family – Page 2 – Thoughts From The Passenger Seat

2025, family, Home, life, thoughts, Writing

Pizza

Posted on April 4, 2025 by nancyb422

I love pizza. I could eat pizza every day. My stomach and intestines might have something to say about that since doughy stuff and them are not always a happy couple.

My dad used to work until 9pm on Friday nights at the paint store and for dinner he’d buy a small sausage pizza from Verdolini’s. He’d bring home the leftovers and my sisters and I had them for lunch on Saturday.

We live 20 minutes away from the town that gives Connecticut the (self-given) title “Pizza Capital of the World”. That would be New Haven, the home of Pepe’s pizza, Sally’s Pizza, Modern Pizza, and one of my favorites, De Legna x Nolo.

*dinner at Pepe’s Pizza in March for my husband’s birthday*

But even closer to home are some excellent pizza places! Right down the road is Fabi’s and in the next town The Bar.

I think the best pizza has a super thin crust, and I don’t mind a char on the bottom. Usually my husband and I will get our own small pizzas in which case mine is a white pizza (no sauce) with eggplant and ricotta cheese. There is mozzarella on there too of course! My husband usually gets a sausage or a pepperoni.

If we’re ordering with a group, I always make sure there is a white pizza and other than that, will eat whatever is ordered!

The Bar white eggplant and ricotta pizza

I liked that this pizza has 9 pieces which means I can eat 6 pieces (thin crust remember? – you can eat more!) and still have enough for lunch the next day.

What is your favorite kind of pizza? Do you like think or thick crust?

2025, Business, family, life, Memories, thoughts, Writing

Math

Posted on April 2, 2025 by nancyb422

“I expect my mother’s fear of decimal currency was related to her dislike of math, which is a common fear often dating back to a cruel teacher.” – Cherry in Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty.

Oh, that hit me right in the memories!

I don’t think Sister Holly Jean my third grade teacher at Holy Trinity School was intentionally being mean. There were two math groups and two reading groups, and when you’ve already spent 2 years with the same kids, you know which is which.

I bounced back and forth between those two math groups throughout 3rd grade. Long division was my nemesis! Carrying the what because it’s not equal where? My mother brought home waste letter paper from work and filled them with division problems for me to solve.

I survived third grade math but I was never the same afterwards. Math just continued to beat me down year after year. Algebra, Geometry, even review math in 12th grade was a struggle.

Ironically, I really enjoyed Accounting in high school and college and handle the (Quick)books for our company.

Hand me the calculator!

2025, family, Home, life, Memories, thoughts, Writing

My Routine Has Changed

Posted on March 13, 2025March 13, 2025 by nancyb422

Last Tuesday, our dog Wally passed away. I wrote about it on my family stories site.

Now when I come downstairs in the morning, there are no pee pads to check (and no floor surveillance!) and no breakfast to make.

Some days he’d be waiting for me and other days, he slept for a few more hours but my routine was always the same.

I continue to say “Good Morning” and “Good Night” in the direction of his bed(s) and when I come into the house I still peek around the door to see if he’s there.

I know someday that will stop, but for now, I keep his spirit alive.

2025, family, Goals, Home, life, Politics, relaxing, thoughts

2025 Mental Health Goals

Posted on January 17, 2025 by nancyb422

In my quest to be mindful in 2025, I’m focusing on my emotional and mental wellbeing in addition to my physical wellbeing.

I know that sleep is important, and in our house it’s always been important to my husband! For most of our marriage, this man has gone to bed at 8pm and would get a good 8 hours of sleep. I would usually make it into bed by 10. Since the first, I’ve made an effort to head up by 9pm, get some reading in and have lights out by 9:30. I also started wearing my Apple Watch to bed so it can record the different stages of my sleep.

Another bedtime ritual I’ve started is a 5 or 10 sleep meditation with my Peloton app. I wear my ear buds, start the program and absorb the soothing music and soft voice of the instructor. I usually discover I’ve fallen asleep! My average sleep time for a week has ranged from 7 hours 15 minutes to 7 hours and 28 minutes. My crowning achievement was a night of sleep with NO minutes awake!

Because I don’t have a set time I need to be in the office, This year I’m learning to embrace that! It’s tough to get used to when for so many years, I’ve been at my desk by 8:30! My alarm is still set for 5:45 but I take time to drink my coffee and complete my workout. I have extra time to read the paper!

There are times at work that cause me and the two people there (one being my son) to start to wallow in frustration and self-pity. It’s specially tough to see it in my son, so I always try to turn it around and cheer us all on! We have so much more going for us than against us!

I’m packing up for the day and heading home at 3pm (to-do lists are vital for me!), so I can walk with my husband and our friends for some exercise and socialization.

I’m not on board with our upcoming federal administration so that has made me anxious when I read stories that seem more fiction than fact. For the time being, I’m averting my eyes because I know there is nothing I can do to change any of it. I hope in the near future I can get involved with an organization that will help make a difference for people in need.

*My mental health is better when I stay positive*

2025, family, friends, hikes, hobbies, life, Memories, thoughts, Travel

Looking Back at 2024

Posted on January 2, 2025 by nancyb422

I can forget what I did the day before yesterday.

I really want to be mindful in 2025.

I took a look at my Day Planner for 2024 and my phone calendar and made a list in Notes of What Happened in 2024. I was surprised at all the events from the year. Sometimes in my mind I think “I never do anything!”, but this proved me wrong. There were lunches and dinners out with friends, two trips to New York other than our yearly Christmas shopping spree, and three week long vacations!

I’m looking forward to this new year of adventures!

2024, family, leisure time, life, Memories, photography, Travel

12/10/2024 Hump Day Photo

Posted on December 10, 2024 by nancyb422

I’m sifting through the 29,000 photos in my IPhoto app and came across photos from a trip to South Carolina in 2016.

We went to Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet twice during out time there. It was early May and really beautiful, full of sculptures and flowers.

In addition to the gardens, we took a carriage ride around the gardens and to the river and marshes where rice was planted and harvested.

2024, family, Goals, life, thoughts

Big Business Decisions

Posted on December 7, 2024 by nancyb422

What positive events have taken place in your life over the past year?

In the past year, we’ve begun the process for our son to purchase our remodeling company. He’s been with us since 2012 and for the last 2 years, has worked in the office estimating and running projects. We’ll start the buyout as the calendar turns to January 2026.

My husband and I have owned the company since 1999. It’s been 25 years of hard work building it from the ground up starting out in our basement to now in an office with nine employees.

When you work for yourselves, you wonder as time passes, “will I be at work until the day I die?” Terrible thing to think of but, it’s your business, not some corporation that you hit retirement age and leave. What option is there other than to find a buyer or close the doors. My husband has retired from the office and I’m starting to work four days a week and come and go a little more freely because I know our son and our client manager have everything under control.

It’s a remarkable feeling to know that our son is incredibly capable of owning the business and he’s already running it. I picture my 3 year old with a plastic hammer in his hand pounding on a piece of sheetrock with dust on his nose and marvel at how accomplished he is today.

2024, family, hikes, leisure time, life, Memories, photography, Travel

Rocky Mountain High

Posted on December 5, 2024 by nancyb422

Do you have a favorite place you have visited? Where is it?

One of my favorite places that I have visited was Colorado!

I was in Fort Collins in September of 2022 for a long weekend to “help” my niece select her wedding gown. My two sisters and two other nieces were all there and we had a fun “girls weekend” which included her fiancé!

Very early on a cold September morning in Estes Park

In one day we saw the sunrise in Estes Park, went to the Alpine Ridge Trail at 12,005 feet above sea level, went to the CSU football game walked 100 miles to a bar after (and then back to our car!). It was a great adventure!

We went back again in September of 2023 for her wedding. Family was together and we had fabulous weather, until the day of the outdoor wedding! Luckily the rain stopped and we had indoor access.

Before we met up with family, my husband and I had time to visit a good friend in Denver and also had time to hike a little bit in Boulder and visit Red Rocks Amphitheater.

On our off day with family, besides the hike, we rented bikes and explored the fabulous trail system in Fort Collins. Of course we hit New Belgium Brewery too!

The day after the wedding, we went to Laramie Wyoming, because, why not? We went to the old prison which is now a museum. First we had breakfast in a bar! Just us and a guy drinking a beer at 9:30!

There is so much to do all over the state and we both look forward to going back!

2024, family, hikes, hobbies, Holidays, leisure time, life, photography, Travel

12/4/2024 Hump Day Photo

Posted on December 4, 2024 by nancyb422

January 1, 2020 was brisk and bright when I set out for the guided first walk of the year with my sister and niece.

Machimoodus State Park was the location and it took us through the woods and towards a view of the Salmon River before it meets up with the Connecticut River in Haddam, Connecticut.

“Machimoodus” is an indigenous term for “place of bad noises” because of noisy rumblings and echos heard by the Pequot, Narragansett, and Mohegan tribes. The sounds were real and in 1981 geologists determined “micro earthquakes” were the cause amplified by a nearby cave!

We didn’t hear any rumblings, but we saw some beautiful scenery and had a brisk hike to start out the new year!

2024, family, Holidays, Home, life, thoughts, Writing

(Is it?) The Hap-hapiest Time of The Year

Posted on December 1, 2024 by nancyb422

The holidays stress me out.

I try to be chill but once we turn the corner from Thanksgiving, I feel like a train is rushing down the track. Am I on it? Or is it heading towards me? I haven’t quite decided.

I have hosted our family Christmas Party for 10 or 15 years always the second or third Saturday in December. Throw in a work party we host on the first Saturday and a trip to New York to shop in whatever week doesn’t contain a party at the end and there’s December, done and dusted.

Gift-giving has slowed down, which is a good thing. My husband and I shop for ourselves in New York, and our son and daughter-in-law usually receive something large during the year. Now it’s gifts for our great niece and nephew and something for the grab bag at the party.

This year’s election has f*cked it up a bit as some people don’t want to be around other people and it’s enough that I try to make everyone feel welcome regularly to now have to worry about who’s ignoring whom and what will they mutter under their breath.

I will be sure I do my daily meditation, get enough sleep and exercise, select my menu, and buy a big bottle of wine for myself and hide it away!