thoughts – Thoughts From The Passenger Seat

2026, life, thoughts

I Tried It and I Didn’t Like It

Posted on February 6, 2026February 6, 2026 by nancyb422

I cancelled Sirius XM in my car this past December. I don’t miss it because I have Spotify, purchased music from the old Apple iTunes (how I miss that!), and the radio.

I went through the channels and added some stations to Favorites. A little Rock, some R&B, a local Christian station, and a local conservative station.

I have been fixated on this conservative station because I honestly want to understand it. In the morning, I would hear Glen Beck; in the afternoon, it was Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, and at the end of the day, Sean Hannity.

Four men telling you all about what is wrong with the United States because of the “Lefties”, the “Radical Lefties”, “Tampon Tim,” and “Mayor Small Frey.” All four are ready to tell you revealing information, that “my gosh, I just realized this myself and I’ll tell you all about it right after this commercial.” The first commercial on the first day I listened was for a Byrna Launcher. A compact gun that can “protect you and your family” as it shoots chemical irritants….when the bad guy is too far away. WTF.

There have been many more WTF moments for me as I listened. Sometimes I made it all the way to work, but that’s because Glen Beck’s show starts at 9am, and there are 8 minutes of commercials before he comes on the air. Clay and Buck sound like friendly guys, and I know the least about them. Buck does like to remind his listeners that he was in the CIA, and he wrote a book called “Manufacturing Delusion: How the Left Uses Brainwashing, Indoctrination, and Propaganda Against You”. Wow; that’s the old “point a finger and four are pointing back at you” moment right there. I last about 2 minutes listening to Sean. As soon as he starts in on “nicknames”, I’ve move on.

You might be wondering what I would usually listen to. I was listening to Pod Save America, Tangled, and Raging Moderates until a few months ago but I stopped because I felt music was more soothing at work. The first is left, the second gives both sides and then his own, and the third is middle of the road(?). But nothing to the extent of this station.

So, finally today, I realized I’ve had enough. I tried, I really did. Maybe it was because I listened to Glen Beck before he turned a corner, and maybe because I already dislike Hannity, but there are no redeeming reasons to listen.

I changed the channel to our local Christian station and I heard someone reading the Bible. It was from Mark and Jesus calmed the waters while he and the apostles were out in the boat. It was followed by a song by Michael W. Smith. I felt at peace. I’ll be taking that other station out of my favorites tomorrow.

Edited this morning to add: That Christian station was not for me either. I know there is a station that plays contemporary christian music and I will continue to search until I find it. In the meantime, I guess I’ll stick to my iTunes music.

2026, thoughts

Keep It Simple

Posted on January 16, 2026January 16, 2026 by nancyb422

On my other blog, It’s All About Family, I’m once again following Amy Crow Johnson’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

I was successful with Week 1 but am already a week behind because I struggle with trying to just tell the story of the prompt. I feel like I need to fill the reader in on the backstory before I get to the topic at hand.

A beginning sentence will pop into my head as I’m doing something else and I try to keep it there until I type it but then it doesn’t sound right. So I think about it some more. I might have an entire post typed up, but then I second guess myself. In fact, I have two posts in drafts for this one subject!

My library has a Writing Guild which is starting back this month after a hiatus and it’s in my calendar. My hope is to get some guidance in my writing of those posts.

2026, thoughts, Writing

Happy New Year!

Posted on January 1, 2026January 1, 2026 by nancyb422

I started the new year off right by waking up early, enjoying my coffee, and heading off to work out. I always feel a sense of accomplishment!

On and off over the years, my husband and I would head down to the state beach about 40 minutes away. We walk and search for sea glass. Today it’s cold – my watch says 23 degrees and it’s windy. We decided we can find plenty of things to do here at home!

*Our hike to Sleeping Giant State Park last week*

Tuesday we had planned an impromptu trip to New York (well, I did and he’s my willing sidekick). I knew it was going to be cold but I thought it would be okay. Until he told me he was going to wear his lined pants and I thought, “ya know what? This is crazy”. So I decided we weren’t going to go and I think he was happy about it! We’re going in February for a concert and an overnight stay and that will be here in no time.

I’m taking down my decorations, even the tree. I would like to get over to our We-Shed (the second floor of our garage where we workout and I have my ancestry and knitting stuff, and other hobby stuff) and clean that up a little bit. Clean up my desk area and open some mail. It might sound a little routine, but I get satisfaction seeing stuff cleared out. We re-organized the basement the other day! Anywhere I’m organizing is my happy place.

I’m working on being mindful, writing down what I did this day in my planner, otherwise everything is one big blur.

I’ve got some thoughts on posts in the new year, maybe revisit some old ones and see if anything has changed. I’m looking forward to sharing them with you!

2025, life, thoughts

Grocery Shopping

Posted on December 29, 2025December 29, 2025 by nancyb422

We are blessed with a number of chain and family owned grocery stores to choose from for our groceries.

Because I handled the weekly shop for decades, I settled on our local Super Walmart. I like the way the aisles were set up and I created my shopping list to match their order. When they made changes, I made changes.

My husband, who took over the shopping a few years ago, prefers the smaller grocery stores. Family owned, but still large enough. Often though, something we buy on a regular basis will be out. For the longest time, the shelves for Quaker Oats were empty.

At times like that, I’ll make a list and head over to Walmart, because, as I tell him each time, “Walmart will have it!”. I continually try to get him to shop there, and one day we are going to a cost comparison as I’m convinced the prices are lower.

Which brings me to this morning. I had to get bloodwork done at 7:10am and I had to pick up some tea and almond butter so I figured I’d go to the grocery store afterwards.

I had a choice. Go to Walmart on my way home, or go next door to the chain supermarket. For Walmart, I’d have to drive, park, shop. For the other one, I would just have to walk to the connected building. I chose the one next door.

I walk in and look up at the aisle signs as I walk to the left. Tea…..Peanut butter…..tea….peanut butter. Nope.

I find an item directory at the beginning of an isle. Tea in aisle 8, peanut butter in aisle 25. I’m in aisle 4.

I look up at the sign for aisle 8 – cookies, crackers – ok what does that have to do with tea? Wouldn’t peanut butter fit better in that aisle? I walk to the end. There’s the tea across from the coffee.

I continue my walk to the other end of the store – past the drinks, cereals, cards, paper products – and I remembered why I don’t shop in this store anymore. The peanut butter and bread is all the way at the end of the store, in the farthest location from produce and any other food products. An aisle away from the health care items and across from dairy. It didn’t make sense when I shopped there, and it doesn’t make sense now.

I found the nut butter selections and I usually buy Barney Butter. None to be found. There were two Maratha options but the almond butter was crunchy and I wanted smooth with no salt or sugar added. I ended up with a large jar of Woodstock no salt added.

I headed to the self-check out with my items. I entered my phone number, but the machine couldn’t locate my account (I think it’s still active), but at this point I didn’t care! I swiped my items, paid my money, and left.

It would have been faster for me to drive to Walmart, park my car, hustle down to the two aisles for tea and almond butter, where I would have had my choice of even more than 2 options, pay, and head home.

Do you have a favorite grocery store? Do you get aggravated when your store puts items in weird places or moves things around?

2025, thoughts

Weekend Lunches

Posted on November 16, 2025November 15, 2025 by nancyb422

I have no problem coming up with a lunch to pack Monday through Friday, but come the weekend and I’m opening and shutting cabinet doors like a hungry child.

During the week it will usually be leftovers or I will microwave Tyson oven roasted diced chicken breast and toss it in with a salad. Somehow a salad doesn’t appeal to me those 2 days, and more often than not, Friday night is “breakfast night” or an “order and bring home meal”.

It helps/doesn’t help that I have breakfast an hour, sometimes 2 hours later than a weekday. All routine is tossed out the window! So then the question is, when do I eat, or want to eat, lunch? If my husband proposes something, I might still be full from breakfast. Too late, and I won’t be hungry for dinner.

I usually resort to an apple with peanut butter which will fill my stomach, but not too much if I have it later and if I have it too early, there’s always a snack. And that’s just SATURDAY!

On Sunday, I get around a little earlier and spend most of my day at the table researching for my It’s All About Family blog. Yes, shameless plug and that link will bring you to the first post in January of 2016. So much I thought I knew back then.

Sunday lunch during the summer is usually a ride for ice cream or if we’re on the boat, we’ll have something packed.

My husband does the grocery shopping on Thursdays so, you’d think by now, we might plan for those two days of the week.

Last Sunday we decided to order in grilled cheese sandwiches from this delicious cheese shop in town. Usually, I try to stay away from sandwiches and take out on the weekends for lunch is very unusual.

Any suggestions for weekend lunches? What’s your “go to” lunch?

2025, thoughts

Struggling

Posted on August 28, 2025 by nancyb422

Do you ever have days that you just struggle to get through it? To get work done? This is me. I am there.

What is the cause? Is it all the news that just seems to get worse every day? I don’t watch news but I do subscribe to a couple of sites for daily updates. They don’t overwhelm me and anyway, I can’t put my head in the sand and say, “oh well, so sad but it’s not about me.”

When are the congresspeople who are equally angry going to speak up? Step up? Band together? Anyone?

2025, life, thoughts

What I DIDN’T Do

Posted on August 21, 2025August 21, 2025 by nancyb422

I walked into the bank today and waited for a teller to call me over. There was one other customer there.

I handed my teller the deposits and walked to the counter to grab a lollipop. As I turned back, out of the corner of my eye, I thought I recognized the woman. When I heard her voice, I knew who it was. Someone from high school. Someone who was on the cheerleading squad with me. Someone who I’d call an acquaintance, or someone that I used to know.

Hmmm….do I just kept my head turned and sneak out after my transactions are done? Or do I find my friendly face and say hello? What to do what to do!

I turned toward her and said, “I’d know that laugh anywhere!”. We shared a hug, had a small conversation, I collected my receipts, and left with a breezy, “It was nice to see you!”.

It would have been so easy to just ignore her, and go on my way. I feel a smidge better that I didn’t.

2025, leisure time, thoughts

In The Not So Distant Past…

Posted on July 18, 2025July 18, 2025 by nancyb422

If you would call 30 years ago, not so distant, that was the time that we acquired our first computer. It was a no-name computer put together by someone who knew what they were doing and it gave us access to the World Wide Web. Back then we were tethered to a desktop and a dial up modem. If someone had told me we would have mini computers in our hands, I would have thought they were crazy!

I think about those times now with the need to constantly update myself on what’s going on in the world. Such a “fear of missing out”!

What did I do back when our only link was the desktop and dial-up? I might knit, or read, or watch tv, and back then, I was definitely playing with our son!

I am really glad all this technology wasn’t available to me 30 years ago!

*An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly*

2025, life, thoughts

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Posted on June 21, 2025June 21, 2025 by nancyb422

I’m curious by nature. I ask (a lot of) questions when I meet someone or when I’m talking to a friend because I enjoy a conversation. Sometimes though, it’s because it takes the spotlight off me.

I like to comment and ask questions of the bloggers I read as well and I like when they comment and ask questions of me (hint, hint 😉).

I’ve been following a blogger, I don’t think she follows me and I enjoy what she writes. She’s from a different part of the country, has a different lifestyle, and still raising children while I’ve raised one.

I’ve read back posts and had been trying to follow the threads of her life, and was looking forward to upcoming events.

I made a comment to her latest post, and now she’s gone. Perhaps in saying I’ve known those feelings in the past, I overstepped the bounds she felt were acceptable. I appeared to be the only person commenting so it must have been something I said! In this case, I’ve tried to ask general questions because it’s a public forum and you never know who else is reading.

I read many blogs that I really enjoy for a variety of reasons, and I’m really disappointed that she has disappeared.

Have you ever felt a well-intentioned comment you made caused someone to disappear in real life or online. Notice I said “well-intentioned” because we know how our keyboard fingers can fly when angry!