What’s your favorite time of day?
I like the morning coffee hour, but only if it doesn’t start too early. If I’m up at 5am drinking coffee, I consider that a sleep failure.
A couple years ago, my nephews gave me an Ember smart mug. I didn’t know if I’d like it, but I do. It keeps your coffee at the right temperature, so you can sip it slowly and not have to reheat it in the microwave.
Mornings are all possibilities, no regrets, as long as you slept well.
I think my generation may be the last one to have recipe boxes. I got my mine as a wedding shower gift in the early 1990s. I still use it – all the time.
For those who don’t know, recipe boxes are small, rectangular boxes with hinged lids. They can be wood, metal or plastic. When you flip up the lid, you see they are stuffed with index cards sorted into various categories with pre-printed dividers: Appetizers & Snacks, Soups & Sauces, Meat & Fish, etc.
In the olden days (before the internet), if you liked a dish your friend made, you would ask her for the recipe and she’d write it out for you (by hand) on a lined recipe card. What an act of love! The recipe card would have her name on it somewhere. For example, many recipe cards were pre-printed with the words “From the Kitchen of” at the top.
I’ve scanned and transferred some recipes to my computer, but they’re always hard to find when you need them. Plus, who wants their laptop on the counter while they’re cooking? The recipe box really was an ingeneous invention.
Here’s one of my favorite recipe cards from my mother. This very simple recipe for rice pudding was her mother’s. It’s a great thing to do with leftover white rice.
Tell us about the last thing you got excited about.
For Christmas 2019, my husband got me a 3-month subscription to BloomsyBox, a monthly delivery of beautiful flowers. By the end of the three months, COVID had hit and we were stuck at home, so I kept the subscription going. It was just so nice to have these gorgeous blooms to look at, especially in the winter.
Three years later, I still get these monthly deliveries. Each one is different and quite stunning. And I get excited about each one.
TIP: I ordered and paid for an entire year of deliveries on Black Friday and saved hundreds of dollars.
Where did your name come from?
I was given a double name, like many other girls in my largely Catholic suburban Massachusetts hometown. It was very common in the 60s and 70s. We had a Mary Kay, a Mary Ellen, and a Mary Sue just on my tiny street. (My mother’s name is Sue, so at least mine made sense.)
In fifth grade, the teacher asked us to write our names on placards on our desks so that he could learn them. I wrote Mary so big that I had no room for Sue. He started calling me Mary and I just went with it and eventually dropped the Sue. It’s still my middle name though, which I like because it honors my mother.
Given that my last name is very difficult to spell and pronounce, I’m fine with having a boring, common first name that nearly everyone gets right off the bat.
“Mary Sue” in the 70s in our neighborhood full of girls with double names
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What motivates you?
Since 1995, when my first child was born, being a mother is what motivated me. Raising kids is such a heavy lift! From making food to making money, you’re constantly working on their behalf for 23ish years, if you send them to college. My second child was born six years later, so I’m just wrapping up this phase now. (He’s a senior in college.)
If you succeed at parenting, your kids grow into happy, independent adults, which is great. Pat yourself on the back, you did a good job! (Of course you still worry about them, but it’s not the same. They’re adults now.)
But THEN what motivates you? I’m not sure. It’s a good question.
My husband has taken up powerlifting and is very serious about it. I’ve made what feels like a cliche move for a woman my age and booked a trip to Paris. I’m currently studying French on the Mango app available through my public library. I’ll let you know how that goes.
What are your top ten favorite movies?
Let’s face it, seeing movies is different these days. The fact that you can wait for films to be available on streaming means that you’ll be seeing many great productions on your TV, where they’ll be up against a myriad of amazing series and documentaries. I think it’s hard for a film you saw on your TV to be truly memorable (over decades).
All of the films on my list are ones I remember seeing on the big screen (sometimes more than once) and loving.
I was born in 1965, the first year of Generation X, and I think my list reflects that. Plus, I do love a musical! (If Hamilton had been a movie instead of a play first, it would’ve been on my list for sure.)
1. Sound of Music (1965)
2. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
3. Star Wars (1977)
4. Grease (1978)
5. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
6. Schindler’s List (1993)
7. Good Will Hunting (1997)
8. Bridesmaids (2011)
9. Black Panther (2018)
10. Barbie (2023)
Seeing the original Star Wars in the summer of 1977 in Nantucket’s historic Dreamland Theater was the most memorable movie-going experience of my life. I was 12. I’ll never forget how the audience cheered. Also, the score by John Williams was such an important part of the film. Goosebumps. I bought the sheet music for the main theme and learned to play it on the piano.
Final note: In my opinion, Meryl Streep is our best living American actress. Sophie’s Choice, Out of Africa, Kramer vs Kramer, Mamma Mia and all her other films would be my second top ten (or top twenty) all on their own.
What do you enjoy most about writing?
I think I like to write mostly because it’s therapeutic. Getting some thoughts out of my head and onto “paper” helps me let them go and move on. I originally started this blog when I turned 50. Here’s a post I did then called “Why Blog?” Reading it now (8 years later), it still seems about right.
Also, I’ve always been a reader. I love fiction and memoirs. It seems that many people who really like to read also enjoy writing. The difference between me and a real writer is the discipline and dedication to craft. I’ve found some real writers here on WordPress using the “Discover” button on Jetpack. I loved this post by Jodi Lee Reifer. I’m not ready to tackle an essay like this about my own sister, but Jodi’s thoughts (so beautifully expressed) truly resonated.
What do you love about where you live?
I have a screened-in porch, which I grew to appreciate during the pandemic. During those first three summers, I lugged an inflatable mattress out there because I wanted to have a comfortable place to read and smoke weed. I called it my flop bed. This year, I bought an actual chaise. It’s not quite as comfortable as the mattress, but it looks better.
Screens are key in New England due to the mosquitoes.
I like the nature sounds and tree view on my porch.
Related:
Have you noticed how you get asked: “Do you feel safe at home?” at every medical appointment these days? It’s like a law or something. Without a second thought, I always answer yes. I never worry about being hurt by someone in my home.
Sadly, millions of people, especially women and children, cannot truthfully answer yes to that question. In my town, a beautful, promising high school senior was murdered by her father in 2010, when my daughter was a freshman at the same school. It was surreal, almost unfathomable.
It’s easy to take safety for granted, but it’s not a given. Men especially should think about that every time they want to complain about things like “safe spaces” or “trigger warnings.” The reality is that many, many people don’t feel safe in their own homes or relationships and can’t easily get out. If there’s a gun in the home, that makes everything worse. If you haven’t seen it, the series Maid on Netflix is great.
One last thing, I had a male colleague give me a hard time because I complained about female staff members being expected to walk to a remote parking lot (under an expressway in Boston) after an event that we were all required to attend. He just coudn’t understand how I could bring up PARKING, when he was dealing with so many important and stressful details! Maybe if he’d ever felt afraid enough to lace his keys between his fingers on a dark or deserted street, he’d have understood a bit better.
Create an emergency preparedness plan.
I once told a friend that, in the event of a nuclear attack on Boston, my plan was to put the kids in the minivan, hit “recirculate” on the a/c, and drive west. Surely, “recirculate” would keep the radiation out of our air supply. She laughed.
By the way, I did not enjoy the film “Oppenheimer.” It’s too long and confusing and mostly about politics. I couldn’t keep all the white guys straight. I thought it would have been better as a miniseries, with new characters rolled out each week. The blast scene was cool though. Terrifyingly cool.
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