Author Archives: Carol

August is probably the busiest month of our summer! Here in the Hudson Valley, school doesn’t start until after Labor Day, so activities are still going strong. It is also a big birthday month for us, and everything was happening at once this week!

Our oldest turned 22! He had the day off, so we had lots of time to visit and go out to dinner. We often do alternate desserts for birthdays in our house (and sometimes not a dessert at all for those who don’t have a sweet tooth). But we all were so full from the diner, that the Boston Cream donuts went home with the birthday boy.

Our middlest turned 19! Their friends were all over to celebrate in the morning — the band is embarking on a pre back-to-college mini-tour. It was a joy having these guys camping in our yard and celebrating with birthday bagels.

And our youngest returned from a week at Camp Veritas! I just adore this photo of the girls in their camp shirts. My girl is the one in the middle — no surprise that she has the brightly colored shirt, because that is just her personality! For those who aren’t familiar, Camp Veritas is a Catholic summer camp for teens. This is her third year going! The first year we tried it out because it was offered in our parish as an alterative to weekly CCD classes and she just loved the experience. This year it was totally and entirely up to her because she made her Confirmation last fall, so we are done with all the religious ed, but she couldn’t wait to go back. It is a wonderful (phone-free!) week of fellowship, faith, and fun. Her big accomplishment this year was doing the zipline. She has always wanted to try ziplining and there happened to be one at Lake Champion. But when she got up to the top she was absolutely in tears because she started to get nervous. Nevertheless, she did it, and I am so proud! A big exercise in trust and faith to be sure!

So now we are down to the last stretch of summer! Noah heads back to campus, we have a last-minute getaway planned, then Community Day, Labor Day, and back to school for Laura!

I’m curious: do your towns have Community Days? I guess it’s like a very small town fair. Most towns around here have them and local organizations all have tables to share information about their work, I’m reading and hearing so many people saying they think we all should just be focusing on our own families and I just don’t understand it. Community and service is so important to me, and as much as I complain sometimes, I am almost never regretful for getting involved in an organization or event, or volunteering somewhere. I think if more people were community-minded and willing to help neighbors the world would be a nicer place. But since I can’t change people’s minds, I will just joyfully keep doing what I am doing! 

You know, I started blogging in 1999. That’s right — 25 years ago. Of course, they weren’t “blogs” then, they were “online journals” and mine was titled “Inner Architecture,” inspired by quote from Italian writer Italo Calvino: 

“A person’s life consists of a collection of events, the last of which could also change the meaning of the whole, not because it counts more than the previous ones but because once they are included in a life, events are arranged in an order that is not chronological but, rather, corresponds to an inner architecture.”

I then moved onto a subdomain on one of my husband’s websites before purchasing puresugar.net in September 2000.

How did I land on puresugar.net? It was early in the morning and I was working at a telecom magazine at the time, where I was managing editor. A co-worker and I were choosing domain names for our websites. I looked down next to my cup of coffee and saw a McDonald’s sugar packet — “Pure Sugar.” And that was it!

Over the years I have used Blogger, pMachine, and WordPress (though I never got on board with Movable Type, regardless of how popular that was). I blogged through my engagement, through wedding planning, and through the childhoods of all three of our kids. Thanks to the blogging community I have made many wonderful friends, and I keep in touch with several. They were my support system when I was pregnant and a new mom, and seeing our kids all grow into young adults has been amazing. Unfortunately (thought not unexpectedly), most of them stopped blogging years ago, and I’m thinking it might be my time as well.

For now, I am going to keep my memory-keeping to journaling and scrapbooking, giving me a creative outlet. I still use Instagram regularly, and you are more than welcome to follow me there: carol.banc. I promise to follow back!

I have yet to decide what I’ll do with the recipes and patterns I have posted here. I’m not ready to let go entirely, but maybe it’s time to rethink how I use this space. When you think about it that way, it isn’t Goodbye so much as it is To be continued… 

Until then… 

Eating:

Reading:

Watching:

Planning:

The last few months I’ve been reading more fiction than I usually do. I have enjoyed most of the books, but it’s time to switch back to non-fiction for a bit. These two are coming home with me tonight from the library.

First up, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbothom. His first book, Midnight in Chernobyl, is easily the best piece of non-fiction writing I have ever read. Not only was it impeccably researched, but his writing style has you turning page after page after page while you’re absorbing all of this complex information that he presents. It also does an excellent job clearing up some misconceptions about nuclear power. A few months ago I saw that he had a book on the Challenger coming out and I knew it was a must-buy. I was in 5th grade when the disaster happened. No, my class was not watching it on TV, but I remember our teacher (who was also the principal of my teeny-tiny elementary school) acting strange and somewhat frantic. I don’t think I actually learned about what happened until I got home from school that day. I expect this book will be a fascinating read.

I also have checked out a new book about a well-known conspiracy group/cult and the true stories of how it has torn apart five families. I don’t want to write it out on my blog because I really don’t need people who subscribe to their beliefs making me a target. Having had my own dealings with people I know adopting extreme beliefs, I can only imagine 

This week I…

… got together with a good friend on Sunday night for Mexican food. Carnitas tacos are my favorite!

… spent a ton of time in the car picking up Jake for Spring break and then the next day driving up to Massachusetts to visit my parents

… noticed tiny green things poking up from the ground

… crocheted a cozy little liner for this plastic oil bin Margo has inexplicably taken to

… 

I so enjoyed watching the Biden/Harris inauguration ceremony today. It left me feeling inspired and optimistic — a welcome change indeed! 

I’ve written about my obsession with planners before, but not in a while so I thought I’d share my “planner line up” for 2019. For a long time I was an Erin Condren Life Planner devotee, but as life has changed, so has my need and desire for flexibility and customization in a planner. Last October I officially made the switch to a Happy Planner and it’s working out so well for me.

One of the things that got me to switch is the disc system. Instead of pages being attached to a spiral coil, Happy Planner pages are punched and attach to a disc. Because they’re punched, you can add and remove pages, move them around, and configure you planner to really suit your needs.

Last year in my Erin Condren, I combined both work and family/personal planning into the same hourly layout. This year I wanted to keep them separate, yet still in the same planner. I don’t care how many people tell you it’s a cinch to uncoil and recoil an Erin Condren planner — it’s not easy. But with a disc-bound system it is very simple to combine elements of different planners into one.

Since October, I’ve been using the Classic Farmhouse planner, and I love it. It was an 18-month planner so it goes straight through 2019. I knew I wanted to keep that for personal/family planning. When HP introduced the dashboard layout in the fall, I saw how it could be just what I need for work. Unfortunately I was not able to find undated refill pages, so I purchased the Super Mom planner with the dashboard layout and I’m covering up the headers that are not work-appropriate. Thanks to the disc system, I just added the dashboard layout pages to the back of my planner so I have both planners in one. I found some snap-in dividers on clearance at Michaels, so it’s easy to flip between planners.

So far it’s working out great! I also have a fitness section that I will probably just use for January as I am trying to rid myself of the bad eating habits I picked up over the holidays. Basically, it’s just a way for me to track what I’m eating, how much sleep I’m getting, and how I’m generally feeling. For that I am using pages from a very old HP Fitness planner. (I’m trying to use what I have instead of buying every new thing that comes along.)

I also have this rustic Memory Planner that I will be using for my 2019 scrapbook. I started memory planning last year and I absolutely love it. I simply don’t have the time to scrapbook elaborately like I used to when the boys were very small, but this method allows me to save some photos, decorate pages, and capture those memories. I can be more creative when I have more time, and keep it simple when life is busy.

So there you have it! Are you a planner? If you are, leave your Instagram name in the comments — I’d love to follow you!

This library-themed Valentine graphic is a favorite of mine. I wish I could give proper credit — I have had it saved for years. If you know, please fill me in so I can give proper attribution. Hopefully you take time to enjoy something special today. I have had an exhausting week (but let’s be real — who hasn’t?) so our plan is pizza, cannolis, and binge watching Season 3 of Resident Alien. Not a bad way to kick of a three-day weekend!