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It’s 7:45 pm, and we are about an hour away from home. We left Arlington this morning at 6 am for our son Sam’s pinning ceremony for nursing in Delhi, NY.

Sam had the whole day planned out, which we loved because we were his guests. We got to see many of his friends we’ve met before and met a few new ones. 

The pinning ceremony…turns out we couldn’t even step on the college campus. We ended up watching the ceremony at his college family’s house with his friends.

We never saw a nursing pinning ceremony before. We didn’t know about Florence Nightingale’s lantern and what it symbolizes. We watched the ceremony with all nurses, and they told us a little bit about their ceremonies. I know I would have been choked up if I had been there, but it’s still not the same watching it on tv.

One important part of the ceremony is when each new nurse thanks those who helped, taught, encouraged, or supported them. It was supposed to be part of a PowerPoint presentation, which we didn’t get to see on zoom. All we saw on the screen were the words covid 19 and a bunch of shit about it. Yeah, we know all about it by now. Literally, we stared at that for 20 minutes. If we knew what we were missing, it would have been worse. We found out later when we saw Sam.

Sam graduated cum laude and was was one of 6 males in a class of 45 students. More than half the students he started with his freshman year dropped out of the program. 

He earned an excellence award in medical and another for his community service hours with the Delhi EMS & Fire Dept. He ran an untold amount of rescue calls every week even with his busy school schedule, studying, working at the college part-time, and clinicals over an hour away while keeping a 3.79 GPA. 

So today, he was welcomed into the nursing community. He wants to take his RN test ASAP. He will be an RN at 20 years old. I drank and acted stupid when I was 20 years old. He doesn’t take after me, thank God. 

After going out for a celebration dinner, his friends, EMS colleagues, and college family all said how much they would miss him. I thanked them for looking after him and teaching him so much. He found a wonderful community, made friends for life, and had a great college experience even during a pandemic. 

To say how proud we are would be an understatement. To say how tired I am right now while Marty is driving us home is an understatement. 

We have to unpack a load of Sam’s things that we took home for him in our delivery van. Then we need to start packing up for the Troy Farmers Market in the morning. 

Yes, we will be back on the road again tomorrow morning at 6 am. I’m so looking forward to Sunday…a day to rest. Real rest.

Happy Friday, guys! I am making myself a double dirty vodka martini when we get home; after packing up, I’m hitting the hay. 😴 

I love belly dancing. I love performing. I am good at both. I LOVE teaching belly dance!   I think I am pretty damn good at it too.

During the pandemic, I couldn’t teach or dance with my dance sisters for almost a year. I kept up with my technique; as a matter of fact, my technique got better because I wasn’t dancing; I was drilling over and over. Dancing alone sucks.

Our belly dance style is called…stay with me now, because its name keeps changing to make everyone happy. Fat Chance Belly Dance Style Global Group Improvisation Dance. Whew! When I started belly dancing 18 years ago, it was simply called American Tribal Style Belly Dance or ATS.®️

Whatever you want to call it, our style of dance is group improv, meaning we don’t choreograph anything, not even for performances. Our students learn moves, cues, and transitions. There is one leader and the rest of the dancers play follow the leader, then switch leaders. Sometimes we dance so tightly people can’t believe it is improv. That’s the magic and beauty of our dance form. 

I’ve found over the last 17 years of teaching that everyone learns at their own pace. Some with a dance background pick it up quickly, while others with no dance background can learn and move up in their own time. 

Some people are dedicated, practice, take and make corrections, while others get discouraged if they can’t get it right away. Some think they are better than they are and want to move up quicker than they are ready. Some dancers don’t get the whole group improv thing. They let their egos and diva-like personalities get in the way of learning and becoming a dance sister. None of those people were around for too long; don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out. 

Last night Kathleen and I worked with two of our students Maria & Trish. Maria has written about her 4-year long belly dance journey on her own blog Full Moon Fiber Art. I love reading each blog post and how she evolved. 

Maria came to class after being in the audience of one of our fundraiser shows. After the show, she decided she wanted to do “that.” The “that” was not only learning to dance but have confidence and an “attitude” like we had on stage. Most of all, she saw that we were having a blast.

Maria’s first class was a big step for her outside of her comfort zone. It was courageous to show up, not knowing what to expect with zero dance experience. For me, she was a blank canvas ready for us to teach the right way from day one. 

Maria came week after week and slowly but surely got better each week. In the beginning, Maria could not step on the beat, it seemed she had no rhythm, but she did; she just never used it before. I kept telling her every week, “Don’t worry, it will come when it gets into your muscle memory.”

Trish started classes with all of the New Years’ resolution folks who come to the first class of the new year like bats out of hell. The 22 new students dwindled each week. It’s much harder than it looks, and people get impatient and don’t like when they can’t “get it.” They get super pissy and annoyed. It’s week one, for fucks sake; give it a chance. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Trish had balancing issues and didn’t know how to ground herself, let alone do turns. Week after week, like Maria, Trish slowly improved and moved up.

Last night was like light bulbs going off all of the place for the two of them. Kathleen and I can say the same thing about a move repeatedly for years, but one day it suddenly makes sense. 

Maria and Trish both commented on one of the things that we were working on that, “I never heard that before” or “I never realized that’s what your hands, feet, arms or legs are doing!” Kathleen echoed what we have told them both for years, “We’ve said it before; you just weren’t ready to hear it before.” Ah…they get it. 

These ladies worked hard on their technique and last night showed the biggest improvements ever. With each move of the week we teach, we start breaking it down with feet, legs, hips, chest and arms, hands and chin, finally looking up with a pleasant look on your face. Smiling is a tough one to get people to do. It isn’t hard for hams like Kathleen and me. Resting bitch face is not a good look when you are belly dancing. Lol!

Last night we also worked on musicality and the energy that comes out of you when you are dancing. We worked on their zilling and what they needed to do to improve. In Maria’s case, she needs to buy new finger cymbals or zills. The ones she has been using are fine for beginners just learning, but it’s time for her to upgrade to an “instrument” if she wanted her zilling to sound like ours. She tried mine on and heard the difference herself. ☺️

My face hurt from smiling because they got it, all of what we have been saying. There was so much excitement in the air. I was like a proud fucking peacock with both of their accomplishments they achieved in a couple of hours.

The thing about teaching, it makes us better dancers too. We have to do things correctly all the time. There is no laziness or excuses. We ourselves become students from teaching our students. We always say that all of us are students…everyone has things they need to work on and improve. It’s never-ending grasshopper…

Yes, I love to dance, but teaching is so fulfilling, like watching a seed that you plant grow into a beautiful flower. I really can’t tell you how much I loved seeing the smiles on their faces after class and how wonderful all the hard work on our part as teaches pays off! Yip! 

Hopefully, soon we will be able to open our classes up to the public again. Having brand new students not only adds new energy to the dance space but also makes our current students better dancers because they are examples and big sisters to the “newbies.” Yip!

Great job last night ladies…I can’t wait until next weeks classes. 🙂

I got up this morning at 6 am and saw the sun was coming up. I asked Alexa what the temperature was…46-degrees! That’s a far cry from the 30s and frost. The first thing out of my mouth was, “Those bastards!” 😜

We went around putting all the planters back outside and uncovered the hanging baskets. The petunias weren’t totally happy sleeping under a sheet last night. I had to coax them back, give them a little encouragement and fluff up some of their branches. 

Today was in the high 50s, but a cold 50. Windy??? Holy moly it was windy, which made the day even colder. It looked beautiful out inside the production kitchen, but when we were going from the kitchen to the freezer and walk-in refrigerator, it was cold. 

I went from planning to make red wine braised boneless beef ribs in the oven like short ribs and make a stick to your ribs (pun intended) dinner. I was going to use the leftover mashed potatoes to make gnocchi to go with it. Then when I saw it was sunny outside instead of the rain that was forecasted, I decided to bbq the ribs. 

After production and seeing that it was still pretty cold out, the thought of low and slow cooking outside was out for me. The wind alone was my deciding factor.

Now I didn’t know what to make. Since I already had the bbq rub made, Marty suggested braising the ribs with bbq seasoning and finishing the ribs on the grill. Sounds like a plan. I never did this before, but whatever. 

I rubbed the ribs with my bbq spice blend, added a little apple juice and bbq sauce to the bottom of the pan, and covered it tightly with foil. I baked it at 275 for 3 hours. 

I uncovered the ribs and let them cool in the refrigerator to be picked up and placed on the grill. If not, they would fall apart; then we would have shredded bbq beef instead of boneless ribs. 

Now another dilemma…it’s forecasted to be going down to 38 degrees tonight. It’s like playing Russian roulette, deciding to bring the plants inside or let it roll. I am going to let it roll. Fingers crossed. This looks like the last night in the 30s. 🤞🏽

Here’s the other thing…it’s too cold and windy to grill, we realized after trying to sit on the deck with a glass of wine. Maybe we were wimps or lazy assholes, but neither of us wanted to grill. 

New plan. I slathered the ribs with bbq sauce, Sweet Baby Rays. Don’t judge; I didn’t feel like making homemade. Then I threw them under the broiler to caramelize the bbq sauce and reheat the ribs. 

With my very best Vermont accent, “ I tell you what, them there beef ribs were the best we ever had, by Jesus!” They were better than either of us imagined. Marty said if he got those ribs at a bbq joint, he’d be very happy. 

What a wishy-washy food day based solely on the weather. The sunshine was deceiving and the cold wind relentless, but the ribs were off the fucking chain! Booyah!

***If you are enjoying my blog, please tell a friend or two about it, or consider making a small donation to support my blog to keep it going strong. Thanks for your support. Jeez, I sound like the tv commercial from the 80s…Bartels & Jaymes. 😜

It happens every year; if it didn’t happen, I think I would be worried. They say never plant flowers or put in your garden until after Memorial Day here in VT. I always do my gardening on Mother’s Day because that’s when I want to do it.

I’ve been busy all day, I opened up Facebook, and I saw someone in our town post about frost tonight. I quickly went to my weather app on my phone and saw a frost alert. “Son of a bitch!” After that outburst, I started pulling in my planter containers, and putting them in the living room.

Then I ran to the basement to find a couple of old sheets for the big hanging baskets on the front porch. I don’t want to bring those colossal things into the house.

I found two white sheets and grabbed a pair of scissors. I cut a hole right in the center of each sheet. I love the “Peanuts” from when I was a kid. I did my best Charlie Brown imitation by saying, “I got a rock.” This was from the Peanuts Halloween tv show.

By the way, as a side note, Marty and I both waited on the peanuts creator Charles Schultz when we worked at the Ralph Lauren store in Manchester, VT, back in the early 90s. He paid with a credit card, and his signature was exactly like in the comic strip. This was pretty exciting because the Peanuts were my favorite when I was little, and he was very nice. Each of us waited on tons of famous actors and singers. I know whenever something reminds me of one of them, I’ll be sharing it and their story.

I took care of my plants now at 5:30 pm because I didn’t want to wait to do it before I go to bed. Cover your plants or bring them in if you live in my area; or check your weather app.

If you’ve been following along, you probably have noticed I haven’t been cooking the elaborate shit I was cooking during the wintertime. It still feels like winter weather-wise here in VT, but our hectic work schedule feels like it’s almost summer. 

I still have a well-stocked pantry, produce, and some meats in the freezer, which is the saving grace for throwing together some quick meals. 

I’ve been digging deep this week to pull dinner ideas out of my old arsenal of recipes. I remembered one called Bombay Sloppy Joe’s and made them last night. 

The food I’ve been craving isn’t light spring-like foods; it’s still warm and comforting stuff to have at the end of a long day. 

Bombay Sloppy Joe’s I saw on the Food Network years ago made by Aarti Sequeira. These sloppy Joe’s are packed with flavor and heat if you choose. Last night, our spice level was on the lower side, but I was too tired to readjust it. It was still delicious. 

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The first couple of times I used Aarti’s recipe, I followed it exactly, but you know me, I have to make it my way. My way last night was getting as much flavor as I could get with only one pan, common pantry items, and a short cook time. 

Instead of doing things separately, I made mine like I make my regular sloppy joes as the recipe reads. I started with the meat, in this case, ground chicken. I added the veggies & raisins, spices, tomato sauce, water and finished with half and half. I simmered it for 20 minutes, and it was done. Honestly, it tasted the same. 

I didn’t toast whole cumin seeds, but I did use very fresh ground cumin and garam masala. Fresh, dried spices make all the difference in cooking. I buy mine in small quantities in bulk. 

Bulk spices can be found in most co-ops or health food stores. I also pick up some of my “exotic” spices in ethnic stores. I don’t recommend dollar store spices or ones that have been on the grocery store shelves for who knows how long. 

Another quick meal this week included bruschetta topped Angus patties with melted mozzarella. Sounds fancy and is one of my favorite things to eat. It’s even easier to make. 

Ok, my Angus patties were frozen hamburgers, but they are still delicious cooked on the grill. The mozzarella cheese was a thick slice melted on the burgers at the last minute; while they were still on the grill. 

The bruschetta topping consisted of dicing up some grape tomatoes, a minced clove of garlic, a splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a dash of sugar, kosher salt, and black pepper. I finished the topping with some basil. In my case, I used the fresh basil and olive oil in a tube that I keep in my refrigerator for such occasions. 

The other fast and easy dinner was linguine topped with quick marinara sauce, fresh ricotta cheese, and parmesan. Garlic cheese bread is always a must so that I can soak up the sauce on the plate.

Quick Marinara Sauce…in a medium saucepan add a couple of tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and sauté a couple of cloves of minced until fragrant. 

Add a 28 oz can of tomato purée, crushed tomatoes, or I always use San Marzano whole tomatoes that I whizzed in the blender until smooth. 

Add a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and kosher salt & pepper to taste. I added a handful of frozen basil from last summer but also could have used a teaspoon of that refrigerated basil in the tube. 

Simmer for 30 minutes and let it cool. Reheat when ready to serve it; just serve it after 30 minutes. Easy. Quick. Better than any jarred marinara sauce, for sure. 

How do I know that my quick marinara is better than any jarred marinara? A few years ago I bought I jar of sauce because I was being lazy. I hid the jar in the bottom of the recycling bin so no one would see. 

I think I used the jarred sauce for chicken parm or meatball subs. Our youngest son Sam said after his first bite, “I don’t know what this sauce is, but it isn’t yours. Don’t even buy it again; yours is so much better.” Ok, duly noted Sam.👌🏼

What am I making tonight or for Mother’s Day? I have no clue. I am making mini strawberry shortcakes for Sunday dessert. I am not a big dessert person, but for some reason, I really feel like having it. 🍓 

Enjoy your Sunday & Happy Mother’s Day friends! 💐🌸💸🌺

I have the gift of being able to remember people either by their faces, their names for what they ate or drank.

When I worked at a hotdog wagon, I impressed a whole line of people when I remembered two guys from the year before. I remembered exactly what they both had. They felt special. I did too because they gave me a $20 tip! 

I’ve always loved it when we go to a bar, and the bartender remembers what we drink; it’s even better when they can remember even if we haven’t been there for a while. They always get a nice tip. 

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Today while we were on our NY delivery route, we stopped at the Capital District Regional Market. It’s where restaurants and other businesses buy produce in bulk. The produce market is only open from 5:30 – 7:30 am. That’s it on Monday, Wednesday & Friday. 

There are retail stalls that are open 6 am – 1 pm. Today I went back to see the same person we bought our hanging petunia baskets from last year. They were gorgeous and looked fantastic until early October. 

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Last year we were there dropping off a spätzle delivery to a farm to home service, and we found out the market is open to the general public. Luckily we had the place to ourselves just like last year. I don’t particularly appreciate shopping for flowers when it’s wall to wall people snatching plants from each other.

Today we walked around for a bit; then, I picked out two gigantic hanging pink petunia baskets. Here’s the part that I loved, the owner named Lisa remembered us. Of course, our spätzle hoodies and shirts gave us away until she told me what I got from her the year before. She really did remember us, and she remembered my name! She also gave us a nice discount. Guess where I am going back to again next year? Yup, to Lisa. 

At our farmer’s markets, customers really like it when I remembered their names, children’s names, or what they made with our spätzle. It’s that same feeling, like being a bar patron from the tv show Cheers, “Where everybody knows your name.” 🎵🍻 

After Lisa, the flower lady made my day by remembering me; I now know how special our customers feel when leaving our farmers market booth. Marty can recognize people’s faces, but he’s not good with names. He’s good at faking it sometimes, but I know he is full of crap when I am with him. 😂

My secret to remembering names is to connect first the face; then, I repeat their name 3 times out loud during the course of our conversation. Most times, I will tell people what I am doing so they don’t think I’m off my nut. 

After the person walks away, I associate something with their name. When the person comes back another time, in my head, I see the face, then the connection I made, and can get their name right 98% of the time.

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After putting the huge hanging baskets into the delivery van, which was almost empty since our big deliveries were done, I went back and got a flat of multicolored petunias to plant in containers on the deck. 

I picked out my flowers then I took a selfie with Lisa. I told her I was writing about her; she was pleased. She gave me a break on the flat of flowers too, which really was nice of her. We give many of our loyal, regular customers a special “friends and family discount.” Again…now I know how nice it feels to be treated special.

As I am typing, we are still on the road and have two more delivery stops to make. I can’t wait to hang up my hanging baskets when we get home. I may plant my containers if I have potting soil; if not, it can wait a day. We’ve been up, packed up, and out since 5:30 am; I am not going out again today.

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*** I love the hanging baskets on our front porch, and no I didn’t have any potting mix. Tomorrow is another day.

Marty is not only a great business partner and husband, but he is also my best friend and knows me better than I know myself sometimes. 

I woke up this morning weepy. Honestly, you never know when something will trigger an old emotional trauma. I couldn’t shake experiencing a painful open wound again from my childhood this morning. My nine-year-old self, to be exact, the age my nephew turned yesterday. Then it all made sense. 

After working alone in silence and shedding some tears when I was washing dishes for over an hour, I shut off the music we were listening to…Elton John radio. It had nothing to do with Elton; the songs just kept bringing me back to that painful time period.

After the dishes were caught up for the moment, I joined Marty in the packing room. He asked why I turned off the music. I immediately started crying and told him what was going on. He listened and said it was good I was talking about it; he understood how I felt. 

After production was over and we were back inside the house, I realized I felt better. Talking to him helped me move forward and not get sucked into that dark place. Basically, he threw me a rope, and I climbed up it quickly. 

A lot of things happened to me emotionally after I turned 9. You know what? It made me the strong person I am today. Being strong and working through stuff alone made things worse for me as I grew up; I had to pay for it. But you know what? That was ok. I was supposed to be the victim of verbal and emotional abuse, but I didn’t play the victim on the outside; I never showed a thing. However, on the inside was a whole different thing. 

Growing up, I didn’t share what really went on through the years with my friends. They knew when I was upset over things, but not the constant shit that happened every day. I actually thought I was a terrible person, and that was why I was treated the way I was. I was embarrassed that all the turmoil might have really been my fault. My severe ulcerative colitis was definitely all my fault too, right? 

I found out about 10 years ago that it wasn’t my fault. Not any of it. It was the best gift my Aunt Claire ever gave me when out of the blue, she brought up my childhood on the phone one night. She suddenly apologized, saying, “no one ever did anything about it. Everyone knew what was happening, but no one acted.” It was a moment I will never forget. A moment I finally knew that it wasn’t me at all. 

She went on telling me I was a really good kid who just wanted to please everyone. Aunt Claire told me how strong I was, unlike everyone in our family was. I thanked her for telling me and bringing it up after 40 years. This information changed my life forever; it felt wonderful. She passed away after having complications from surgery not too long after that. 😭

After some therapy, a lot of energy work, and self-healing over the last 10 years, I am in a great place. The whole shitty situation growing up helped me be a better mother. It made me treat our sons with respect and dignity. It made me chose my words carefully. I never called them by anything other than their names. It made our family a family. For all of that, I am grateful. 

I am a strong person who still wants to please people, but now I can walk away and say fuck it if the person or the situation isn’t worth it.

Marty is my rock star and my support system. He knows how to get me back to my fun Julzie self again. How lucky is that? 🤩

My blog posts are being written later and later every day, it seems. I love writing my blog pieces and make sure I sit down and write every day. It keeps me grounded, and I love sharing my life with you. 

I noticed last Saturday morning, I woke up with energy, and it lasted all day. The same thing happened on Sunday and today too. I think it’s safe to say that the extreme fatigue and exhaustion that hit me like a ton of bricks after my second vaccine is gone after 2 1/2 weeks. It also took 2 1/2 weeks after the first shot for the horrible headaches to go away. The good news is…I’m back, dammit! 

Today we were up and out in the production kitchen at the ass crack of dawn. We had to go to Saratoga, NY afterward to make a delivery and decided to do a little shopping while we were there. 

Picking up 30 bags of brown mulch isn’t too exciting, but finding gluten-free chocolate and glazed donuts, chicken & veggie egg rolls, cheese ravioli, and fresh linguine was like hitting the jackpot! 

I saw the donuts in the freezer case and jumped up and said, “ Oh yes!” Why the fuck is this a big deal? Because you can’t get gluten-free chocolate-covered donuts like these anywhere but Aldi. I love Aldi, but you have to understand that when they get something wonderful in, it may not be back for 6 months to a year. So you have to stock up.

Before I had to go gluten-free, I loved Entenmann’s chocolate-covered donuts; these gluten-free ones are pretty damn close! I only eat one donut at a time, spaced out, so they last. I got 4 boxes and 2 glazed for Marty. 😊 They haven’t been in stores for a year.

We never saw the egg rolls before, so I am excited to try them. I miss Chinese fried food terribly. I think every gluten-free person that I know does too. The cheese ravioli and fresh linguine are great in a pinch, especially when the spätzle makers have zero spätzle on hand for themselves and want a simple bowl of pasta. 

We didn’t get home until after 5 pm, and I had to get cracking on dinner. Our oldest son Noah was coming for dinner. I had everything mise en placed for dinner, thank goodness. I made Kimchi Rice Balls with Korean beef and rice flake noodles with veggies. I’ve never made this meal for Noah before, but I thought he would like it. 

Like it??? Well shit, we never saw him eat so much and with such gusto Marty said. I think he had thirds. I asked him if he wanted the leftovers for lunch and he quickly said to throw those rice balls things and sauce in there too. 🤣

Nothing makes me happier when people like my food, but when my sons love it I am over the moon. 

After dinner, we joined a birthday zoom call for my nephew Julian who turned 9 today. It was adorable; everyone singing him happy birthday. Finally, I did the dishes and boom…it was 9:00 pm. 

The days are long but having my energy back makes these long days manageable again. The only thing that has taken a back seat is finding the time to work out. I haven’t given up, as a matter of fact, Marty weight lifted with me twice last week.  I can’t work out too late or I won’t sleep, so we need to squeeze in an hour whenever we can. Today was impossible.

I’m finishing up this blog piece with a glass of wine while both dogs are snoring away on the couch. Marty is in bed already. I love ending my day by having a little peace and quiet time alone. Goodnight guys…don’t let the bed bugs bite!

I am getting better at living in the moment. This past year has changed me and the way I live…on the journey and not the destination. 

Today I woke up, pulled up the dark out shade, and saw the sun shining. I asked Alexa what the temp was, and she replied, “64 degrees.” I ran down the stairs, downed my morning water, and put on a pot of coffee. 

Within 10 minutes, we were sitting on our front porch having our coffee, the one day a week we can enjoy it and don’t have to gulp it down. I cherish my Sunday’s and when a little sunshine is in the cards, even better. 

After an hour, the sun started slipping behind the clouds that were rolling in. We knew the rain would be coming in by noon. Marty quickly mowed the lawn while I made us breakfast. He had to get the mowing done since it’s forecasted to rain for the next three days again. 

We have another hectic week coming up, lots of product to make, deliveries, yard work, more projects to get done in the house, and belly dance on Wednesday!  

The journey I am on took us straight out to our front porch this morning. We got to enjoy hot coffee, the sunshine, birds singing, the beautiful flowering trees, and how green & full the grass is getting. These little things we took for granted and missed when we were always rushing to reach the next destination. Namaste. ☺️

This morning when we left for the first official summer market at the Troy Farmers Market, hello, it was 36 degrees and snowing. I posted this picture on Instagram, and the market manager wasn’t thrilled that I was promoting snow. Oppps, my bad. In my defense, I did say the forecast called for sunny 60-degree weather.

We expected it to be cold and windy. I dressed for the middle of winter. We froze our asses off! Just when we didn’t think we could be any colder, Marty said with a big smile, his dimpled smile, “Well, at least we only have 3 1/2 more hours to go. 😱

Last Saturday at the market, I counted 87 women with crop tops on. It became funny that every time I finished with one of our customers and looked up, I saw 7 or 8 more. I counted 87, and I was busy; there could have been 200 if I were just people watching and not working.

I’m totally down with the crop tops. I like them and wore them back in the day. I think they are super cute. The thing that puzzled me the crap out of me is that they all wore them with high-waisted jeans, shorts, or sweatpants. 

These were high-waisted pants, the kind that is practically up to your armpits! Those went out in the 80s for a reason. Then they became known as “mom” jeans. 

I saw a post on a friend’s Facebook page something about high-waisted pants and that she couldn’t find anything else when she was shopping. This fad is not a cool retro comeback like ponchos & gaucho pants. I did have a customer who wore a real tan leather Member Only jacket that was awesome!

The point of the whole thing is…I only saw one crop top with mom jeans today. There were also many people wearing shorts and tank tops mixed in with everyone else who looked like they were bundled up for Christmas caroling. The folks in shorts and tank tops arms and legs were beet red! No one is going to bullshit me they weren’t cold. Their skin gave them away. 

Finally, around noon the sun came out. It was a total game-changer. I was able to take off my gloves and unzipped my down coat, but it was still very windy. The other game-changer of the day was when our vendor neighbor Joann gave me an anti-fog wipe for my glasses since they were fogged up most of the morning. IT WORKED! I have a box of them in our Amazon cart as I type. The mask-wearing must almost be over since I finally found these; that’s how things go for me. They won’t go to waste; they can be used to clean glasses as well. 😛

Suddenly, a parade with a wooden Trojan horse and a group of people wearing togas marched through the market. This was a planned event, and the market got a heads up they were coming. 

The city of Troy is slowly and safely reopening. A group decided to celebrate the reopening on May 1. The Trojan signified something that even after reading an article about it, I would be making shit up trying to explain it to you. 

Behind the wooden Trojan horse were women holding a fabric sail with little boats made from cardboard, pieces of paper, and toothpicks. I heard they went around the market asking people if they had things they wanted to release or let go of from 2020. These little boats had those things written on them and would be released or set free. I personally think most people would just like to forget 2020 even existed, although it will go down in history.

Another part of the May 1 celebration was going to take place at 8:35 pm over the Hudson River. The city listened to people who had animals, parents of autistic children, and people who have PTSD. Instead of having a fireworks display, they would be hosting the first silent drone light show spectacular. They hired a company that specializes in this type of choreographed light displays. 

The company will fly drones to create shapes like a heart, a person walking, and for the finale, the light show will spell out the city’s name TROY. People can watch the light show from the Hudson River Promenade. All social distancing and other guidelines will be in place, making it a safe event. The light show can be seen for 5 miles for people who don’t want to go down to the riverfront. 

There will be music available on a streaming radio station that people can tune into that corresponds with the light show. This is a very new and thoughtful way of celebrating instead of using fireworks. Our dog Otto is terrified of fireworks, and it is heartbreaking watching him suffer. People here in VT shoot off fireworks for every occasion. 

Today turned out to be a good day. The customers who came out early braved the cold, and the smart ones came when the sun came out. 😉 We appreciate all of them who come and support the market, farmers, and our fellow vendors. 

Each week, people are still following all the guidelines that have to be enforced, but everyone seems to be in good moods; they have a bounce in their step again and are happy to get their lives back slowly.  All hail to the Trojan!