Bfth's Boring Blog

(This is a message that I presented Sunday, October 30th to the church that I attend.  Take from it what you will.) So next week is our official stewardship Sunday and you've been hearing about it for the past couple of weeks.  I'm here this week to tell you stewardship is easy.  Once a year, someone gets up here and reminds you about it and asks you to send in your pledge card. Easy to fill out, easy to send in or put in the collection plate. Here's how simple it is. For example, if I cut out a large latte once a week at Dunkin Donuts that's about $4.5 a week times 52 weeks, which is $234, but I'll be generous and round up to $250.  Since I'm in choir and prone to forgetting a weekly envelope as I run out of the house on Sunday mornings, I'll just go home and write and check.  Over and done.  Easy.  Just another "bill" I can check off my list.  I'm done.  Don't have to think about it again until next October. Right?  Easy? I suppose

to be jolly...fa la la la la la la la la... Merry Christmas! Wait a minute...it's not even Halloween yet. Although if you looked around any shop you'd think that Halloween was long gone and Christmas was tomorrow. Now I understand that retailers need to make their money.  And Christmas is a big money maker.  But we've already lost Thanksgiving, must we push Halloween aside BEFORE the holiday hits?  Halloween is a big money maker too, but not all of us want to buy our Halloween candy, costumes and general supplies BEFORE the end of September! I was in Home Depot on the 22nd. (See:  http://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2016/10/ive-lost-my-hands-and-other-weekend.html).  When we walked in we were immediately confronted with Christmas trees galore.  They were beautiful trees.  There were wonderful decorations; inflatables, lights, you name it.  But it was October 22nd.  I said something to the clerk in the section.  He told me that it had all been up for two wee

The weekend; that two day period where we relax from the stresses of the week, right?  Wrong!    Or at least that seems to be the case for me.  The work week can be stressful, not just for me, the working mom, but for the whole family.  The kid who has tests, quizzes and homework and stresses out over EVERYTHING!  (You think I'm exaggerating?  Just a little.)  The stay at home husband who deals with the drama king kid and among other things.  (Although that Swiffer Wet Jet that I bought 2 weeks ago is STILL in the box in the bathroom.)  So it's no wonder we all look forward to the slower, relaxing pace of the weekend...Well maybe not! The kid went to a friend's house after school on Friday, so no homework was done.  NOT that there was lots of homework; just everybody's favorite math.  So that needed to be done over the weekend.  Additionally, this upcoming Friday there is the weekly literacy quiz (which should be a breeze for the kid, but you never know), French qu

On Thursday night, Fox tv presented a "reinvented/reimagined/rebooted (?) version of the cult classic "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."  I tried to watch with an open mind (after all, despite what a lot of people said about NBC's very first re-entry into airing musicals, I really liked "The Sound of Music." even with its flaws).  Unfortunately, about just like everyone else I know who tuned in; I hated it.  Actually, hate is too strong a word for the show; it was so bland that the best I could probably say is that I disliked it. Full disclosure:  I AM a big fan of the original.  I can remember the first time I saw it in a movie theater (sadly now gone).  I was a junior in high school and went with two good friends.  If I recall correctly, we actually saw it on Easter!  (Since the midnight showing put us into Sunday morning.)  Then, later in college, I was part of a “troop" that performed regularly at the local movie theater. (I predominantly played

It's been a STRANGE day (and it's still early as I type this.)  Woke up this morning abruptly.  I was in the middle of a dream. (My son was mad at me for making him put away Legos...nothing abnormal about that.  Matter of fact it's pretty true to life!)  Glanced over at the clock and realized my alarm SHOULD have gone off 15 minutes ago.  Now usually I wake up 20 minutes or so before my alarm, so it's rare that I have to use it, but I DO always set it.  This is the second time it's happened over the past couple of weeks.  (I double checked it last week...made myself stay in bed until it actually DID go off, so I know that it does work!)  So I was a bit muzzy headed and trying to get myself out the door for the morning walk; and now I'm about 25 minutes behind where I usually am in the day.  And when your behind and trying to rush, you KNOW everything always ends up taking longer than it normally would! Adding to my morning confusing was the sound of chirpin

I'm a morning walker.  If you know me, or have read this blog regularly you know that.  In the warmer months, I'm out there anytime between 4:30 and 8:30 (depending on the day of the week) doing my thing.  Once the cold weather hits, all bets are off.  I head inside and do my miles via DVD. (I've been walking with Leslie Sansone's programs on and off for years. I've got her five mile in one hour [give or take] video memorized since I've done it for so many years.)  While for mileage, pace and fat burning, the indoor "walk" has the upper hand.  But for stimulating my mind (I get many of my blog ideas when I'm out walking) and getting much needed fresh air, there's nothing like a good outdoor walk. While I like to take in my surroundings while I'm out for a walk (which can be a challenge at 4:30 in the morning when it's still pretty dark out), I try to keep a good and consistent pace.  I know I can't do as many miles in an hour o

We're at 25 days until the election.  (At least if I've counted right.)  I don't like to talk politics; nor do I intend to blog about them.  My vote is mine alone (as is yours).  It is my right (and I am grateful for it) to vote as I please on November 8th.  I have voted in every presidential election since I was old enough to do so.  I would like to say I've voted in EVERY election since I was old enough to vote, but I'm going to lie...I haven't. (Hang my head in shame.)  Whether it be national or local, I feel that it's very important that I cast my vote.  It is a right that was hard fought for by those who went before me.  (I'm not just talking about women's suffrage.)  As a citizen of the United States of America, I should do my research and due diligence before casting my vote.  I should vote my conscience, knowing that despite what anyone says to the contrary, the only wasted vote is the one that is NOT cast. With that said, I will let

I'm not Jewish (my in laws are and so are plenty of my friends), but as today is Yom Kippur, I'm thinking about atonement and what it means.  Forget the biblical for a moment, and think about the word atone.  Very simply put it is to make amends or to make reparations for a wrong doing.  It's not just saying "I’m sorry," but MEANING and ACTING upon the apology. As humans we all make mistakes.  We all say and do things that we shouldn't.  And when we do, we apologize.  (Or at least I hope we do.)  But do we truly atone?  There needs to be more behind the words "I'm sorry;" there needs to be true sorrow for the words said or the deeds done.  (Not just sorrow at getting caught in the act as it were, which is what I have told my son!)  To be sorry means to reflect on what has been said or done. A hollow apology is perhaps worse than no apology at all.  (Why bother?)  As humans we need to atone.  We need to take responsibility for our words a

As October is bullying awareness month.  Is there anyone out there who has not experienced bullying at one point or another in their life?  While being bullied is an isolating experience, imagine my surprise when I found out years after the fact, that many of my peers felt the same.  Perhaps they weren't bullied by the same person, or in the same way, but they still had isolating experience.  One that they thought no one could understand, and yet perhaps most, if not all of us, can. If I asked you to name your bully, how easy would it be?  Nearly 40 years after being "picked on" by a certain kid in the elementary school, I can still remember his name and his face.  I graduated with a relatively small class (around 200 students).  I should be able to remember all of them, or at least most of them.  Looking back at my yearbook, I see faces I know and many that I can barely recall.  (How embarrassing!)  But the face of the bully will never be forgotten. It is too ea

It's been one of those mornings.  The kind where you get up and think everything's on track and then everything falls apart.  When I got back from my walk, I found my bath towel covered in...well, crap and no one seems to know how it got there.  So I had to run a wash.  Then the blouse that I planned on wearing this morning didn't match the skirt I pulled out...or any other skirt that I had.  So I am pulling things from drawers and closets trying to find an outfit that will match and looks halfway decent.  All the while, the curlers are falling out of my hair.  The clock is ticking and I still hadn't had my coffee. I needed to get my son to change his clothes (it's supposed to warm  up today) and remind him to go to lost and found for his water bottle (2nd that he's lost and we're only 2 months into the school year). I finally manage to get myself dressed and fill up a coffee mug and am halfway out the door with it when I realize that I had forgotten to fin

My beloved Nexus 4; the first smart phone I ever owned.  Was it a dream to hope that it would be my last?  How I loved your blue case (bought by my husband for less than $10 on Amazon).  How neatly you fit into my (small) palm.  Your interface so pleasing to my eye.  The many apps that I kept on you; how comforting. I wanted to hold you in my pocket (or in my purse) for an eternity.  But it was not to be. When we got together, I was just entering the "smart" world.  I may have been mocked by those who were jealous of my pink flip one, but I loved her.  However, the world told me I must move on and so I did with you.  Suddenly I was able to text and access my mail.  Then there was Facebook and Instagram.  I became addicted to you as I found that I could accurately map my daily walks (for the most part; there were those days when the app went "wonky" and all of a sudden it said that I walked a mile in 7 minutes which will NEVER be a reality for me.)  I could list

As many of you may know September was suicide prevention month.  An important topic to address, but what happens to those who are left behind after a suicide?  The following is a letter I wrote to a friend who has suffered a tremendous loss as a result of a suicide.  But it's not just for one person. It's for anyone who has been "left behind."  Hi, Well here I sit trying to think of the "right" thing to say to you. What is the right thing to do? The wake and the funeral are over, you've made it through, but the pain, I'm sure is still there. It may fade with time, but I suspect that it will never go away.  Is there a right thing to say? I'm sorry seems so trite as to all the other banalities that sympathy cards say.  What should I do for you?  What SHOULDN'T I do? I'm not going to lie.  I googled what to say to someone who has lost a child/partner/relative to suicide.  I want to be the friend who helps and is there for you and