Now and Then
01/01/19 07:11
Nancy had a bit of a cold last night and was feeling under the weather so we did not go into town for the fireworks. I opened our back door a little after 7 last night just long enough so the both if us could hear the rain and feel the rawness of the night and that was that. In fact, she didn't leave the house at all yesterday and when she doesn't get out of the house you know she is not feeling well. She was content to busy herself around the house with this and that and spent a bit of time in the afternoon resting in bed. "If I don't feel better by Wednesday, I won't be going into work", she stated with as much defiance as she was capable of mustering. I showed my support by uttering an all too familiar response in our household, "nor should you."
We just returned from our trip to Upstate New York to attend uncle Wally's Christmas get-together. It was such a whirlwind trip timewise that I think we needed some time to catch our collective breaths so staying home was okay with me. I should also mention that were it not for Mrs Wally we might well not have a get together at all. Her efforts on behalf of the family when it comes to entertaining and providing for same are indeed herculean. That may going without saying but it does need to be said. In fact, we should collectively say it more often than we do.
We had just enough of this and that in our refrigerator this New Year's Eve that we didn't need to go out although our plan didn't do much for the Ev-man. He was on his own. I think he may have gone out to McDonald's or something but he wasn't gone long. Keeping your loved ones off the roads on New Year's Eve, if possible, is and should be a priority and this year was no different.
We had a good trip to New York despite the fact that it was delayed by a day by icy forecasts throughout Vermont. We even called the Chamber of Commerce in Woodstock, VT, at one point to see if they had any encouraging words about the weather and or the roads. They didn't. Temperatures were solidly in the thirties across the entire route and roads were reportedly slick and icy in many of the low laying areas from start to finish.
Nancy definitely burns the candle at both ends during the Christmas season with holiday preparations for family, work, and everything in between. From hanging ornaments to wrapping presents, she is balls-to-the-walls busy without so much as a lending hand from me. Oh, I might hold a ribbon or two while she splices it with her handy dandy scissors but that's about it.
She even hangs all the ornaments on the tree each year and does so singlehandedly. She makes no effort to enlist assistance from anyone and I think she wouldn't have it any other way. From digging the boxes of ornaments out of the closeted space where they reside most of the year to hanging the very last ornament on the tree only to take them all down and store them away for another year it is uniquely hers to savor.
Evan, truth be told, is even less help. Getting him to write thank you cards after the fact can be like pulling teeth. Having said that, the sentiment expressed in his thank you notes over the years has been surprisingly sweet and we actually enjoy looking at them. unbeknownst to him, before they go into the envelope. Peering into the abyss where your children live in what can only be described as a parallel universe can be risky but a risk well worth taking. You never really know what they are going to say or whether or not you might see a side of your child you never knew existed.
It is never all about the presents for we adults in attendance at Uncle Wally's house and I suspect more often than not the gifts going up for grab are re-gifts of sorts or at least that is what Uncle Cliff would have you believe. Even though it's partially or wholly true does it really need to be stated aloud? I do wish we would get back to the Indian grab business and Indian grab only when it comes to gifting at the post Christmas party. I thought we agreed long ago that rather than everyone buying gifts for everyone else, which can come at a considerable expense, that we would just have the Indian grab thing. Gifts for the children were the exception.
Is it me or does it feel weird to both give and receive gifts and do the Indian grab thing? If I thought it would make a difference I would remind everyone why we decided to go with the Indian grab thing and hope for the best the next time round. As for me, I certainly do not want people spending their money to purchase gifts for me. I just don't. I think there are people at that party who can ill afford to be celebrating not one but two Christmases when and where it involves gifting. Make me some cookies or send me packing with a parcel of turkey soup and I'll be just as happy.
Did I mention that I tallied up my bike riding miles for 2018? I keep track on my calendar in the kitchen as to which days I ride and which days I don't. I established a minimum distance that qualifies as a daily ride and, in a nutshell, it is if I ride to the Beach Club just past Jenness Beach going southbound on 1A. I think it is about a 20 minute ride to the Beach Club so that is a forty minute round trip. The full ride is somewhere between 10 and 12 miles round trip and extends to Atlantic Avenue in North Hampton. Duration of the ride is usually around 50 minutes.
As is typically the case, especially in the not-so-good weather, I tell myself that when I get to the Beach Club that I am good to turn around if I am still inclined to do so. If I don't make it as far as the Beach Club, I will remove the "ride" from my calendar. Invariably, by the time I get to the Beach Club I am suitably in stride such that there just ain't no turning back. I think I can count the number of times I actually turned around at the Beach House on one hand. Oh, and before I forget, I rode my bike 2,310 miles in total in 2018.
Weather permitting, I'll need to up my game in 2019 in order to hit my goal of 3,000 miles. Now that I'm riding with temperatures below 40 that should not be a problem. I guess that qualifies as a New Year's resolution. I'd certainly like to read more and write more in this here journal so we'll see how that goes. Starting the year with a book like "The Cruelty Men" which is crazy good is a good omen indeed. Carving out time each day to enjoy a good book can be a challenge but I love challenges so there you have it. As projects go, I like to have a "before" and "after" picture to document my achievements. I've created a section in my iBook labelled "Books I've Read" and that should do the trick.
Liz "Pocahontas" Warren has thrown her hat into the ring for the 2020 presidential sweepstakes. When Trump was asked whether he thinks that she could win a presidential contest, he responded in true Trumpian fashion, "Well, that I don't know. You'd have to ask her psychiatrist." The inference, of course, is that she is nuttier than a fruitcake. Expect Trump to keep beating that drum every day for the next two years (until her DNA hurts.)
We just returned from our trip to Upstate New York to attend uncle Wally's Christmas get-together. It was such a whirlwind trip timewise that I think we needed some time to catch our collective breaths so staying home was okay with me. I should also mention that were it not for Mrs Wally we might well not have a get together at all. Her efforts on behalf of the family when it comes to entertaining and providing for same are indeed herculean. That may going without saying but it does need to be said. In fact, we should collectively say it more often than we do.
We had just enough of this and that in our refrigerator this New Year's Eve that we didn't need to go out although our plan didn't do much for the Ev-man. He was on his own. I think he may have gone out to McDonald's or something but he wasn't gone long. Keeping your loved ones off the roads on New Year's Eve, if possible, is and should be a priority and this year was no different.
We had a good trip to New York despite the fact that it was delayed by a day by icy forecasts throughout Vermont. We even called the Chamber of Commerce in Woodstock, VT, at one point to see if they had any encouraging words about the weather and or the roads. They didn't. Temperatures were solidly in the thirties across the entire route and roads were reportedly slick and icy in many of the low laying areas from start to finish.
Nancy definitely burns the candle at both ends during the Christmas season with holiday preparations for family, work, and everything in between. From hanging ornaments to wrapping presents, she is balls-to-the-walls busy without so much as a lending hand from me. Oh, I might hold a ribbon or two while she splices it with her handy dandy scissors but that's about it.
She even hangs all the ornaments on the tree each year and does so singlehandedly. She makes no effort to enlist assistance from anyone and I think she wouldn't have it any other way. From digging the boxes of ornaments out of the closeted space where they reside most of the year to hanging the very last ornament on the tree only to take them all down and store them away for another year it is uniquely hers to savor.
Evan, truth be told, is even less help. Getting him to write thank you cards after the fact can be like pulling teeth. Having said that, the sentiment expressed in his thank you notes over the years has been surprisingly sweet and we actually enjoy looking at them. unbeknownst to him, before they go into the envelope. Peering into the abyss where your children live in what can only be described as a parallel universe can be risky but a risk well worth taking. You never really know what they are going to say or whether or not you might see a side of your child you never knew existed.
It is never all about the presents for we adults in attendance at Uncle Wally's house and I suspect more often than not the gifts going up for grab are re-gifts of sorts or at least that is what Uncle Cliff would have you believe. Even though it's partially or wholly true does it really need to be stated aloud? I do wish we would get back to the Indian grab business and Indian grab only when it comes to gifting at the post Christmas party. I thought we agreed long ago that rather than everyone buying gifts for everyone else, which can come at a considerable expense, that we would just have the Indian grab thing. Gifts for the children were the exception.
Is it me or does it feel weird to both give and receive gifts and do the Indian grab thing? If I thought it would make a difference I would remind everyone why we decided to go with the Indian grab thing and hope for the best the next time round. As for me, I certainly do not want people spending their money to purchase gifts for me. I just don't. I think there are people at that party who can ill afford to be celebrating not one but two Christmases when and where it involves gifting. Make me some cookies or send me packing with a parcel of turkey soup and I'll be just as happy.
Did I mention that I tallied up my bike riding miles for 2018? I keep track on my calendar in the kitchen as to which days I ride and which days I don't. I established a minimum distance that qualifies as a daily ride and, in a nutshell, it is if I ride to the Beach Club just past Jenness Beach going southbound on 1A. I think it is about a 20 minute ride to the Beach Club so that is a forty minute round trip. The full ride is somewhere between 10 and 12 miles round trip and extends to Atlantic Avenue in North Hampton. Duration of the ride is usually around 50 minutes.
As is typically the case, especially in the not-so-good weather, I tell myself that when I get to the Beach Club that I am good to turn around if I am still inclined to do so. If I don't make it as far as the Beach Club, I will remove the "ride" from my calendar. Invariably, by the time I get to the Beach Club I am suitably in stride such that there just ain't no turning back. I think I can count the number of times I actually turned around at the Beach House on one hand. Oh, and before I forget, I rode my bike 2,310 miles in total in 2018.
Weather permitting, I'll need to up my game in 2019 in order to hit my goal of 3,000 miles. Now that I'm riding with temperatures below 40 that should not be a problem. I guess that qualifies as a New Year's resolution. I'd certainly like to read more and write more in this here journal so we'll see how that goes. Starting the year with a book like "The Cruelty Men" which is crazy good is a good omen indeed. Carving out time each day to enjoy a good book can be a challenge but I love challenges so there you have it. As projects go, I like to have a "before" and "after" picture to document my achievements. I've created a section in my iBook labelled "Books I've Read" and that should do the trick.
Liz "Pocahontas" Warren has thrown her hat into the ring for the 2020 presidential sweepstakes. When Trump was asked whether he thinks that she could win a presidential contest, he responded in true Trumpian fashion, "Well, that I don't know. You'd have to ask her psychiatrist." The inference, of course, is that she is nuttier than a fruitcake. Expect Trump to keep beating that drum every day for the next two years (until her DNA hurts.)