The weather was gorgeous here in New England for Labor Day weekend. As I was spending it alone, I decided to take my laptop outside and do some work out there. My kitchen counter is lovely, but my patio view is even lovelier. Am I the only one who didn’t realize that you can’t see … Read more
Jim was gone and I felt like someone had shot a hole through my life. I knew about the 5 stages of grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. That’s not how I felt at all. None of these seemed to apply now. I must have gone through those stages during the last year … Read more
I was passing a mirror and I actually thought I saw my mother in there. My mother was a beautiful woman, but 24 years older than me. It was then that I realized that while I had been caring for my sick husband, I had not been paying attention to me. UGH, time for … Read more
It has recently occurred to me that I do all my work by myself. That makes me a Do-it-aloner, not a DIYer. What is the difference, you ask? My definition of a do-it-yourselfer is a person who builds, modifies, or repairs things without the direct aid of experts or professionals, but perhaps with the … Read more
Every once in a while someone will ask me how I manage to look younger than my grandmotherly chronological age. To be honest, it’s probably 90% genetics. Here I am with my mom at her 90th birthday. She looks great for 90, right? At 66, I look pretty good too, don’t I? And I don’t … Read more
So, is it really possible to put up shiplap all by yourself? I have done it and the answer is yes! I applied shiplap and finished my basement all by myself! And I’m a Grandma! How I applied my shiplap Lightly sand the edges and the good side of the planks. I had already cut … Read more
I spent the last year of Jim’s life searching the internet for a clinical trial to save his life. It was 2015 and he had been a cancer patient for almost 20 years. He had taken early retirement and was now running up and down the basketball court refereeing school basketball games. I … Read more
The bone marrow transplant had failed. No one had actually said that. It was hinted that even though Jim’s tumors were reappearing, the BMT could be working. In any case, chemotherapy was started, first CVP, then CVP-R. This drug combination worked extremely well and Jim continued his normal, everyday life; racquetball, basketball, work every day. … Read more
Looking back, it seems now that I always knew that I would someday become a widow. At least since the mid-1990’s when my husband Jim, a Vietnam veteran, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Agent Orange was the cause. We had 3 children; 2 sons, 24 and 21, and a daughter, 12. The 24-year-old son … Read more
So, what in the world is “shiplap“? Of course, I’d heard of it, cause I don’t live under a rock and I watch the show “Fixer Upper“. But what is it really?? Defined in the dictionary as “a type of wooden board used commonly as exterior siding in the construction of residences, barns, sheds, and … Read more