Category Archives: Just Me – AmeliaJake

Partridge Farm nacho goldfish

I went to the bank and then because the grocery was in the same lot, I thought I’ll just run in there and see if I can hit the usual time for their major markdowns on cheeseballs, pinwheel sandwiches, pico de gallo and so forth.

I didn’t. On top of missing the sale, I realized I had committed the cardinal sin of entering a grocery when you are hungry. I let myself be seduced by the snacks on sale and the and the added bonus of getting $5 back if you mix and/or matched five items.

I invested in crackers, if not opened, would have some shelf life. And then I spied the Nacho Goldfish and made that pick #5. I didn’t open it the car or right after I arrived home. I’d say I made it for about 10 minutes before ripping the bag open.

They are okay. However, they seem fatter than the regular goldfish – more like puffer fish. This is not a major thing; I realize this right down to the soles of my feet. I will eventually succumb, though, because that has been my habit for a lifetime. It makes me sigh, this failing of mine. I mean, why would the company make a bigger mold for nacho goldfish than regular fishies? It has to be my imagination. But, then again, maybe the company wanted them to be more full-bodied to maximize the flavor.

I suppose I will wind up using calipers to make the final determination. Were I in elementary school, perhaps I could pass it off as an school research project. Alas, I will have to accept the eccentric old lady analysis, which is very little different from the eccentric AmeliaJake analysis that has been well established.

It’s me . . . Do you need ID?

Yes, I have been away for the Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse for some time. I could say it was a phase, but it seems to be a recurring one. Maybe I’ll be here tomorrow and maybe not.

Had I been here everyday, I’m certain I would have been crying into my CheerWine at the FooBar about the number of gloomy days with rain we have experienced.

Actually, I think one of the reasons I’ve been staying away is because the decor here has changed – and I don’t mean someone dusted; the new, crisp theme is just that. It is not cozy. I like cozy.  I am considering hauling it out of the bin, complete with all of its pages and sidebars.  But then, WordPress would keep nagging me about it and I would sigh and ignore the little hints that I update it every darn time I log in.

Surely something must have happened while I’ve been away. Well, no, not really; there’s been a lot of sofa-sitting and reading and wandering out to the kitchen for eats even though I am really wanting to lose weight.

Oh, a pipe in the upstairs bathroom started leaking but I thought it was the skylight with all the rain . . . until the leak got very vigorous and we finally figured it out. My bucket list now includes reaching the point where I don’t need a bucket balanced on the stairs.

I am not a farmer . . . but I like to eat

I have repeated postponed my trip to the cemetery because of the rain and storms; Thursday was supposed to be clear when I looked this morning. Now it is again in the thunderstorm 70-80% range. I am going.

I am going to be passing by fields that have not been planted because of the constant rain and I am very glad I am not under the pressure that farmers are feeling. And maybe when it stops raining, it won’t start again until everything is parched. Not a good thought.

I am not a farmer, as I said, but I am thinking about the prices that will be in the grocery stores in the future. I’ve been dieting and I may encounter a real economic incentive as opposed to a waistline one.

Der Bingle is from Iowa – corn country – and the word from there is that the fields are under water.

I wonder if they are tar and feathering rainmakers.

Dandelion attack – weather permitting

We have had rain, drizzle, sprinkles, whipping rain, hard rain and really overcast skies. Today it is overcast, but according to the guru at weather.com, there is a 0% chance of rain. That means I can go all eco-unfriendly and spray for weeds and dandelions.

You will notice I separated weeds from dandelions. That is because in my war against the little, insistent smiling faces that turn into puff balls and grow out of a green plant body that looks like a spider from a science fiction movie, I have received a lot of information about all the good things  for which dandelions can be used for. So, okay, I will mitigate my stance and not call them weeds. Having said that, if the skies remain cloudy and don’t produce rain, it’s D-Day for the little guys.

There was a time when I had a long garden instrument to dig out dandelion roots; it wasn’t too effective at keeping then at bay, although people could drive by our house on a hill in West Chester, Ohio and think, “Oh, what a fine environmentalist she is.” Of course, quite a lot who drove by knew me and I’m sure that they then thought, “Nah, she’d prefer to shoot them – this is just a front for the HOA.”

I will give it a couple of hours to make certain the grass is dry and then I will make my move.

SHHHHHHH . . . don’t tell.

(My weight is around X -1, but let’s keep that quiet also.)

I lost my car key in my car

This is a cautionary tale for car drivers, or it could be considered a horror story; I share because I need to get at least some use out of it.
I have a key that does not go in the ignition, it just has to be in the car and when I got in to go to Krogers, I placed it on the console. After I had parked and was ready to get out, I picked up the key and it slid out of my fingers and between the seat and said console.

This prompted a word of frustration, but it is not the first time something has gotten lodged in that area. No problem, right? NO. The key disappeared. Really. I know because I searched for 15 minutes using the flashlight option on my phone and moving the seat back and forth.

When I was leaning in, reaching down between the seat and console, my hand got stuck. I tugged and nothing. I tugged and tugged like the wolf huffed and puffed, and I probably looked like a pig with legs sticking out the door, scissoring around as I tried to get leverage. I thought of animals who gnaw their paw off from a trap. Finally, my hand came loose, but the key remained missing.

But the key couldn’t be not in the car and so I finally pushed the starter button and drove over to Jiffy Lube and begged for a favor.
They were very helpful and located the key wedged on top of the motor that moves the seat. They kind of grinned, but that’s okay. I really don’t mind being the old lady who lost her key right under her seat; I was just grateful to get it in my hand again – the hand with the scrape marks from being stuck itself.

Here’s my word of caution: consider taping your remote key to your body every morning and just poking yourself when you want to lock or unlock the doors, or access the trunk.

Ants

Such a short, mundane post title. Actually, if I could use a frustrated, resigned sighing emoji I would. They were not in my kitchen yesterday; today I picked up a cup and looked in it and THERE THEY WERE. I will have to get some of those little hexagonal ant traps or poisoning devices – whatever they are – and place them all around. Then I will have to go into the back vestibule and spray where it shares a wall with a window with the kitchen. Of course, I will see the window and admit that I really should clean that window (not to mention its compatriots in all the rooms of this house) and I will sigh again.

By the way, when I was writing about my weight loss crusade, I said last time to wait for the update. Just stand right where you were then and you’ll be at the update place. I would sigh with resignation and frustration, but I used up my reserve on the ants. Still, it is not going up and I am actually using weights to aid strengthening my muscles . . . the trick is not to put them down and them trip over them, faceplanting myself and winding up recuperating in bed while stuffing my face.

Overweight – so what else is new?

So, I haven’t been here for awhile, quite possibly because there is peanut butter here and I have regained most of the weight I lost. Having faceplanted myself in deep shame, I hid inside during cold weather and under bulky jackets when I went out. However, IT’S GETTING WARMER and I’m not moving to the North Pole, so there seems to be nothing for it but the dreaded dieting and exercising. Oh, my.

Of course, determinations that are made quietly in the privacy of one’s home can be broken so easily. Making a public announcement of your intention usually just leads to thinking of excuses to back away from your goal. “Oh, yeah, I’ve been so stressed about _______ that I just had to eat.” (Whatever nonsense you think you can pass off.)

In dire straits, I went to a place I had abandoned: FaceBook.

April 22, 2019

What’s on my mind? What’s on my mind? That is not a relevant question at this time. What’s on my body? would qualify; but no one has to ask that. You can see it – A LOT OF EXTRA WEIGHT.
Now, I know public announcements of diets and New Year’s Resolutions are usually self-jinxing, but listen, folks, I am desperate.
So everyday, I am going to indicate something about my weight – actual numbers, without the numbers. We’ll just say if you knew what X equaled, you could calculate things in “Jody’s” – such as in fractions or multiples of Jody’s.
I am doing it this way because I have just the tiniest bit of pride left under all this flabby embarrassment.
I will post everyday, even if it is an “X + ” number.
Since I am being a jerk and not posting 12345 type of numbers or an actual picture, I will give you a mental image: Think Mrs. Butterworth in a swimsuit . . .
SO I GUESS THIS IS BodyBook.
And at Day 1 we are at X

April 23

OK, I have not finked out on Day 2 of the weight loss endeavor. I am thinking about the best way to actually set the start point. I weighed yesterday in the afternoon and today in the morning. I don’t think it is fair to compare the two and give myself a four pound loss, so I will start with today’s morning weight, which is the New X (nothing at all like the new black)

April 24
We’re still at X.

April 25
X-1. A start, sort of like the journey of a thousand miles starts with a step. Oh, rats, that was not really inspirational.

April 26
We have X-2. It will be a long and possibly frustrating job, losing this weight. So, I suppose I need not focus on the end, but try to invent ways to mentally enjoy the process.
Remember gold stars in elementary school? I’m thinking of putting a poster on the refrigerator for gold stars and then putting labels on some foods that ask the question: DO YOU REALLY WANT TO FORFEIT YOUR GOLD STAR BY EATING THIS?

April 27
I wouldn’t want you to think I’ve forgotten, so it is now X-2.4. I imagine it will be somewhere around this figure for a couple of weeks. The main thing is I will keep track daily; I will not forget as I look at eats that are too decadent to be considered food that the next morning I will be standing on a scale.
On the other side of the coin of not doing something, in this case eating unnecessarily, I have started doing more physically. There is a scale for that as well – it is called aching the next day.
I feel not unlike the Panama Canal guy(Goethals, I think), who when told of another collapse in the Culebra Cut, said, “Hell, dig it out again.” I just wish I had more of TR’s determination and energy.

April 28 (Today – well, wait for it.)