘Three Boss Walk’, which is when we all three take a walk together. I don’t remember whether we came up with that term for walking with Genevieve or with Mulder, but sometimes I still think of it when we’re out on a weekend family walk. Saturday we found ourselves near a local park, and Maya wanted to stop at a drinking fountain for some water, which is near a little wildlife rehabilitation center and museum. They do great work in education, and they also rescue injured wildlife and release it back into the wild whenever possible. Sometimes an animal cannot be released for whatever reason (an eagle with a bad wing, for example) and they keep them and care for them there. They have a big room for parties, and if you have a birthday party there, you can tour the museum and learn about the residents. We came across just such a party, where the naturalist was talking about Penelope the Porcupine. I had never seen a porcupine in person before! She was so gentle and sweet. She came to the rehab center as a tiny baby and they bottle fed her. Is it because she was born in captivity that means she can’t be released? I’m not sure.
We had a lovely Valentine’s Day dinner! Ted made rack of lamb, I made mac and cheese, and we added peas and salad to the mix. Maya bought a bottle of champagne, and Ted bought a bottle of red wine. Everything was delicious, though we forgot to buy any chocolate for dessert, so ended up eating a high protein chocolate bar thing that I bought at 7-11 for Ted’s Christmas stocking.
Yoga
Yesterday I woke up feeling stiff and sore. Why? I don’t know. My Saturday weights were arms, but it was my legs and hips that were so stiff. Bah. Instead of doing legs for my strength training, I did abs, and then I did my yoga, which guess what? Helped. Not entirely, but at least some. Then we had another Three Boss Walk, which loosened it up even more.
Bonus Randomness
In other randomness, the medication that I am on for my Rheumatoid Arthritis makes me sensitive to sun exposure. Friday when I went for my walk, it was overcast and kind of foggy, and I decided to walk to Ulta to pick up some shampoo. It is not a shady walk, and the sun came out pretty early in the walk. I discovered that while I had put sunscreen on my face, there was a spot at the top of my chest that I missed, and I got a bit of a sunburn. BOO! It burns and kind of blisters and it sucks. That sun sensitivity has been the only side effect of being on Minocycline for 11 years now, and I’m thankful every day that it has put me (and kept me) in remission. It doesn’t work for everyone, and it doesn’t work overnight, but I’m so thankful that I found this treatment and that it has worked for me.
Oh, one last FIG, which I am sure will show up in next week’s wrap up – RAIN. We had such a dry January and first half of February, and the snowpack that supplies California reservoirs with water went from pretty healthy at something like 85% of normal in early January, to a not so healthy 31% of normal in mid February. California relies on winter snow, it does not rain here much from May to November, so to have a really dry month in winter can lead to drought pretty quickly. So we were grateful when it finally started raining late yesterday, and that the forecast for the mountains is for plenty of snow. A rainy day also means excellent reading weather, which is good because I am behind in my CBBC chapters! I know not everyone has been feeling The Age of Innocence, but I’ve been loving it. (Still not caught up, but hopefully a rainy Monday/Presidents Day will get me there.)
22 Comments
Lisa’s Yarns
I feel like the dreams I remember are only stressful or sad ones. I dream about the more banal work related things that are stressful, like forgetting to do something or making a mistake. It’s like I am stressed while sleeping which is sad!!
I also kill plants. My friend’s husband gave me a jade plant and he swears it is impossible to kill it. And then my therapist gave me a transplant of her spider plant which she also claims is impossible to kill. I hope they are right! I have them in my office and need to remember to have coworkers water them when I travel! After the accident my aunt sent me a plant. My mom has an ap where she can take pictures of the plant to find out the breed and care instructions. She looked it up when they visited us this fall and the ap said it is a hard plant to keep alive. So it’s just a matter of time until it dies. Womp womp.
J
Jade plants and spider plants are indeed hearty, I wish you luck with them. I hope the plant your aunt sent you does well, but I’m here to give you grace to get rid of them if they do not.
I hate stress dreams. Don’t I have enough of that while I’m awake? Why can’t I dream I’m walking on a boulevard in Paris or laying on a beach (not getting sunburned) somewhere warm?
Michelle G.
I enjoyed reading this! I love your FIGS, and all the quotes and tidbits. I can’t keep indoor or outdoor plants alive. I have accepted this and will leave it for others to do while I enjoy their efforts!
J
I have so many plants around here, and many of them are technically alive but not at all at their best. But I keep them because it seems cruel to kill them, right?
NGS
The days are getting longer! The sunrises and sunsets are beautiful! Let’s get through February and March so we can have spring!!! It was 65 degrees on Sunday afternoon and it was SUCH A TEASE. I want it to be warm all the time!!!
J
It must be SUCH A RELIEF for you to have more sunshine! I’ll tell you, we were socked in by stupid fog for about a month, with barely a glimpse of the sky, and that was horrible. The air quality sucked, it was cold, and we got zero rain from it. Total BS. I’m glad we’re done with THAT, let me tell you.
Margaret
Beautiful sky and tulip tree! I bought cookies from that troop last year; did I hear about them through you? Samoas are my downfall although John tells me that I can buy a better version of them at the store for cheaper. Even though two of his granddaughters are Scouts! Taking walks is so vital to health. I’ve been pretty good about it although I’ve missed a few days. Your V-day dinner was better than mine!
J
I think you did hear about that troop from me! I know I’ve posted about them a couple of times. My daughter was a Girl Scout for 10 years, and it was such a wonderful experience for her.
Nicole MacPherson
I love that quote about noticing the good things. When I moved here and was having a really…well, let’s just call it an adjustment phase, I did a guided meditation which I don’t do super often. Anyway, the woman said “what we focus on is what we see more of” and that really resonated with me. It felt like it was meant to be!
J
I agree that what we focus on is what we see more of, which is why it is so important to seek out the joys in life. I mean, we don’t want toxic positivity by any means, the world is a shit show. But there are still flowers blooming outside and nice meals to eat with people we love!
Elisabeth
Those are some very specific dreams!!! I have bizarre dreams all the time, remember them in the morning, tell my husband but then never write them down so I forget them all. I really should record them because some of them are an absolute HOOT!
I manage to keep plants alive most of the time and seriously do not know how. I am neglectful. I think that might be one of the keys with plants. To not overwater them. I forget and so it’s sporadic watering at best. Almost always when I kill a plant, it’s from overwatering. Don’t take that as advice, though!!
J
I feel like most of the plants that I kill are also from overwatering. I try to wait until they are a certain level of dry, and sometimes I take it too far and kill them that way. I’m multitalented.
I only remember my dreams if I write them down, which sometimes means my blog or Facebook. So it’s funny when these memories pop up and remind me.
StephLove
The porcupine is cute. I don’t think I’ve seen one before either.
I’m glad you have a nice Valentine’s day and that you have an RA med that’s working, if with botherome side effects.
Here on the East Coast it is downright soggy with rain on partially melted snow.
J
I’m sorry about all of the ridiculous snow you got this winter. I hope you’re done with that phase and will soon be moving into spring. Around here I keep seeing more and more trees blooming, and daffodils starting to pop up. As long as we get snow in the mountains, I’m good with it.
nance
Porcupines are adorable, and the noises they make are even cuter. In the wild, however, they are destructive and pesky. They eat wooden things, like the steps to your back door.
I’ve been noting the forecast for the huge amounts of snow getting dumped in the mountains out your way. I know it’s just what you need and want, and I beg of you to keep it out there and away from us in NEO, where we are finally seeing patches of grass again.
Currently, I have a Chinese money plant that I am wintering indoors; it lived in a cow mug on my front porch all summer. I repotted it, put it in my east-facing garden window, and immediately began killing it. I finally realized that it needed neglect. Now I ignore it, water it sparingly about once every two weeks, and put it next to my little greenhouse wherein my basil plants are thriving on my breakfast nook table. I don’t even talk to it. I lavish praise and affection on my basil, but assiduously ignore the Chinese money plant. It’s sprouted a few pups, so I know I’m doing the right things.
J
LOL, funny how some plants thrive on attention while others prefer neglect. I suspect you could talk to it once in a while, as long as you don’t look at it straight on while doing so. Sort of out of the side of your mouth. “Oh Basil, I love you so! You’re gorgeous and lush and smell so good, and I know I’m going to have wonderful pesto and tomato salad this summer, and we’re going to get along SWIMMINGLY!!! *Much more quietly* And you, Chinese money plant. Glad to see you’re hanging in there.”
ernie
I’m a house plant killer also, which doesn’t explain how I still have a Pointsetta that is apparently alive and well in the middle of my kitchen table. The gratitude meme is so on the money. Love it. I so love the title of your family walk. the three bosses walk. Hilarious. Our weather – freaky warm and it is giving me just the glimmer of hope for spring that is needed to make it through the end of winter. Are you open to more text friends? I’d love an occasional random text from Julie. 😉
J
Ernie, I would love more text friends! Let me try to email you…
Jenny
Omg- Penelope! Could you pet her? Was she prickly???
I love “Black Power Kitty.” I would have bought it! My daughter would like it.
LOVE the gratitude meme!
J
They weren’t letting anyone pet her, so I’m not sure whether she was prickly or not. Probably better safe than sorry! Isn’t she adorable?
Black Power Kitty FTW!
Anne
Oh, my goodness, Penelope would have made my day.
I need to ramp up my texts to you so that I, too, can benefit from random midday text exchanges. I suspect that will make my days a lot better. 🙂
(Also, I honestly don’t think I would ever voluntarily add peas to a meal. To each their own, for sure. ;))
J
Be careful what you ask for regarding random texts. 😉