Bfth's Boring Blog

 So actually it's a little over a week in and here's where I am right now with my Lenten discipline.   Giving Up:  No chocolate, no liquor.  This seems to be harder this year than in past years.  Maybe it's because I've been drinking more during this pandemic.  Most nights I am really missing that glass of wine.  It doesn't help that twice I've found the cork to a bottle of red wine in my dining room has "popped" out.  Is someone trying to tell me something?  I guess I didn't have it in tight enough?  So I've really pushed it back in and so far so good.  I have to say that I really missed a glass of red with a plate of spaghetti.  But this practice forces me to THINK before I eat or drink, and that's definitely a good thing.  (Something I don't do enough.  Please note that although I have given up two of my favorite things, I have yet to lose a pound.  Sigh.) Giving: I'm not specifically putting together a 40 days/40 items box to do

  Today would have been my maternal grandmother's 120 something birthday.  My family and I live in the house that she lived in from 1924 to 1994.  Because she lived in this house for most of her life (longer than my grandfather), I tend to think of her a lot.  This house was her domain. In some ways the two of us are a lot alike.  We are both short.  We both spent most of our lives in the same town.  Perhaps there are more similarities, but I can't think of them or I don't know and that is a shame. I had 28 years with my grandmother; although the last 4 years of her life she was not able to communicate much and to my shame, I pretty much ignored her.  To my shame, I didn't spend enough time learning more about my grandmother.  Everyone, no matter who you are, has a story to tell.  The problem is that most of us don't bother to ask or take the time to listen.  That is something I very much regret. Actually I regret not listening enough to any of my three grandp

  Is there such a thing as too much prayer?  I suppose there could be...If there is such a thing I am NOT guilty of it.   What I am aware of is that my prayer list is growing.  There are more people that I need to pray for:  my parents who have some mobility issues which the winter weather does NOT make easier, my father-in-law who underwent emergency surgery last week,  and my mother-in-law who is going to have to take care of him when he is released from the hospital.  Then there are people who are in my prayers and are staying there:  my friend/coworker who has been suffering from Covid-19 for nearly a month, my friend who has been battling cancer for more years that I can (to my shame) remember and is about to go through another round to treatment, and another friend who is battling cancer and whose husband can't help her out as he has in the past since he's just undergone cardiac surgery.  That's just those that come immediately to mind; there are other friends and rel

Here we are entering the season of Lent.  It's definitely not my favorite time in the church calendar.  That's probably because it's a time where I "force" myself to focus and think.  I make a conscious effort to think about what won't do (like eat chocolate; I give it up every year) and what I will (like perform an act of kindness; which was something new I tried last year.) Ash Wednesday looks different this year.  Let's face it everything looks different since last Ash Wednesday.  I remember Ash Wednesday 2020 very clearly.   For the first time in a long time I did not go to a church service; instead I did an Ash Wednesday drive by; ashes to go!  It was a way to "mark" the beginning of Lent in a meaningful way while allowing me to hustle my butt down to my parents as I needed to take my mother in for eye surgery.  Yes, there as a time when you could take someone in for a procedure and wait in a waiting room.  Which is what I did.  There might

 Today is Presidents Day; meant to honor all U.S. Presidents (and falling in between the dates of Lincoln's and Washington's birth).  I want to write something positive.  I want to BE positive on this day, but I'm just so angry.  It's an anger that's been burning a hole in me.  A perfect quote for today would be:  " In politics as in philosophy, my tenets are few and simple. The leading one of which, and indeed that which embraces most others, is to be honest and just ourselves and to exact it from others, meddling as little as possible in their affairs where our own are not involved. If this maxim was generally adopted, wars would cease and our swords would soon be converted into reap hooks and our harvests be more peaceful, abundant, and happy." (George Washington).  But instead I find myself focused on one from the Bible:   He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thie

 I'm frustrated.  I'm sure many if not all of you are frustrated too.  We've been living in this virus nightmare for nearly a year.  These nearly 12 months have not been easy for any one.  I truly believe that not one single person on the face of this planet has had any easy time. We are ALL frustrated.  We are ALL stressed out.  And we collectively need a little relief.  I know I'm not getting it.  (I'm guessing you aren't either.) Today started out frustrating because:   Friday is grocery day.  If you've read this blog at all, you probably know this and being the intelligent and hopefully responsible person, you know what this is and why this is frustrating.  If you don't...   https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2021/01/noses.html  and  https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/to-man-in-teal-jacket.html He's not wearing a teal jacket this week.  But he's where he always is and although you can't see it (because I took this photo from

  Would you buckle your seatbelt, but not belt your child in? Would you put sunscreen on your arms, but not your face? Would you shovel your front walk, but leave your stairs encrusted in snow? Would you let your child ride a bike, but not have them wear a helmet? Would you encourage someone to dive in the deep end of the pool if they didn't know how to swim? Would you put a diaper over your son's penis, but leave his butt hanging out? Would you do ANY of these things? WHY would you do any of these things? If your child is not wearing a seatbelt, it doesn't mean that you'll get in a car accident.  But there is risk involved.  Is that a risk you are willing to take? If you put sunscreen on only some parts of your body that are exposed to the sun, but not all, that doesn't guarantee that you will get a sunburn.  But there is a risk.  Not just of sunburn, but of skin cancer later down the road.  Is that a risk you are willing to take? Why would you shovel your front wa

I will ask no questions I will give no answers I will do what I can do No more You say my words are nonsense No sense do I make I speak The words mean nothing So I will remain silenced I do what I do What I cannot Will be left undone Incapable of one thing Of anything I will work around As best I can or Do without Can do without Ask for not for help Give no assistance Stand alone Silenced

To the man in the teal jacket stocking the frozen vegetables As you have done week after week month after month The man in the teal jacket  with the disposable mask that usually sits just below your nose so that it is exposed to all  who walk the aisle and shop in the store and work in the store and BREATHE  the same air that you are inhaling  exhaling through your nose Last week After being silent  I asked Please cover your nose You did You walked away I continued on I returned there you were mask BELOW your nose Which says so much Today I looked for you  I walked down that aisle so many employees working masks on caring for themselves  and for others perhaps without even knowing it Then I saw you the man in the teal jacket mask on your CHIN Nose exposed The ONLY mouth I saw  Last week I spoke to a manager Today I spoke to another There is a man, I said wearing a teal jacket working in the frozen food aisle with a mask on his chin I am angry Sad a little Scared I think of those I know

  You take the good with the bad, right?  Seems like there is a lot of yin and yang in my life during this first week of February.  For example: We got mail yesterday (first time since Friday or Saturday).  But since we have the snow blower on the sidewalk (and it is possible to pass by it),the mail person decided not to come all the way up to our front stoop and put the mail in the box, but instead just threw it on the stoop.  So I got soggy mail.  (Which is better than no mail right?) Garbage pick-up resumed today.  However, since streets are so narrow (due to all the snow...), for safety pick up was done extra early.  Supposedly the trucks started at 3 AM this morning!  I know our trash was picked up around 4.  I have to say they were as quiet as they could be.  (Can't stop the backup beep.)  Our collectors have always gone above and beyond and I was up when they came, so they didn't disturb me! School continues

Happy Groundhog Day! It's two-two-two thousand and twenty one (I really wish I could have said two two twenty two...but I'll have to wait another year and even that might be too much!) and we are about to use our second snow day of the year.  (I believe we have 4 reserved.) We used our first snow day on December 17th of last year when we got 4-6 inches.  In a "normal" school year (remember those days?) that would have been cause enough for a snow day, but since we are in the world of remote/hybrid/anything goes,  that total didn't really call for a snow day in my book.  But there was concern about wind and power outages, so... They'd been calling for this Snor'easter (my term, should I copyright it?) for several days.  To try and stop it from coming, I went out and purchased yet another shovel.  Our two "best" shovels get a little heavy for me.  (Especially when there is a LOT of snow.)  I have a crappy plastic one that does the job really well,

  I love houndstooth.  I don't know why, I just LOVE the pattern.  I've loved it for years and I KEEP it for years.   I think it all goes back to the jacket on the left side of the photo.  Not too long after I graduated college and had joined the working world. I purchased this from the Spiegel catalog.  (So yes, this was pre-2000 and while the internet did exist, you weren't shopping on it.) I was a young working woman and I had this "vision" of what I wanted to look like.  (Even if my body wasn't exactly right for what my imagination held.)  This jacket was part of that look.  This photo (courtesy of S. Ryan) shows me in all my trendiness.  Ignore the facial expression (what is up with that?); this was me in all my working girl glory.  The leather boots and jacket from Spiegel (and cost a fortune in my young mind), the blouse was, if I recall correctly, from Chadwick's of Boston (I LOVED my catalogs) and the pants were from L.L. Bean.  (Stirrup pants; be