by Karen Creamer | Jan 2, 2025 | Being BRAVE, Comfort, fitness, health
I retired from nursing in May last year (my birthday gift to myself).
I took a part time job at
Quest Fitness and started working the front desk.
After a while, I thought about trying out some of the classes there and then I thought of all the reasons why this was a bad idea: I’m out of shape! I haven’t done an in-person exercise class in years! I don’t remember how to use any of the equipment! And so forth, ad nauseum. Plus, there were a lot of different types of classes (over 60!) and teachers and I had no idea where to even start.
Bottom line: I was afraid to try.
I needed a strategy!
Then an old saying came to mind … Keep reading
by Karen Creamer | Apr 16, 2023 | at camp, Comfort
We waited for almost a year before we finally got the call:
They would (finally!) be coming to drill the well at camp!!
It turned out to be a multi-day project. The noise level was no where near what I thought it would be, which was nice, since they were drilling literally steps from our window! This was great because it gave me an up close and personal view of the action.
After the well was finished, the ground was too soft for them to extricate their equipment right away (thank you, Maine spring mud season!) so we had a lawn ornament for a few days. But I didn’t care! We finally had a well!
Now if only they would come back to put a pump on it ….
Here’s some more photos: Keep reading
by Karen Creamer | Mar 14, 2023 | (it's all about the) food, Comfort, recipes
Is there anything better than homemade chicken soup when you aren’t feeling well?
Recently when I wasn’t feeling well, I was dying for a cup of hot, homemade chicken soup, but not just any homemade soup. I wanted MY homemade chicken soup. The problem was that I felt too awful to make it for myself.
I decided to plan ahead to give myself the gift of soup for some time in the future when, for whatever reason, I need it but am not able to make it for myself. Now that I’ve done it, it feels comforting just knowing that it is there in the freezer, and all I have to do is add the pasta (ditalini or pastina!) or rice to it. Keep reading
by Karen Creamer | Feb 28, 2023 | (it's all about the) food, Comfort, Connection, family, italian
With the supply of pastina at an all time low, I’ve been thinking about other staples in my diet that have been around since childhood.
Spaghetti is one of them.
I usually buy DeCecco Angel Hair Spaghetti (cooks in 2 to 3 minutes!) but they didn’t have any at the supermarket, so when I was looking for the Prince Pastina (and striking out again), I saw the Prince Spaghetti and thought I’d by a box for old times’ sake. This also reminded me of the commercial from back in the day, of Anthony running through the streets of the North End in Boston to make it home on time for supper. Keep reading
by Karen Creamer | Jan 8, 2023 | (it's all about the) food, Comfort, Connection, family, italian, recipes
I have been making Pastina for decades, since my children were babies. Back then, they called it “Stini”, and sometimes I still do. It was a quick, easy, comforting thing to eat and they loved it.
Making Pastina was also a tradition, because my mother and my grandmother made it for me when I was a baby and for all the years after that.
Over the past several months, I have been having trouble finding Pastina at the grocery store. I had quite a stash so I didn’t worry too much about this at first. I preferred Prince Pastina but decided that Barilla or Ronzoni would also be fine. Keep reading
by Karen Creamer | Aug 25, 2022 | Comfort
Anyone who has followed me for even 5 minutes knows that I love the ocean.
Usually I walk the beach on sunny (or sunny-ish) days or a sit in my car with a book and my journal. Depending on how much time I have, I do both.
Today, I had the time and the desire to go walk, but the weather was not even remotely sunny-ish. It was actually pouring rain and by 5:30pm it was clear that it would not be letting up. I decided to just drive there anyway. I figured I’d sit and read my book for a little while until it was too dark to see the page.
I got there and parked the car. It was almost high tide. I really wanted to walk on the beach but you know, rain. While I sat there, something that husband said to me the other day came to mind: Keep reading
Karen Creamer
