Random thoughts #2

Another booger of a week and I'm blaming this one on the heat, and shoulder pain.

a win this week: getting a Kenalog shot in my shoulder

This week I have discovered that I cannot work at the same intensity and for the same amount of time as I used to be able to in the summer.  The last four years has made a big dent in my stamina and overall health.  Where I felt capable and strong physically, I now feel like I need to be very mindful of the way I approach big projects and heavy lifting. I always have felt like a strong person, but there are limits that come with aging.  To help with that, I will be seeing a physical therapist and working on building some shoulder and upper arm strength.

All that to say: I don't have a 5 thing Friday post.  Just some random thoughts about dealing with ricketty A/C joints, and Central Texas summer heat, which is kicking my rear.

Just another reminder to me to sloooowww dowwwnnn.

Happy Independence Day Weekend,

Gina

Going it alone

 This is my family blog, yes, but more and more its just about little ole me, here, living life on my own.  I've become more and more comfortable being solo, moving through life at my own pace.  I have been to movies, coffee shops, restaurants, breweries, parks, and live events all on my own. I bought a car by myself.  Tackled big projects alone. Every now and then I think it would be great to have someone to share experiences with, but then I realize that I AM experiencing life with other people - just not ones I currently know, ha ha.  And that leaves me open to meeting and seeing more people. Case in point is this coming weekend, when I will attend a Stick Figure concert in Austin at Circuit of the Americas. 

Have I ever been there? No. Is anyone going with me? No, but The Girl is going to give me a ride (in a weird role reversal!).  Its going to be hot, crowded, loud, probably full of all ages, and GREAT.  And the experience may push my comfort level a bit, being in a big scene by myself, but since I love the music and having fun I feel like it will all fall into place.  No matter your age, there might be worries, but live music tends to bring people together for fun and I will be well-prepared.  I'm never going to be this young again and I don't want to miss out on things.  What are your thoughts?  Have you had to be brave and go it alone?

Gina

5 thing Friday - XR earrings, cooking, memories, window plants, World Market

One of our PRN techs at work has an Etsy shop and gives us her fun things for free.  She has given me a sparkly XRAY marker holder for my badge lanyard and these cute R and L marker earrings:

If you know, you know.  Thanks, Marlene!

I have made very tiny steps forward cooking for myself.  One night this week I made a smashburger with sauteed onions on the last two pieces of butter bread, sweet potato fries on the side.

I also cooked what felt like a vat of taco meat, to freeze in 5 ounce portions.

There was a little bit left, so I plopped it onto my French bread pizza and drizzled with Mike's Hot Honey for lunch.  So good.

While I was rooting around finding my gum parker, I also found these two lovely ladies from 1975ish.  I bought them in Chinatown in San Francisco on a road trip one summer.  My mother, brave woman, took my sister and brother and I cross country from Galveston.  Along the way we saw the Grand Canyon, Calico ghost town, Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam, and Alcatraz.  It was like a field trip on steroids.  Mind you, this was before cell phones and internet.  Just a single woman and three kids under the age of 15.  I remember it as being an adventure...

The plant I had in my mother's planter bit the dust, so I am trying my hand at succulents.  Anyone got any tips?  So far, these two love the hands off approach of little water and sunny window.  I will never be accused of having a green thumb.  There are a couple of pretty rocks in there for color.  One of them was from my youngest who thought of me on a field trip to a rock show may years ago.

The World Market near me is moving, and so everything in the store is at least 30% off.  Since they will be there thru June, I will visit again close to the end of the month for some last minute deals.  Meanwhile, I scored some sugar-free Torani syrup for cheap as I have kicked my creamer habit.  Might be a good time to get stocking stuffers!

Gina

Summer plans 2025

I'm going to do my best at getting through summer in such a way that I can say I had a good summer.  I know that every July I will be flooded with memories of losing Mark, but I want to thrive, not just survive.  So I jotted down a list of things to keep in mind as I plan, then put each into action.  The core components are: rest, nutrition, exercise, selfcare, creativity, and social.  I work all of them into the plan for the week, so that I cannot forget to put first things first.  Since I'm a lists person, this will help keep me on track.

The Drop In at The Long Center 

Rest: follow my sleep hygiene plan, take a short nap each day, continue with meditation and quiet time, unplug often from my computer or phone.

Nutrition: focus on healthy and intuitive eating, increase hydration, and limit alcohol.

Exercise: continue walking, add in small weights, laps at a pool, and learn the hula hoop!

Selfcare: continue meeting with the therapist, enjoy some time off from work, journaling, and time each day to take care of me.  This can be a pedicure, reading, crafting, or other creative pursuits.

Social: work on strengthening relationships and remain open to forging new ones.  I don't have to be alone if I don't choose to be. I have plans to see concerts, movies, and other social events around Austin.

Each day I will allow myself to laugh, cry, regroup, and begin again. I want to live in the moment and focus on finding peace and happiness.  This is my summer bucket list framework.  Now to fill in the blanks!

Gina

5 thing Friday - a hungry hawk, Mother's Day, oil change, clothing thrift, vacation vibes

One day last week I was walking along the sidewalk and saw a beautiful hawk swoop across the street and perch above me.

Of course I stopped to admire him/her then realized he/she was about to raid a nest as a mama bird flew out of it in a panic.  Nature is both terrifying and beautiful, no?  We admire the birds, but they are after all, wild.  They don't all live in harmony, eating bugs and minding their own business like some folks would have you believe. Often they prey on each other and its a cringey thing to see.

{But I do still love seeing the hawks!}

Mother's Day passed without incident, ha ha.  I got several well-wishes via text from friends and family, and when I got home there were beautiful flowers!  The next day I also got a gift card to Firehouse Subs (love them!) and a very heartfelt card.  Also on Monday: an awards ceremony at work that involved fancy appetizers with my co-workers and a certificate of appreciation.  On Tuesday, I met a friend for coffee and convo at this cool place.  The week was off to a great start.

I took Brigid for her first oil change and as expected, everything is A-Ok.  The Subaru dealership has a coffee bar where everything is complimentary, so I enjoyed an Almond Roca inspired iced coffee and two breakfast tacos I brought with me while I journaled and made a couple of phone calls.  This has got to be the most pleasant way to get your car's oil changed.

I finally got around to visiting a word-of-mouth clothing thrift in Austin, tucked into an industrial area off Airport Blvd.  Everything is $3, except for a "designer" section where everything is $15.  They even have a "free" section right outside the door.  The place was doing a brisk business!  I bought a comfy tank style top, and got a free Pioneer Woman teal juice glass from the free section, which was random. Then I went to REI to try on Chacos, and ordered myself a pair of them from their on-line outlet shop.

We are still going to count this as a thrifty shopping trip!

Item on the self care bucket list: sit outside, doing nothing, and list 5 things you can see, hear, or feel.  The heat is ramping up here, but sometimes there are cooler breezes in the evenings and I sit out here just decompressing.  My new favorite "cocktail" is kombucha, served in a chilled wine glass and is perfect for such times.

Time for me to think about taking a vacation, tho.  The Girl went to Galveston recently and sent me this photo of the pleasure pier at sunrise.  I just need to swallow my fear and go, although I think I would rather be in Port Aransas. It will be lovely to put my toes in the sand, get some sun, eat some shrimp, and take Brigid on her first ever road trip.

Maybe I will get a pretty sunrise photo or two!

Gina

5 thing Friday - coffee dates, rattan chair, hat, Galveston, Austin

 This may be an extra random Friday post because I am dragging along at the end of five days off.  Which is nice, don't get me wrong.  But I tend to get the same amount of stuff done in a 5 day week as a four day week, due to extra couch laying and some blues here and there.  It is what it is.

This week I met a friend for coffee at a new to me place close-by.  Of course I didn't take photos of us, because I never think to do that.  But three hours went by in a flash and we talked about anything and everything and are meeting again in a couple of weeks to repeat at another new place.  Its a win for me to get out of the house and see a friend.

My cute chair arrived and I set it right into its place and it looks like it always belonged there.  I sit here briefly - but the weather and sunlight now are such that I will probably take my coffee on the backyard deck like the Queen of Sheba that I am.  I also picked up the new disposal and a downspout extension.  Exciting stuff happening over here.

As expected, I am already tweaking that collage wall.  I added one of Mark's hats as a reminder of him. (I saw an idea on someone's blog - a wall of hats displayed like a collection)  I want to make this home my own, but I don't want to forget how he was a big part of home for me.  Another widow I chat with says she did the same thing with photos and mementos.  Not erasing him from her home, but "relocating" him.

I joke with my sister about how Galveston always seems to crop up in various ways.  Mark called it "The Rock" and we rarely visited after we made our home in Austin.  Turns out The Girl loves Galveston and has plans to spend a weekend there with Teddy soon.  Recently HEB gave me a free shopping bag, and it was Galveston themed...  Also this week, Scout got me a Partner Card (he works in the bakery) so I can save a few dollars here and there on HEB brands.  I don't buy a huge amount of groceries but every bit helps.

outside of The Long Center

Every time I go solo to an event and navigate traffic and parking, and just generally find my way, I pause and take a photo of the city from the entrance to the venue.  I'm not the world's best photographer, but the reason I take that photo is to remind myself that I do love where I live.  And I can manage The Big City and this Big Life just fine.  And every time I venture out, to learn or see or do, my world expands just a bit.

Gina

5 thing Friday - Easter, chairs, sleep clothes, garbage disposal, journal

Easter was the quiet affair I knew it would be.  I made myself a lunch of rotisserie chicken, green beans, and half a baked potato with cheese and butter.  My work friends left me candy treats.  We weren't all that busy at work. Heard from ONE of my four peeps and that was after I pushed out a group message.

So there's really no reason to fuss over holidays anymore, right?

I've been wanting a much simpler look for my home - hence all of the purging and organizing.  All things I was not allowed to do when Mark was here* because he could not bear to part with anything and moving it all into the garage was a no-go as it was already full.  One of the changes is getting rid of these black and white mid-century modern chairs.  I had them re-covered, for years worked around them, found them difficult to decorate with.  Plus, they are not all that comfy to sit in after 70+ years.  I'm sure they need new foam in the seat cushions.  Also? They were the cat's favorite place to vomit.  And brilliant Me had picked a dry clean only fabric.

Lately, one of them had been in the bedroom, the other in the office.  Moving them leaves empty spaces and full possibility!  I had been looking for an upholstered chair for awhile until I hit upon the idea of getting a much simpler chair:

I found what I wanted at Home Depot, and we will just call this my Mother's Day gift to myself.  I only need it to sit and sip coffee in the morning.  Maybe to slip on shoes.  Fill a space with boho vibe.

The black and whites went to live in the garage until Bubbie moves.  Then if he doesn't want them, I will sell them.  I found a very nice 100% cotton sheet at the thrift store for two bucks to cover them with.  

Also while out thrifting, I found a black tee shirt dress.  Then I popped into Wal-Mart for some cotton men's sleep shorts and tees so I don't bake like a potato at night.  Its impossible to sleep when you are over-heating and kicking the covers off alllll night long.

The garbage disposal conked out, so I crawled up under the sink to take a picture of it and look up the file for it in the garage - turns out that Mark installed it in 2004.  So I guess we got our money's worth!  Its a little more complicated a DIY than I am willing to tackle. Don't try to talk me out of replacing it - someone has already tried.  It would be just as expensive to have the plumber re-work the sink drain and I use this every day.  So I ordered one, along with that chair, and next week I will get 'er installed.

I got another freebie blank notebook from Shutterfly as I am almost done filling up the previous one. Even with using it as a gratitude journal, turns out I had a lot to say - who knew?

Gina

*Not to complain so much about Mark, but he was a stick in the mud when it came to getting rid of things, and did not appreciate my efforts to control the chaos!  But would I prefer to have him back vs. a clean garage? Always yes.

Peopling and pouring

Last Friday I volunteered at a wine competition in Buda, Texas.  It was a good peek at behind the scenes operations in one aspect of the wine world.

Basically it involved pulling wines from a list for each flight, scanning them into a computer, inserting them in sleeves, uncorking, and pouring.  When you got back from that, you re-sleeved, re-corked, then put them back in the specific box they came from.  Repeat.  Many steps, lots of opportunities for hiccups.

Sounds easier than it actually was!

Each box was numbered and had various wines, all with specific bottle numbers on them that we were keeping careful track of.  Each table was tasting a specific  and different flight for each round. The corked bottles you see in the boxes have already been judged.

Those silver circles are pouring guides that we slipped into each bottle to help make an easier pour.  I still managed to slosh a couple of times, but my table of judges were very forgiving.  You poured 3-4 bottles each flight and let me tell you - wine is heavy.  I was pretty worn out by the time my 5 hour shift ended.

Each flight had eight glasses.  On one round, I was invited to "guest judge".  The table captain was very gracious and friendly.  She advised me to "spit out the wine - don't swallow. Or do, I'm not your Mother". Ha ha.  There was only one glass of the eight that I would have finished drinking, anyway - a Tannat that won gold.

It was fun, very informational, and a bit nerve-wracking at times.  But I think I'll keep my regular job!

Gina

* here are the results!

5 thing Friday - sewing chair, yarn, art show, dinner, nude

 I've been putting a few finishing touches on my craft space and hanging out in there from time to time, mostly putseying.

Instead of ordering the pink chair, I went and bought $6 worth of floofy pink fabric and re-covered the seat of the chair Scout left behind. (maybe my last purchase ever at Joann's...)

It kind of looks like a pink towel?  Super soft and comfy though.  And not permanent if he ever wants this chair back.

I also made a wall hanging for a few dollars.  

Not the same color of pink, but that's OK.  It was fun to do.  It was a practice piece - I would like to make one a little larger with an actual branch.

One day last week I picked up a sammie and drove to a pretty local park to eat lunch.

It was still chilly out, so I just opened the sunroof and enjoyed my lunch semi-al fresco.

Then I drove to BFE South Austin to see an interactive art installation called Mesmerize. Can you believe the difference in weather from one part of town to another? Weird.

It was fun to walk around, but also very strange.  I'm not entirely sure about the dream message the artists were trying to convey.  Anyhow, I left the house and peopled.  Go me.

Easy dinner one night: mini meatloaf wrapped in bacon, some frozen broccoli florets with butter, half of a frozen twice baked potato.  It cooked all together for about 45 minutes and was pretty tasty.  However, I am still struggling with wanting to prepare a meal at all.

One of the frames I emptied of family portraits is now home to this nude line drawing, which hangs in my office.  I'm envisioning a gallery wall of sorts in here, and this is my first piece to hang.  It was $23, and I love it in this frame.  And now the big family portraits are all safely stored away.

Gina

Cleaning up my blog

The past couple of weeks has been spent in introspection and journaling.  Over the past three years, I have shifted the focus from caring for a husband and family to discovering what I want and finding my voice as a single woman. Its not an impossible task, just a big one.  But a necessary step in working through the past so I can move confidently into the future. 

 To that end, I have cleaned up a bunch of blog posts and deleted a lot of others.  Reading through some of my old posts, I saw where I was: 

*tired/grouchy/resentful

*way too busy

*focused on everyone but myself

*handling more than my fair share

*not giving myself grace

Its was hard to read the truth of some of the posts and I didn't want to leave that as a legacy for my kids someday.  I don't want them to feel like all of that hard work and effort didn't mean something to me - it absolutely did.  But reading them now brought me some perspective and I found I could easily let them go.  So I went from around 2300 to just over 1800 posts.  I did the same with my other blog, Its Just Me, Gina.  That's the beauty of an on-line journal, I guess.  

All that to say - I will be back to blogging next week, after I do a little more blog spring cleaning.  Have a great rest of your week!

Gina

If you are here, thank you

 My blog is my little corner of the web where I write about my family and home - the two most important things to me.  Its not meant as an example of "how to do it", rather a place to share my family's life with whomever cares to read about it.  For that reason, you will notice it is not monetized or sponsored in any way.  I love all of the positive comments I get and I love following other blogs, too! 

So if you are here in my little corner of the world, cheering me on and celebrating life with me, thank you! You will likely have noticed that the focus of my posts have shifted as my life has. I think its interesting to write about how a family changes over the years, and that's the title of this blog after all.  I also write a blog about my thoughts at It's Just Me, Gina, where I do a fair amount of rambling.  Read along if you like, don't if you don't want to.  I am thankful to have had a platform to journal about my life for all these years.

Warmly,

Gina