Category: Productivity

Plantain Sandwich, Finger Puppets of My Life, and Figuring Out my Schedule

On By BackporchwriterIn Food, Life, Productivity, Work11 Comments
Plantain Sandwich, Jose’s Sandwich & Grill

George and I had an excursion on Saturday – one in which time has not allowed me to share yet. It appears that not one, but all of my hobbies are being taking away – eaten away – one by one but at least this day was replaced by some fun. I’m forcing this entry in today to discuss at least an hour of my Saturday, although really I’m robbing time from my video editing this morning. The rest of our excursion (The Hermitage) will have to come for another day.

We began our excursion day out Saturday by eating at Jose’s Sandwich Shop in Hermitage, TN.

It’s way more than your average sandwich shop – it’s Venezuelan sandwiches. I want to go back again and get the “bowl” – pictured in the window above.

George’s Pepita Sandwich, Jose’s Sandwich & Grill
Peeking into the Inside of a Plantain sandwich

I did not eat all of the plantain. But I love plantain. The entire thing was so good. The beef, the sauce inside, and the ingredients were fresh with the lettuce and cheese. I don’t think people realize what a gold mine this is. It was so good. And the lady that was running it was so kind.

Oh look, the “bowl” is on the card here. That is what I want next time. Also I the same strip mall there is a hot chicken place, and Italian place and a Mexican place – none of which we have been to. So our summer bucket list (when I get time to work on it) will include these restaurants we’ve not been to.

Our day out was fun and hopefully on the weekend I will get some time to do my Hermitage entry – The Hermitage – Home of Andrew Jackson as opposed to the town of Hermitage which is in between Mount Juliet and also Nashville. It’s really only about 10 min away (the town) and The Hermitage is about 15-18 min away, closer to Donelson side which is on the very far out East side of Nashville area.

Thank You

Thank you everyone that left comments for Cody and Katy on the loss of their doggie, Findlay. She reads the blog and my heart has just been so heavy with this. I know how they feel but they had expected to have this dog until she was old -at least, so it has been a shock to lose a very important part of their family. You were kind to leave them a message (previous entry) and I appreciate you all for doing that.

Puppet Lives

Finger Puppets at The Hermitage gift shop

Looking at this photo made me laugh this morning. I was thinking that these puppets are the stage of my life. Which finger puppet is Sonya wearing at this moment? Let’s name all the puppets! The Work Puppet? The Homemaker Puppet? The Care-Giver Puppet? The Family Member Puppet? The Blogger/Writer Puppet? The VLOG-er and/or Video Creator Puppet? The Traveler/Excursion Puppet? The Project Puppet? The photographer/videographer “wannabe” puppet?

What you say? There’s only five puppets there and several are missing and not enough to go around? Yes! My thoughts exactly! That is why it’s my life, lol. At least we can find humor in the situation.

Can someone say “Bless Your Heart!” lol I need a heart blessing! I like the brown one on the end. It looks most like a dog. The black and white one could be Maisy and the black one “Little Bit”.

Here’s What’s Going On In My Head, My Heart, and Life

  • We are planning another Excursion for Saturday – mainly because we have a couple of gift cards to a particular restaurant so we are headed out to go to some areas we like nearby that area. We’ll start the day at lunch somewhere and then shop and explore our way until dinner. We have contacted our friends and plan to join up with them at some point.
  • My arm is better but….. I’ve decided it is hampered by lifting heavy things, doing a lot of data entry, and or blogging and writing. I do think I hit my elbow hard enough a few weeks back to have a hairline fracture as that still kinda hurts but it’s healing. I will mention this to the doc in July that I’ve had trouble with my arm. It feels better after a rest and the elbow only hurts if I lean on it like elbows on the table. So I just don’t lean on it. Icy Hot works wonders for when the muscles hurt. I do think I have a cyst developed on my right wrist just from years of working that muscle from typing. The knot on my lower arm I have determined that is where my arm rests against the table or desk and creating a dent in my arm making a knot of sorts form next to it. It’s almost like a callous inside my arm, lol. Hard to explain but basically a dent in my muscle making the sides against the dent bulge out. Am I making sense? Again, I’ll show the doc all the knot spots. I don’t want surgery and I don’t want pain meds and honestly really don’t want anything. I just really need rest more than anything.
  • I’m trying to work on a couple of projects but time not giving me any of itself to work with. Everything I do is stolen time away from something else. For example work yesterday was a 10.5 hour day with 45 min commutes on each end. I left in the 6 pm hour and got home in the 6 p.m. hour. So my personal time was gone. I ended up doing my video editing because it was nagging at me in my head to do it last night while George cooked, and I really needed to be working on other things. Dinner was ready before I got through working on the video edits.
  • I am wanting to convert cable but with me it’s a whole research thing b/c I want it to be right. And I have not had time to even *think* about it. I’ve at least made a list of what all I need to do: get a current cable bill, talk to Comcast, see how much various streaming live TV services are, check out the Hulu box and Live TV and check out YouTubeTV, etc. I’m just so confused.
  • I am going to get my REAL ID also and get that out of the way. I don’t want to wait until winter or 2023 close to the deadline or it’ll be packed or snowed out or whatever. I have to call and get that set.
  • I have to call and set a GYN appt. I’ve not been in several years and I think it’s worth a check out.
  • I want to do the Summer Bucket List.
  • I’d really like to do a few things on my Winter into Spring Bucket List to be able to check them off. If I could find about 3 hours of time.
  • I need to get a car wash with mud all over my white car, lol. After work I’m too tired to stop or have other things that need doing worse.
  • We began looking for doggies yesterday on a PetFinder website. I’ve downloaded three apps for it and mostly they pull in the same dogs. There is one I can’t get out of my mind but she gets carsick -extremely car sick, it said. I don’t think that will work but —her face. Oh she is so cute. Anyway that is a start.
  • My desk is snowed under with ideas, projects and to do’s.
  • I was able to get a refund processed for our recent tow when my car broke down. Yay – progress at SOMETHING
  • I’m taking Mom to Cracker Barrel tonight. George is going to stay home and work on his music project. He too, has been fussing over no time to do things. He’s been wanting to work on his winemaking also but that has been put aside for quite some time. I mean, we basically have given Mom all of our free time last year and a chunk this year. So our interests are few and far between when we get to spend time with them.

I’m trying not to be overwhelmed by the things I am not “getting to” and by not getting any days off or at home for like – a month. So I’m claiming Memorial Day as a stay home day with NO plans. I think company will be in town but we will have to plan time on other evenings. Memorial Day. It’s mine! For Sanity’s Sake! I have all of the PTO’s spoken for. A lot of it comes toward the end of year – at Thanksgiving, Christmas prep and shopping – when I really really really will need it and then rolling over some into ’23 so I have some at the beg of the year to use for that first quarter before I’ve accrued any yet.

The Time Thing….I Think I Have Figured it Out

Sorry to fuss about time so much but I’ve determined that until our schedule gets ironed out enough to be able to cover all the things I need and want – I will continue to vent about it. It’s a continual struggle that doesn’t go away until I get time for what I need to be a complete person and human being. It’s always something I’ve vented about when I feel life strangling me.

I’m just not willing to give anything in my life up. So each part of my life will continue to screw up the next part. I can’t give up work (yet), can’t give up caregiving, and refuse to give up things I like and want to do as that is a part of who I am as an individual. I refuse to give up going to church as I do think it’s important as we have started back.

One thing I can do is track my hours at work and cut back to 40 instead of working upwards to 50 (or more some QE weeks). I mean with expenses going up and me having a time problem and my income probably not going up I can cut back on my hours to at least give me some time back and it’ll just have to be what it will be. That will make my value go up per hour – even though I’m salaried. I doubt I will go by that during a quarter end month. Hmmm..if you work a snot load of extra hours over 40 during QE one could actually do less than 40 during the other times – not that I will do THAT but that is what would be fair. But I at least should cut back to 40 then.

I leave sometimes early for doc appts but I’ve been waaaayyyyyy far over compensating for those times by coming in early, staying late, forgoing lunches, and working extra during quarter end months —- and I need to manage my work time more to have more of a life balance. That is really the only place I can steal time from right now and it’s not really stealing – it’s taking what is rightfully mine back! :-O So that is the only logical answer I can come to. It’s the place that is sucking most of my day. So there ya go. Tracking starts today. :-). I’m so glad we had this talk! lol. I love coming up with solutions.

THE TRIBE HAS SPOKEN

Planning for Mother’s Day Weekend, Cinco De Mayo, and Embracing Project To Do Lists

On By BackporchwriterIn Family, Life, Productivity4 Comments
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The mood has been good! With warmer temps having arrived, and quarter end over with, and lots of things to look forward to, the motivation levels are increasing. And so are the activity lists and the “to do” lists.

I’m trying hard not to let myself get overwhelmed (but it’s bound to happen) by the large lists of things we are trying to accomplish. Today for example I had an hour of free time since I wasn’t working over the 9 hours. What would I do? Clean? Read? Work a puzzle? Work on the next video episode?

What I chose was taking a hot shower, putting on PJ’s, letting my hair dry natural and getting to save that time in the morning. And you guessed it (or not) I’m blogging. Not sure if this will be posted tonight (Tues night) or Wed morning. But I chose to blog. Even though I have very little to report.

I mainly have been working, doing laundry, checking with Mom, and planning Mother’s Day outings. Mom and I each get our Mom’s day outing. Paula Deen’s for hers and the Hermitage for mine. The Hermitage requires a lot of walking and stairs and running around all day and I knew Mom would not enjoy that at this point so George and I are doing that on our own and will be eating Venezuelan food. She probably would not like that either.

So the weekend will be very busy from Friday through Sunday. Friday afternoon Mom has a doc appt for blood work and Rx renewals and the rest of the weekend holds our plans, and also throwing in church on Sunday and a trip to the store for Mom and a patio meal on Mom’s new patio furniture. So much going on this weekend.

Photo by Los Muertos Crew on Pexels.com

Thursday night George and I are doing our own Cinco de Mayo here at the house. Just because it is a reason to celebrate good food, lol! And margaritas. I bought that special tequila just for the occasion. It sounds like a real party, but…no worries…I’ll have one -maybe two margaritas (depends on how much ice in the glass) and the rest will be left for another day. I have to work Friday and even if I didn’t, intoxication is never my goal. I prefer to be in control too much for that, lol. But the evening sounds fun.

Our moods are also lifted due to the Netflix influx of seasonal updates…Ozark included, Frankie and Grace, and then our decision to watch Downton Abbey which we are engrossed and have many many many more to go. But we were disheartened to hear that Downton Abbey will be removed by end of May. It’s our fault. The show started in 2015. We are late to watch it. A quick scan of Amazon shows it is playing on Amazon Prime as well and also the seasons are for sale on Amazon. I’m sorry we put it off. It was my fault as I usually prefer a modern day setting. But hopefully we will get in several seasons. George says Netflix is in trouble. Competition with the changes in streaming. I hate to hear it. Netflix has been a good one. But it’s true, a business must be good a predicting what is to come and staying around the curve or another will gain the gusto and surpass it for the market share.

Sleep has been good too. I have been reading a chapter before falling asleep as our shows have ended earlier.

The PROJECT To Do List is increasing, as mentioned. I had planned a few things on my to do list, staged for AFTER quarter end and before the next one. On top of doc appointments, I also have these things on my list:

*Research and begin the task of switching to streaming and dropping cable. This is on my 2022 goals. We’ve just been too busy to do more than think of it. But with food and gas and other increases happening and our income streams not increasing, perhaps it’s time to quickly pull this switch.

*Need to get my new driver’s license updated so I can fly. I think the date has been extended for the new driver’s licenses but I don’t want to wait too long or to the date as it’ll be crowded. I just need to check into it and then I’ll see when is a good month to get it scheduled and done. I make everything complicated. Have to research everything, twirl it around in my head before making a decision. Then the hard part is plugging it into the calendar to take minimal time off from work (a week where there are not already one or two doc appts.)

*Helping Mom find a cabinet for her laundry room, helping her with a work day at her house so we can unpack more and find some things she is missing. Days off are a rarity when we have given so many days in the last year. We’ve had to find some time to retreat into our own world to get things done here. I’m lucky to dust once a quarter and vacuum once a month. And grocery shopping is down to about once every two weeks. It’s pitiful. lol

*We want to do a couple of excursions (day trips).

*I want to do another challenge to refocus on exercise, movement, and nutrition. (Self-care.)

*I have some special blogging/writing I want to do

*I still have my photography goals, Less Hustle More Coffee goals, etc. These are forever on the back burner list. Any growth or success of my channels in any form are just luck at this point as I don’t get opportunities to work toward goals much anymore.

*Have a jewelry project to do. It’s on my annual goal list to go through it and get rid of a bunch of junk jewelry, to clean the silver jewelry that has tarnished and so forth.

*Want to find a dog. Even though we don’t have time for a dog now, I’m selfish enough to want one or two -anyway.

*Have a lot of household projects I want to do. These mainly just sit and laugh at me, like who am I to think I will have time for such. Not even on a rainy day.

*Have some video work I want to do. I will sneak it in when I can.

But instead of focusing about the time we don’t have, I’m just trying to smile and embrace the time we do have. I will have to prioritize, schedule, plan, and find a balance b/w work, chores, George, Mom, church, spiritual, self, family and so forth. We’ll continue to rob Peter and pay Paul with time constraints but I’m trying ya’ll. I’m looking forward to doing these things when time allows. One thing is for sure, to accomplish anything at all these days other than being a taxi bus, care giver, wish granter, problem solver, purchaser, payroller, accounting person, and commuter, is to PUSH it. PUSH it real good. All the way through to the end. Determination is the ONLY thing that sees anything through to completion. lol

Right now I’ve been called to the kitchen. :-O

A Modern Haircut, A Lighted Toilet, and A New Filing Cabinet

On By BackporchwriterIn Beauty, Productivity, Self-Help, Uncategorized12 Comments

Good morning! Got the hair cut. Love it. I went in showing her the cut I wanted but I told her I needed layers. And the back was heavy and I said “at this point, I just want a cute cut”. She asked me several questions and said that she wanted to make sure I had a cut that went with my face. She was careful to make sure she went with my goals in mind. She said she wanted to go much shorter – so we did. She said it would look a little different from the pic I showed her. It looked very different. But it ended up being one of the exact cuts that I had liked in the beginning, lol! And because I prayed over this (it takes a long time to grow your hair out), I completely put my trust in her scissors. She cut it very professionally and different from anyone I’ve ever seen.

Here is the BEFORE:

BEFORE

Keep in mind you cannot begin to know how heavy the back is. I mean three or four big fists full of hair in the lower back. Even the hair stylist (they all say it) said “oh my gosh woman you have a lot of hair on your head”. It’s thin at the top but oh so heavy. So I loved the feeling of the lightness when she was finished.

And here is AFTER:

AFTER

I had fun doing a little photo shoot. Keep in mind it’s the end of the day, make up worn off from the 5 o’clock hour.

Now, take stock because it will likely not look like this again, lol! She did a lot to it to get it so straight and it had a lot of body. I’m not going to spend that time on my hair in the mornings because I like to blog and enjoy my coffee, do a devo and rush out the door. But I can see that I’ll probably be able to at least make it presentable. I will TAKE IT! I’m so happy to get rid of all the hair! I think I proved yet again that I do best and look best in a shorter hair style. Some people will say my hair was short to begin with. And yes it was a long bob but the hair, oh my gosh – I have to have layers. It will look completely different tomorrow most likely. But that is ok. I love the way it feels! The long bangs on the side got on my nerves by bed time so I will likely stick a pin in it, lol! It always goes back to whatever you had before after about two weeks anyway, lol. Gravity and we just can’t take time to style it like they do for 30 minutes!

I loved the new salon though! Imagine my glee when she said “would you like a glass of wine?”. It was very cold and very good.

Surprise Surprise Surprise!

When I got home I also squealed with joy. I actually screamed! George had bought me a potty light because I said I liked his and wanted one. I figured he would mental note it for Christmas but he bought it and surprised me now. The light comes on when you walk in the room (if it’s dark).

It warmed my heart that Hubby would give me a toilet light, lol. He totally missed my gleeful delighted scream as he had his headphones on recording music.

Other happenings:

The Calm app. I’m enjoying checking in every night. I get an alert asking me how I feel. It will also show you your history. It only takes a sec. It’s kinda fun to asses yourself and ask “good question, how do I feel”. There are other things you can listen to on the app – free things after your mood check in, to help with whatever your mood is but I never have time for that as we are usually watching a show.

Someday I’ll listen to those when I have “the audio time”. Audio time is hard to come by for things like that. It is short enough you can’t listen in the car, loud enough you can’t listen when around others unless you have ear plugs in, and you need to be able to concentrate on what it’s saying, so it’s not like you can listen at work (I do listen to music though at work).

The File Cabinet

Back when Mom moved, she said she no longer wanted her filing cabinet and was getting rid of it. Excitedly I said I’ll take it. I have a metal one downstairs and also a plastic one upstairs as the metal one is just so far down in the basement. I knew when I put my office together – we spent so much money on my Mac, my office journaling chair and table, and I spend some money making my videos and the software for it. So a wooden filing cabinet – I didn’t ask for. So when we moved her we moved it here. And I was even more excited over that than the new china cabinet. Finally this week we moved the bed out of the office and this weekend was going to move the wooden filing cabinet to my office for my files, along with a little black book case we had down there.

So Monday I get a call from Mom asking for the filing cabinet back as she needs it now. What are you going to say? It was hers to begin with and yes she gave it to me, but was I going to say No. NO way. So we have to somehow get it back to her house. George thinks it will fit in the RAV4.

I told George about it and he said, “First of all before we do anything, you buy yourself a filing cabinet for your office like you want”. He knew I was excited about it so I will take him up on it and get a brand new one. Mom offered to pay for a new one for me, but that didn’t make sense. So I’m ordering my new one. And so it works out great because this way I’ll be able to get one to match my current furniture. I’m grateful to have a supportive spouse.

He has also agreed for us to do some upgrades on the kitchen once the flooring is paid for. And we are also in agreement to drop the cable and do streaming, so we’ll be working on that project soon doing some research and pricing and so forth.

I am happy to say that despite how busy we have been, I’m doing a pretty good job toward my 2022 goals. I’m making strides in a lot of areas and we have 75% of the year left! 😉

Oh not only was the Easter items found but I found my pink jacket. It was at work! I was so happy to see it.

I’m very behind on this week’s “to do” items though. I’ve been using my iPhone reminder app and it’s worked perfectly for me. But Monday night, I just needed some time to sit and drink a glass of wine and read and just chill before we set into our couple time of dinner and a movie or show which we do every night. It’s our thing. Our one and a half hours of the day we spend together.

And so I have a mounting list of items that need to be tackled. Last night was hair cut. Maybe tonight I’ll be able to get some things done. It is supposed to storm today.

Anyway, that is about all I know. I am feeling so much better these days. Every time I say that the devil tries to knock me down at the knees but then God makes it better again – sometimes even better than before.

Praying Out Loud!

I’ve been spending my morning drive time talking OUT LOUD to God. When I cross over the lake, it’s His turn. lol. I’ve really spit out some angry stuff – just getting it ALL OUT! I had not realized the power of praying out loud. The devil himself must be very frightened. lol It’s very cathartic. I talk to God like he is a friend, a father, a savior, and just whatever I need at the moment. WOW! That is all I can say.

George has been battling an ugly sinus infection this week from being out in the yard. It happens to him a couple of times a year now. Even though he consumes some local honey. He has not felt well this week. He felt the worst on Sunday. I knew he was quiet. He’s feeling better but still struggling to breath through his nose and deal with it.

Ok I’m going to work. I can’t believe it’s Wednesday already. I want to go hurry and get ready and see if I can’t get to work before all this rain comes! I’ll be back on Friday morning I think. I’ll work on video work tomorrow. I’m pretty far along on this next one so it’ll be ready to upload before long. Final Cut has been much easier and more enjoyable this time around, and much less frustrating so I’m getting around the curve – enough to easily get videos done like I want them. I have only touched the surface of what it can actually do but to be able to get them done and how I want them done, is good at this point.

Ya’ll have a good week and let me know what you are up to!!!