ATime to Move On

I've been giving this a little thought
and I've decided to move my blog.

I'm approaching the limits of my bandwidth here on blogger and I'd like to mix things up a bit. So Life or Something Like it will no longer be. My new home is A View From Me at WordPress. Yes I'm even changing domains. My Project 365 will remain for the rest of the year and when I decide what my new challenge is next year will determine whether or not to continue it and where as the case may be. I'm working at setting up my new digs and hope you'll come over and visit. I look forward to a new adventure in blogging.

Summer Memory

You know I have a deep love affair with food. It goes back to my childhood. My mother loved trying out new recipes and had many traditional Polish ones as well. Every summer you could count on crocks of Ogorki or Polish Dill Pickles. We had an enclosed back porch and I remember vividly the dill hanging by clothespins on the line ready to go in the big jugs with the pickling cukes. Brine cured there was loads of fresh garlic, mustard seeds and whatever other 'secret' ingredients were passed down in the family recipe. It's with great joy to my memory and stomach that I find these Polish Dills at one of our favorite farmstands, Atkins. One of the local Polish farmers supplies them and every time we find them available during the summer I'm sure to pick some up.
I grew up in a very ethnic household. My mother's parents, who came through Ellis Island from Poland lived with us and my father's mother was also Polish. I was surrounded by the culture, language, music and food growing up. Hitting my teens I couldn't wait to get away from the trappings of the old world but as I've matured I've found myself reaching for the comfort of it. I ended up marrying a man who came from a Polish background as well and we live in a community with a rich Polish heritage. Go figure.

At this time

inspired by The Simple Woman's Daybook



Outside my window...it's a beautiful sun shiney summer day.
I am thinking...do I want a three day weekend for Labor Day or time and a half to work.
I am thankful for...Dunkin Donuts coffee.
From the kitchen...egg drop soup, beef and broccoli.
I am wearing...jeans and a Boston Bruins tee shirt.
I am creating...a stack of old scrapbook magazines to sort through.
I am going...to watch "Dexter" on dvd.
I am reading..."The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak.
I am hoping...the weather is good for hanging in Northampton tomorrow night.
I am hearing..."Not Meant to Be" by Theory of a Deadman.
Around the house...is the scent of my Sage & Citrus Yankee Candle EHF(electric home fragrancer).
One of my favorite things...when Oliver 'talks' to us.
A few plans for the rest of the week...Jazz in the Park in Northampton tomorrow, Crystal and Kevin over Saturday to celebrate Crystal's birthday.
A picture to share...a few pictures. Tuesday was Kim and my 'Scrap your Day' and the challenge this mnth was to focus on ourselves. When Shimelle first introduced the project she suggested making a collage of yourself making funny faces. I couldn't bring myself to do it then but at 11:30 at night this time around when I felt I still needed to get more shots in well I gave it a go. May I highly recommend it. By time I took enough shots I was laughing at myself and my expressions.

September Vogue is in the House!

Nothing screams that Fall is right around the corner to me like the September issue of Vogue magazine. Sure there's Back to School sales but since I was a teen when the big fat September issues of Seventeen and Vogue came out everything stopped while I poured over the pages of fashion layouts and predictions for hot trends in makeup and clothes. I went to Catholic Schools throughout my school years and my concern for the latest trends was kinda funny considering I was required to wear a school uniform. In grade school the nuns would check our skirt length to make sure it touched our knees. If it didn't they had ribbon ready to pin on the offender's hem. Now for a tall chubby girl having my skirt touch my knees wasn't the worst thing(cover those legs!) but the bib style a-line jumper in hunter green plaid, now that was a Fashion No! Do they try to find the most unflattering style for pre-teen girls to wear? there were rare non-uniform days like picture day, when you were allowed a brief glimpse of personality or the last week of school, when you could wear something a bit cooler since there was no such thing as air conditioning in those old buildings. Junior High wasn't any much better. There we got to wear a grey wool pleated skirt with the requisite white peter pan collar blouse and navy sweater. Can you say hot! No wonder I don't 'do' heat, my system was roasted from an early age. At least my friends and I figured out that if we buttoned our sweaters we could roll the waistband of our skirts to at least have the illusion of a mini when outside those hallowed halls of school. So what's a girl to do but lose herself in the pages of beautiful fashion magazines where girls can wear the latest and greatest fashions. It's been way many years since those years but I still get the same rush when I pick up that fall issue on the newsstand.

If I had a $1,000,000

Listening to my favorite online radio station, Mix 104.1, which may I add recently gave me distress by moving to their new call numbers from 98.5. I've mentioned this station numerous times as it's a Boston station and I love having that connection with the city on a daily basis and their Accoustic Sunrise show on Sundays. When it changed there was about a week that I couldn't access the new station, then when I did it was a totally different format. I was so broken hearted to lose my station. Happy to say it's now playing the music I enjoyed on the original and Accoustic Sunrise is still available. But I digress. I was just listening to Barenaked Ladies perform their hit "If I had a $1,000,000". Every time I hear that song it makes me smile. Cause you know I think every time that if I had a million dollars, like the song says at the very end "I'd be rich". Now I know you might be thinking no you wouldn't, not by the standards today of rich, but for me it'd be plenty. When the song first came out I was working at this job that was really demoralizing and stressful. I'd hear that song and lose myself in it for a few minutes thinking how I'd pay off my bills and put the rest away to live off. Maybe I'd get a little part time job in a bookstore, maybe I wouldn't have to work at all. I'd just imagine how nice it would be to be comfortable enough. I don't need a big fancy house, I wouldn't even worry about buying a house, just stay where we are. To be able to linger over a morning cup of coffee and that book I'm reading. To take that beautiful sunny morning and find some beautiful flowers blooming and capture them. To not have to worry about having a paycheck next week or next month. To have my bills paid and have enough. No I don't need a fancy car or Carribean cruise, just peace of mind. (Captured this sunflower at the Bridge of Flowers Sunday and played around with that polaroid photo editing program I mentioned in an earlier post.)

The Mets were on last night but on one of the high end channels that I can't get on the bedroom tv. So I had to bear up with the heat in the living room in order to watch the game. Thankfully, I had a nice iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts to help hydrate myself. Maybe they could have used one as they lost. Tough season for them, with nearly every starter spending time on the DL(disabled list) with one injury or another. Thankfully, the Yankees are having a better season. Hoping the rains stay clear of Boston so their game tonight with the Red Sox goes off. That I can watch in the air conditioned comfort of the bedroom. We're having some rains and thunder with more severe storms being predicted. The long range forecast calls for hot weather and thunder storms every day! Ack! What a summer. I'm limping along getting pictures for my "100 Favorites of Summer 2009" album. I'd hoped to go through Old Deerfield after work since I haven't lately but the clouds and rain had already moved in when I got out so no go. I'm really feeling challenged coming up with something for my Project 365 lately. Took a different route to Jazzercise yesterday and caught a couple of goats at a local farmstand. Not terribly exciting but something at least. I didn't want to fall back on a picture in Trader Joe's again. I do have to share this shot of Oliver in my Trader Joe's bag. I swear the simplest things are better than any toy you can buy in a pet store. He's been having the bestest time with the bag. Starting to see some lightening flashes so best get off the computer. Hope the weather is nicer where you are.

Today

inspired by The Simple Woman's Daybook


Outside my window...it's hazy, hot and humid.
I am thinking...I'm very glad tomorrow's Friday.
I am thankful for...my Jazzercise class.
From the kitchen...General Tso's Chicken.
I am wearing...denim shorts and a sage green Yankee Candle tee shirt.
I am creating...some pictures with a polaroid effect.
I am going...read and watch some baseball tonight.
I am reading...Miss New York Has Everything by Lori Jakiela.
I am hoping...the humidity goes away.
I am hearing..."Champagane Supernova" by Oasis.
Around the house...is hot except in the office and bedroom.
One of my favorite things...online radio.
A few plans for the rest of the week...peace and quiet.
A picture to share...taken from the Bridge of

Flowers in Shelburne Falls on Saturday.

Heat Wave!

Oliver and I have retreated to the air conditioned comfort of the bedroom where we're spending quality time with Gil Grissom and the rest of the C.S.I.s and catching up on reading. I don't "do" heat and these 90 plus degree days have me spent. Thank goodness Jazzercise is air conditioned, so I'm able to keep up with class. We have an air conditioner in our office so I'm having some supper and catching up here. Sadly, since I'm just going to work, Jazzercise and home there's not much to share. If Oliver could talk or type perhaps he'd have a more exciting day to share. Who knows what he sees out the windows at night and when we're not home.