Sunday, September 23 - Massachusetts

Good afternoon intrepid followers! Yes it has been way too long, and yes it is my fault. I keep saying it will not be so long between posts but unfortunately this Summer it has been. Summer has flown by. This post will be a bit long!

Reasons (not excuses, but skew it as you wish; I make no judgement!). Despite regularly getting vacinated against it I caught pneumonia and was out of commision for awhile. This Summer beat a lot of records for heat and humidity... brutal. I stayed pretty much ensconced inside for much of the duration.

My part-time job was originally to be a few hours a day, a few (no more than 3) days a week. It morphed into much more. Too much more. I am not happy because it has burned me out. SO not what I signed on for. I will finish the season as I did commit to it.

There is no time for "me" and fit in the things I want/need to do. I have had to reschedule appointments etc. to accommodate this "part-time" job. I am supposed to be, want to be, retired. Not working for someone who keeps changing the Rules. Sorry - nope, not sorry - been there, done that. I worked for over 40 years for high level people in the Corporate world. My education and experience bear that out. I am not looking to revisit it, even at a much lower level.

Yeah, that was a whine.

Needless to say, this Summer was a bit of a wash. Several good things happened, however, that made me very happy :) I had a cookout over Labor Day and invited my awesome brother. We cooked steaks on the grill, had potato salad, and strawberry "shortcake" for dessert. I was so full! Here are some pix. It was a delightful - and delicious - day all around!

Steaks on grill!

Strawberry shortcake!

My niece's bridal shower was last weekend (more about that in another post). For the guest favors, my sister and I split duties. One of mine was hand-painting glasses for the shower favors.

And I spent quite a bit of time this summer painting glasses. About 26 total. My niece's theme is roses, and her colors are white and green. I bought 2 boxes of wine glasses, half short and half tall. Never having painted on glass before it was a very quick education for me!

I drew a template...Then painted. The green part took about 20 minutes per glass. Dry a few hours (well overnight, as I was painting in batches). Then paint the roses -about 10-13 minutes each. The humidity took its toll as well as far as drying time went. Let glasses dry at least 24 hours, then bake at 325 for an hour. Cure for another 24 hours, then wash.

My template

Glass before

It was fun, and I am glad I had the opportunity to contribute to my niece's shower!

I will write a separate post about my niece's shower, as it is worthy of its own. It was so elegant and wonderful!




Stay tuned, my friends. The week after next is my annual trip to Martha's Vineyard with my Brother! Ferry reservations are made, as are the room reservations. I cannot wait! Our trip this year will be a bit shorter. Hotel prices went up considerably this year, and the car ferry was completely booked the day we wanted to return. We shall still have a wonderful time, however. I have no doubt!

Thinking of you, Sis!