Bfth's Boring Blog

  Once Thanksgiving is over, we usually start decorating for Christmas right away.  I'll have to admit that I'm in a weird kind of mood when it comes to the holiday season.  It doesn't feel exactly right to me, but I also feel like I need to make the effort.  If I do perhaps I WILL feel it. So late on last Friday (after my in-laws had left and my son had deserted us to go with a friend to a holiday parade), I pulled out my Department 56 Little Town of Bethlehem and set it up.  I put up a few of my New England Village pieces too.  (Side note, I've always been annoyed that the New England Village Craggy Cove Lighthouse has the light in the house portion of the piece and NOT at the top of the actual lighthouse.  To make matters even more frustrating this year, when I plugged everything in, the lightbulb inside actually shattered/"exploded" and I had to throw away the lighting apparatus and "borrow" one from another building that I wasn't going to ...

  Here it is the end of November, the month when we focus on gratitude and I really haven't.  This has been a very difficult year for me and my family.  (Do I even have to say that?)  Last year at this time I would have never have imagined that this is where I would be now.  However, here I am.  And even with the challenges that 2022 has had, I wanted to find the time to reflect on some blessings and hopes.  So... This has been a stressful and challenging year, but I am grateful that I still have the time (make the time?) to sit down and write.  In 2023 I will "celebrated" 10 years of blogging and I hope to continue for many more.  I'm grateful for vegan bakeries and vegan options in grocery stores.  I am NOT vegan, but with my allergies, vegan cooking is a true blessing.  (Except to my waistline.)  There seem to be more and more vegan options and I hope that trend continues.  I know I ...

 Dear Mom, Thanksgiving has officially come and gone.  It was...a Thursday.  I tried to make it "special."  I tried to make it a holiday.  I tried.  But it didn't feel like much. I didn't really sleep in.  When I can, I never can.  James, being a teen boy, can and does.  Steve & I were up, had coffee and biscuits and were about halfway through the parade when he finally came down.  (The coffee was gone.) The parade was all right.  I wanted to watch it because I haven't in so many years.  Or I've only watched bits of it as I was preparing a meal.  I didn't feel anything watching it.  It was just okay, which could pretty much describe the day. It was warm enough to go for a walk, which I did after the parade.  I listened to the first episode of the new season of  TCM's "The Plot Thickens ."  My walk and the episode were okay. When I got home I took a shower and got "dressed" for dinner.  I tried ...

Thanksgiving is just two days away, what is the LAST thing you want to do?   You may have a list of things you don't want to do and I can bet one of those things is go to the grocery store.   I do my weekly shopping on Friday, so my Thanksgiving load was done last Friday.   But... (you knew there had to be a but) my in-laws are coming out to celebrate the holiday this Friday.   (Which I still don't have a good name for. Come on, people, help me out here...) So I can go to the market early on Friday (like usual) and pick up what I need, right?   Right!   However, one of the things I want to/have been requested to serve is coleslaw. I make my own using vegan mayonnaise (My personal favorite is grapeseed oil vegenaise.)   In MY opinion, the coleslaw needs to marinate for a day before serving, which means I need to make it on Thursday or maybe Wednesday.   Buying the pre-shredded cabbage and carrot (no, I'm NOT that dedicated in making my coleslaw) ...

  One week from today is Thanksgiving and it's going to be a strange one for me.  It's going to be an uncomfortable one I suspect. Thanksgiving 2019 was the last "regular" family gathering that I can remember.  My parents had moved to the shore permanently, but drove up for a midday meal.  Family friend/honorary Aunt Julie had not yet moved out of state.  So we were all together.  Who would have imagined that it would have been for the last time? Thanksgiving 2020 we didn't see any family. It was just the three of us.  Although if I recall correctly, I did deliver some baked goods to Julie.  The day after we drove out to my in-laws which started a new(ish) tradition:  Deli Day.  (I need a better name for this...Thanksdeli?  Cold Cut Friday?)  We didn't do anything with my parents for Thanksgiving, although we had gone down in late October and I also went down on my own in early November and late December.  2020 wa...

  Haven't I been here before? November 2021:  My mom is in the hospital.  My son is getting ready for the fall play.  I am trying to schedule parents to help out with the concessions at the play and planning on setting everything up.  I am in the midst of the busiest quarter of the year for work. November 2022:  My dad is in the hospital. My son is getting ready for the fall play.  I am trying to schedule parents to help out with the concessions at the play and planning on setting everything up.  I am in the midst of the busiest quarter of the year for work. Seems like I am doing the same dance over again. Back in November 2021 my mother was in the hospital for an issue and some testing.  In November 2022 my father is in the hospital for an issue and some testing. Definitely the same dance. On Sunday I went to see my father.  I brought my husband with me.  I wanted to see if he could fix the dishwasher.  I was hopeful.  I ...

  It is a cold Monday in November here in Northern NJ.   It had been warm enough on Saturday to sit outside for a bit, but this morning, even in the sunshine, it was cold.  This morning I sat in my car for over thirty minutes waiting and it was cold.  I wasn't wearing a winter coat (I'm going to need to pull that out for my trek to the office on Wednesday), but I did have a heavy sweater and turtleneck.  (I believe the first turtleneck of the season...for many years that was my winter "uniform" a turtleneck with a sweater over it.) I was parked in the sun, but it was still cold.  I turned the car on a couple of times, to get the heated seat "reheated" and once it was warm, I would turn it off.  But my hands were cold. (Heated steering wheel I believe is on the list of things that I will look for in my next vehicle...it's time to take my comfort seriously as I get older.) Perhaps I should have worn gloves, but that would have made turning the pag...