Bfth's Boring Blog

 I knew when we returned from vacation that things were going to be a bit chaotic, but I didn't know how chaotic...Let me backtrack to the days PRIOR to our getaway.   A week or so ago, we noticed that our refrigerator was not working properly.  Because we live in an old house, there is no room for a fridge in our kitchen; it resides on a landing as you head down to our basement.  It's a tight space that calls for a specific size fridge that is not always easy to find.  (And of course is not cheap.)  As a matter of fact, we have found that  Summit  is the company that only really manufactures what we need.  We knew that appliances are difficult to get during the pandemic, but with some research, we managed to find a local company (they only deliver to NY and NJ) that actually had what we needed IN STOCK.  I was very impressed with  Designer Appliances .  The customer service I received was excellent.  (Which is sadly rare these days.)  They said they would be able to deliver

  ...is you have to come home. But there's more to it than that.  We set up high expectations for our vacations (not unlike family holidays) which are almost impossible to meet.  We expect things to be picture perfect and they rarely are.  The weather is bad.  A meal is bad.  The wait is too long.  Travel is uncomfortable.  You name it.  We SHOULD prepare ourselves for it, but most times we don't.  We set an unrealistic bar and then when it comes crashing down it devastates us.   For this past long weekend vacation that my family took to my happy place in the Poconos ( Skytop , which you'll know if you've read any of my previous posts on vacations).  I have to say that despite some weather related challenges, this was one of our best family vacations and times.  There was a lot of laughter and that's what we really needed.  We enjoyed our meals in the Windsor dining room and shared some outrageous things that we saw and heard during the day.  (To the woman on

  The other day I got a catalog that warned me on the cover that this might be the last one they ever sent to me!  (Shock and horror!)  The thing is, this catalog has never been in my mailbox before and I've never heard of the company.  However, if I didn't order from them it might be my last.  I think I can live with that.  Despite my spotty mail service, I have noticed that I am getting more "junk" mail.  I'm definitely getting more solicitations from organizations that I have NEVER donated to before.  Some of I have never heard of before.  And if I don't know you or have a personal connection with you/your organization, you're not getting my money.   That's not to say that I'm not charitable.  I'd like to think I am.  I also know I could and perhaps SHOULD do more.  I just try to be wise when it comes to donations.  I only give to organizations that I truly believe in and have some knowledge about.  And I don't give to ANY political pa

We had a hymn sing at my church today.  We used to do it every summer, but then... This one was a little different.  A "modified" sing if you will. There were maybe 30 of us in a space that holds over 300.  We were masked.  We were socially distant.  But we did sing the hymns that members of the congregation have requested. I had been asked to tell them what my favorite hymn is as part of the service as part of the children's sermon.  Today, there were no children (it is summer after all), but I won't give up an opportunity to speak (just for a few minutes), so here's what I said:  I don't know if it's my favorite hymn, because honestly there are quite a few hymns that speak to me, but when I thought about it and put it in the context of speaking with children, this one immediately jumped out at me. It's a song that was sung every time I picked my son up at camp. (FYI it's Camp Jburg  and yes, they are having camp this summer, but my son is workin

There is one person who I hope DOESN'T read this blog post.  I don't know who that person is though and that's the whole point. Let me start out by saying I try to walk every day.  Or at least every day when it's warm enough and dry enough.  As I wrote earlier, I have  osteopenia   so I definitely want to avoid any falls.  (I've only had one really bad fall in all my years of walking and thankfully nothing broke, but my hands and face DID get torn up).  Although I've been moving slower (which I hate), I've been trying to walk longer so that I'm still getting a good distance.  I try, at least Monday - Thursday for the most part, to go just over five miles. I use an app to track my distance. (I'm back to MapMyWalk, although I've also used Adidas' Runtastic.)  I try to save every walk so that I can look back and track all my miles.  (Although I do forget sometimes and sometimes I forget to start the app but that's another story.)  The ap

After working for the same company for nearly 6 years I have a lot of vacation days. Or at least a lot of vacation days if you live in the United States. Obviously if I lived overseas I would get more vacation time.    Despite the fact that I get a good amount of vacation time, I haven't taken a full week off since June 2016. That was before I started my current position. Ever since then I've only taken two or three days off at a time because the work just builds up.  The more time I take off the more stressful it is when I come back.  I'm hoping to change that in the future.  (I really NEED a Disney vacation, but that's a whole other story.)   Because Thursdays are generally slower days in my office I decided to take this Thursday August 11th off.  I felt that I needed to go see my parents at the shore and check in.  Thursday seemed like a good day. So let m, e tell you about my "vacation" day...   I remembered to turn off my alarm. Usually my alarm goe

 Several weeks ago I went for my annual physical. (It had been more than a year; thanks Covid-19.)  If you missed the experience:   https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2021/07/i-am-privileged.html  here's what I had to say about it. I just got my results back about my boobs and bones.   The boobs were successfully squished and all is good.  Of course, they'll have to be squished again next year. That's the drill. The bones...well they show osteopenia.  I'd never heard that term before, but according to WebMD:  "Think of it as a midpoint between having healthy bones and having osteoporosis. Osteopenia is when your bones are weaker than normal but not so far gone that they break easily, which is the hallmark of osteoporosis."  Not awful, but not great.  Also not unexpected.  Osteoporosis does run in my family so... The doctor's office told me to do 2 things.  The first was to start taking vitamin D.  (I was surprised they didn't say calcium, but...)  Si

It's funny how things come to you.  The other day I flashed back to when I was a kid and spending time with a woman who I called "Aunt" Winnie.  (She wasn't a blood relative, but you know what I mean)  This came about as I was listened to a sermon about bread. That may sound strange but the particular passage that was being used (John 6:35, 41-51) mentions a lot!  (Check it out for yourself!) The priest spoke in great length about bread, particularly how it was important at his family's table. He reflected back on a restaurant where he went with his family called The Afton.  When he mentioned that restaurant a light just went off in the back of my head.  I remembered that I had gone to the same restaurant several times; always (only) with "Aunt" Winnie. I hadn't thought about that in years because wasn't a restaurant that was really close by to my home.  (And it turns out it no longer exists...replaced by a bank.  Ugh!) Then he mentioned the rest

      It's Friday, so that means its ShopRite day.  Or as it's also known, weekly grocery store day.  Although I do take trips to other grocery stores and I do end up getting groceries more than once a week (and it's becoming an expensive trend), Friday is THE day that we (the hubby and I) do our big load.  (The load that's supposed to take us through the week, but never really does.)  For the longest time (and I'm not sure how long), Friday has been "our day" to grocery shop.   In the beginning it was a weird kind of date night.  Who has a date night in the aisles of Shoprite?  I guess we did.  We'd go on Friday night and maybe grab something for dinner.  When our son came along, we adjusted our schedule.  When we could (back in the days when my son fit in a baby carrier), we'd go during the day; something we really tried to do because it was so much easier than Friday evening.  Any time that is easy for a family is the right time.  (I can remem

  There's an old saying:  "A man may work from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done."  I embody that saying most days.  Yesterday I REALLY owned it. When my eyes snapped open before 4 in the morning, there was no closing of the eyes for another 15 or 20 minutes. (I would have done on a normal day since my early alarm goes off at 4:13 and if I'm tired or being "lazy" [am I lazy?] my later alarm goes off at 4:48.  Yes, I know those are odd times, but I am odd.)  It was up and throw on some "workout clothes" (aka a top from the day before and a pair of shorts) and get out the door as quickly.  But not before running to the basement to pick up the lawn signs that declared there was a birthday at the house.  I needed to do that after my 5 mile walk.  (Which is taking me longer and longer to do these days.  Almost 20 minutes per mile which is awful, but as discouraging as that may be, I'm not giving up.  And I'm not giving up on the

 For the past 16 years on this day I have pretty much worn the same thing.    I think I did make a conscious decision (sort of) back in 2005 to wear something associated with Disney.  And I MAY have made a conscious decision to wear the exact same thing the following year.  But now it's become a tradition and I just can't stop.  Well, almost... On August 4th I come as close as I can to wearing what I wore the day my son was born.  For 16 years I have always worn this top:   It was one of several inexpensive sleeveless shirts I bought at least 2 years before my son was born at a now defunct Kmart.  (The vacant building is currently a county vaccination site. GET YOUR VACCINE!)  If I recall correctly I also bought a hot pink button down with Minnie Mouse on it, which I no longer have.  I'm guessing the shirt is close to 20 years old and it's starting to show it's wear (I've used a Clorox bleach pen on it a couple of times.)  Until it utterly falls apart, I think I