Bfth's Boring Blog

It's a beautiful fall day in NJ today.  Blue skies.  Trees in full autumnal color.  Warm enough to be out in the sun without a jacket.  (Although once that sun starts to go down it's going to be a different story.)  A perfect Saturday. How different it was 10 years ago.  Knowing that a hurricane was coming.  Knowing that a Nor'easter was coming.  Not knowing exactly what would happen.  Knowing it would be bad.  Not knowing how bad it would be. Waiting after the storm had passed and still not knowing.  Then seeing the photos: Was our house still there?  It was, but it would be a long time before anyone was able to get back on the barrier island.  Getting there was not easy, even after the path had been cleared.  Seeing the land where I had spent my summers completely dissemated. We were lucky enough to be able to find a contractor right away (which was both a good thing and a bad thing).  My mother was determined to be able to get into the house by Memorial Day 2013.  The de

  You may talk about peer pressure with your child, but what about parent pressure?  We see it in movies and on tv; the couple who are trying to get their yet to be born child into an exclusive pre-school.  Or on the news (pre-Covid) where parents (some of whom are celebrities) paid to get their children into top tier colleges.  Crazy! I've tried to avoid this (even as I put pressure on my son to do his best and most likely overdoing it).  I know that my son is talented.  I know that my son is smart. I know that my son is handsome.  I know that my family is (somewhat) privileged.  HOWEVER...my son is NOT the smartest, the most talented or the most handsome and while I recognize our privilege in society as a whole (white suburban neighborhood family), we are hardly PRIVILEGED.  We, as a family, try to be "average."  I think my son is a relatively typical teen, while being uniquely unique.  (Yes I purposely wrote it that way.)  He participates in a few activities, but not s

Wednesday, October 19th:  It was a big day in my household.  My son drove to school for the first time.  Even more important, I didn't have a nervous breakdown over it. One of the reasons I didn't have an anxiety attack was because I was not at home.  Wednesday is office day.  So while he was still lounging in bed (due to standardized testing he didn't have to be at school until after nine), I was walking down to the bus stop.  Walking quickly because I am always afraid I will miss the bus (even though I give myself a 5 minute buffer) and because it was COLD this morning.  There was FROST on some lawns and I was warming a relatively warm jacket, but not completely appropriate for the morning.  Why?  Because I knew it was going to warm up and by the time I got home and headed UP HILL to the house, I wouldn't need a jacket.  (I'd have to stuff it in my tote bag along with my laptop, purse, lunch box and other assorted crap that I feel compelled to carry.) You all know

  Dear Mom, You wanted your grandson to have your car and it's finally happened.  Your Buick is sitting in my driveway.  (Blocking in my car and I guess we're going to have a fun time juggling cars around; especially when the winter comes.)  It still is owned by you, has your personalized plates, and is registered to you.  I know all that has to change.  I still have to figure that all out.  (I'm sure it's going to be complicated because NOTHING is simple.  What all the steps are and in what order I have to take them is stressing me out, but I WILL figure it out and I will take care of it.  I don't have any choice, do I?) I'm trying to figure out when you might have last driven it.  It would have been in 2021 because I'm pretty sure you didn't drive at all this year.  I don't think you drove it after last autumn.  If I recall correctly, you attempted to drive yourself to the hospital last November (when things started to really go downhill), but a ne

 I'm starting right off by saying this post is going to be about my recent mammogram and Cologuard experiences.  I'm sharing stuff you might not want to know about.  If you're curious keep reading.  If you are grossed out; I get it.  Stop right now and go look at some adorable cat photos or play Wordle if you haven't already today.  It's okay; I'm cool with it. With that out of the way... First up was the mammogram.  I am NOT a fan of getting the boobs squeezed, but it does need to be done annually.  The facility that I always go to is extremely professional and caring, which is why I do this every year without much thought.  If the experience were not positive, I think it would be a different story.  So hat's off to the  facility .  Honestly, the most difficult part was filling everything out on line so that I didn't have to do it when I got there.  Uploading photos of my insurance card and the prescription was not as easy as I would have liked, but tha

I was back in the office on Wednesday.  It had been three weeks since I had last gone it due to personal scheduling conflicts (like getting my son a driver's license last Wednesday morning :  https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-mvc-story.html )  As much as I would like to avoid going into the office (because I get more done working from home and it's so much more convenient), it was not something that could be avoided forever, so Wednesday, Oct 12th meant packing up a (heavy) tote bag and catching a bus again. The tote bag was heavy because in addition to my laptop and lunch pack (in which I did not pack enough lunch, but we'll get to that in a minute), were two framed photos and an empty travel coffee mug.  I am going to have to be in a boring "work space" I can at least personalize it a bit.  So I found two photos (one of which used to be on my desk when I worked in a different office) and packed them up.  One is of my very young son with Pluto an

It is a sunny warm morning in October. It was cold outside in the early hours but now the sun is shining bright on my patio and it feels like summer. I have swapped out my sweater for a sleeveless top. It feels like summer. So I am just sitting here taking a break from work. Taking I guess what could be considered my lunch break. All I can think is that it's a beautiful summer day. I wish it was the 4th of July. I wish it was the 4th of July 2022 all over again. Mom, I miss you so much and I wish it was the 4th of July. I don't intend to be cruel or mean or dismissive but I feel like July 4th 2022 was the last really good day that I had. That's not to dismiss the wonderful vacation my family took back in August. That's not a dismiss all of the good things that I've experienced since July 4th to now. It's just a July 4th 2022 was almost the last really GOOD happy day.  It was the day that I drove down to see my mother in the hospital. She was so happy to see me b

  For me, (regular) walking season is coming to an end.  It's getting harder to get up in the morning; it's dark and it's cold.  While I can work with either, it does make the whole walk more difficult for me in the early morning, which is the only consistent time I walk.  I am the kind of person who needs to get up and do it first thing or else it will slide.  I may have good intentions, but "stuff" has a way of getting in my path and before I know it, the day is over.  I know I could walk at lunch break, but I'd rather kick back and relax then.  (If it's good and sunny, I would much rather pull out a good book and read over lunch on the patio.  I'm going to milk that patio for all it's worth.  If I can be out there...I am going to be out there.)I could do it at the end of the day, but by then I'm lazy and just not motivated.  For me, it's get up and go or the likelihood of getting a walk in is slim. There were no morning walks for most

Dear Mom, It's been three months (13 weeks).  Fall is truly here (the heat is on in the house and I'm dreading the oil costs this winter), but it is a beautiful sunny day.  If I recall correctly, it wasn't a sunny day three months ago.  I suppose that's not important, but as the months pass and memories start to fade out, it's unsettling.  I feel like it's important to remember the day and all of the details.  Instead all that comes back to me is that I ate half a  Wawa  pretzel in your room and I planned on going to Walmart that afternoon.  Which I obviously I didn't.  I didn't realize how close you were to the end.  Even though I knew that time was at a premium, I thought there would be more of it. We are in the thick of looking at colleges...something I wish I could talk to you about.  Your grandson was actually up early and headed into NYC with two friends to go to an event:   SAIC  Day In NYC.  Do I want him to go to Chicago when he graduates?  Hell

 I had my annual physical the other day.  It had been a little over a year, but I TRY to go annually since I am lucky enough to have coverage that allows an annual physical. Last week I went in to get my blood drawn  (I still have the bruise to prove it) and to pee in a cup (always fun in the morning).  Then this week I went in to meet the doctor and go over my results. (I have only seen her for my annual physicals.  She's been my doctor for about 4 or so years, since my previous physician retired and I haven't had to see her for any illnesses which is a good thing.) Usually the check up goes pretty quickly.  She gives me my test results (which were, as they always have been, pretty normal) and does a check of the heart and lungs.  She writes me a script for my bp meds (my dosage has decreased over the years, which is a good thing) and one for the annual mamogram.  This year it took a little longer.  She mentioned colonoscopy (which freaks me out...especially since my mom woke

  You are probably NOT going to believe what I am about to write, but I swear it's true.  On the other hand, maybe you WILL believe what I am about to write and maybe you have your own unbelievable story that you can tell. My story is about the MVC.  You MIGHT know what that is if you live in NJ; in other states it's known as the DMV.  Any acronym you use, be it MVC (Motor Vehicle Commission) or DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) or anything else, you know that my story is going to be a nightmare, don't you? The tale goes back to August when my son turned 17.  He had taken and pasted his written test.  I found a driving school for him and he did behind the wheel and got  his permit.  He practiced driving (with me being a total basket case) and on his 17th birthday we had an appointment at our "local" testing center.  (This was apparently automatically set up when he got his permit.  It wasn't until another parent mentioned to me that road tests were automatica

  Senior year is full of lasts.  Tonight is one of the first of the lasts.  The very last Back to School night. Having a senior, is it really that important to go?  Thanks to Covid, I say with strong conviction YES! The last back to school night I physically attended was when my son was a freshman.  Over the last two years, we've had virtual or pre-recorded "meets."  (If I recall correctly we had more virtual meets in 2020 than in 2021.  I guess by 2021 most teachers were over it [and who can blame them] and made video recordings that could be viewed at any time during the evening.)  This will be the first time I am meeting some teachers that my son has had before.  It is the first time I will be able to thank them in person.  The first time that I will be able to get to know them and get a feel for what they think of my son.  (And would they be a good person to write a letter of recommendation?  This is top most in my mind as we visited yet another college on Saturday