My Birthday Month

One thing about having a birthday on the first of a month is that it sneaks up on everyone, including the birthday girl! So I'm "all in" on celebrating for a whole month... which I don't do actually. But it's nice to think about, and it allows me to splurge a little bit when I feel like it.

Lew did buy a chocolate cake for me. It cost over $30! But it was delicious, and I had several pieces. Yummy!  (I wouldn't let him light the candle since it is too cute to let melt.)

Jigsaw Puzzle: Readers Paradise

With a six-day break between workdays, I decided to take some time to do a jigsaw puzzle.  I hadn't done one in a while.

This one is a White Mountain puzzle called "Readers Paradise" by Aimee Stewart.

It was fun!  And it even had a couple kitties in it.  Can you find them?

Back to Normal(ish)

This past week was the first week I felt somewhat "normal" since my fall. Glad I can try to get back to my routine....

Speaking of which, my "routine" was a bit loosey-goosey in the first place!

But now that Spring is here, I am inspired to develop some better habits. Like exercising. And healthy eating. And a myriad of other good things that are easier not to do.

A blessed Easter season to all!

I Got a BooBoo

On the morning of Valentine's Day I tripped over an awry area rug in our home and did a major faceplant. I still look like I lost a prize-fight (black eye), but I am so fortunate. I didn't break anything... not even my glasses. But I am recovering from a mild concussion; the doctor's office said it could take a couple weeks before I feel normal. I hope to return to work this coming Monday, but we'll see.

Tracy's Tax Service

I prepared my father's income tax returns a week ago today. I had so much fun (ha ha) that I did ours, too. (In the past I've done Matt & Emily's also, but their tax situation is more complicated now.)

The two sets of returns (federal and state for Dad and Lew & I) were all accepted by the taxing authorities, and all of the balances due/refunds have been exchanged.  E-filing is great.

Tracy's Tax Service was open for one whole day.

Closed until next year!

A Belated Happy New Year!

I haven't completely abandoned this blog yet, but my posts are by no means prolific.  Maybe I can do a better job in 2026... but that's if I have something to say, haha!

Something I have kept up with is posting the books I've read (click on Reading Lists on the right-hand side).  It contains links to my annual reading lists starting with 2015! I just added the link for 2026, which already has a couple entries.

Peace and joy to you all!

Meet Stone!

A friend needed to rehome her cat, so Lew and I are back to a two-cat household. Stone is almost four years old. He and Marilyn are getting along splendidly!

He looks a lot like our sweet kitty Jerry, doesn't he?

Thankful

I was updating my book list and decided to write a brief post, too.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. Other than my fighting my annual "Tracy has a bad cold on Thanksgiving" condition, we had a nice day. We went to Matt & Emily's house and ate far too much. It was delightful. We are thankful for family.

I do have some sad news to report. Our sweet cat Jerry is no longer with us. His kidneys were failing and we said good-bye to him a week ago (Wednesday, November 19). He was a great friend to Lew, Dad, and me. We are thankful for the 13 1/2 years we had with him.

The bathroom on Dad's side of the house is being remodeled for a more accessible shower for him. The work is almost done. It's going to be nice. We are thankful for our home.

I believe our dinner has arrived. I am thankful for lasagna from Romeo's!

Are You Watching?

Tonight is game 6 of the World Series. Have you been watching? In my opinion, this has been one of the most enjoyable World Series. There are players on both teams that I like, so I have mixed feelings about who I want to win. I guess that's the best scenario! Rooting for more good baseball!

October Baseball

After not following this year's baseball season very closely, Lew and I have been watching the playoffs.

The Red Sox were knocked out by the Yankees in the wild card round. (So what else is new?)

The Yankees last won the World Series in 2009, and it's been 16 long years for Yankee's fans. But they will have to wait another year, since the Yankees lost the division series last night to the Blue Jays. (That's a shame.)

Perhaps Lew and I will pay more attention to the Red Sox next summer. Once upon a time, we did enjoy watching them on a regular basis. I even referred to them as "our beloved Red Sox".

Play Ball! ⚾

Books and a Movie

Although I haven't made a regular blog post in a couple weeks, I have been keeping my 2025 Reading List page up-to-date. This is something I will continue to do until the end of this year. I will probably follow a similar idea for my 2026 reading. But I'm thinking of doing more actual posts about books, movies, entertainment, etc.  Hmmm... we'll see, won't we?

Ellen, Anne-Marie, and I went to see the Downtown Abbey movie last week. We enjoyed seeing our "old friends" on the big screen. But we missed Maggie Smith. She was the best!

Have a great weekend!

Not Silenced

Today I cried over the death of a man I had never met. I knew him through his many videos in which he had real conversations with college students. He was conservative politically. Most importantly, he loved Jesus — his greatest message. A message that will live on.

Well done, Charlie Kirk. You will be missed.

Dad 776: Toodle Pip!

(Dad writes today! After 15 years of this blog, we are both running out of steam to write regularly. But never fear! I will post when I feel like it, as will Dad. Thank you for checking in! ~ Tracy) 

Derf Here!

Enjoying another summer day here in the Northeast. But we need some rain! Please send us rain to eliminate our drought.

Well, Kim, Joe, and Kaelen made it back home to Illinois after two days of driving. They had some important appointments to make, and I hope they have done so by now. I am sure that they have a lot of friends out there that can help them out if necessary. Hope that the family enjoys being home.

Derf is retiring from writing a weekly blog post with this one. I have not much else to say. I will write a post when something big comes along. If I receive many words of encouragement to continue writing posts, then I might....

But so long for now. It's been fun!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

Plans Do Change!

For fans of Derf, please check back next week for his next post. He and I both forgot about the blog until this evening. Actually, I've been forgetting about it for a long time! Oh, well. 😬

Kim, Joe, and Kaelen postponed their departure by a week. They will be leaving this Sunday morning, so the planned Ken's Place dinner will take place this Saturday evening.

College football has started... the non-official start of Fall.

🍂🍂🍂🏈🍂🍂🍂

Dad 775: Summer Winds Down

(Dad writes today! And "Happy Birthday" to Lew! ~ Tracy)

Derf Here!

This will be short. Another nice day in the Northeast. The weather is getting to feel like fall. We need rain. Please pour on us.

Josh is now off his ship and is home for his vacation days. Hope to see him soon.

This Saturday we will have a dinner from Ken’s Place since Joe, Kim, and Kaelen will be headed back to Illinois on Sunday. Our summer visits will soon be over. We'll wait for next year. Time sure flies when you're having fun!

Tune in next week for more!

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

One More Puzzle

I started and finished this jigsaw puzzle yesterday. Actually I finished it in the wee hours of this morning, but it still was before I went to bed. (I'm not doing any more puzzles during my vacation since I need to get some sleep!)

"Cats Love Bubbles"
Artist: Rosiland Solomon
Manufacturer: Bits And Pieces
16" x 20"
500 pieces

Cats Rule!

Another 500-piece jigsaw puzzle completed! Art by Tom Wood. Manufacturer is SunsOut, Inc.

Sunflowers

So I misspoke ... posting on my blog despite my vacation.  But I couldn't wait to share a photo of this beautiful jigsaw puzzle that I completed!  Started it Friday afternoon and finished it yesterday morning. Only 500 pieces and they were a nice size, so easy to work with.

Name of puzzle is Van Gogh's Sunflowers. Puzzle artist is Frances Bloomfield. This "Artpiece Puzzle" is from the company Pomegranate.

Blog Vacation

Dad and I both spaced on a blog post for yesterday (Thursday).

But no wonder!  I am on vacation!

Tune in next Thursday for a brand new edition of Derf.

In the meantime, I will be singing The Vacation Song....  😎

Dad 774: Of Mice and Chipmunk

Tracy here! An unconventional presentation today.... I had entered Dad's post on a different device and tried to upload it, but it didn't work. Rather than type it all in again, I took a photo of what I had already typed. So, here you go.... 😎