2025 – Page 2 – Thoughts From The Passenger Seat

2025, life

Letting Go

Posted on December 2, 2025December 2, 2025 by nancyb422

I currently have 197 open tabs on my IPhone. I feel like that says something about me. Will I miss one of it’s gone? Will I even notice?

My IPad and laptop are not that bad. By the way, my IPad and phone are not synced. Not since I had a faulty password app and nearly lost ALL my passwords.

Anyway, my life has always been a little like that too. Keep stuff gathered around so I don’t forget them. Projects, papers, files…

If I put it away, if I close the tab, I might want it later and won’t be able to find it again. Sort of like that jacket you never wear so you give it to Goodwill and then you buy a pair of pants and realize the jacket would have been perfect for it!

Maybe December is the time to close those tabs, put those files and papers away and make a note of where they are. It’s time to tidy up for the new year.

2025, Holidays, life

Holiday Decorating

Posted on December 1, 2025November 30, 2025 by nancyb422

We put our Christmas tree up this weekend and I enjoyed decorating it this year. Probably because I don’t plan on doing much else!

The tree is in the middle of the combined family room dining room, in front of the sliding door. At the top is the macaroni star our son made in daycare. I know I should replace it, but I haven’t found anything I like better. There are a variety of ornaments – from my parents collection that my sister divided up, ornaments handmade from one of my aunts, handmade by me for our son, and ornaments we’ve been purchasing in our trips. It’s a nice variety.

For the past few years, I also decorated a small 5 foot tree in the “formal” living room which used to be my only living room. I would put Wallace Silversmith silver plated balls on this tree and it had the option for white lights, colored lights, or blinking lights. I like the colored ones the best and I loved the way they shined off the silver balls. This year I’m just too lazy! It’s a chore to pack and unpack the silver plated ornaments.

I still have to finish adding my son’s collection of nutcrackers that remained here, and my collection of Santa’s from over the years. My family part is on the 13th so I still have time!

Are YOU done with your decorating?

2025, Dreams

Second Sleep

Posted on November 22, 2025November 22, 2025 by nancyb422

Do you ever wake up early on the weekends, decide it’s too early to get up and you’ll “get up in 15 minutes”, and find yourself falling back to sleep for another 2 hours?

I do! It usually happens on Saturday, like this morning. I was wide awake at 5 am – 45 minutes earlier than my weekday morning time and thought I’ll lay here until 5:30, then get up. Then I fell asleep and woke up again at 7am.

These second sleeps are usually filled with crazy dreams about people I haven’t seen in years, and I’m usually traveling somewhere. This morning I was at a baby shower for a friend’s daughter and they live in California. I live in Connecticut so I don’t know where we were, but I drove somewhere, and then had to come back home for a baby stroller. I remember popping the truck of my car. Weird. But at the baby shower, I was there early, like I was one of the hostesses, but then I ended up in one of the bedrooms, and during the shower. I kept hearing a machine-like noise, and finally turned around to see a woman vacuuming in the bedroom.

Later, I was in a room with my husband, sister, and niece and someone I didn’t recognize. I couldn’t hear my niece’s conversation but she was implying she didn’t have any money for food. Then we were driving to a store for my husband and I to pick up food, but she was flying, so I offered her the bottle of MIO I had in my pocketbook, and, for what it’s worth, I did have a bottle of MIO in my pocketbook the other day to bring to my office!

When I wake up from these sleeps, I’m usually so groggy, I would like to just fall back to sleep and capture the thread of the dream. When I was in my teens and 20s, I usually would just wake and sleep until Noon! Ah, those were the days!

If you’ve read this far, thanks for hanging in with this stream of consciousness post. I looked it up, it’s a thing, and I’m here for it.

Have you ever experienced this second sleep and what do you think about it?

2025, Healthy Living, life

Goals Are Good…

Posted on November 19, 2025November 19, 2025 by nancyb422

Unless you are obsessive like I can be about things like goals.

I downloaded an app called Streak because it was recommended by a (real life) friend whom I admire. I decided to try it because I want to focus on keeping myself mentally and physically active.

With Streak, you create goals and select how often they need to be completed. Multiple times a day, every day, a few times a week, and so on.

My goals were 5 20 oz water a day, 7,000 steps a day, write blog post every day, take vitamins every day, leave for the office by 9am, and post a picture to Facebook every day. Some are simple like the water and vitamins, and the Facebook post. Getting my steps in is a little more difficult because I work in a very small office. I incorporated walking around our complex during my lunchtime for a half hour. However, I still have to get additional steps in during the day to hit that 7,000. Leaving for work by 9 is a struggle! Writing every day is a struggle!

After a week, I changed the office time to getting there by 9:30, because honestly, I like my morning time at home and, since I’m the boss, I guess it’s ok to set my own hours. I changed the writing to 3 times a week because I needed time to research and write for my family blog.

I guess that represents growth within me that instead of saying “this isn’t going to work!”, I make some simple adjustments.

Here’s to continuing my Streak!

2025, family

Wedding Bells Are Ringing

Posted on November 15, 2025November 13, 2025 by nancyb422

My first born niece is getting married today. The last of the five cousins to marry. There is only a 2 year span between the five, split between mine (1 boy), my twin (2 girls, one being the bride), and our 18 month older sister (1 girl, 1 boy).

My sisters had their first born daughters only 7 months apart. The last three are steps on a ladder with my son born in July, my niece born in August, and my nephew born in September all in the same year.

It’s been fun that they are so close in age, they all get along very well, and their spouses fit right in.

My sister was four months pregnant when I moved to California in 1987. The first time I met my niece was when my husband and I came back to Connecticut to get married in May of 1988 and she was 3 months old. It was love at first sight.

I’ll be thinking of that first meeting as she walks down the aisle!

2025, Healthy Living, life

Give Blood

Posted on November 14, 2025November 12, 2025 by nancyb422

On Wednesday, I attempted to give blood for the first time in over 20 years.

I was a regular when I lived in California because Sonoma County had a “blood bank”. I could make an appointment during my lunch hour, pop in, give blood, and head back to the office. Unfortunately, Connecticut doesn’t have that. Donations are through blood drives.

After moving to Connecticut, the first or second time I went to give blood, I was rejected (deferred they say) because my hemoglobin was low. I never tried again.

My sister and a friend give blood on a regular basis so I thought I’d give it another shot.

I was signed up and ready to go, headed to the app and answered all the health questions (about 56 of them!).

My sister coached me on how to pass the hemoglobin test. Get “hot hands” and wear mittens. Bring the hot hands in with you while waiting. I googled the reasons and evidently cold hands slow circulation and slow circulation give an artificially low reading. In the past, they would prick your thumb to test your blood, but now there is a machine with a sensor that goes around your thumb and can measure the hemoglobin level.

I tried, I really tried! I had a Hot Hands but didn’t know about the mittens. I could sense the tips of my thumbs were not warm but I hoped I would make it. The minimum Hb level is 12. My right thumb was an 11.7. The technician said, “let’s try the left”. Unfortunately, the left was only 9.8.

As I left the table, I told the man at the check in that I was rejected. He said, “not rejected, deferred”.

I’ve read up on giving blood and how to prepare for it – warm hands, red meat and green leafy vegetables, avoid coffee, get a good night’s sleep – so I look for the another local blood drive, sign up, and buy Hot Hands!

Do you give blood on a regular basis?

2025, Healthy Living

Beautiful Connecticut Ride

Posted on November 13, 2025November 11, 2025 by nancyb422

Last Thursday, our crew headed up to the Northwest corner of Connecticut for a bike ride. We started out in Colebrook which is just over an hour from our home. The ringleaders of our group, Mark and Marilyn had completed the ride over the weekend and instantly knew we all would love it.

There was a brief shower on our way up and the car said it was 42 degrees outside by the time we got there. I definitely wasn’t prepared for cold – even though I was told it would be! That is typical me, I just can’t understand a temperature change until I’m in the middle of it totally unprepared. Thankfully, Marilyn lent me a pair of gloves with battery pack heaters, and some toe warmers. My husband lent me an extra buff he had in his bag. At least I was wearing long cycling tights so I pulled my wool socks over the ends of them, but really wished they were my fleece lined pair! Dressed and off we went!

The ride was a mix of country roads and packed dirt roads. I was happy to not be riding on dirt roads with ruts and rocks like our central Connecticut rides! There were a couple of intense hills that for the first time on this bike I kicked it into Turbo. If we didn’t have e-bikes, we’d be sitting home on the couch instead of riding.

We don’t stop very often. Always for lunch, meaning whatever we can fit in our small bike bags, and occasional water breaks.

This time we happened upon a small cemetery – the Munson Cemetery. I only took a picture of one nearby stone, but google led me to the Find a Grave website. The Judd and Munson families are interred there. The oldest grave is for Sarah Booth Munson and she appears to have ties to Hamden and New Haven. I’m not going down that rabbit hole though!

Our ride also took us through the Great Mountain Forest which is a 6,042 acre forest that within Norfolk and Falls Village. It has 13 miles of road to ride on. We went in one entrance and came out another. And we saw a porcupine! It looked so cute waddling away.

The last 2 miles felt like 10 miles and it felt like it was all uphill back to our cars. 28.9 miles (I need to start riding around the parking lot to get that whole mile!).

*Just kissed the border of Massachusetts*

We definitely warmed up during the ride, and on the way home we celebrated ourselves with a cup of Dunkin’ pumpkin spiced coffee and an a glazed donut stick. I think we earned it!

2025, family, life

Veterans In My Family

Posted on November 11, 2025November 11, 2025 by nancyb422

In honor of Veterans Day, I’m sharing the story I wrote in June of 2024 for the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge on my family blog. It’s called, The Effects of War. There are links within “The Effects of War” that share the details of their time served.

Beginning with World War I, there was my biological maternal grandfather, Jacob Engram and my paternal grandfather, Charles Jakiela.

My Great Uncle Bronislaw Liro went back to Poland before World War I broke out, fought for the Austrian Army, was captured, and escaped from Siberia.

World War II saw my Uncle Connie and my dad enlist in the Army Air Force and my Uncle Walt and Uncle Mal in the Navy. My Uncle Walt lived through the horror of Pearl Harbor 3 weeks fresh out of Navy radio school.

While cleaning out my aunt’s home, I found a letter from my Great Uncle Antoni written in 1947 describing the aftermath of World War II.

My father in law Harold served in the Korean War as a cook, his brother Ronald as an infantry tank driver, and my step father in law Paul was in the motor pool.

It’s an honor to have these brave men in my family.

2025, Memories

My Brief Career as a Frog

Posted on November 10, 2025November 9, 2025 by nancyb422

After we moved back to Connecticut from California in June of 1995, I had a job at the local ABC affiliate, WTNH, in New Haven. I worked there for two and a half years before I left for California and it was my best job ever.

Unfortunately, this second time around was, I think, my worst job ever. In this position, I spent 8 hours each day at a computer entering commercials sent from the New York agencies over a dot matrix printer that never slept. I think I mentioned this in post about Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford. I lasted at the station for a year and a few months.

At the beginning of that year, WTNH signed a “local marketing agreement” with the WB and began operating WTVU. My friend Connie signed on as the Promotions Producer for the new station so she was in charge of promoting and drumming up news of the station. That’s where I come in….

I had already left the station for a new job with better hours and closer to home. Connie was looking for someone to wear the Michigan J. Frog costume at events. Of course, I said, “hey! I’ll do it!”.

*Cody and Michigan J. Frog November 1996*

In the comfort of your own home and with just your own child nearby, it’s not so bad.

My two times in public were both at Hartford Whalers hockey games at the Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut! What was I thinking!

For the most part it was fun because no one can see your face, so I could be as silly as I wanted to be. But it wasn’t so much fun when kids, and guys, would smack me and push me! That’s why Connie was always by my side as my handler.

The craziest part of the job was that I got to ride on the Zamboni! That’s right – the driver, me, and my butt on a tank of propane gas!

Two times was enough for me. I passed the suit off to Connie and who ever else was crazy enough to wear it.