Personal Musings

Family Road Trip: Colorado edition

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments
Bloganuary writing prompt
Think back on your most memorable road trip.
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In summer 2009, we took the kids on a fairly epic road trip in Colorado. They were eight and fourteen at the time and it was their first trip to the Great American West. We covered a lot of ground. After flying to Denver from Boston, we visited friends in Evergreen (who had recently relocated from Massachusetts), then visited Boulder and Rocky Mountain National Park. From there, we went to Red Rock Canyon and Colorado Springs to visit my cousin Andy and his family–some of whom I’d never met. After that, we headed to Creede, an old silver mining town in the San Juan Mountains, to visit my Aunt Mary and her boyfriend Harold, a real Western mountain man if ever there was. Along the way, we visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park and a few other sites, including a giant thermal swimming pool and an alligator farm, before returning to Denver for the flight home.

I remember it as being a really good trip. We saw a lot, including friends and family, and everyone got along well. When you’ve spent your entire life on the East Coast, it’s quite an experience to see those giant open skies and magnificent mountains for the first time. I hope my kids remember the feeling of it. It even smells different out there.

Harold and my namesake Aunt Mary, an East Coast girl turned true westerner
The rental car was solid. You don’t want car problems on those crazy mountain roads!
Rocky Mountain National Park
Creede, CO

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Dessert for Breakfast

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What snack would you eat right now?
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It’s 7am here and I’m drinking cofee, as usual. Any snack I had right now would be breakfast. It’s way too early for real food (like eggs). The only thing I’d consider eating now would be something sweet. If I still had leftover Christmas cookies, those would be an option.

I did a lot of baking for Christmas 2023. I don’t know if it was because I had more time due to not working or I was just happy to have my son home to help eat them, but I tried a couple new recipes from sallysbakingaddiction.com and made some old favorites too. 

These frosted gingerbread bars with white chocolate chips were delicious. And it’s not just me saying. My son and husband loved them and said they were the best cookies I’d ever made! They’re like the moistest molasses/ginger/spice cookie you ever had, but as a bar, and frosted with homemade cream cheese icing. They’re amazing with either a cup of coffee or a glass of milk. (Thanks for the recipe Sally.)

Mary had a little lamb

~ MaryG ~ 4 Comments

Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth. What became of it?

If you name a little girl Mary, someone’s bound to give her a lamb. “Lamby” was my very special stuffed animal when I was small. I’m not sure if the song reinforced my love of the toy, or vice versa, but Lamby was far and away my favorite stuffed animal. And I had a lot of stuffed animals.

Lamby was too important to toss and currently lives in a box in my attic.

I got to hold a real lamb once, but I didn’t get to take it to school.
Lamby looking pretty good for 55+

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Senior Directory

~ MaryG ~ 2 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What is your mission?
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In my high school yearbook, there was a “Senior Directory.” It was an alphabetical listing of all the seniors with our names, addresses, and activities throughout high school in simple form (i.e. Tennis 1; Choir 2,3,4). There were also optional “Thanks To” and “Future Goals” sections.

I think you could say that “Future Goals” were mission statements for our 17-year old selves. Some were very specific: “To go to Westfield State and major in Computer Science. Get a good job when I graduate.” Others were non-committal: “No big plans–I’ll take it as it comes.” Some were aspirational: “To be a famous auto mechanic and build a lot of fast cars” or “To be a sound man for Iron Maiden.” The class nerd/genius’ was: “Live long and prosper.” Some of the girls (not many) mentioned marriage and motherhood. I don’t think a single boy mentioned fatherhood.

Mine was: “To learn, travel and be happy.” (I guess I was destined to be a liberal arts major.) I still like it though. It’s short and covers everything, but commits to nothing. The only problem is that it’s so self-centered. There’s no element of giving back or activism. Although I could argue that “learning” has led me to want to take action on various issues (like women’s rights) and that makes me “happy.”

So yeah, I’ll stick with my 17-year old self’s mission statement: To learn, travel and be happy.

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Your money and your teeth

~ MaryG ~ 7 Comments

What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life?

My main thought on living a very long life is that it might be bad luck to talk about it. You don’t want to jinx yourself. (I sound like my superstitious Italian grandmother.)

Also, it occurs to me that I’ve interacted with two different types of professionals who are very focused on making sure that their particular areas of concern last as long as you do: financial advisors and dentists. Your money and your teeth. You don’t want to outlive either one. Financial advisors will actually refer to “the risk of longevity” when discussing your retirement with you. And the entire point of preventive dentistry is to avoid decay. Dentists go to great lengths to preserve each and every one of your natural teeth for as long as possible.

So I’ve always tried to do what dentists and financial planners tell me to do. Because if I do happen to live a very long life, I don’t want to run out of money or lose my teeth.

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Winter attitude adjustment

~ MaryG ~ 2 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What could you do differently?
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Ugh, snow. Pretty, snow.

We’re stuck in the house all day. Our house is safe and warm.

Church and choir are cancelled. Church is online and the choir made a video.

This is going to be a boring day. I’m going to get a lot of my book read.

The power better not go out! National Grid is prepared for this.

This is just the beginning of winter. I don’t have to commute to Boston anymore.

It’s 72 degrees in Florida right now. My kids and my parents are within an hour’s drive.

Christmas is over. I left the tree up and it finally looks like Christmas.

My billboard

~ MaryG ~ 9 Comments

If you had a freeway billboard, what would it say?

If you’ve ever downloaded the “Calm” app to help deal with anxiety or insomnia or tinnitus (or all three, like me) you know that every time you open it, the words “take a deep breath” appear in white letters on a soothing purplish blue screen. It’s one of the best things about the app. Before you even start using it, it puts you in a better frame of mind.

I’d steal that for my billboard.

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The Golden Bachelor

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past? Why?
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This blog has been more about looking back. Nostalgia. Turning 50 will do that. At 50, you know that your life is likely more than half over. Only 0.02% of people in the United States live to be 100.

Now, with 50 in the rear view and 60 fast approaching, I’m paying much more attention to what older people are doing, rather than trying to keep up with the latest trends. (One of the great things about leaving my job in November was that I never had to learn the new software tool that they were about to roll out. It was supposedly going to make things easier, but was already causing fights.)

Yes, there are many hardships in aging, particularly health-related ones, and all the losses–friends, parents, spouses. If you were lucky and never felt true, aching grief before age 50, it’s coming and there’s really nothing you can do to prepare for it.

So, I was basically ABC’s target audience for The Golden Bachelor. I am not a card-carrying member of “Bachelor Nation,” but I did watch a couple seasons early on. I was captivated by Trista, the very first Bachelorette who is now 51(!) and happily married to Ryan, the guy she met on the show. I watched their wedding on live TV twenty years ago. The intervening seasons did not interest me, especially when the son of a friend was cast and I learned a bit about what goes on behind the scenes. Spoiler alert: nothing is real. All the situations are staged.

STILL, I could not resist The Golden Bachelor, which featured 72-year old widower Gerry and twenty-two women over 60 competing for his love. Many, including the “winner” Theresa (a widow), were over 70. Yes, there was a lot of cringe. Yet, I cried at Gerry & Theresa’s televised wedding last night. When their daughters spoke about how they wanted their parents to find happiness again, after such profound sorrow. Theresa’s daughter urged her mother to “put him first,” which seemed so generous given that Theresa is a highly-involved grandmother. The other thing that was inspiring was the (seemingly) real comraderie between the women. Even the runner-up (for lack of a better word), seemed truly happy to “celebrate love.”

So, thanks ABC. Looking back can be fun, but as Theresa said at one point, “there’s always something to look forward to.”

The golden couple

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The underrated Box of Chocolates

~ MaryG ~ 9 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What is the greatest gift someone could give you?
View all responses

I know that some people start strict diets in the New Year, but for everyone else, it’s chocolate season. Let’s face it, you’ve now eaten every last Christmas cookie in the house, so when you want something sweet, you’re going to crack open that nice box of chocolates that you (hopefully) received as a gift. (Nobody ever buys a box of fine chocolates for themselves. It’s always a gift.) When you open it on Christmas (or your birthday, or Valentine’s Day), it might not seem that exciting, but you’ll be very glad you got it later on.

As previously mentioned (many times), I have a sweet tooth. As a kid, I remember reading “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl, while nibbling on a solid chocolate heart I’d received for Valentine’s Day. Reading Dahl’s fantastical description of magical, delicious chocolate, while actual chocolate melted in my mouth, was pretty much heaven for 10-year old me.

My ideal gift box of chocolates contains no nuts as a listed ingredient (because I’m allergic to a couple kinds of tree nuts), but if the box says only “may contain trace of nuts,” that’s OK. Artisanal boxes of chocolates from local chocolatiers like Chequessett or Chocolate Moonshine are good, as are fancy gold boxes from countries like Belgium, France, or Switzerland.

The other great thing about a gift box of chocolates is that it’s yours. You may share it if you wish, but you decide who gets one and when. (It helps to hide it after opening, especially if there are children or teenagers in your house.)

Here’s the box of chocolates I opened last night–a gift from my husband–which entitled him to one chocolate of his choice. I generously gave him first pick. He had a Midnight Swirl (“full-bodied 85% cacao dark chocolate ganache covered in dark chocolate”). I then had a Dark Chocolate Ganache Heart AND a Salted Caramel Lion of Belgium (amazing). Now I have fifteen fine Belgian dark chocolates left, but who’s counting?

I love a box of chocolates that comes with a guide. This one is in French too (a good sign).
Which one would you choose next? Big decision.

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