Thoughts From The Passenger Seat

2025, leisure time

Nobody Wants This….

Posted on October 28, 2025October 28, 2025 by nancyb422

….I want more!

I’m talking about the show Nobody Wants This on Netflix with Kristen Bell and Adam Brody as Joanne and Noah. A meet cute matchup of a podcaster who talks about sex and a rabbi. They fall in love but in order to move forward, he wants her to commit to converting to Judaism. But she’s not sure she wants to because she doesn’t “feel it”. The show was created by Erin Foster, based on her conversion experience.

The first season brought them to a point where he was being offered the senior rabbi position so she broke up with him so he would get the position. But before the fade out of the season, he found her and told her they’d work it out.

This season he gets passed over for the job, so he moves on from that Temple and strikes out on his own. They are still going back and forth about her converting. I don’t want to spoil it if you’re watching so, I’ll leave it at that!

This season the background characters had their days in the sun. Joanne’s sister and parents and Noah’s brother and sister-in-law all had story lines that brought their fears and desires into view.

I’ve always had a fascination with Judaism. To me, there’s something magical about it the way the traditions are embraced and celebrated. Maybe that’s just me on the outside looking in. I read a book series growing up about a Jewish family with five girls and a son in the 1920s living on the lower east side of New York and it stuck with me.

I also enjoyed watching Charlotte in Sex in the City during her conversion before her marriage to Harry.

So I finished Season 2 in just a few days and now I will suffer until Season 3 comes around. To prepare for the new season, I watched Season 1 over again. I guess I’ll do the same as it gets closer.

Have you watched it? What do you think about it?

2025, life, relaxing

The Head Spa

Posted on October 27, 2025 by nancyb422

My son and daughter in law like to give “experience gifts” and I am happy to receive them.

For Mother’s Day, they gave me a certificate for a 90 minute head spa experience as the website calls it. I love my hair. It’s long and for a 65 year old woman, pretty thick. I’m currently growing it out for as long as I can stand it. It’s working out pretty well because long hair means I don’t have to wash it as frequently for “a style”. It’s just long. I had no idea what to expect but made sure my hair was nice and dirty. It wasn’t a prerequisite but it worked out that way in my hair washing routine.

I made my reservation online for the more local spa in Berlin Connecticut and when I arrived for my 10am appointment I was greeted by Callie, who would be giving me my spa treatment. She is an esthetician who was trained for the scalp massage by the Head Spa owner and she was really good.

Let me just say, if your favorite part of a trip to the hairdresser is the scrubbing your scalp gets, this is the place for you!

You lay face up on a massage table that has a covered resting place for your head. Below that is the water basin. First the technician uses a camera to look at your scalp and shows the build up of natural oils on your scalp. I was amazed to see 2 and 3 strands of hair coming out of one pore. I lose enough hair every day to make a wig for a doll and now I see why I’m not bald.

After that, it’s scalp cleaning, massage which includes your neck and shoulders, and scalp mask. While the mask is doing its work, you get a mini facial! I’m pretty sure I dozed off during some portion of the experience. At the end, you get to see your clean scalp on the screen again. You can either have a “light blow dry” or get the leave in conditioner and a towel to dry your hair. I went with option number 2.

I washed my hair on Saturday, but I can still feel the effects of the mask and leave in conditioner. My hair is weirdly smooth where it’s normally a little dry.

It was $200 for the experience, which considering it was an hour and a half, is not too bad. It’s something I would definitely do again!

Have you ever gone to a head spa? Is it something you would want to do?

2025, hobbies

My Sweater

Posted on October 26, 2025October 25, 2025 by nancyb422

I’ve been knitting on and off for about 25 years. I’m a little messy at it and have been known to make a sweater and immediately unravel it, wash the yarn to unkink it, and put it away.

I finally found a sweater with directions I thought I could handle. It is knit from the top down, which is my favorite because I don’t have sew anything together! That’s where I’m really messy!

It starts at the neck, you put in markers to indicate sleeve and front/back and then as you knit you make increases. Sometimes for front and back of each marker and sometimes one or the other, and at the same time are adding stitches for something else. All before it’s joined in the round! I had to write out each round on a piece of paper to make sure I got it straight.

What I also love about knitting from the top down is I can accurately determine how long it is in body and arm length. I have the shortest torso and arms around.

It’s funny though, the closer I get to finishing a project the slower I go because I’m afraid it’s going to be crap!

I was really happy when I tried this on after binding off the sleeves and knitting the collar trim. The yarn was a little thick and scratchy but once I washed it (in the machine on hand wash), it really softened up and it stretched a little but measured up pretty good when I set it down to dry.

I’ve started another in a nice dark blue DK yarn that I have a bounty of. I had a sweater in the same yarn but it got a hole and I didn’t know how to mend it so, I threw it out!

I like knitting because it keeps me busy while watching tv.

2025, leisure time

Saturday Morning

Posted on October 25, 2025 by nancyb422

I love sitting in my comfy family room chair on Saturday mornings drinking my two medium sized cups of coffee reading emails and watching the crazy birds at the window feeder. Today, they are particularly out of control –

Usually the birds sit on the roof above, but we’ve added a little “eyebrow” over the window which initially confused the birds but now they wait their turn on the side supports or the roof of the pergola. Or float in mid-air waiting their turn.

We have all the common birds of Connecticut: the house finch, tufted titmouse, northern cardinal, blue jay, mourning dove, field sparrow, and probably more. The cardinal family is particularly bossy, the mourning dove barely fits but can’t resist, and the blue jay is messy, and sometimes will allow smaller birds to share their space.

When it gets quiet at the feeder it’s usually because of this –

We’ve seen feathers around once or twice but I do love cats so it’s hard to hate him! When he’s elsewhere in the yard, he will give you that cat stare but meet up with him in the road and he will happily lay down and give you his belly to pet!

2025, Memories

38 Years of Life Together

Posted on October 12, 2025 by nancyb422

On October 10th, my husband and I celebrated the second of two anniversaries that were life changing for both of us.

38 years ago, on the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend, I boarded a plane from Hartford Connecticut to my new home in Castro Valley California.

My boyfriend/future husband and I met on May 2, 1987 in the Monteiro Bay Jamaica airport. A girl from Connecticut and a guy from California who both made last minute plans for the same week at the same resort. What better place to meet than the back of a box truck selling beer, followed by a 2-1/2 hour bus ride to Negril separated by an aisle and a row with some flirting going on. How did we know?

Following the end of the week, we lived on letters and phone calls, a long weekend encompassing 4th of July, a family wedding reception in Connecticut, and a week long visit to California to become engaged and plan my move.

The day came quickly, and I said my goodbyes to my dad and twin sister at the gate and I boarded the plane.

2025, biking

My New Ride

Posted on September 27, 2025 by nancyb422

I have to go back to my last bike ride to explain my “new ride”.

We headed out on with friends for a ride on a beautiful Friday morning, September 12th. We met at the covered bridge in Colchester and headed out for a ride I’ve done before. It’s a good ride and I enjoy it the most out of the 3 different routes I’ve done.

It has packed dirt, country roads, paths through woods, and ferocious up and down hill, rocky forest roads.

There was a section the first time I rode that had huge puddles and I had to make a sharp turn between two trees that I didn’t make and fell into a tree! I didn’t get hurt just very muddy! Coming out of that section there is a steep, rocky (very rocky!) hill that I walked my bike up.

It was still muddy with huge puddles but I was able to ride up the hill! It wasn’t until I got to the top that I realized it was THAT hill. I did a little happy dance when I got off the bike. This is my favorite ride of all I’ve done and one along the shoreline is another favorite.

My bike, a Salsa Confluence, is a good bike but it’s designed more for roads and bike paths. There are no shocks in the handlebars and unfortunately the death grip I have on them along with bumping along over the rocks is wrecking my hands!

So….we decided to upgrade me to a Specialized bike because it comes in my size and it has shocks in the handlebar stem which will make it less painful going downhill over rocks. I hope!

Now I just need to sell my Salsa!

2025, life

My Lucky Day!

Posted on September 20, 2025 by nancyb422

Today I drove up to my college, Annhurst College in Woodstock, Connecticut for my 45th class reunion. I wrote about it here for a prompt on “what colleges have you attended?”.

It was a lovely hour and a half drive, part highway, part back roads. Once I got there, I checked in and then took some time to walk around the grounds which is now the South Campus for Woodstock Academy.

*I love that the building is called Annhurst Hall!*

I will tell you more about the day with pictures later but you want to know what made it my Lucky Day?!

My ticket was the first of ALL the raffle tickets pulled! I picked the BIGGEST basket there. All the items were from Maine – maple syrup, coffee, crackers, pancake mix, popcorn, potato chips, jam, soap – it was so heavy!

Then, just before lunch, I was getting ready to put the basket in my car so I could pull my chair closer to the table and then said they were drawing the 50/50 raffle. I set the basket by the door and sat down.

MY TICKET WAS CALLED! It was the first year they did this raffle. I won $175.00! Everyone was saying, “What?! She won again?”

It must have been that Holy Spirit shining down on me today. Or maybe because I was sitting next to a “Daughter of the Holy Spirit”? 😁 That was the order of nuns at our school, and I was sitting next to my former boss in the Admissions office, Sister Gertrude 😁

Whatever caused it, I felt truly blessed by my prizes and to be with the incredible women (and a few men) in the room today.

2025, life

Fri-yay!

Posted on September 19, 2025September 19, 2025 by nancyb422

I was so happy when I heard our weather forecaster mention the moon and Venus so close together this morning. I made sure to look up when I went outside.

I’ve been so good about NOT documenting my every trip outside but this morning brought me such joy

I love to capture the brilliance of the sunrise but the sun through the trees as it comes up is so special too. Many trees in our neighborhood are HUGE because they’ve been there in the 64 years I’ve been here.

I’m grateful for the trees and my neighborhood. It’s such a special place!

2025, life

Never Say Can’t

Posted on September 18, 2025 by nancyb422

The ant and the rubber tree plant, the flower (or weed?) growing out from the crack in the sidewalk, and this single lavender bud growing on a plant winding down.

All not taking can’t be done for an answer.