Bfth's Boring Blog

  It's dark.  It's cold.  It's not even officially winter yet (we've got one more day of autumn...or just less than a day), and it already feels like it's been here FOREVER.     I exaggerate, I know.   But this has been a difficult year.  It's been a difficult year for me personally.  It's been a difficult year for the world.  (Is anyone going to disagree with me on that?)  I know that life is never easy.  (Does anyone think it ever is?  If so, I want to know you!)  And while there have been plenty of positives in my life this year, there has also been a great deal of anxiety, stress, hurt and doubt.  Like many, I feel a heaviness inside me.  (And I'm not talking about physical weight.) As the shortest, darkest day of the year approaches, I need to remind myself that life is a pendulum.  It swings high and it goes low.  Neither of which lasts forever.  (Although it may seem like ...

  It's December 17.  According to  National Day Calendar  it's National Say It Now Day.  Now while I admit we've gone overboard in creating "days" to celebrate certain things, this one stands out for me.  According to the site:  "December 17 is National Say It Now Day as a day to tell friends and loved ones how important they are to us by expressing gratitude for all the ways they’ve impacted our lives. With the year winding down, it’s the perfect time to show gratitude to those around us for all they have done during the year. We all need to make time for gratitude. National Say It Now Day gives us a chance to pause and reflect on what people mean to us. We encourage people everywhere to take a moment to tell their friends and loved ones how much they mean to them while they are still around to hear it. Don't wait! Say It Now!" I will say that December 16th was a particularly rough one for me.  This month has been difficult with work and tha...

  Dear Dad, For years and years (decades and decades?) you faithfully went down to the "family plot" every December and hung a wreath on the large headstone.  It was quite a process.  When you were younger, you purchased a "plain" wreath and decorated it yourself.  In later years, I believe you purchased one that already was decorated.  One weekend afternoon, you would go down with the wreath, twine, mallet, piece of cardboard and stake to  hang it.  It was at least a two person job. The stake would go in the ground behind the headstone.  Twine would be tied to the wreath.  The wreath would be carefully positioned so that the cross at the top of the headstone would be (somewhat) visible in the middle of the wreath.  A piece of cardboard would be tented at top of stone and then the wreath would be lowered and the twine tied to the stake.  (The cardboard was so that the twine would not damage the stone.)  It was a simple enough ...

  Christmas and Hanukkah are less than two weeks away.  The end of 2024 is on the horizon.  I'm stressed and exhausted.  I know I'm on the only one.  As stressed and exhausted as I am, I can't imagine how those who work in retail and the service industries must be. I took yesterday and today off of work, so you think I'd be resting up.  You'd be wrong.   Yesterday, before I went to pick up my son at college, I logged in to my office laptop to take care of a few items.  (Note:  I'd also done a few things the night before.)  Then I went to get my son which took longer than expected. (Dealing with one traffic jam due to an accident on the highway with no injuries and gridlock on the Staten Island Expressway.)  Then it was the two hour drive to the Poconos, during which my son asked if we had an iron in the house.  We did not.  So after we got home (stopping at one store to see if they had an iron and ironing board, t...

  It's been a confusing weather week when it comes to what to wear. Yesterday was my office holiday party as well as a team holiday lunch.  That calls for ugly sweaters right?  Well yesterday it hit 60 degrees!  It was also foggy  .,(really foggy...I actually took a later bus because I was afraid the driver wouldn't be able to see me, that's how foggy it was) and rainy.  Not conducive to a warm holiday sweater. Thankfully, I have a seasonal long sleeve t-shirt from Life Is Good .  With a pair of black pants, I figured it was holiday enough.  With a lined windbreaker (thanks to my thrift shop...you need an inexpensive coat, go there), bags (with my White Elephant gift exchange gift) and umbrella I made it to the office.  I will admit I was chilly in the office.  (Why is cold air ALWAYS blowing?  Doesn't matter what the season is, cold air.  And this is why I have an unauthorized heater under my desk.  I've used it during th...

  It was your average, ordinary Saturday here in the Poconos.   Does such a thing exist?  Maybe.  Maybe not. It does seem like a typical, albeit COLD day.  (Bfth, you live in the Pocono Mountains you should have expected this...but I didn't.)  It's a day of average, ordinary things.  Getting up, having coffee and watching  CBS Saturday Morning .  With the holidays around the corner, I write out a few Christmas cards. (Yes, I still do that.)  And then it's off in the frigid air to run a few errands. The hubby and I go out together.  I drop the cards at the post office.  We head to  Ollie's  to shop because I have a coupon that is going to expire before Christmas and I could use a little retail therapy.  I was happy to see my favorite cashier, Shavonna on duty (for reference:   https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2024/11/pocono-adventures-in-weather.html ).  We shop around, picking up a few t...

 That's what I'm calling her.  He is OBSESSED with her. Seriously OBSESSED!  Who is she?  He calls her Rosie, as in Rosie the Robot from The Jetsons.  And she is indeed a "robot."  Or at least a vacuum-bot. Here is a (blurry) photo of his beloved in action: He has long wanted a robot vacuum.  Unfortunately our home in NJ is not conducive to it.  Too many stairs.  Too areas with rugs and different kinds of flooring.  It would have been a mess.  It would have been a disaster!  (Most likely ending in an untimely death of the poor robot that tried to clean the house.)  H owever, in the Poconos we are basically on one floor.  (I'm ignoring the basement and the loft above the family room.)  There are no rugs to trip over.  There is a lot of open space, which makes for robot maneuvering ease.  Now was the time to purchase.  So we did.  (Okay, so my mother-in-law did for her son. What can I say, s...

 Everyone makes mistakes.  There's a wonderful song that confirms this sung by Big Bird with the refrain: "Cause everyone makes mistakes, 0h, yes they do. Your sister and your brother and your dad and mother too. Big people, small people, matter of fact, all people. Everyone makes mistakes, so why can't you?"  It's a lesson we need children to learn and we need to remember and perhaps relearn.   I once worked for the president of a company who could be a little gruff.  (Okay, maybe a lot.)  However, he was fair and one of the best things he did (at least for me) was not just to call out any errors or made, but to use it as a "teachable moment."  It turned a negative into a positive (sort of).  Most importantly it did not allow me to sow the seeds of self-doubt in myself. I don't need help to sow those seeds.  I freely admit that I have low self-esteem.  If you give me a pep talk full of all sorts of wonderful things, but include...

  We're three days in and I am realizing that this year is coming to a close.  How the heck did that happen?  I swear I don't know what day it is, what month it is or what year it is!  This year has been that crazy.  (But don't I say that every single year?  Do I?)  Part of me thinks it's already 2025, whereas other parts of me still think it's 2023 or even 2022.  (Was 2022 two years ago?  Was it?) I am so confused.  The weather has suddenly turned cold. (It's supposed to turn cold, it's December!)  I'm not prepared for it.  (Even though I should be.)  It snowed the week before Thanksgiving.  (We got next to nothing; a few miles up the road they got nearly a foot!)  It snowed on Thanksgiving.  It snowed the day after Thanksgiving.  (I wasn't expecting it and since it was dark outside when I went for a quick run to Walmart, I was surprised to see the flakes coming down and coating my car as I drove alo...

  I know there are people who like going to the dentist.  I am NOT one of them.  I don't think anyone in my immediate family is one of them.  So if you ARE a person who likes going to the dentist, maybe you can tell me what it is you do like and how I can get myself to like it? To be honest, it's been a LONG time since any of us (son, husband and myself) has been to a dentist. I'm pretty sure my son was still in high school. (I know...not good)  Since we have dental insurance this is kind of silly, but... But here's my issue; the last time the three of us went to "our dentist" (I put that in quotes because the provider that is listed, none of us has seen since before the pandemic.  There is another dentist on staff who has checked us out, but the person who supposedly runs the place has been absent even though their name is on the door), I did not automatically set up another appointment.  We always would try to make an appointment together on the same...

  I knew Thanksgiving was going to be different this year.  Thanksgiving has been different for the past several years, but this year would be a really big change.  So how did the holiday (actually the whole week) go?  Here are some thoughts... Work:  I am thankful that I didn't have to go into the office at all this week.  (Praying that will also be the case for Christmas/New Year's week...keep those fingers crossed and say those prayers.)  I was able to work from (the Pocono) home from the Thursday before the holiday through Tuesday (I was off Wednesday).  For me there is no downside to working from home, but work itself has been very challenging.  The end of the year is always a challenge and this year seems to be more so than ever.  (Do I say that every year?)  Because I try to be completely honest, I will say that Monday and Tuesday had me feeling useless and depressed, due to a variety of issues.  Changes and challenges a...