What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?
My two sisters and I were not born with middle names! The story is my parents thought one name a piece was enough. Isn’t that weird? They both had middle names! Why couldn’t they give us one?
At 12 years old when I got closer to my confirmation, not having a middle name turned out pretty nice because I got to choose it myself! I ran through a variety of names but you know, it had to sound right with my first name which is Nancy. Nancy Ann – nah, too plain. Nancy Elizabeth, my mother’s name – not bad, but my sister snagged that. Julia? Antoinette, Helen? All names of aunts, No, No, and No.
I settled on Catherine. It was the name of my mother’s favorite cousin, but she spelled hers with a K and I didn’t like the way the initials looked or sounded 😂. NCJ had more appeal to me than NKJ. So Nancy Catherine Jakiela is was!
After I got married I dropped the middle name and took my maiden name for my middle name. Catherine didn’t stick around for very long but it was good while it lasted.
There’s an article today in the New York Times Wellness Section entitled “You’re Never Too Old for Story Time” that talks about why adults to read aloud to one another and how to get started. That brought back memories!
It must have been when Cody was still in elementary school, maybe middle school, that on a few occasions during long car rides I would read to him and my husband.
My two favorites were both by the same author, Richard Peck. A Long Way From Chicago and A Year Down Yonder. They were books I was introduced to while I was a library assistant in a K-5 school.
The first involves a brother and sister who go to their grandmother’s home one summer. It is described as short stories but they all blend right into one another.
The second, is about the sister who is living there on her own with her grandmother, her brother having joined the army.
I read them both on my own at first and, even now I’m tearing up thinking about the stories! I knew my husband and son would both enjoy them so on a trip I would bring along one of the books and read.
I clearly remember getting to a part and saying “ok, give me a minute to get weepy so I don’t do it while I’m reading!”. We usually managed to finish a book on the trip.
I still have those two books on my bookshelf. I think it’s time to read them again.
For Christmas quite a few years ago, my husband gave me (and him) tickets to Wicked on Broadway. He pulled them out of the tree at the end of the gift giving and handed them to me.
I started crying because I was so happy but also because I felt like he really understood what I would like.
He talked to a friend about different plays and she told him she thought I would like that best. The biggest gift was that he was going with me, even though he doesn’t like to go to plays!
It was a Wednesday matinee, we took the train in from Connecticut and we both had a great time.
As I was putting my groceries in my car in the Walmart parking lot, I found a makeup item that was stuck at the bottom of my cart. Oh no! I accidentally shop lifted something!
I believe in Karma so after getting everything in the car, I went back into Walmart, explained the situation to the front person and went to the self-checkout and checked the item out.
If I didn’t, every time I used it, I’d feel haunted.
If you could un-invent something, what would it be?
There are so many Good/Bad inventions created since the beginning of time but the number one “invention” that should crawl back into the hole it came from is –
SOCIAL MEDIA
MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok – maybe they were created for socialization but they took a right turn into online bullying, scams, hacking, and keyboard assassinations. There are many other sites for socializing, some I know of, some I’d probably be shocked to learn about, but I’m only talking of the ones I really know.
It was probably “ok” and “manageable” prior to the 2016 election, but after that, all bets were off. I allowed myself to get caught up in Facebook arguments with friends who became non-friends. Funny, after 2020, they came back again. I’m afraid to see what this 2024 election will bring.
Do I use them? Yes, FaceBook and Instagram both personally and for my business. I have X and TikTok accounts but have posted only minimally on X.
While in California in November, Aunt Mindy was working on a jigsaw puzzle. She has a nice set up at her recliner with a light and puzzle table with drawers for sorting. I’d done a few puzzle in the past and always enjoyed the hunt and thrill when you find the right pieces early on.
I bought this puzzle and the roll up pad for myself LAST CHRISTMAS but honestly was afraid to start because I didn’t know how long it would take….would I get bored?……would someone in my house be annoyed it was taking me so long? They were tucked away on the bottom shelf of our bookcase along with my adult coloring book and pencils, my French lesson card deck, my knitting books…you get the picture right?
When I opened the 1000 piece puzzle box and thought “oh my God this is going to take me a lifetime to put together”, I thought it was all about patience to complete it. As I progressed, I realized it was more about focusing on one task at a time.
Started during Christmas week; Progress on January 5th
Of course I started with the edges, praying that the size would fit on the table! Thankfully I had a 1/2 inch on either side to work with! The pad is felt-like and held everything in place. I put a mark 8” in on the pad in case I needed to roll it up.
Nearly every night after dinner I would turn on the overhead lights and start examining pieces and comparing them to parts of the puzzle and the picture. Some parts stood out but of course, it’s a puzzle, it’s not meant to be easy! At first I was putting pieces in the area I thought they belonged to, but it just got to crowded so I put them all back in the box and would pick a house or section and sort for that. What a thrill it was the first time I connected a section to the sides!
So close to the edge!
Altogether it took me about three weeks to complete. I didn’t work every evening, but when I did it was about an hour at a time. No one complained about it taking up space (I think that issue is all in my head). I didn’t lose any pieces although when I couldn’t find the last edge piece, I thought one was! I think what I enjoyed most was there was an end in sight right from the beginning.
A Day in Paris – Done!
I looked at it lovingly for a day and then took it apart. Today I bought another 1000 piece puzzle and found a pack of 7 trays for sorting that stack together! I’m going to spend a little time on my other hobbies but now that I know I can focus on it and have the patience to see it through, I’m looking forward to it!
How do you feel about puzzles? Are you a master puzzler or prefer to pass them by?
If you had a freeway billboard, what would it say?
This quote is one of my favorites, but I can’t say I’ve always followed it! I have no problem with the “love many”, but sometimes for certain reasons, I didn’t listen to my instincts (or was persuaded otherwise) on the “trust few”!
What do you think about this quote and how it applies to you?
Thoughts From The Passenger Seat 