Tag: Writing

Posted in 2024, family, friends, leisure time, life, Memories, photography, Travel

August 7 Hump Day Photo

Posted on by nancyb422

I took a trip to Paris in May 2007 with my sister, her daughter, and their friend. We rented an apartment in the Marais District from a friend of mine from California.

Our apartment was about four blocks from the Seine and after we rested, we took off to look around. It was amazing to see all the beautiful buildings and that famous river we’ve heard so much about!

I like this picture because of the couple stealing some moments together on the banks of the river Seine. It is one of the first pictures I took on our trip.

Paris France

Before we left, I studied the Rick Steves’ book on Paris and came up with a list of places we might want to visit. Everyone was willing to follow my suggestions! We went to the Montmatre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Père LaChaise Cemetery, the Louvre, Musee d’ Orsay, and Versailles. We really packed in a lot of sights in 7 days!

Back then, I was taking pictures on one of those small Canon SD600 cameras. I don’t know what type of phone I had back then but it must not have been very good if I didn’t use it for pictures. I took 305 pictures, they are still in my iCloud photos and I still enjoy looking at them and remembering our trip which means another one from this trip might show up sometime!

Posted in 2024, family, friends, Holidays, leisure time, life, Memories, photography, Sports, Travel

July 31 Hump Day Photo

Posted on by nancyb422

Today I’m sharing a photo from February 2006. The same sister and her family that we went to Mexico with, we also took a few ski vacations together over the years!

We took a 2 or 3 February vacation trips to Mont Sutton located in Sutton Quebec. It was approximately 6 hours away from our home in Connecticut. We would meet up with my sister and 2 or 3 other families from Rhode Island at The Junction Restaurant in Troy Vermont for lunch. From there, we would cross over the border into Canada. We would stay every trip at an auberge right next to the slopes and rented the entire first floor wing of 8 or so rooms to make sure we had a game room for the kids and so we wouldn’t disturb any other guests! The hotel served us breakfast and dinner and we all brought coolers of food, a microwave, and whatever else we needed to come back to the rooms and have lunch if we wanted. All we had to do was ski.

The Sutton bird

This picture was from our 3rd trip to Canada. It was crazy to see this up in the tree but even funnier was what I thought I saw on the slope. My husband and I were on the chairlift, and I saw a small group of people on the side of the trail. I looked closely and then said to him “why is there a canoe on the trail?” He thought I was insane! What I was looking at was a snowboarder sitting on the ground with his board up on its side edge. From the direction I was looking, it looked like a person in a canoe!! 😂😂 I have a very vivid imagination!

Every time I see this picture in my favorites album I think about all those fun trips we took, and the canoe on the ski slope.

Posted in 2024, life, Memories, thoughts

Decisions Decisions!

Posted on by nancyb422
Dogs or cats?

I had a cat for 14 years. We adopted a dog 2 months after the cat passed away; he has been part of our family for 12 years. I didn’t grow up with either so both were new to me!

Chuckie Finster Benson, our cat, came into our home from his barn birth when he was a few months old in 1998. He had the most beautiful coloring and since he was orange, and our son was a fan of RugRats, it made sense to name him after the orange-haired boy Chuckie.

Maybe because he had barn cat in his blood, he preferred to spend his summers outside. He spent his nights in the winter in the basement, otherwise, I would find him on my head trying to wake me up at 3 am.

We would find him in the strangest locations over the years, always someplace warm like behind the couch on the radiator cover, inside the dryer on some freshly dried clothes, and always in the basket of blankets in the living room.

He wasn’t a cuddly cat but became one as he got older. He loved to sit right right next to me in my chair. I guess it was just another place to be warm!

When he died in 2012, we were all very sad.

So I started looking at rescue dog advertisements and found Wally.

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I mean really, how could you resist that face? He put on a good show at the Humane Society, letting us all crowd around and pet him. As soon as we got home, he latched onto my husband and that was it. Wally will fight you to the death to protect his man!

Wally was left at the shelter so he was likely 2 or 3 years old when we took him home. It’s been 12 years and he has slowed down. He still loves his lunchtime walks down to the corner and back and walking out to the edge of our yard to sniff all his favorite spots. He comes bounding back from his trip like he’s two years old again because he knows there is a treat at the end of his run!

Chuckie was easier because he could be left to roam. We could go away for the weekend and our neighbor would keep her eye on him and check that he had food in the house. Very easy.

Wally is a prickly pear so you want him to love you. So many people have been fooled by his wagging tail that they don’t notice the lip quiver that signals a snarl and snap coming!

I’m glad I’ve had one of each to experience having a pet but my answer would be Cats.

Posted in 2024, life, Memories, thoughts, Writing

Fall In Love With Fall

Posted on by nancyb422

What is your favorite season of year? Why?

Fall in New England is the most glorious season of the year.

A Weekend in Vermont

I catch a hint of its arrival in mid-August. I can see it in the angle of the sunrise through the leaves in the morning. If I stop and let the air wash over me, I can feel the slight chill under the heat. It’s brief, but it’s a taste of what’s to come.

My neighborhood park
The maple tree in my yard

Skip to mid September and I feel the cold within the heat and the heat within the cold. If I close my eyes I can imagine both a fall day and winter is coming or a spring day and summer is around the corner!

Vermont steel bridge

October. Now October is the Gem of the season! That’s when we have glorious colors and bright blue skies. Every tree I see, I want to take a picture of it! I’ve been on many motorcycle trips during “leaf peeping” season and my head is on a swivel looking at the beautiful scenery and enjoying the wonderful weather.

Morris Rock, Wallingford
Posted in 2024, life, thoughts

Butterfingers Rule!

Posted on by nancyb422

Describe your dream chocolate bar.

My dream chocolate bar is a Butterfinger bar.

I like to nibble all the chocolate off the sides and top first. Then I start on the peanut butter layers inside. I work all around the bar until it’s gone. It gets messy!

I haven’t had a butterfinger bar in a very long time.

Posted in 2024, life, thoughts

Finding joy

Posted on by nancyb422

I’ve been taking a 5 minute meditation in the morning after my Peloton workout.

In the early part of the class she says “what we look for we have a tendency to find”. Now I know this, but to hear it as I’m mediating was like a lightbulb moment.

I run a business. Most mornings I would wake up with the thought, “oh boy what’s going to happen to day”, and it was never in a “yay! Can’t wait to start my day!”

But over time I decided to try and be grateful. I wake up and thank God for this day and what it will bring me – without the negativity! Some days are better than others, because that’s life. But if I look for the rainbow instead of the thunderclouds, things will be alot brighter right?

Posted in 2024, family, Goals, life, thoughts, Writing

Can We Have It All?

Posted on by nancyb422

What does “having it all” mean to you? Is it attainable?

Today’s prompt is a good one!

Can we have it all? Does the pursuit of something you want – money, a home, a family, a high paying job, better health – cause the scale to tip towards that and create an imbalance of “everything else” you want? Or is the thing you are pursuing going to lead to being able to “have it all”?

I think it’s a really big juggling act to be able to get to the point where you can say “YES, I finally have it all!”. And do we even want to utter those words because you know, that’s exactly when the other shoe will drop and then you will say you jinxed yourself. Oh, is that only me who would do that?

Looking back on the past 44 years, I had a career that I backburnered for family, but I became my own boss. I have a home that I love, but it took a circuitous route to get there. I have a family that I love, that had complications both in meeting my husband, and having our son. I have my health which I am faithful to maintain. I have money in the bank but it came at the expense of the death of a loved one.

I don’t want to jinx myself so I will say – I am happy at this point in my life. Is that Having It All? Maybe the answer to the question is another question – Are You Happy?, and my answer would be Yes, I am Happy.

Posted in 2024, life, Memories, thoughts, Writing

Items Always With Me

Posted on by nancyb422

What personal belongings do you hold most dear?

I guess if I didn’t think they were “dear”, I wouldn’t wear these same four rings every day.

rings I wear every day

The thick band with the diamond – the band was my mother in law’s wedding band. We had a new diamond put in for our 30th wedding anniversary.

The thin band is my original wedding band.

The silver ring holds a Danburite crystal. I found it in an antique store in Sonora California while visiting my father in law in 2022. It was meant to be – I was getting ready to leave but decided to look at the jewelry and this stuck out. The crystal takes its name from Danbury Connecticut (I’m born and raised in Connecticut), and it fit perfectly!

The bottom ring is a worry band I bought while visiting with friends in Los Cabos Mexico. It was a splurge and I have worn it since early 2020.

I have a lot of other rings, but these 4 just feel so right together!

Posted in 2024, life, relaxing, Writing

Brrrrrr

Posted on by nancyb422

How do you feel about cold weather?

I am cold if it’s 90 degrees and a cloud passes over the sun.

I always wear a coat or sweater out the door in the morning and usually keep it on most of the day because the air conditioning is blowing on me, or if the heat is on it’s still not warm enough.

Does that give you an idea of how I feel about cold weather?

As long as I am prepared for it, I can be ok about it. But I will always turn off the ceiling fan when I sit in the living room to watch tv because it’s blowing on me!