Bfth's Boring Blog

Recently a Facebook friend (meaning we've become friends on social media, but I've never actually met him face to face), asked all his friends online if 2020 had been the worst year of their life.  Surprisingly, most of them said that it wasn't.  I'd have to concur.  That's not to say that 2020 hasn't been a shitty year and, as a whole, 2020 is probably the worst year for our country and perhaps even the world.  However, on a PERSONAL level it comes in at #2 when it comes to awful years. 2012 goes down in my book as the worst year of my life.  (And that is NOT a challenge; although maybe 2020 took it as one.)  It was the year (in chronological order) that my husband's grandfather died, my brother died, I lost my job (which while I may  have complained about from time to time, I really liked), my parents’ home was robbed and Superstorm Sandy destroyed my family  home as well as taking most of what I loved at the NJ shore with it.  2012 has so many personal pa

  Although we are still in the Christmas season (doesn't end until Epiphany, January 6th), I think it's safe to say that Christmas has come and gone in our house and despite the strangeness, it was pretty good.  And in a year like 2020, I think that's a win. Some thoughts: Christmas Eve morning I made my Raspberry-Cream Cheese Candy Cane Crescent Danish, but didn't bother to make it a candy cane shape.  (Photo below is before I threw it in the oven...recipe can be found on the Pillsbury website...I don't even bother to brush it with the glaze once it's out of the oven.  It's got enough sugar in it as it is!)  I'm glad I didn't bother because I got one piece (large, but not too large) and by the time I got home from volunteering at the thrift shop (I was off work that day;  although I did check in as I always seem to do), it was 75% gone.  This is what happens when you have a teenage boy in the house.  (This is also the reason that I find crumbs throu

It's the first full day of winter...and I've been whammed. ( https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2018/12/i-survived-whamageddeon-and-other.html ).  I really thought I'd make it "this Christmas" seeing how I mostly listen to Sirius XM's Accoustic Christmas and Jazz Holidays at my desk and most recently during my drives to check in on my parents I've had Chris Isaak's  Christmas   playing.  (Have a listen to "Washington Square," it's particularly poignant this year, although I find "Last Month of the Year" to be the most spiritually uplifting; something we all need.)  It was reasonable to think that I'd make it through the season without facing Whamageddeon, but I turned on  the news this morning  and got hit before they went to the weather. I wish I could say that it the "worst" thing this holiday season, but you know it's not. Just the other day, a friend went to the hospital and tested positive for Covid.  He

No this is not a political post.  (Hurrah!)  And before I go any further, this post is NOT to undermine or criticize my local educational system.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, I believe that we are ALL trying to do our best in a situation that is a complete mess.  And even as we move toward the light of hope, there is still a long road with plenty of bumps to deal with.  (LOTS of bumps that might often feel like mountains.) With that said, we got ANOTHER email about some changes in the high school come 2021.  Yes MORE changes.  How am I ever going to get this down?  I need another fold out road map!  (That's what we used to use in the pre-Waze and Google maps days.)  I know as the situation changes, we need to evolve too, but... It wasn't that long about that I wrote about t he 5th day of school .  In that very article there were numerous other links to posts about other ups and downs that we have navigated during this remote/hybrid school year. As I write

  I'm good at many things.  That's not a brag.  That's a fact.  I'm a good mother, wife and daughter.  I'm a pretty good cook.    I'd like to think I'm a good writer.  (I'd like to say great, but I'm not that pompous.)  Everyone is good at something.  Everyone is great at something.  (I'm not sure what my great is.) On the flip side, everyone is lousy at something.  I am lousy at lot of things.  But the thing that I really stink at and becomes blatantly apparent every year at this time is wrapping.  I am a total loser when it comes to wrapping gifts. I am in my 50s and I have NEVER been good at wrapping gifts.  I have tried many things.  I have tried high quality paper.  I have watched videos.  I have planned everything out.  I have taken my time.  NOTHING works for me.  I never cut the paper right. Even with "professional tools" my corners never fold properly.  Heck, my bows won't even stay on!  I have been trying for DECADES a

 I'm feeling very emotional this Monday.  No surprise there. This has been a year of emotions.  Two things weigh on my mind today: The 8th Anniversary of Sandy Hook:  There wasn't really any news on this today.  In the year that we've been having, I suppose that's semi-understandable.  This one really hits me every year.   Twenty of the twenty six people who were senselessly killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT were children under the age of eight.  My son was in that age bracket.  My son went to an elementary school not unlike Sandy Hook.  My son went to school that day, just as all those children did.  For our family it was just another day.  For the families of Newtown, it would never be.  The fact that some individuals called this horrific event hoax (not unlike the "hoax" that we are currently embedded in), still makes me question humanity.  The massacre of school children is NOT to be debated. There is a small playground near my parent&#

  Its Friday, December 11th...there are only 20 more days left to this wretched year.  Many of us see Friday and call it Fri-Yay because it's the start of the weekend.  Of course this does not apply to those who work the weekends.   And these days, I'm not sure the weekends are worth celebrating.  Don't the days blur into each?  How do we know what day it is anyway?  (So my alarm doesn't go off on the weekends, but maybe it should?) I am taking Fridays off in December. (Hence the Yay!)  Why?  Because I have too many vacation days left and I need to use up as many as I can or lose them.  Of course this time of year is busy for me professionally as well as personally, so I'm trying to balance it all out.  I know I will check into my office email probably sometime today.  I checked my email last weekend too (on Saturday) because I knew things would be crazy and I couldn't check in on Friday.  (I was at the Jersey shore doing some things with my parents.)  Sure en

  It's back to school time...again...for day # 5. This post is not to slam or criticize teachers, staff or administrators.  We are all trying to do our best.  I get it, but this is crazy.  And I have enough crazy in my life. Let's recap:   The first day of in person school  for my teen son was November 9.  He is in group A.  There are 3 rotating groups (A, B, C) and 1 group (D) with special needs that goes every day; when the physical school is open.  He went to school on Monday, November 9.  He went to school on  Thursday, November 12.   He went Tuesday, November 17th.  He went on Friday, November 20th.  (That was the day that I messed up big time and forgot to fill out the form that has to be filled out before he can be admitted to the building:   https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/why-i-am-losing-my-mind.html .  It was also the day after the one day that school switched to remote when someone in the school tested positive.)  Day 5 was SUPPOSED to be Wednesday, Nove

  It's December 9th and I'm about to drink the last of the pumpkin spice coffee with my pumpkin spice creamer.  I know, it's WAY past pumpkin spice season and I am breaking my very own, no pumpkin spice after Thanksgiving weekend, but there you have it.  I bought too many bags of pumpkin spice coffee from  Wawa  (Is there such a thing?) and you they had to be finished.  (I have not purchased any of their holiday blend and I'm wondering if I should?  Any other Wawa fanatics out there who want to chime in?  Would it be worth the 20 minute drive to try and get some?  And if I do, should I wear my new Wawa sweatshirt?  [Which was a secret Santa type of thing gift; one of the best I've ever gotten, although a pair of Wawa jogger pants would have been cool])   Now usually pumpkin spice rules should not be broken, but this has been a year where we don't necessarily break the rules, but sometimes we have to bend/stretch them a little to keep ourselves sane. For example,

  40 years is a LONG time.  40 years ago today John Lennon was shot and killed.  It was a long time ago and yet it is still fresh.  Every year is a painful reminder. I look at my son who is older now than I was on that day in 1980.  If this were a normal year, he'd be walking the same high school halls that I did on December 8th.  That kind of floors me. I think back to what we, the world, lost that day 40 years ago.  We lost a musician.  We lost a poet.  We lost an activist.  We lost a writer.  We lost... Although not a relative or friend to most of us, we mourned together.  Many of us still do on this day.  Some publically; some privately.  We mourn the loss of  all the things I mentioned above, but above all we mourn the loss of a man.  We mourn the senseless loss of life.  We mourn what could have been and never will be. Some are still angry that this happened.  Angry that this could still happen.  Angry that we, as a country have still not done enough to prevent such violence.

 I'm a pretty intelligent person.  I'm not super smart and I'm not Wiley E Coyote Super Genius either.  But over the past several days the following little things have puzzled me and irritated me like a green headed fly that nips at your legs at the beach and no matter what you do to try to get it go to away (including slathering yourself in repellent) keeps coming back. Question 1:  Why can't I get my toilet clean?  I'd show you a picture but I don't want you to get grossed out.  I can get the bowl pretty clean.  Or perhaps I should say clean enough not to be an embarrassment, but the underpart (underbelly?) of the seat is discolored and I can't get it to go away.  It's not like it's dirty or well you know...it's just that parts of it look awful and I can't figure out what to do or why it happens.  I'm not ready to invest in a new toilet seat. (How often should you get a new toilet seat any way?  Should that even be a thing?)  Surely som

  I think it's safe to say that this holiday season is going to be different than any other we have experienced.  It's going to be different that what we might have ever imagined.  I wonder if anyone had or could have imagined the year that we have almost gone through. Even as we adapt this holiday season, there are some traditions that I am clinging to and with (I think) good reason.  This year more than ever we need hope. (Which just happens to be what the first Sunday in Advent is all about...I didn't do an Advent post this past Sunday so I had to work it in somehow!)  My method of spreading hope (and holiday cheer)?  Christmas Cards!  As long as I can remember (at least for my adult life), I've been sending out cards.  ( https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/christmas-cards.html ).  Back in the day (this would be last century), for some special friends the card also included a holiday mixed tape.  This, once I was married, evolved into a mixed cd.  With the d

I spent much of the month of November counting my blessings.  I wrote a message of gratitude every day. It really made me realize how much I DO have to be thankful for.  I really only bitched once here:   https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/screened-in.html  and that was more than halfway through the month.  And I AM thankful for so many things, but... Yes, it's the first of the month and I am bitching and moaning right off the bat.  So on this, the first day of the last month of this most horrible year, I'm going to going to let it all fly.  And you can thank Home Depot for today's post. I know we are in the middle of a pandemic.  I also know that people are doing whatever they can to bring some joy into their lives. Many of us are spending money on things we don't necessarily need, but we want.  We've been denied much; why shouldn't we indulge a little? Since the holidays are looking a lot different this year, I know I'm compensating with decorat