Bfth's Boring Blog

  (Not my photo...mine was messier) Since residing in PA for a good hunk of time, I'm trying to be more "Pennsylvanian."  I buy wine from Pennsylvania wineries.  (Too many at local festivals and farmers markets.)  I often shop at our local grocery.  We visit our local bar/grille once a month.  I go to classes (when I can) at our local community center.  We wouldn't miss the annual Halloween parade.  You get the idea. So when I heard pork and sauerkraut was a New Year's Day thing in PA, I wanted to give it a go.  According to Google's AI: "The pork and sauerkraut tradition is a New Year's Day custom, especially strong in Pennsylvania Dutch and German-American communities, symbolizing good luck, wealth, and forward progress for the new year. Pork represents wealth and moving forward (as pigs root forward), while sauerkraut (fermented cabbage) symbolizes long life, wealth (green like money), and good health, with the meal often served with ...

 Out with the old and in with the new!  I don't think I am alone in saying that 2025 wasn't a banner year.  (Although it must have been for someone, right?)  Personally it wasn't that bad and I have a lot to be  grateful for  , but still 2025 was pretty awful.  Or at least not very good. But I have hope for 2026.  I always have hope for the New Year because there is always the promise of a new beginning.  (Although we actually have that promise every day.  Heck we have that promise every second of our lives.)  We need new beginnings.  We need to keep moving forward. However, I also believe that we need to try and have clean closure, if possible.  To that end, on the last day of 2025 I: Cleaned the house (although my husband refuses to vacuum until the tree with all its glitter comes down next week), did laundry and ran the dishwasher. Worked half a day (although the office ended up closing at noon,...

2025 was a s***** year. There's no two ways about it. We have division in our government meaning that nothing gets done. We have division among people which has only brought ugliness and anger in both word and deed. We had historical buildings desecrated. We had citizens of the United States deported despite proof that they were citizens. We had boats blown out of the water with no proof that those in it were committing a crime. It seems to me, and this is only my opinion, that the United States government no longer cares for the people it works for and only for themselves. Selfishness does not begin to describe what is going on in this world. It is disgraceful. It is disgusting. With all that said, even in the darkness that we have plunged into, there is still some light.  And when icy cold darkness surrounds us, we need to see the light.  We need to appreciate the light.  And yes, we need to be the light. So as horrid as 2025 was, here are a few things that I appreciate...

It's that time of year again, remembering some of the best books I read this year.   I've been doing this since 2017, when the editor/publisher of MyVeronaNJ.com   asked me to put together a list since I read so much.  I've been happily doing so every year since then. But I also like to share here so... Surprisingly (at least to me), there was quite a bit of non-fiction on my list.  (I'm much more of "fun fiction" reader.)  I've read a lot of great books this year and have pared this list down to 20; 12 fiction and 8 non-fiction.     Fiction: A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage  by Asia Mackay:  I flew through this one because it was so darned good. Killers meet and fall in love? How could they not? They are meant for each other, even as they have completely different backgrounds. But then they start a family and have to settle down. Or do they? After Life  by Gayle Forman:  I read this earlier in the year and q...

December 26, 2025 and I am sitting here eagerly anticipating the snowstorm that is to come our way today.  Okay, maybe it shouldn't be "eagerly", but anxiously.  I have to drive back to NJ with my son today. (He was supposed to work/volunteer at the food pantry this afternoon and tomorrow morning, but it's been postponed due to the snow forecast, however, I still need to get him back and the two of us can work together to dig out over the weekend which is better than just one person.  Hubby will stay in PA and let the plow guy dig us out when it's all over...This will be the 5th time we've seen him this month and that's more than we saw him all of last year!  His wallet will be happy. Mine will not.)  I am hoping to "outrun" the storm and get to NJ before it hits.  I also need to hit a grocery store as there really isn't any food back in NJ (because no one was there) and my son is going to need food.  I'm sure it will be nice and calm at ...

  The weekend...time to relax and renew.  Or at least that's what we hope or maybe dream of.  But its holiday time and I, like I'm sure many of you, are cramming as much into the (cold and often dark) days as we can.  This weekend, particularly Sunday, was no exception. (Who said Sunday should be a day of rest?  You think I'm listening to God?) While Saturday might have been somewhat "calm" (I did bake several dozen chocolate cinnamon cookies, but had prepped much the night before), Sunday was a slightly different story. Sunday morning I woke up at 3:30ish (ugh) and couldn't get back to sleep.  (It figures.)  I gave up at about 5:30 (which depending on the day is either late or the "normal" time for me to haul my butt out of bed) and got ready for church.  (Church #1)  I headed over a little earlier than usual, as I wanted to speak to some people before the service. (Church #1 has made me feel welcome as a newcomer and I so app...

 It's been a hard week (again).  Every time I wanted to write something "fun," there was more bad news. The shooting at Brown University, massacre/terrorism at Bondi Beach in Australia, the murders of Rob and Michelle Reiner... That's in addition to the rising unemployment rate, rising cost of living, lack of affordable healthcare...let's just stop at that.  It's been a long, cold, depressing winter, and it's not even officially winter yet. But today, despite the cold (and often very cruel) world, I'm going back to light, fluffy and upbeat because I need to.  Maybe you need to as well.  So... In 1995 (are you old enough to remember) I got engaged and the following year I got married (and I still am).  My husband and I moved into what was my maternal grandparent's house (which is what my college aged son now considers "his" abode).  It had furnishings, but of course my husband and I wanted to put our own touches on things which we did over...