Memories – Thoughts From The Passenger Seat

2026, life, Memories

Bad at Math

Posted on February 1, 2026February 1, 2026 by nancyb422

I was in third grade when I realized I was bad at Math. I made my way through adding, subtracting, simple multiplication and division, but long division tripped me up and revealed what would be a life long problem.

The complexity of carrying numbers made my head ache and I just couldn’t “see” how to do it. Especially under pressure in class!

My mother spent time with me at night working on it. She would take paper headed for the trash at work and use the backs of them to make up problems for me to work on. Did it help? Perhaps, but I from that point forward I labeled myself, “Bad At Math”.

I struggled through Algebra, Geometry, and Review Math in High School. But not Accounting. Accounting had a black and white to it. It all had to add up in the end. I had two semesters of Accounting in high school and 2 in college. If my college hadn’t closed the year I graduated with my Associate’s Degree, I would have continued on for another two years to get my degree in Accounting. But, with three grades of students needing to transfer, I thought let me take my degree and go.

Now for over 25 years, I’ve worked in our remodeling business as the bookkeeper using QuickBooks. Thank Heavens, because I’m still bad at math!

2025, life

Another Tuesday Funeral

Posted on December 17, 2025December 17, 2025 by nancyb422

Yesterday, like last Tuesday, I went to a funeral. This was a much different one. This man was 17 days shy of his 89th birthday when he passed away, and he was surrounded by family who loved him and caregivers who had grown to love him over the time they’ve been with him and his wife in their home.

He was my sister’s father-in-law, and because my sister and her husband started dating in high school, fifty years ago, we have all known each other a very long time. The family has always included my family and me as part of their family.

His name was Marty, but he was also known as Lefty, and with the seven grandchildren, he was Pop. He enlisted in the Navy at 17 (he lied and said he was 18), met his future wife, married, and had three children. He was an embalmer for the family funeral home, owned a gas station at one point, and eventually settled on owning a boarding kennel in 1975, shortly after my sister and her husband started dating.

We would spend Sundays at the pool on the kennel property during summers in college, and again when our son was young. He would walk up from the house or the kennel to see what was going on. Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day were spent there with him and his wife, their kids, and grandkids. My dad was always included in the picnics and Sunday afternoons.

In the winter, they lived in Florida, and for the summer, they traveled to Connecticut. Several years ago, they started slowing down, so the condo was sold, and they moved north full-time.

Over the past few months, he declined quickly, and he passed away on Wednesday, December 10th.

There were calling hours and a service at the family funeral home where he worked, and he was interred with military honors at the cemetery in the family plot. His son-in-law and two granddaughters gave eulogies, and as they spoke, I remembered the man he was. He always had a smile on his face, was quick with a joke, loved to push people in the pool, and was happy to talk to you. He lived a long and full life. ❤️

2025, life

Stories Of My Life

Posted on December 11, 2025December 10, 2025 by nancyb422

Two years ago(!), my son and daughter-in-law gave me a StoryWorth subscription for Christmas. I have a total of 47 stories, but 11 of them I haven’t started yet! I might remove a few of them, though. I have a long way to go until completion.

Right now, I’m taking each story, editing it, and adding new information and pictures. Once the story is done, I add the name to a list, and I swear I will not go back and make any more changes.

I think it will be interesting to have all these stories in one place. I would like to do the same thing for the blog posts I’ve written at It’s All About Family. I think it would be nice to have all those stories in one place, categorized by family. Another project to work on!

Have you written your StoryWorth life story? How long did it take you?

2025, Books, Memories

Cheaper By The Dozen

Posted on December 4, 2025December 3, 2025 by nancyb422

One of my favorite books growing up was “Cheaper by the Dozen”. It was a memoir published in 1948 by the children of Frank Bunker Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth of New Jersey and takes place from the early 1900s through 1924.

Frank and Lillian were Time and Motion Study and Efficiency experts and they worked with companies to show how employees could be more efficient in their jobs. They had 12 children (actually 11 because one daughter died from diphtheria when she was 5).

The book shares stories of growing up in such a large family with a larger than life father in Frank.

I remembered this book when I was in the shower this morning – isn’t that where we all do our best thinking? One of the scenes in the book is Frank the father, showing his children, and then a larger audience, how to efficiently take a bath! He sits in a tub, or on the floor and describes as he goes through the motion of moving the soap from one side to the other, up the arms, down the legs and everywhere in between. His children were horrified!

The title of the book came from the times they would be driving down the road in the large, custom car they had to fit all the kids (this was the 1910s-20s), and someone would yell out, “Hey mister, how come you got all those kids?” He’d reply “Because they’re Cheaper by the Dozen!”.

The book was turned into a movie two years later and starred Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy, and a sequel called, “Belles on their Toes” was published which talks of the families life after Frank dies and Lillian continues the time and motion study company.

You might only know of the 2003 remake that stars Steve Martin. I’ve never watched it and likely never will! I think I will add the two books to my “Read again” list for some pleasant reading because my heavy books.

Have you ever read either book or seen either movie?

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, 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.

2025, Memories

Baby Naming and Brush with Fame

Posted on October 31, 2025October 30, 2025 by nancyb422

I was pregnant with our son and due in July of 1990. I found out we were having a boy around the fifth month. I admit I cried because I was not sure I could raise a boy. I had wonderful names for girls but nothing for a boy.

I knew already that his middle name would be John and my husband and I struggled to agree on a first name. It had to flow for me. It had to have more than one syllable, because “John” was one. He threw “Paine” at me but it thankfully didn’t pass the syllable test. Everything sounds so common.

One Saturday morning while we were shopping at Safeway, I saw the People magazine cover…

Besides the gorgeous JFK Jr, there was Kathie Lee with her son CODY. Hmmm, Cody John! That was it!

It was appropriate in a way that his name would come from her because I was home on the couch during my first trimester after emergency surgery from a ruptured cyst. In fact, I found out I was pregnant in the emergency room! I had never watched her before and I looked forward to watching her and Regis until I went back to work in January.

It came full circle when we moved back to Connecticut and I went to work at the local ABC affiliate television station in New Haven. I worked for National Sales inputting commercials bought by the New York sales agencies. Ugh, such tedious work, I had carpal tunnel within the first month. But one perk was being invited to the ABC luncheon at The Rainbow Room on the 65th floor of Rockefeller Plaza by the National Sales Manager.

I don’t remember much about the afternoon besides the fact that Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford were there and we all had the opportunity to have our picture taken with them! People were shuffled in and out of standing between them. When it was my turn, the Polaroid camera ran out of film so we had to wait for it to be replaced. There was my opportunity! I told them how I named my Cody after seeing Kathie and their Cody on the cover of People magazine. The loved the story. Of course I didn’t have a picture of my Cody because I was carrying a small purse. Frank on the other hand, reached into his blazer pocket and took out pictures of Cody and Cassidy to share with me. He was so proud of them!

*Me with Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford 1995 or ‘96*

It was definitely a memorable day and I’m happy I was able to share my story with them.

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, Memories

On This Day In History

Posted on July 17, 2025 by nancyb422

A funny thing happened 35 years ago while trying to birth a bowling ball. It, I mean HE, didn’t want to come out!

The due date had already been adjusted and I was now a week overdue.

I entered the hospital at noon on a Monday, July 16th and was induced. It was all fun and (cribbage) games until the back contractions hit. I nearly broke my husband’s hand from squeezing it.

Finally around 5am, on Tuesday July 17th, after HOURS of no progression, the doctor said it was time for a c-section.

As they prepped me, my husband thought he was going to wait it out in the room. I said, “oh no, you’re coming with me!” And got gowned and followed me in.

I remember so clearly, the room, lying on the table, the sheet blocking my view from my lower half.

As the prepped me, I looked at the clock on the wall and said, “we’ve waited this long, can you take him out at 7:17?” They laughed and said No!

Our sweet baby was born at 7:06am on 7/17.