Tag: dailyprompt

Posted in 2023, life, Writing

It’s A Good Place To Live

Posted on by nancyb422

What do you love about where you live?

I live in a 40,000+ town in Connecticut that was incorporated in 1670. My family has lived here since the mid 1920s. It is very conveniently located between the two major highways running north and south in the state and close to two major cities.

It is a decent sized town (all 169 locations in Connecticut are called towns, and we have counties but we don’t use them like many other states do). Because it is so old (353 years old!), there were many farms that had animals, fruits, and vegetables growing in them and a few still remain.

Ok, I love my town because it is large enough to have box stores, but they don’t dominate the area. We have a great “center of town” with good restaurants, a classic town hall, and new coffee shops, a couple of spas, and a good selection of hair salons.

My town has many activities to gather people together. It has a great Farmers Market in the summer, a weekend festival in October to celebrate the town, and a holiday stroll in early December.

Our town is involved with preserving open space and we have trails for hiking, mountain biking, and fields for soccer, baseball, softball, and courts for tennis and pickleball.

Our public library is one of the best in the state! When I was young it was in a beautiful building built in the early 1900s. When they ran out of room, they built another one a short distance away. When they needed more room in recent years, they added on again! It’s a beautiful, welcoming place with wonderful programs.

The more I talk about my town, the more I realize how much I love it. I left in 1988 to live in California with my new husband. We moved back in 1995 to buy the house I grew up in, to be close to family, and to raise our son in a great environment. I’m so happy we came back!

Posted in 2023, life, Writing

I Am Content

Posted on by nancyb422

What positive emotion do you feel most often?

I had to think about what emotion I feel the most these days and it would have to be contentment. I usually relate everything to our business and my work there and this is no exception! For many years our remodeling business has been consuming because I oversee the operation of it. Clients, financials, and social media – three jobs that can be full time on their own.

Our office assistant of the last 1-1/2 years has taken over all of our customer service from the start of the project pricing phase, right on through to completion and that has given me the chance to BREATHE and really do what I want to do which is social media. Of course, I still have to do the financials and I can’t say I’m 100% gone from the customer aspect but 95% of it. I can now focus on setting up the path for success for our son as he takes over.

That has also given me the opportunity to leave the office before 5, go in after 8:30, take an afternoon off for some spa time and boy, when you can start thinking about yourself – what a world of difference it makes.

It feels good and I am content.

Posted in 2023, life, Writing

Kindness Should Be a Daily Habit

Posted on by nancyb422

Write about a random act of kindness you’ve done for someone.

To me, kindness is something that I try to apply daily in all situations and with all people. The way I talk to people, the tone of my voice, and whether I’m paying attention or have my eyes on my computer monitor while they are talking. It’s like Mother’s Day or my wedding anniversary. I always told me son and husband, “I don’t need the fluff because you two treat me with love all year long”.

Even things like holding a door open for someone at the post office when I’m leaving is something I naturally do. If I see someone coming across the street to the post office with a large package I their arms, I’ll wait and hold the door. They appreciate it and it makes me happy to help.

A random act would be a spur of the moment decision to be kind and I’ve done those as well, but they’re more private to me.

Posted in 2023, life, thoughts, Writing

This Is What I Look Like

Posted on by nancyb422

How would you describe yourself to someone who can’t see you?

If I needed to describe my physical self to someone who can’t see me, I would start with – I’m short! 4’11” to be exact. If you could see me you might think I can’t be the age I give you. I think it’s just my height that throws people off.

I have an average face. It’s nothing that would make you do a double take if you could see me! I have blue eyes that are behind glasses every waking moment.

I have light and dark brown hair with streaks of blonde from the sun. It’s a mix of colors if you know those colors and the length changes depending on my mood.

I have fair skin that has seen too much sun over the years. If you could see me outside, I might have a hat on to shade my face.

Since you can’t see, that is me.

Posted in 2023, family, Religion, Writing

Tradition Abandoned

Posted on by nancyb422

What traditions have you not kept that your parents had?

When I read this question, I knew exactly what my answer was. Perhaps it’s not a “tradition” such as holiday celebrations (still going on!), but something that was done and passed down from grandparents to parents….

Church. I don’t go to church.

I grew up in a strong Catholic family and went to a catholic school from first to eighth grade. We went to church every Sunday for 9:15 mass. Mom, Dad, my 2 sisters and me. It was never a consideration that my sisters or I would go to a catholic high school but I went to a catholic college for my 2 year degree. More so, because the campus in the countryside was so beautiful, not because of the religion!

This is not to say there is no God in my life. I just don’t need to look for him in church. That was a tradition or structure that was passed down from hundreds of years. But so much as changed.

My wise grandmother said something to my aunt back in the 1930s when my aunt a Polak (actually German) was going to marry an Italian. Someone questioned their different churches. My family went to a Polish Catholic Church and he went to a Roman Catholic Church. Gram shut that right down! She said, “that’s a lot of nonsense. God is in every church, not just in our church!”

I’d like to think she’d feel the same way about God being found all around us and not just found in a building. We can experience and talk to Him wherever we are.

Posted in 2023, life, Writing

A Day Like Any Other

Posted on by nancyb422

Was today typical?

Since today was a work day, overall, it was pretty typical!

First thing, I organized “my stuff” into categories – bills/receipts, pre-appointment, proposal done/needs input, signed job/needs input, permit to do/done but did I pay? – and managed to get through most of it.

My energy started to wane around 1:30 as usual but I tried to keep working. It was starts and stops and a fair amount of conversation between me and our office assistant. I usually shut my door so I won’t bother her because I’m usually the one starting a conversation!

Only difference to all my other days is I had to go on an appointment at 3 pm with my husband, the contractor. Which is ok, since I did spend 20 years doing that exact thing. I’ve been spoiled since our son started working in the office and they usually do the appointments together so Cody can do the estimating. But he was unavailable and alas, I was called to step in.

I still managed to leave the office at 4:15 and head home to my non-alcoholic Stella Artois beer and my book under the pergola.

Hubs made dinner which is totally typical!

All in all, a wonderfully typical day!

Posted in 2023, Writing

This Is Who I Am

Posted on by nancyb422

How would you describe yourself to someone?

Whew this is a tough one! I keep walking away and coming back again. It’s too hard, too deep. I’ll try.

I am a Taurus and I proudly embrace all of it. I’m STUBBORN but through in the fact that I’m Polish, double stubborn. I’m loyal past the point that I should be.

I’m sensitive. Sometimes too sensitive. I can take a joke but I don’t like to be used as the butt of the joke.

I try to be positive every day and start with a positive thought as I get out of bed. Usually “thank you God for this day“.

I like to be home more than go out. I like to wake up early even if I don’t have to because I love early morning.

I’m always changing and learning about myself but these are things that have been me as long as I’ve been alive.

Posted in 2023, thoughts, Writing

Who Looks the Friendliest?

Posted on by nancyb422

If you could bring back one dinosaur, which one would it be?

My decision to bring back one dinosaur would be based on – who’s going to hurt us the least?! Those crazy T-Rexs or running, screaming bird-like things were a little to scary and wily in Jurassic Park for me!

I had to do a little google search for an answer. I found that this Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum which is a Sauropod. It has the longest neck of all of them!

If their necks are far enough away from our heads….??

Posted in 2023, Memories, Writing

What’s Your Name?

Posted on by nancyb422

What’s the story behind your nickname?

I’ve had a couple of nicknames based on my last name but those were more teasing than actual nicknames.

The one true nickname I’ve had since high school is JakTwin which eventually got shortened to Jak. My last name was Jakiela and I am a twin. My sister and I started out as JakTwin 1 and JakTwin 2, names given to us by friends.

It was shortened to Jak by a boyfriend who loved to give people nicknames. I accepted it and it was quickly adopted by my new group of friends through him. It was so often used that his father actually thought my first name was Jackie!

When I met my husband, it was with a friend from this group (that other boyfriend long gone) and since she called me Jak, so did the man who would become my husband. His friends still call me Jak after 36 years but now he usually calls me Nancy.