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I was never...

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When I was a kid, we used to rent houses at the shore. This was way before era of Airbnb or Vrbo or other home sharing apps. In the beginning we stayed for a week. The next year I believe we stayed for 2 weeks. And after that we would stay for a month (4 weeks, sometimes 5 depending on how the month landed).  For homeowners in that particular area of the Jersey shore that would have made us what many people called Bennys. (B = Bayonne, new = Elizabeth, N =Newark, NY = New York City; farther south at the NJ Shore we would have been Shoobies, but let’s not get into that.)  It wasn’t that we were from any of those particular areas, but it reflected what the locals considered the type of people who only came down for a short period of time. More importantly what they were actually referring to were people who didn't care for/about the area.   For those 20 plus years that we didn't own on a home at the shore, where we were not considered locals, I would say we were never Ben...
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The Hard Part of Summer

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Summer has always been one of my favorite times of year. I think it is also one of my son's favorite part of the year and not just because he gets a break from school. However, for both of us summer is becoming more of a challenge.    This particular summer seems to be more so. Not just because of all the storms, the heat, and humidity! The humidity is probably the worst though…it makes everything damp in the house. The cost of using air conditioning not just to cool the house but to make it less “wet.” The constant dampness and daily rain. (Though last night's thunderstorm was amazing to watch). Although that has certainly contributed to making this a challenging summer, it’s not really what gets to me (and I suspect to him).   My son has said this summer that he really misses the shore. I get that. I miss the shore too. But that's not exactly what he means. Yes, he misses going to the beach. But if he was really so desperate, we could go down on his own on a da...
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22 Photos

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 For 22 years on August 4th, I have pretty much warn the exact same thing.  In the beginning it wasn't really planned or intentional.  But now it is.   On August 4, 2005, my husband took a photo of me holding our new born son.  It's not the best photo in the word, but it's definitely one that I treasure.  For his first birthday I wore the same thing.  And then I just keep doing it; or mostly doing it.  Trying to look the same year after year...sort of. The shirt is still the same.  It's showing it's wear and tear.  It should because I bought it a year or more before my son was born.  It's not quite as comfortable as it once was.  It's a bit stiff.  But it still fits.  It fit when I was heavier (which would have been 2011); it fit when I was at my thinnest (notice I didn't say thin because I'll never be thin...but that's a whole other story and my thinnest would have been around 20212 or 2013) and it still fits today w...
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21

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  My son turns 21 today.  Legally an adult, although in many ways he's been acting as a responsible adult since he was a kid.  Yes, he did a lot of silly kid stuff.  Don't we all when we are kids?  (If you say no, you are lying to me and yourself.)  But for the most part, and what I remember is maturity he has shown over the years.  And his uniqueness...which he expressed when most might be afraid too.  Perhaps that's another example of his maturity… So on this auspicious day when he officially becomes an adult, I give 21 observations of this unique and mature young man...  (All of which will embarrass the heck out of him, but...) 1.      My son is adopted, but we have always been his parents.  We first held him when he was 8 hours old.  With that said, we've always let him know about his adoption and have told him numerous times that if he wants to reach out to either of his birth parents, we can help.  He ...
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Since We're All Talking About It...

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  I know its 2026, but it's feeling like 2020 a bit again with all this brouhaha over Dr. Fauci.  Useless and time wasting brouhaha, in my opinion.   Do you remember 2020?  March 2020 when it all began.  It seems like a long time ago, but it really wasn't. Remember the chaos and the confusion? We were only going to be out of school/work and over all this is for a couple weeks. Perhaps we all knew on some level but that wasn't going to happen? Two weeks to eradicate this deadly virus that had taken over the entire world? That was going to take a lot of planning, a lot of work, and a serious medical solution.  Do you remember how terrified most of us were? How people were dying faster than medical professionals could keep up with him? The portable freezers which they kept the bodies? People going into the hospital and not coming out? Medical professionals covered head to toe and protective gear doing their best to save lives? The hopelessness they mu...
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Dear Mom & Dad: August 1st

  Well it's the first day of August.  It's also a Saturday.  It's a summer Saturday which means sailboat races on Barnegat Bay .  And today is the 50th annual Sanderling Regatta which was renamed in your honor 4 years ago. Usually this particular race would fall on a Saturday in July, but this year...well the only reason I knew it was happening was because I got an email from your friend (and mine...sort of) Mrs. P which notified me.  Otherwise I would have had no clue.  I wouldn't have even known if it still existed.  I'm glad it still exists; even though on the club calendar it gives the time as 10-11 AM and we all know that it takes much longer than that.  Additionally there is " Fiesta Night " which starts at 5 PM (supposedly), which I know would thrill you mom.  (Is my sarcastic tone loud enough here?)  After all, eating and drinking must take precedence over sailing, right?  (Well I'm old enough to remember when it did...
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Rainy Days and Flooding...

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Always bring me down.   Yes, I know that's not the right lyric.  (Maybe you didn't know...unless you are of a certain age you might not know the Carpenters and that's a darned shame.)   This month has been an exceedingly strange one.  Hot.  Wet.  Cold.  Clammy.  Windy.  Rainy.  Soggy.  Moist.  Damp.  Totally unpredictable.   At the start of the month (and how can it almost be over already?) we had horrible heat and rain.  Storms that flooded areas and brought down trees.  (Yes, we still have the two downed trees that take out part of our driveway and the street.  I've got to call the tree guy again today.  I knew it was going to be a while due to the massive amount of damage that had gone in the area, but it's been nearly 3 weeks, sigh...)   Last Tuesday when I drove back to PA, I left the office early.  I left early because there had been storm warnings.  Warnings that incl...
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