What daily habit do you do that improves your quality of life?
I joined the masses in completing the daily Wordle during the pandemic. At the time, I had a Twitter account and I may have shared my results (those ubiquitous little green and yellow charts) once or twice on Twitter. One time, I got lucky and got it on the first guess! It was cool knowing that millions of other people were doing the same thing in lockdown. We were all in this together.
Welp, I have since deleted my Twitter account, but I still do the daily Wordle. (Yes, I am a subscriber to The New York Times, which acquired the game, but I think the game is still free to all.) It’s a fun and satisfying way to start the day. One small achievement. If nothing else goes right, at least I got the darn Wordle!
I’m not one of those people who starts with the same word every time, but I do try to pick a word with at least two vowels. Here’s my first guess from today. I got it in three!
“Sasha Obama job 2023” was the last thing I googled. I was wondering what Sasha is up to now that she’s graduated from college. My son will be graduating in May.
This is part of a longstanding habit I have of “low-key comparing” my family to the Obamas.
I believe I developed this habit because Barack Obama was the first President in my very own age group. He was 47 when he got elected in November 2008. Michelle was 44. And their daughters, Malia and Sasha, were 10 and 7. I was 43. My husband was 46. And our kids were 13 and 7. I know that technically Barack is a Baby Boomer, like my husband, but culturally, they’re Generation X.
In addition to admiring them tremendously as a family, I’ve always tended to keep tabs on the Obamas’ milestones. For instance, I was very interested in Barack’s 60th birthday plans and how they were impacted by the pandemic, as I was thinking about my husband’s 60th. I’m sure I’ll be paying close attention to whatever Michelle has to say about turning 60 in January, as I start to think about my own entry into that decade of life. (I’ve read both her books.) Also, I’ll admit to being jealous of her famously toned upper arms. They are my main motivation whenever I decide to pick up my hand weights.
There should be a word for a celebrity or public figure that you relate to because they are part of your generation. They are your “contemporaries,” but you don’t actually know them. Let me know if you think of one.
Growing up in the 70s in suburban America, my sister and I watched a lot of TV. Our parents were not strict about it. We could basically watch as much as we wanted, but we were not allowed to watch late into the night. We had fairly strict bedtimes.
As little kids, we watched Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers—two fantastic PBS productions. From the vowels and the days of the week to how to process grief over a deceased guinea pig, we learned so much from those programs and we were lucky to have them. As we got older, Zoom was another fantastic PBS production created in our own backyard (Boston’s WGBH) that encouraged us to write our own plays, experiment, and learn to speak Ubbi Dubbi. You could write to Zoom for instructions on how to do activities seen on the show or send in your own ideas. I will never forget Zoom’s mailing address: Box 350, Boston, Mass, Oh, Two, One, Three, Four. The zip code must be sung!
We also watched hundreds of episodes of The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island, including many re-runs. Everyone in the neighborhood knew and talked about the important episodes, like when the Brady family went to Hawaii. Very exciting! We were not big Star Trek kids, but I remember certain episodes like the “Trouble with Tribbles.” The tribbles were so cute, like our guinea pigs.
For years, we could not miss an episode of Happy Days or Laverne & Shirley. They were both on Tuesday evenings. We loved those shows. My entire concept of the 1950s (my parents’ teenage era) comes from Happy Days. Laverne (played by Penny Marshall) immortalized the capital cursive L with those sweaters and made me want to get everything monogrammed.
It’s funny how I remember so few individual episodes of those shows, but can still sing virtually every theme song.
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.
My set-up. Cute little cactus and candle were gifts from my thoughtful daughter. My sister-in-law crocheted the coaster.
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.
Here’s this month’s. Yellow is such a great color.July’s were exotic – hot and tropical June’s were really gorgeous. My birthday month.
TIP: I ordered and paid for an entire year of deliveries on Black Friday and saved hundreds of dollars.
For about six months in 2019 and 2020 (pre-pandemic), I was able to swim laps in Boston’s fanciest new building – One Dalton Street. It’s both a Four Seasons Hotel and a very expensive condo building, all in one deluxe skyscraper.
At that time, the condos were still under construction, but the hotel was open, so management kindly let people who lived or worked in the neighborhood use the fitness center. They didn’t advertise this — I just happened to ask, so I typically had the whole pool to myself. The occasional hotel guest would come and go.
The light-filled pool area has a gentle arc and sweeping view of Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood and Christian Science Plaza. The locker rooms have complimentary everything – from cucumber water, to fluffy white robes and the thickest emery boards I’ve ever seen. It’s a true urban oasis. After swimming, showering and pampering there, I would drive home in a relaxed state.
I knew it wouldn’t last, so I tried to enjoy it. But I never thought a virus would be the thing that ended it!
Anyway, in my fantasy City of the Future, everyone would have access to an oasis like this.
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
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.
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.
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