Category: Uncategorized

I was convinced to become the Arlington School District’s food service director back in 2005.

I say convinced because others thought I’d be good at it. I never had such a position before it even applied for the job. Boom, it happened in a flash.

I said yes because I saw the position as an opportunity to make a difference in our schools and town. I became excited and very nervous.

I wanted to change the school lunch program in a few different ways. I wanted to offer three choices of food to anyone getting lunch; whether they were categorized as free, reduced and full price.

I took away all ala carte items that only kids with money could purchase leaving the free and reduced kids to only have one choice and everyone knew they were poor. Not on my watch.

I also took away desserts every day and saved them for special occasions like it was back in the old days.

I watched too many kids before I took over get the lunch just for the dessert and dumped the rest of the tray.

I wanted to offer a hot lunch, a sandwich, wrap, or panini, and a salad. I made sure that there was something for all kinds of eaters; even the picky ones.

I also wanted to introduce the kids to new and unfamiliar foods to them. I gave them small try-me cups to taste what I was serving, even to the brown baggers who seemed to like that.

Long before farm-to-school lunch in the Northeast, I worked with a local farmer and purchased rejected fruits and vegetables which couldn’t be sold due to their looks.

We turned those ugly ducklings into delicious food and baked goods. Yes, it was more work, but most of my employees were high school students and loved working with me.

I taught the kids what seasonal eating was. When they begged for watermelon in January I told them it was citrus season and offered them many varieties which I could afford through a fresh fruit and veggie grant.

Lastly, I wanted the teachers and staff to order lunch from us. I held events that invited parents and grandparents to the elementary school to eat with their children.

Parents would tell me on Parents Night at a school how they loved hearing about what their child tried for lunch.

Many parents told me they had no idea themselves what a “Three cheese focaccia melt with pesto and tomatoes”’ was but their kid loved it! This made me very happy!

One of the most popular salads was the Waldorf Chicken Salad on greens and a breadstick. Not something you would expect from elementary, middle, and high school students. Teachers adored it too.

When the little ones would ask me what a Waldorf salad was I would explain it like this.

“A long time ago there was a very fancy hotel in New York City called the Waldorf Astoria.”

“Back in 1893, a man named Oscar came up with a new salad for their fancy schmancy restaurant.”

Their eyes got big when I told them theatrically, “The salad you are having tomorrow is the same one that was served to the fancy people eating in the fancy restaurant who were staying at the fancy hotel.”

One boy asked if it was the same salad and if it would be ok to eat, meaning it was from 1893. I told him the one I make is exactly the same but freshly made. He looked relieved.

Next, I told the kids what was in the salad. The salad had chunks of apples and grapes, which I already know they loved.

I couldn’t add walnuts to the salad due to the no nuts policy. I omitted telling them about the celery, it only takes one little thing to make a child turn their nose up to something.

The salad also had chicken for the needed protein and a special dressing. They nodded their heads and said they would sign up for it the next day. Yay!

Whenever I make Waldorf salad with or without chicken, I think of how lucky I was to feed those kids new and exciting food.

Now those kids are adults and parents. Whenever I see them they tell me how they missed my cooking. ☺️

What an awesome thing to be able to open their eyes to trying new things they never wouldn’t have as an opportunity to.

I wonder if they are doing that with their own kids?

I was a social butterfly since last Friday night along with my sister Jennifer visiting. We had people over and went to people’s places.

Jen and I spent some wonderful sister time together, floating around the pool, cooking together, and watching girl tv.

Yesterday, Jen left early to head back to NJ to beat the traffic and did. We were done with production before noon which was fabulous.

After production, I felt exhausted, I had a great time with lots of fun, but I was beat. The heat didn’t help either.

I rested in our air-conditioned bedroom with Nelly until it was time to start getting ready for our library gig.

Unlike the parade gig, this time I was wearing my new white lace choli and polka-dot coin bra I made in early June.

The costuming I chose was simple; black, white, and purple. I did my hair in a flamenco style with only 2 flowers. My make-up was more subdued than the Pride Parade.

This was the look I envisioned when I made my polka-dot bra. Getting ready went smoothly and quickly. I was happy with how everything came out.

When I got to our dance space where we were meeting before the gig, I realized I was very mellow. I wasn’t in a talkative mood since I talked my fucking head off for days. Lol.

I felt the same way while driving over to the North Bennington Library and when I got there.

I knew it was part of my job as the dancer’s teacher to be “Julz.” I had to slip into my fun, energetic, and confident self. Julz the performer, the professional, and the leader.

While everyone was outside hanging out waiting to dance, I told Kathleen I needed to go inside and put on my “jewels.” She knew what I meant.

I went back inside the library and grounded myself. I closed my eyes and visualized myself putting on my “jewels” which is pulling my shit together, getting rid of any tired or negative energy.

I opened my eyes and popped into Julz, the belly dancer. I walked outside and announced to the dancers, “Ok guys, let’s get ready to have a fun show, that’s what we are here for. Let’s do it!”

I could see everyone smile and their eyes told me they were relieved to have their upbeat Julz back. I think Kathleen winked at me.

Next thing I knew, I started the music, we all locked into each others energy while I lead a gratitude dance facing each other in a circle.

We performed the best we could on a lawn with a slope and a hole in the ground. The most important thing was we had a ton of fun.

Kathleen and I performed our first public duet in front of an audience since June 2018. Thanks, covid.

Our duet was special and meant a lot to the both of us. We danced with the love we have for one and other as dance sisters. After all, we’ve been dancing together for 20 years.

After our two sets, we did a mini-lesson and invited the audience members to come up and dance with us. I put on music and started calling out what we were doing while everyone followed.

Quite a few people, men and women got up to give it a try, including my friend David. There was no pressure to do anything right except having fun.

We were all hot and sweaty since it was still in the 80s. We had that awesome post-gig buzz on again. I asked my friend and student Maria if she had fun and she said she did.

Last year, Maria was terrified of dancing, but has gotten over it. I said to Kathleen, “Get over here and give me a big, hot, and sweaty hug.” She threw herself at me and we cracked up.

The ride home was beautiful with the sun now gentle after a burning hot, sunny day. I drove with the air on and my window open.

I felt so good. I thanked to my body for allowing myself to still be able to dance after a rocky and sick period this winter.

I thanked the heavens that I get to teach and dance with a wonderful group of women, my dance sisters. ❤️

When I woke up early on Sunday morning I saw a bouquet of flowers on my kitchen island. Then I saw Sam!

We haven’t seen Sammy since the middle of February when I was sick with pneumonia; I barely remember the visit.

After I said, “Sam!” He replied, “Happy Mother’s Day!” He planned to come down for a couple of days since he a few days off. Yay!

Klaus was over the moon and Nelly finally got to meet her other big brother, she already has spent time with Noah and his girlfriend, Aja.

Nelly, in her truest form, captured Sam’s heart. He got a kick out of what a mischievous tough little girl she is. She made him smile and laugh but most of all, she loved cuddling with him.

Then, just like that, his visit was over, I am so happy we got to spend some time together. ❤️

I just wrote today about our string of bad luck, loss and stress since November. That was before we got the news…the clay pipe from the house to the septic system is gone.

We started to get water in our basement a couple of weeks ago but thought it was ground water. Then it got worse and worse.

Marty checked if it was coming from the washer, it wasn’t. Today, he looked in a crawl space where the septic system starts and discovered 3 feet of the clay pipe gone.

There are lots of details but this where we are are at 7:51 pm. We have no septic, meaning we can’t use any water except in buckets and dumping them outside. No toilets is a big one or two I should say.

Marty met with a local guy who does this type of work and found out a new pipeline needs to be installed. Easy? Never for us.

We have to have a 190 year old retaining wall taken down so the machinery can dig the new line. A new wall will need to be installed.

Our outdoor walk-in refrigerator needs to be moved. A new tank will have to be installed since the old piping is under part of our production kitchen and there is no way to get to it without destroying the buildings.

We won’t have water for the next 24-48 hours. The inside of our house sells like it is the septic system. It’s bad, very bad.

We can’t go into production until the septic system is repaired. By the way, we had to put a new septic system in two weeks after we bought our house in 2004, that didn’t include the clay piping.

Restaurants will have to 86 our spätzle on their menus and replace it with another starch. Stores will have to wait. Customers will have to wait which means no sales.

We will have a total fucking mess after the new septic is installed. The person who is doing the job will then start putting everything back together. It will look good when it’s all over, but still what the actual fuck!

At this point I am done. Marty is done too. I thought we were good people who constantly try to help others, but get the short end of the stick every time.

We are lucky we have neighbors who graciously offered their restrooms and showers which we will have to take them up on since it’s a very shitty situation.

I’m not editing this post, it is what it is. I’ll keep you posted. ~julz

During my illness, I watched a lot of Youtube videos. There is not much more you can do when you are too sick to do anything else, and I didn’t want to drown myself in a sea of negativity scrolling through my social media newsfeeds. Smart right?

One day I stumbled upon a Youtube channel called “Ame, in a van.” Ame’s videos are 10-15 minutes long, and I liked her concept of spending two years building her travel van. She is a young woman in her 20s traveling alone through Europe.

Her parents did the same thing, sold their home and all their belongings, building their van, just larger. They, too, have a Youtube channel of their own which is successful like Ame’s.

I watched Ame’s video on Paris and was highly disappointed and disgusted by what I saw in the city of lights. The city that has been my lifelong destination to visit one day.

The place I dreamt about since reading the children’s books, Madeline. I’ve written about Madeline before on my blog. I still love those books!

So many people! This is last summer in high season, but more people have started visiting Paris during the off time; most likely, those times will also begin to be crowded. I think people, in general, have forgotten about their manners, respect, and regard for others since the pandemic.

Then I learned about Paris Syndrome. I was experiencing Paris Syndrome without even traveling there. Paris Syndrome is real; I can attest to that, even sitting on my couch. Instead of me trying to explain it, here is one of the articles I read Paris Syndrome.

No, thank you!

This is what made me realize why I never made the trip before, I am not a world traveler, and neither is Marty, even though he traveled to many places and cities around the world with his family as a child. I didn’t want to happen in Paris what happened when we traveled in the past.

Our wonderful trips were trips to Aruba for our honeymoon, Puerto Rico with our friends Daniel and Michael, Montreal with Marty’s brother, Germany, where he has relatives, New York City, which we know like the back of our hands, and Phoenix.

I went to California for three weeks when I worked for Giorgio Armani, but the whole trip was planned for me, and I worked the entire time. I did get to sightsee on my only day off; one of the other employees took me to LA. What a cool city to see through a local’s eyes.

The trips that were total fails for us were to Austria, Amsterdam, East Germany, Boston, and Las Vegas, to name a few. When we get to places alone, we aren’t familiar with; we are like deer in headlights.

We research places to eat, attractions to see, and hotels to stay at; we wander around aimlessly and always feel disappointed or have Paris syndrome with those trips.

I think travel tours and cruises are wonderful for people to see the world. My bio mom has traveled all around the world and loves traveling. I am very envious of her love of travel, but I didn’t get that gene or her slim tall figure. Lol.

She used to travel with her husband, but after his passing, she goes on tours and cruises with her friends; they have amazing times. She has worked hard and spends her money practically to be able to travel. Kudos to her. ♥️

Shortly after, I made my realization about Paris; I found out about the possibility of having severe lung issues. I wasn’t sad if I couldn’t fulfill my fairytale dream because of an illness, which was very telltale about my Paris decision.

I decided to keep Paris as my fairytale dream and not spoil what I have in my head. It’s like watching a bad movie of your favorite book; it ruins what you had previously imagined.

About a month ago, when I was in a deep, dark state of depression, Marty asked me if it was time for me to finally have a little baby girl Frenchie to help with all my heartaches, illness, and loss had I experienced over the last few months.

I don’t write about everything since I don’t want this to be a woe-is-me blog. For instance, I took a horrible fall at 6 am on Easter morning, stepping down from the porch to our driveway. I rolled down the driveway since it is on a hill.

I was holding Nelly and somehow managed to not fall on her. I landed on my right side and did a number on my right arm. The next day, I felt like I was run over by a truck.

Back to Paris, I apologize for getting off track; that’s my Irish storytelling. After being ok about not going to Paris, how fitting it seemed to adopt a Frenchie, I love Frenchies and would freak out whenever I saw one.

There are lots of Frenchiee that go to the Troy Market, and I remember most of their names. I never thought there would be a possibility of having one before; we didn’t want to get any more pets after Klaus since we wanted to travel. Lol.

Well, you all know what happened next…Nelly! The perfect puppy for our family, it feels like she’s always been here and has blended into our lives seamlessly. She is brilliant and learns things quickly.

Nelly and Klaus are in love with each other and are inseparable. Nelly is so much fun for Klaus at this older stage of life. They love playing and resting together outside on warm, sunny days on the couch.

Here is a short video showing how much fun they have together. Klaus is an old softie, and Nelly has brass balls.

I traded my fairytale dream place that would have lasted for a week for a life to be fulfilled right here in Arlington, VT, and travel to places we can drive to and bring Nelly & Klaus along.

Will we ever travel again? Of course, but on vacations, we feel comfortable such as visiting different all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean or Mexico.

What a relaxing trip it would be to go to a resort where we wouldn’t have to leave if we didn’t want to.

A vacation we don’t have to think about, and the only expectation is beautiful blue-green water, blue skies, sunshine, and which island cocktails to try every day. 🍹

Have you ever had Paris Syndrome on one of your trips somewhere? I doubt we are the only ones. Au Revoir, friends.

I am so proud of both of my sons, I’ve used the old fashioned saying, “I’m so proud my buttons are popping off,” or something like that.

Sam has been a registered nurse for two years already and has worked on a rescue squad since he is 14. Critical care emergency medicine is his specialty.

Right now, he is 22 years old and working hard on his career while working in the busy Emergency Department at UVM up in Burlington, VT.

The next thing on Sam’s agenda was to become a paramedic. He entered a program called RN to Paramedic course.

He did 6 weeks of online learning on his own time then spent 2 weeks of practical training in Missouri.

He ran with rescue squads not only in Missouri, but Arkansas, Tennessee and on Indian reservations.

Sam told us he learned a lot, met a lot of great people and made friends for life. Who could ask for more in continuing ed?

He was the first one out of 20 to take and pass his written and practical exams. He likes to test right after since he is pumped up and wants to get it over with.

Now when he joins a rescue squad in his new area, he can run as a paramedic as well as when he’s visiting here in Arlington.

Many of the students in his class were taking the class for the same reason as Sam. They all want “fly” and want to be able to work per diem shifts or work full time at a medical flight agency as a nurse or paramedic.

There are many differences between what a nurse and paramedic can do on emergency flights. They can do either which gives them flexibility when picking up shifts.

They all will have to go to flight school before they can practice emergency medicine in the air. Sam said it’s a hard class with only a 50% pass rate the first time you take the exams.

It’s difficult knowing the correct dosages of medications which are different up in a helicopter or airplane. Also, whoever is onboard with the flight team is in a life or death situation.

There is so much important information they will need to learn and train for. He already has the adrenaline, compassion and the ability to stay calm to perform the job well.

I have no doubt he will do it. He doesn’t like to be the center of attention, but I am my kids biggest fan and wanted to share.

Happy Friday! Enjoy your weekend guys!

I haven’t had the energy or the will to cook or do baking, but today I did! I haven’t cooked a few dishes at once since our dinner party on January 29. Yikes!

Nelly got us up nice and early, at 5 am. My body clock switched when she joined our family. I crash into bed by 9:30 pm at the latest and fall right to sleep. It’s pretty amazing; sleep is so underrated.

I started by writing my own recipe and experimenting with soft training treats and doggie crackers using the same dough. This will be a separate post on Monday.

Next, I made my infamous tomato tart for Easter dinner at our friend’s house. Did I mention this is the first time in 33 years I’ve had to cook Easter Dinner?

Then, I made a classic French fluffy asparagus quiche for Easter breakfast tomorrow morning. OMG! I love fluffy quiche. 

I made seared scallops for dinner with a white sine and lemon pan sauce, risotto, and sautéed asparagus, the leftovers from the quiche. 

It was relaxing having a glass of wine, listening to a dinner party playlist, and slowly and lovingly stirring the risotto. I was taught to always use the same wooden spoon and stir the risotto clockwise.

I’ve been doing that for 25 years, and it always comes out perfect. There are no shortcuts when making risotto, and it’s not something you can rush. This is why risotto is such a popular dish in restaurants.

Dinner was incredible; I realized how much I missed cooking while I was sick. Marty kept saying how good it was. I know he missed my cooking for seven weeks. We threw things together that passed as substance. I was so sick I didn’t give a shit what I ate.

I had all eyes on me while I was prepping at my butcher block kitchen island.

I am feeling better every day. I was pleased with how much I accomplished being home alone with a puppy that is hell on wheels and into everything. Klaus is a good sport and is showing her the ropes. 

Look for my post about my three-ingredient doggie treats recipe that is easy to make. I’ll show you how they came out. I am packaging some for my friend’s dogs. I’ll see tomorrow at Easter dinner.

Someone looks very serious and looks like a cat. Those blue eyes are really something.

This puppy has made me one of those doggie moms I never thought I’d be. Never say never, they say. I finally have a little “girl” in my life; my friend Jon says she will be one lucky dog. He’s right. I can’t wait to pick out some clothes for her when she’s full-size. 🤗