KATHRYN R. BIEL: AUTHOR

A few months ago, there was an article in Good Housekeeping about happiness.  Ok, there is always an article about happiness, and I rarely read them.  Sometimes, they are just touchy-feely crap and that annoys me.  Sometimes they talk about writing happiness journals.  You see the frequency that I'm on here to blog.  Do you think I really have time for that?  Anyway, I read the opening paragraphs, and it talked about choosing to be a bluebird of happiness or a pigeon of discontent.  I didn't go much further, but liked those expressions. I want to be a bluebird, but know that I'm genetically programmed to be a pigeon. But I want to change.  Since July of last year, our family has lost several significant members.  It's been rough, to say the least.  There was the dear family friend, who, to this day, I still call "Uncle."  He and his family were so critically interwoven with my childhood that to remove them would undo the whole f...

So, here in the great Capital District, we have two main grocery stores, Price Chopper and Hannaford.  Most people I know are loyal to one or the other.  There is not a lot of cross mingling.  Price Chopper is truly a local company, run by the Golub Corp out of Rotterdam/Schenectady.  It has been around forever.  PC has outlasted Grand Union, Shop Rite, A&P, Edwards, just to name a few.  My mom was never a PC shopper.  We were Grand Union all the way. So, now that, somehow, I'm a "responsible" adult, I spend a lot of time in the supermarket.  And a lot of my money.  I feel obligated to get the best stuff for the best price.  I have looked around, and Hannaford (or the Big H, as I like to call it), really does have the best overall prices.  They do not have a loyalty card.  Everyone gets the sale prices.  I like that, no discrimination.  Price Chopper runs fantastic sales, so you can get some really good deals. ...

Dear Jake, I am anxiously awaiting your return from your first sleep-away camp.  You have been at Camp Boyhaven for three days and two nights.  You're with Dad, so I know that, theoretically, you're in good hands.  I'm gonna make a confession to you...in my mind, no one will ever care for you as well as I do, so it makes me worry when you're with someone else.  Luckily, Dad finally started checking in a little, even though he needed a message passed from me to Mrs. Vagianelis to Mr. Vagianelis to Dad to know that I wanted to hear from you guys. The house has not been the same without you in it.  The first night you were gone, Sophia got up during the night to go the bathroom.  I heard the door first, and that is what woke me up.  My immediate thought was that it was you getting up.  When I realized that it had to be Sophia because you weren't here, it made me sad.  The cats have been playing in your room.  I had to prop the door open...

1.   Don't have to make lunches 2.   Alarm is not set 3.   Freckles 4.   Most mornings, there is no rush to get up and showered and out of the house 5.   Listening to my kids have time to play together 6.   Jake finally has time to open and play with gifts he received for his birthday in February 7.   Cold beer tastes better on a hot day 8.   Fresh cucumbers 9.   Flip-flop tan lines 10. Having the time to read Harry Potter with the kids 11.  Floating in a cool pool on a hot day 12.  Watching my daughter "puppy paddle" 13.  Watching my son swim underwater when a year ago, he wouldn't get his head wet 14.  How a sun-kissed face makes my kids' eyes even bluer 15.  Reading book after book 16.  All four of us sitting in the hammock, watching birds on the feeder and shapes in the clouds 17.  Doing homework is optional, and makes us feel good when we do it 18.  Watching our garden grow 19. ...

I have some vague memories of nursery school.  Mostly, they involve the big log cabin in the room, the dress up corner, and the little tupperware pitchers on the table that held fruit punch that had once been in large cans and opened with a church key.  I'm pretty sure I liked school.  My teachers were Miss Carol and Miss Liz.  Facebook has helped to keep in contact with those friends I first met at the ripe old age of three. Fast forward to the next century, and my own child started nursery school (but now we call it preschool).  Jake started at Calvary Methodist when Sophia was one month old.  The first few times I took him to school, my dad came over and stayed with Sophia.  First day of 3 year old preschool.  September  11, 2007 His first day of school, I made it to the car before weeping.  I'm pretty sure I was not the only parent crying in the parking lot.  He was fine.  Possibly overwhelmed, but fine.  At ...

The Native Americans are known for their oral histories, telling the stories of the tribe from one generation to the next.  Recently, my mom's cousin asked me if, in my genealogy research, I had found any information about our Native Indian ancestry.  To this point, I have not, but I think that there must be some there.  My mother's family is French Canadian, and it is widely accepted that there was inter-marrying between the French-Canadians and the Indians.  Even without proof, I think it must be true because of my love for family history. Each year, for Memorial Day, we visit the cemeteries.  This year, while technically no different, is much different.  This year, we said good-bye to my great-Aunt Millie, who was the last surviving of my grandfather's eight siblings.  Six weeks after that, we said good-bye to my grandmother.  Mimere and Aunt Millie were the last of their generation, the Greatest Generation. The cemetery visits...

So, it's prom season.  I have lots of friends whose kids are going or have gone.  About 120 years ago, I even went myself.  Actually, it was more like 18 years ago.  This is what I looked like: Sorry, Ned, but the image is out there.  Personally, I think we look pretty good.  I can honestly say that I can look at this picture without cringing.  I am laughing because I remember you saying, as the picture was snapped, "You're going to say in 25 years, who was that guy?" It was the mid-90's, and Jessica McClintock was still a huge designer.  We were just graduating from poofed sleeves, hoops and super shiny satin.  Floral hair combs were still big.  Anyway, going to a catholic school, we had to wear white to prom. We also wore the same dress for graduation the night before.  There were some strict guidelines about dresses.  I feel it is time to bring some of those guidelines back. The Times Union has posted pictures from...