Welcome to The Accidental (Blank)!
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The Accidental Remodeler: It’s a New Year. Here We Go. Again.
I am sure this comes as no surprise to those who know me. As the calendar turns to a new year, my thoughts turn to a new project for the house. In fact, my mind turns to the next project before the last project is even complete. So here I sit, in my home office,… Read more
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The Accidental Lego-Build: Not for the Faint of Heart
My husband Allan introduced me to the art of constructing jigsaw puzzles eight years ago. Together, we built a 500-piece jigsaw of garden seed packets and I was hooked. From that point on, I never built less than a 1,000-piece puzzle, and he never built another puzzle. He, on the other hand, discovered Legos, beginning… Read more
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The Non-Accidental Reader: Books I Read in 2023
I grew up on words. My family were/are avid crossword puzzlers and Scrabble was a mainstay in our household; I was playing against my brothers’ college friends when I was 8. To be fair, I can’t balance a checkbook, but I was raised on words. So it should come as no surprise that I was… Read more
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The Accidental House of Rehab
Those of you who know me or follow this site know that I am a “serial remodeler.” I have dedicated several posts to the projects, both large and small, that I have undertaken at home. You can rest assured that those projects will continue in the months and years ahead, because that is simply who… Read more
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The Accidental(?) “Re”
As we neared the end of last year, my daughter-in-law kindly asked me if I would like her to notify our children that it was time for them to respond to their annual profiles for the family holiday newsletter. The newsletter is a time-honored Steinert-Threlkeld tradition, started by my late husband Tom at the birth… Read more
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The Accidental Grandmother Name: Hiding in Plain Sight
You might think it an easy thing — considering what to be called as a grandparent. I understand that there is absolute magic in the names Grandma, Grandpa, or whatever else will spill from your grandchild’s mouth, when he or she starts to recognize you and verbalize. I get that. But those who know me,… Read more
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The Accidental Role Model: My Mom
Today, July 18, 2022, is a momentous occasion in my family. Had her heart not failed her in 2000, my mother, Rachel Kirshstein Steinert, would have turned 100 years old today. Several of my friends are lucky enough to have or to have had their mothers live close to or past the century mark. My… Read more
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The Accidental Remodeler, Part II: Are you ever really done?
Based on comments to my recent blog, it became apparent to me that the frustrations, cost overruns, contractor issues, etc. that I have experienced on my porch addition are certainly not unique. In fact, it made me feel a little better to know that so many of you have shared my pain. But that’s what… Read more
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The Accidental Remodeler
Or Maybe Not an Accident at all … This post has been on my mind since January of this year, when I launched a long-awaited outdoor addition to the house. It involved removal of the back deck, expanding it across the width of the entire back of the house, roofing it, wiring it (recessed lights… Read more
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The Accidental Mourner
The Danube River was not the famous Blue Danube during this tragic period; the river ran red.
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The Accidental Reader: Not Me! (Part 2)
Here are the remaining titles that I read in 2024. This year’s reading choices marked a real, but deliberate departure for me from earlier subject matter. Always drawn to historical fiction, I have been pulled to books related to WWII, the Holocaust, the Resistance, and the like. There came a point where I decided I… Read more
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The Accidental Reader: Not Me! (Part 1)
Thanks to a more relaxed year and some long flights, 2024 was a banner reading year for me. I read 29 novels (23 last year), with three authors making multiple appearances. Once again following the lead of my eldest son, Zachary, here is a list and brief comment about this year’s reading list; books appear… Read more
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The Accidental Blank 