Bfth's Boring Blog

    While my family has owned at house at the Jersey shore since 1995, we've been part of this community since 1972.  And although we were not always full timers, I would never have considered us  Bennys   (or a  Shoobie , if we had been heading further south).   We were respectful of the island.   We followed the rules at the beach and at "home.” (Because even if we didn't own it, it was our home for the time being. My mother always made sure we took care of the home,) For me the term Benny is more a state of mind than where you are from or how long you might stay.  In my mind, Benny’s don't care about this place. And for a Benny this is just a place. For my family, for me, and for the people who love it, this is not just a place. This is home. This is a small slice of God's heaven on earth with its sun sand and sea. All need to be respected, cared for, and even nurtured.  As things have changed down here at the New Jersey shore, I see more of a Benny mindset.

  When I was a kid (yes, this was back in the last century),  when we would head to the shore (because you know we spent our summers at the NJ shore), as we crossed the bridge from the mainland onto the island, my mother would make us roll down all the windows in the car (we had to MANUALLY do this, if you can believe it) and BREATHE.  You wanted to inhale that sea air; fill your nose with the scent of ocean (mixed with the bay).  Fill your lungs with that air. When we go away to the mountains ( you know where ), even though the lodge is air conditioned, I like to turn the air off and open the windows, especially at night.  The cool mountain air is great for sleeping.  Nature supporting good health. Whenever I can, I like to open the windows:  in my car and in my house.  Now I know this isn't ideal during peak allergy season when the pollen count is through the roof.  And I do close the windows when I've got the heat on, and when I (reluctantly) have to turn on the air cond

No, I'm not turning 60 (yet...it's getting closer and closer) and it's NOT my birthday. (That's just over 2 weeks away...get your shopping done now!)  Today would have been my parents’ 60th anniversary.  (I wish I could share some photos of the day, but I can't seem to find their wedding album.) The last time I wrote about my parents’ anniversary was 10 years ago! (  https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/50-years.html )  Boy things were a lot different then! As their anniversary approached and with Memorial Day just around the corner, I've been doing a lot thinking about them.  I've been thinking about what would have been their last anniversary together in 2022.  Both had serious health issues at the time; but there was no way to know that it would have been their last anniversary together.  There was no way to know how quickly things would turn for the worse and that in just a week or so my mother would end up in the hospital and never return to the

  He (my son) hasn't been home for a week yet, and I'm still struggling with some of the adjustments. I wonder HOW did I do this before?  The answer is, I didn't really.  The person who lived with us for 18 years was a child who hadn't lived on his own.  Now he's an adult who's been on his own (sort of) and living a different life than what we have here. Living in a small house with an adult child is a BIG adjustment. Saturday my husband and I took a road trip to upstate NY.  I didn't think we'd be gone that long; we'd be home in time for dinner.  However, the trip took longer than anticipated (thank you construction) and we had a very late lunch which meant neither of us would want dinner.  I had my husband let our son know that he was on his own for dinner.  This is not a big deal right?   We got home around dinner time and my son declared there was nothing to eat in the house.  The pizza that I brought home from lunch was not acceptable, a san

  I KNOW I complain a lot (too much?) about bad customer service.  That's because customer service for the most part no longer exists.  (I think it died along with common sense...I missed the funeral.)   So, when I get GOOD customer service, I want to shout it from the roof top.  And today I am shouting! Unfortunately, this good customer service story starts with a problem. The problem was discovered late yesterday afternoon.  My son, freshly home from college for the summer, wanted to go see his girlfriend.  He went to go get the car from the garage. (2011 Buick that my mother wanted him to have.  She kept it pristine.  My son, not so much, but...) He came back in the house saying that he thought the key fob needed a new battery.  We didn't have a new battery, so he would have to use the key to open the door.  (Revolutionary concept.)  He went back to the car and tried to start it...nothing happened.  AND the key will not come out of the ignition. All of us went back to th

  We brought our son home from college yesterday ( https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2024/05/it-always-rains-in-staten-island.html ) I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that he has completed his freshman year.  (One down; three to go.)  And I still have to adjust to him being back at home. Don't get me wrong; I am HAPPY to have him home.  So happy that I was crying doing some of his laundry yesterday.  And yes, they were happy tears.  And no, I didn't mind doing three loads of laundry.  And yes, he is more than capable of doing his own laundry.  (I've been told he did a lot of laundry on campus.)  However, there was a lot of stuff that needed to be unpacked and stored (and there still is), so we worked as a team doing different things to try and make sure that the house wasn't too much of a mess.  (The living room still needs some help, but...) However, it is an adjustment having him back in the house.  (Just like it was an adjustment when

  So obviously the title of this post is not true.  It does not always rain in Staten Island.  How could it?  However, to me it feels like it always rains in Staten Island because every time I go there it rains.  If not the whole time, at least part of the time. Our Staten Island saga starts in the fall of 2023 when we first went to visit the Wagner college campus.  It was cold(ish) and (of course) raining.  We were greeted (as we made our way to the admissions building) by turkeys.  Yes, you read that right, there are turkeys living on Staten Island...or at least on the campus. Despite the rain, we had a nice tour and were impressed with what we saw.  But more importantly, it seemed like a good fit for my son. Fast forward to a couple of weeks later when we went back for a more extensive tour.  Met some great people and my son got to sit in on a class.  And it rained. Moving to Spring of 2023; Admitted Students Day.  It started out as a beautiful day.  Guess what happened by the time

  My husband and I have been talking about finding a place to spend our later years (I'm not saying retirement because I don't know if that's a possibility or reality) that is somewhat less congested than where we currently reside.  We are seeking some peace/calm with a home that might have a view of the mountains. We talked Poconos.  We talked Catskills.  We also thought of the Berkshires.  However, neither of us have ever been there, so we thought it was time to take a trek up there and see what the area was like. Our Friday-Sunday trip determined that the area we explored (Lee, Lenox, Pittsfield) is not where we want to end up.  The area was very nice, but we didn't get the "feel" that we were looking for.  (I can't explain it better...)  However, we had a nice weekend and I thought I'd share our mini-adventure here with some photos. Our "home base" in Massachusetts was Lee.  I picked the  Chambery Inn  as it was in the center of town.

 I swear the story I am about to tell is true.  You may think it is not.  It is.  It may seem impossible, unbelievable.  It happened.  I swear.  You ready? Although it is early May, it's pretty hot out.  It's air conditioner weather in NJ and very humid.  (Don't worry...this will all turn around by tomorrow and by the weekend it will barely be in the 60s.  Let's talk climate change, shall we?).  This particular morning was very humid and when I got up rain was in the near future.  (So much for doing anything with your hair today.) Since it is going to hit the upper 80s, I decided that it would be good to wear summer type clothing.  For me that meant a sleeveless top and long(ish) gauze like skirt with sandals. (Some might call them flip flops, but when you spend over $20 on a pair of these things, they are NOT flip flops.)  I also threw on a very light flowing sweater for two reasons:  I needed pockets (why do women's clothing so rarely have pockets?  I know I&#

  I'm feeling...happy (?!) today.  I'm not sure why.  There is no real reason, but when you feel it you feel it and you want to hang on to it. There's no particular reason for this feeling.  I would think I would be grumpy this morning.  I went to bed later than usual; for no particular reason other than I didn't feel sleepy.  (Which is so not like me.)  I watched a very 70s movie on  TCM  last night ( One is a Lonely Number  -- whatever happened to Trish Van Devere?  I have a feeling I'll be going down that rabbit hole later and will know all too much by the time the day is through) and I should have been tired and turned it off (it wasn't that great a film in my opinion), I didn't.  And then I woke up at 3:30 and that seemed to be it for me. I did Wordle (got it three...HOORAH!), Connections (bombed...even when I found out what the connections were I didn't really get it) and the Mini before going out for a walk.  (It was warm enough and dry enough to

  It's Cinco de Mayo...America's excuse to "celebrate Mexico" (not really) and drink lots of margaritas and eats lots of chips with salsa, queso and/or guac.  I am never one to turn down a good margarita. (I am so desperate for  Jose Cuervo Golden Rosé Margarita that I went on line and purchased two bottles for a rather hefty prices because I couldn't find any in my area...or even out of my area.)  And I am planning on making tacos, nachos and all sorts of good stuff later today.  Because any excuse right? But I'm not going to write about tacos today.  Instead I'm going to write about a steak and cheese sandwich I had yesterday.  Why?  Because it was very good and because it was a wonderful dining out experience. Those of you who know me, or have read a lot of my blog posts know about my awful food allergies (eggs, poultry, shellfish, hard beans, peas, lentils and kiwi...and something else will pop up in the next decade because that's how it seems to g