The Time Has Come by Valerie Nusbaum It’s said that all good things must come to an end. The time has come for me to hang up my pen and paper (or keyboard as it were) and bid adieu to Happily Ever After. It’s been a very enjoyable ride, but I’ve said everything there is…

‘Twas The Week Before Christmas by Valerie & Randy Nusbaum ‘Twas the week before Christmas at the Nusbaum estate. I hate to admit it but things weren’t looking great. The stockings were waiting to be hung and filled, the gingerbread house we still needed to build. Randy was huddled in pain in the bed. He’d…

Across the Miles by Valerie Nusbaum With Thanksgiving and the holiday season upon us once again, I’m reminiscing about years past and feeling blessed to have such wonderful memories. I’m sure you are, too. These are just some of the highlights of my Thanksgivings with Randy. For our first Thanksgiving together, I had the bright…

It’s Party Time! by Valerie Nusbaum Let me start off by wishing each and every one of you a happy fall season, or as my Aunt Faye would have said, “Happy Fall Y’all!” I might as well wish everyone a happy Halloween, too. October 31 will roll around before we know it, followed by Thanksgiving,…

What to Write? by Valerie Nusbaum I intended for this month’s column to be about a social experiment I had recently conducted. The experiment was a simple premise. For ten days, I posted a positive or inspirational (sometimes humorous) thought/message on my Facebook page.  People responded or hit “like,” and I had thought I might…

by Valerie Nusbaum Randy and I are reviving the tradition of Date Night. It could be argued that since we take a lot of day trips and we eat a lot of meals in restaurants, we’ve been dating all along, but why split hairs? A few weeks ago, on a non-date, we had dinner at…

by Valerie Nusbaum Randy and I moved to Thurmont almost 30 years ago. We were welcomed warmly around town and generally accepted as part of the community. However, when new people move to any small town there’s always some hesitancy by the locals to grant the newcomers local status.  We answered all the questions about…

A Good Week For Television by Valerie Nusbaum I find myself spending more and more time indoors in the spring. Randy and I do still take long walks around our neighborhood, but that’s usually just enough time for my sinuses to get blocked up and for my nose to start running like a faucet. Yes,…

Things We Don’t Use Anymore by Valerie Nusbaum Not long ago, I was manually searching through some of my dad’s old photographs and slides, looking for a particular scene that I wanted to paint. I was grumbling to myself that my dad rarely took pictures of places or scenery. No, most of Dad’s photos were…

A Truckload of Produce by Valerie Nusbaum It was a lazy weekend morning, and Randy and I were having breakfast (and you all know how I feel about cereal) in bed and watching last weeks’ episode of Blue Bloods. Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) had just revealed his surprise guest at their weekly family dinner, and…

We’re On A Mission by Valerie Nusbaum Randy and I are on a mission to change breakfast for the better. In truth, it was my suggestion, and he’s just along for the ride because he’s fine with breakfast the way it is. I, however, believe that both of us could benefit from some changes.  My…

by Valerie Nusbaum It’s a Monday morning in mid-January 2023 as I type these words. Today’s high temperature is supposed to be somewhere around 50 degrees, and I’m wondering when—or if—we’ll see some snow. I don’t miss that pre-Christmas deep-freeze, but I would like to feel a chill in the air and see some powdery…

Change Is Coming by Valerie Nusbaum As I’m writing this column, I’m sitting in my home office, wearing my pajamas and robe, while I recover from some surgery that I had four days ago. I’m sore but not in any real pain, and I finally got some sleep last night, so I’m not nearly as…

Cookies Anyone? by Valerie Nusbaum It has long been my dream to own and operate a bakery or baking business. Now, don’t get me wrong.  I love doing my paintings and writing this column and other things, but I’ve wanted to try making and selling food items for many years.  Randy shares this love of…

Ten Things You Don’t Know About Randy by Valerie Nusbaum Over the years, I’ve told you a lot of things about my lovely husband. Some of them were actually true. In fact, I may have told you some of the following things before, and if I have, I do apologize for repeating myself. Getting older…

by Valerie Nusbaum My mother passed away recently, and as lots of you know from your own experience with loss, this is a very difficult time. I hope you’ll indulge me as I share some thoughts and memories of happy times with Mom. Autumn was my mom’s favorite time of year. She loved it when…

Trees & Other Things by Valerie Nusbaum It’s mid-summer, and since we had a rather wet spring season, things around here have been growing like mad. Randy and I like to have our mature trees pruned every couple of years for safety reasons, and since neither of us likes heights or is much of a…

Hitting A Milestone by Valerie Nusbaum Randy celebrated a big birthday last week. I won’t tell you how many candles were on his cake, but suffice it to say, he really is the “old” man who lives on the corner now. I’m allowed to say that he’s old because I’m older, but that’s neither here…

Happenings by Valerie Nusbaum We’ve had crazy weather, good food, and too many medical appointments. We’ve run errands; sent birthday cards; watched TV shows and movies; and talked with family and friends via email, text, and telephone. Mom and I made a floral arrangement for the coffee table. Randy and Steve solved a lot of…

by Valerie Nusbaum I’m back. My apologies for missing last month. We had a family emergency, and I wasn’t finding any humor in that situation. I’ll fill you in on that in a bit, but I want to start out by wishing my mother a very happy birthday. Miss Wanda turned 90 years old on…