#SoCS: May-oh-My and a Recipe

That look on the face of Gibbs?

Priceless. It is the look of being disturbed by a human taking an “awww…isn’t this adorable?” photo of her furry kids. I wanted to say to him, “You have no idea what it’s like being disturbed, buddy.” More on that later.

I have been mostly MIA on WordPress for the last six weeks – missing my blogging buddies, but not having the time or stamina to throw out a post here and there. It’s early Friday as I type this, having no idea what Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness word or phrase of the week will be. I’ll just insert it here (recipe) and hope that I can intertwine it into this post when I return from a PT appointment.

So, getting back to May-oh-My, or perhaps I should start with late April. It ended sadly, on a Friday, with a funeral for a former co-worker who passed at the age of 50 from cancer. F*ck cancer, as many say, because it should never leave a 17 year old girl without her mama. Never. I ended that day with a screen painting class, which was interesting, but my heart was not there. Neither was writing a blog post and probably a good thing since a nasty little Klingon and his bat’leth found a home in my throat over the weekend.

The Klingon overstayed his welcome and after six days of a sore throat that found no relief, I drove myself to urgent care. It wasn’t strep throat or tonsilitis or anything else nefarious that four days of prednisone couldn’t fix. That was the start of May and after a week of doing nothing, I spent a week of catching up with rescheduled appointments, laundry, house cleaning, shopping, and buying something other than the chicken soup and popsicles that Natasha delivered to my door while I lay on the couch. I did begin buying flowers for the patio that week, and spent mid-month potting them, turning the patio into a she-space, getting the butterfly garden ready for new perennials and seeds, and returning to the place where I have been painting. This time, my effort with brushes turned out better than the last time.

The weeks of May flew by, with yet another full weekend of shopping for perennials with biking buddy (it is our mutual butterfly garden) at two new places (we’re going back next year) in the Lake Michigan cities of Manitowoc and Two Rivers. Also found a new microbrewery that has suds, food, coffee, old fashioned flights…which calls for a repeat visit at some point. Maybe an overnight stay if we try the old fashioned flights. Chatted with the owner, who also owns, with her husband, two old churches that have been turned into wedding venues. The owner was a delight and we thought it very cool that she dressed like her employees, helping out with service, and treating us like old friends.

Next day, it was Iron Chef Day with Natasha and another friend. We started having Iron Chef Day back in 2012 or thereabouts and it’s become a fun tradition. No secret ingredients or judging panel, we simply make a recipe we’ve never made before. This time, I made paella and the other two whipped up tuscan chicken, a pork roast, and quesadillas. We do some food prep on our own as this is not an all-day event and we want to get to the eating part sooner rather than later. There is no worry about plating/presentation or a “winner,” but if something turns out extra good, we share recipes. My taste buds wanted more of the tuscan chicken and although the paella had a nice flavor, there is room for improvement.

This brings us to Memorial Day weekend.

Brother came for a visit. He actually loaded up two of his three bikes on the car and started driving northeast from Colorado, stopping at three different bike trails along the way. I told him not to trust the days leading up to Memorial Day for good weather, but his mind was made up. As expected, the weather was not very cooperative. Brother tried camping along the way, but had to pick up his tent and head to LaCrosse due to expected bad storms, tornado warnings and heavy rain. Disappointing, but LaCrosse is his college alma mater, so he checked out one or two of his old college hang-outs and was safe in a motel room for the night.

Brother arrived at my place the Friday afternoon before Memorial Day. I told him he smelled like “dirt” or like he was living on the streets, so while the washer/dryer took a few loads of his smelliness, we headed to Bazil’s, which is brother’s favorite beer bar when he comes to visit (they also serve excellent old fashioned’s). We stopped at a Thai restaurant on the way home to fill our bellies with curry and pad thai.

The next day, we loaded up the bikes and headed to Manitowoc/Two Rivers to ride the Mariner and Rawley Point trails. It would be the only good day for a bike ride.

My brother is “Biker Bob,” “Hiker Hugh,” workout freak. He puts me to shame, but he has the determination I do not have to exercise almost every day. I do a lot more than many my age, but he is the Energizer Bunny on steroids and almost two years older than me. I hate him. 😉

On the way out, heading north, brother kept biking ahead of me, then stopping and waiting when he wasn’t sure where to go next. It was like this for eleven miles, until we got to Point Beach State Park and the halfway point. By the time we got there, my quads were burning from trying to keep up with him. So, I told brother to go his own speed on the way back and I would go mine and we would meet up at the car. It was a beautiful day and I love these trails, but I would rather go there with biking buddy, who bikes at my pace, takes breaks with me, and we don’t usually burn our quads. I don’t mean to complain because I only see my brother once a year, but I had to let go of the fact that I can never keep up with him, no matter what we do, and that’s okay. I have a June vacation coming up with biking buddy – we are headed to near Madison for the week to bike the many trails in the southwest corner of the state – and I totally expect to enjoy the bike trails, food and adult refreshment, and have many laughs with a close friend.

The rest of the weekend with brother was rainy, but we had a chance Monday morning to enjoy the Green Bay Botanical Gardens, have lunch at Lambeau Field, and buy something off the clearance rack at the Packer Pro Shop.

Back to Gibbs and being disturbed. While brother was here, I made him sleep on his camping mattress in the living room because I prefer sleeping in my bed. I only give it up when brother’s significant other also visits because it makes perfect sense for me to sleep on the couch. The only issue with this arrangement was that I had to keep Gibbs and Hoshi in the bedroom with me at night and I forgot how disturbing that can be to MY sleep. I had a 3:00 a.m. wake-up call one morning, around 5:00 a.m. the other mornings, and Hoshi came up on the bed two or three times a night to snuggle under the covers…for five minutes and then she would leave. Gibbs tried to beat on the closet door and Hoshi banged on the bathroom cabinet door a couple times. It was a good thing brother is a sound sleeper and I remembered why I kicked them out of the bedroom in the first place.

And now is a good time to end this post because it is getting long and that can be a recipe for disaster – readers leaving before they are done reading, readers rolling their eyes and never coming back again.

Biking buddy and I will be out in the garden early Saturday morning to plant a few perennials before it rains, but I will get to your posts as soon as I have nothing else to do.

Not sure when that will be.

Maybe see you all in another six weeks. 😛

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Stream of Consciousness Saturday is the brainchild of author Linda G. Hill. Every Friday, Linda provides her followers with an inspiring blogger’s prompt. It can be a word or words and sometimes bonus points are involved (my favorite). Linda asks us to write without editing, other than correcting spelling errors.

Just go with the flow.

Like a babbling brook or rain drops. Click HERE if this type of writing floats your boat or helps with your decision-making. Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “recipe.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!