Category: Uncategorized

Today is Marty’s birthday! I made his card for him this year.

It’s very simple since I am a just starting to learn how to draw, but I think I captured Nelly’s sweetness.

Happy Friday! 💖

Since I took art classes back in my school days, I’ve always wanted to take more. Life didn’t allow that until now.

I still always think I have to take any kind of classes in person. Why the hell I don’t think about online classes is beyond me.

My friend Arthur who lives next door has many of the same wants on our still to do lists.

One day he shared he was taking art lessons on line. I was like…oohhhh.

I think he is most interested in painting where I wanted to learn to draw and sketch. Perhaps eventually learning to paint as well.

Arthur gave me the name of the online teacher he uses and I checked him out. Then I found another art teacher from Vancouver.

Michael Markowsky created lessons during the initial lockdown during the pandemic.

The lesson are free but you can send him small donations which I plan to do.

I like his way of teaching and noticed many of the same methods to his teaching as mine in teaching belly dancing.

He makes noises and sound effects when he is demonstrating drawing shapes. I think of music and our dance moves as shapes as well.

Bottom line, I get this guy. Today, I attempted my first perspective drawing.

I have already seen where I mistakes and I need to get a small ruler to make the perspective lines straight.

Am I happy with what I have learned in the first three weeks of lessons? Fuck yeah.

I am a right-sided thinker and found drawing shapes and shading difficult.

I have to pause the video and practice a few times that day and the next before proceeding with the lesson.

One day, after an hour and a half of a lesson, my brain hurt the way it used to when during standardized testing as a student.

We were encouraged to draw one or two rooms in our homes before starting the next lesson. Our bedroom is next.

I have not learned how to add small details and circles or ovals yet.

When I walk into rooms now, my eyes search for the perspective point in the room and can draw the room in my head.

That’s progress my friends I am super stoked about. Yay!

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday guys.

Since Marty finally got his CPAP machine last week we both have been sleeping! Yay! 🤩

Feeling well rested and the sun shining brightly for days has me in high-gear cleaning mode.

I needed to give our upstairs a good cleaning and every day I accomplished a couple of projects.

The projects are things that I knew needed to be done such as high and low dusting.

Our two chandeliers also needed a dusting big time and I set up a CPAP area next to Marty’s side of the bed.

When it was in the low 50s this afternoon I tackled the four upstairs windows.

I was still in a funk and didn’t feel like fall cleaning them plus I didn’t do them in the springtime because I was still unwell.

Honestly, the windows were horrible . I am a clean freak so I was so disgusted when I noticed how much of the glorious sunshine wasn’t getting through the grime.

Now, the windows look fantastic and the rooms are brighter.

After I cleaned the mini chandelier in the bathroom I noticed how the reflections of the crystals danced around the room.

In true Julz fashion, I called Marty to come see. Him and my boys always come to look at things I show them.

I didn’t realize it’s living in the moment which I have been doing for as long as I can remember, not just something new when I pulled my head out of my ass this fall.

Big full moons or perfect crescents. The sky on a clear night. Star gazing, rainbows, big snowflakes, sun rises and sun sets, the smell of a summer rain. You get the picture.

I have a few more projects then I’ll be baking sweets for a tea party I am hosting on Saturday.

Many of you will recognize one of my guests, I’ll be sure to take photos.

Sometimes you just need a warm and gooey grilled cheese sandwich. Today, was that kind of morning.

These single-digit numbers we’ve been waking up to in the mornings make you want warm fuzzy everything.

This is the first winter I’ve enjoyed since I was a kid. I stared winter right in the face and said, “Hi, remember me?”

I was always a summer person but now after a horrendous year, I am appreciative of every season.

I am “wintering” like the nature and animals around me. It’s like a “when in Rome” kind of feeling. A feeling of acceptance.

Instead of hating to put on winter shit to go out, I am appreciative for my warm fuzzy hat, gloves, scarf, socks and down jacket. I love my winter muck boots and leg warmers.

No, I haven’t gone off my nut, even though I’ve gotten pretty close, I’m slowing down, and looking around, and living in the moment.

Last year, at this time I would have said what a bunch of bullshit like many of you are.

However, when faced with the notion you may be lucky enough to be here for another winter or two, shit changes. Big time.

Last year’s health crisis took its toll on my mind and body; and now it’s showing.

All that stress and anxiety has caused my hair to shed, I hate to use those words “fall out” like crazy.

I’ve lost 50% of my hair all over not in clumps thank God. I am lucky I started with a thick head of hair.

My hair still looks good but it’s thin. Let me tell you it’s been scary as hell with every handful or brush full that comes out.

It has made me cry for weeks on end creating even more stress. My strong thick hair is a part of who I am.

I don’t want to jinx myself but I think it’s finally slowing down. My doctor said it would grow back and I’ll have my thick hair back in no time. 🙏🤞🏼

I had a small bout of psoriasis show up again but I’m showing it who’s boss.

It rears its ugly head when I am very stressed. It started when I was 9 years old, I had a nervous breakdown of the skin.

That was the year we moved away from family and friends, I went to a new school, and my mother turned on me and started treating me like Cinderella.

Right now it’s pretty much under control. I dealt with it for the first two years of the pandemic. I know what to do.

I’ve been exhausted after months and months of stress which I am giving into while I am “wintering.”

Sometimes you just need a grilled cheese sandwich, a kiss on the head, and be told everything will be fine.

Everything will be fine. I haven’t been able to share this until today. I had no idea I would write about it until the words formed easily.

As always, thanks for reading and following me on this rollercoaster of life. ❤️

Happy Friday my friends! Cheers…

My sweet little Nelly is fully grown. She outgrew many of her “clothes.” By clothes I mean coats, raincoats, and fleece shirts.

Frenchies can’t regulate their body temperature leaving it up to their owners to make sure they don’t overheat or get too cold.

In the beginning, I had fantasies about Nelly wearing cute little outfits. Nelly is not a girlie girl kind of Frenchie.

She will leave a vest or jacket on when it’s cold out. She is no dummy that’s for sure.

Before the weather turned cold, we had no problem harnessing her into her car bed.

Then we hit a roadblock trying to get her winter coat over her harness.

That’s when I found jackets with built-in harnesses. Then I found ones made especially for Frenchie bodies.

Her coat arrived just in time, today she went on deliveries with us and into TJ Maxx with me.

She’s not a girlie girl, but she’s a girl who loves to go shopping. She makes everyone smile and loves it when people stop to pet or talk to her.

When we got home, she immediately attempted to get her winter coat off.

She wiggled in every direction on the carpet like a person trying to get out of a straight jacket.

After I took off her new pink winter coat. She jumped up on the loveseat and fell right to sleep. What a little sweetheart she is.

I haven’t given any Nelly updates for a while, so I thought showcasing her new coat was a good reason. 🩷

Now that I am back to thinking about food again, I decided to improve the kitchen skills I already have and look at alternative techniques.

When someone has an interview for a chef position in a restaurant, many times they are asked to make eggs.

Eggs are harder than you would think and to get them absolutely perfect is even harder.

I’ve been making soft and hard-boiled eggs the way I watched my parents make them.

I’ve perfected hard boil and 6-minute eggs, but I didn’t even think about soft-boiled eggs.

I loved soft-boiled eggs when I was little, I liked any kind of dippy eggs. The only time I got soft-boiled eggs was when I was sick.

Why? Was it because they are easy to overcook? It could have been.

Was it a pain in the ass to cut the egg in half and scoop the insides into a bowl? Served with buttered toast.

Mmmmm, a good childhood memory. Again, about food. It’s always been about food for me.

I felt like having grits with soft-boiled eggs on Sunday morning and wanted to try a different technique.

I followed a recipe and was shocked at how many different ways people prepare soft-boiled eggs.

I decided on the foolproof 6-minute egg technique that people swear by.

The difference between the way I made soft boiled eggs and the recipe was mine started in cold water, and the new way used boiling water.

My way, when the water came to a rolling boil, the heat was turned off and the pot was covered for two minutes.

The new technique had you add the egg to a smaller amount of simmering water.

You set a 6-minute timer and let the egg cook in the simmering water uncovered.

When the timer goes off, you lift out the egg and put it into an ice bath immediately.

When the egg was cool enough to handle, instead of cutting it in half and scooping out the insides I peeled the egg: easily.

I was skeptical as I placed the egg on top of the creamy grits. I took my knife and opened the egg.

It was perfect and professional looking. I was tickled pink!

There were no shell bits like when you scoop out the insides. Amazing!

The title of this blog post, Fresh Ideas, also refers to hunting for recipes each week.

Let’s face it, thinking of things to make for dinner is the hardest part of cooking. It’s no different for me.

Every week I would search for ideas and inspiration for dinner ideas. I would usually find a recipe from one of my favorite food blogs.

That’s when the lightbulb went off Sunday afternoon. I thought, “Hey dumbass, why don’t you subscribe to your favorite food blogs and have ideas and inspiration in your inbox.”

I subscribed to blogs that cover different cuisines such as vegetarian, ethnic, classic, gluten-free, Italian, and comfort food.

I’m looking forward to challenging myself in the kitchen and using more hard-to-find fresh ingredients used in ethnic cooking, especially in Asian and Indian dishes.

My quest for fresh ideas started with one egg. One perfect egg yesterday morning.

I cooked and baked a lot of food between December 18-30. I haven’t cooked since.

Besides heating up leftovers from the freezer or frozen chicken nuggets and tater tots, I haven’t cooked.

We were invited to dinners at friend’s homes which was well appreciated.

I guess I cooked myself out. I didn’t want to think about food, look at food on my Instagram page, or go food shopping.

So, I didn’t. I was exhausted and listened to my body and rested.

Today, I had an inkling to make Thai food. I made Thai red curry with shrimp and jasmine rice.

Then I tried something new. I make pretty good Thai food for a white girl and understand what a Thai dish needs to be in balance.

I made warm silken tofu with a sauce I never saw or tried before. I never ate silken tofu as an appetizer either.

I loved it. Marty loved the sauce. He had a hard time getting used to the texture but ate it. I think he liked it.

The texture of the silken tofu was like a panna cotta and the sauce was sour, sweet, salty, and an umami flavor bomb.

The time I’ve spent not cooking was divided by reorganizing everything and cleaning.

The house looked like someone took random shit and threw it in every corner of the house.

I had laundry up the ass which I am almost caught up with. Lots of dirty cloth napkins, several tablecloths, kitchen and bath towels, and our regular laundry. Ugh!

My pantry looked like a bomb went off with platters, bowls, and other shit piled up on the floor in front of the shelves.

I’m about 80% done. You have to understand I am a total maniac when it comes to having a clean and organized home.

At one point during the holiday week, I said fuck it and stopped being stressed by the chaos and didn’t care.

I knew everything would be cleaned up eventually. I don’t run around like an energizer bunny anymore and kill myself to get done in one or two days.

Nope, I am not doing that anymore.

I felt free doing things when I felt like it and didn’t dread the chores like I used to.

I rested when I needed to. I realized there are no awards for killing yourself and overdoing it.

I really did learn a lot about myself last year.

This was the first Christmas season where I had an actual Christmas spirit since the boys grew up.

Celebrating Christmas this year was very different for me. I had some extraordinary moments with my family.

I cooked a lot and was in my glory. I forgot to take photos of some of the dishes like the tiramisu cream puffs.

The Saturday before Christmas, my oldest son Noah, came over to wrap his girlfriend, Aja’s gifts.

It was no secret that Noah was a terrible gift wrapper. I taught him how to wrap gifts.

It was like watching a light bulb going off, he was a pro right away. We talked and ate Christmas cookies.

A perfect mother and son time spent together. I’ll cherish that day forever, it was really special.

Christmas morning with family was relaxed and very enjoyable.

Christmas Day was a lazy day, it was only the three of us. We had simple and delicious food.

We had a delayed Christmas Eve dinner on the 26th. It was great that we were able to get together and enjoy the feast of the fishes.

Sam left after breakfast this morning. My kitchen is now clean and back to normal.

All the Christmas decorations have been taken down signaling the end of another Christmas season.

Here’s to better days ahead and time to say goodbye to 2023; probably the hardest, most significant, and life-changing year.

Happy New Years my friends. I wish you all a happy and healthy year full of abundance and prosperity.

What I mean about abundance isn’t physical things but about the things you can’t see or touch like love, peace, and well-being.

I’ll talk to you all next year. Be well. Lots of love to each and every one of you. ♥️

Yes, this is me, having tea immediately after waking up.

No filter, no make up, my face ruddy and my eyes like slits. All I have is a smile.

I have that post holiday exhaustion and this weather isn’t helping my joints, which makes me even more tired.

I wanted to say hello and check in. I have a post in my head I just haven’t gotten to yet.

We are in production soon so I have to get hopping. Have a great day!

Happy Friday my friends, the last one of the year. Cheers.