Bfth's Boring Blog

I don't know what it's like where you live, but here in the NY tristate area it's been one of the strangest summers I've ever known.  As I write this I am sitting with a SWEATER on!  Yes, it is AUGUST in New Jersey!  (This wouldn't be so distressing if I were hanging out in Alaska, but I'm not!)  And I'm not just talking about the air conditioning in my office this time around! (  https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/frozen.html) I know, back in late June I was talking about the heat.  Heck just a few weeks back I was worried about crayons in my car melting into puddles of grossness. Now here I am in August and I'm putting the HEAT on in my car.  I've gone from cold showers because it was so hot and humid (this was just last week), to hot baths because it is so cold (cool?) but still humid. (I am not kidding; I had the heat on in my car last night and went home and immediately took a hot bath.  Something I might do in the dead of wint...

I've never been that much of a traveler.  Maybe it's because I'm afraid of the unknown.  Maybe it's because I have so many food allergies that the idea of traveling to a new place is scary.  Maybe I'm just a homebody.   The fact that I've never had extra cash to any serious traveling might also have something to do with it.  (So please explain those Disney trips?  Well....) But recently I've have a hankering to do some exploring.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I've past the half century mark.  I'm facing the reality that I'm getting older.  (And yes, I recently signed up for AARP!  That unto itself should be a blog post.) Or it could be that my cousin recently undertook a major vacation, traveling from her home in Australia to California, Nevada and Arizona.  (She definitely takes after HER grandfather and my favorite (great) uncle who was trying new things like parasailing into his 80s.  I, on the other ...

I'd like to think of myself as a (reasonably) polite person.  Perhaps I am overly sensitive at times, which is why I'm asking the question about bench etiquette.  I could be behind the times.  (Am I turning into a fussy old lady?  Please tell me no!) The scenario is as follows.  At the office complex where I work there are two picnic benches in the back of the building.  They are in the direct sunlight.  This is also the only place people are allowed to smoke.  Towards the front of the building, near the road, there is a shaded area with a bench.  This is area also overlooks the building to the north which is currently under construction, so it can be loud in the area as trucks go in and out and all sorts of equipment is being used. When the weather is nice, I try to get outside.  Sometimes I walk, but sometimes I like to find a place to sit and just read my book (ok, officially a Nook, but...).  I generally gravitate t...

Summer has it's own special treats.  There's fresh corn on the cob and cool Italian ice.  For some people it's fresh from the ocean/bay crab or other shellfish.  (Not for this girl who is allergic.) My favorite treats come from my father's garden.  The photo above might not be so hot, but those little orange yellow tomatoes are bursting with a flavor that is out of this world.  I can not aptly describe them either. As I've said before, my father is truly a gifted gardener.  The produce from his garden, which currently includes cucumbers and a variety of tomatoes, tastes better than anything you could buy. (Even from a fresh farm stand.) But these little tomatoes...there is just something about them. He's given me plants so that I can grow them myself.  When I do, they come out good..delicious even, but there is something better, tastier about the ones that come from his garden at the NJ shore.  It could be the soil, but I think it's the s...

For most of my 50+ years, I have lived in the same town.  As a child I walked to the elementary school (one of 4 in the quadrants of town) and then to the middle school.  (Which by chance was in the "middle" of town.)   By the time I got to high school, for the most part I got rides to and from, although I did occasionally walk home...UP HILL!  I walked to friends’ homes.  I walked to the local convenience store.  I walked to the movies.  (Back in the days when there were multiple theaters in the area.  Now one is an office building and the other part of a strip mall with only one occupant.) Over the past 5 or so years I've become an avid early morning walker, at least when weather permits. I started out with a "route" but I've found for me that gets boring.  I like walking in the park and around the track at the middle school, but I can't do it every day.  I need to see different things.  Plus some days there are time constrai...

I LOVE summer.  Although it is NOT my favorite season (that would be early fall; when there is the feel of summer during the day, but the evenings are definitely fall).  I love so many things about.  I like the warm (and even the hot for the most part).  I love going to the beach on a sunny day (or even a rainy day).  I love being outside in the sun.  I love the flowers (particularly sunflowers).  I love the fruits and veggies.  I love the smell of summer.  I love the vacation of summer.  (I'd say I love the slower pace of summer, but recently summer hasn't seemed all that slow.)  I love reading summer books.  I just LOVE summer. But there is one thing I do not love.  There is one thing that I truly HATE.  And that is... Cicada Killer Wasps (aka Ground Digger Wasps). They are gross. They are disgusting. Don't believe me??? Gross, right??? The mere thought of them makes me want to vomit. ...

It's no secret that I am a sucker when it comes to make up.  I may be in my 50s (did I just admit that?), but I still have a teen (pre-teen) fascination with make-up.  Walking into a drug store or beauty supply store, you KNOW I'm not going to come out empty handed.  I am lured in and hooked. As I have aged (sigh), I've noticed that certain things that used to look good on me, just don't look so good any more.  (I've talked about it before:  http://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/make-up-make-over.html).  Whereas I used to always be a powder woman, I'm seeing that I'm going to need to go with creams.  At least when it comes to eye shadows. (Which leads me to the question:  what do I do with all the powder shadows that I have that are relatively new and hardly used?) One item that I have always had difficulty is foundation.  I am fair, but my skin is also reddish. (This is due partially as a result of sensitivity. Also I also hav...