Author: chris.chernick

A time honored holiday tradition is baking festive cookies at Christmas time.

I want to give a shout out to my sister Virginia, who took a baking class when we were in late grade school and she has been an expert baker since that time. Over many years she guided me and every year, this year being an exception due to the pandemic, I would pack up my mixer and all the ingredients and drive out to her house on Long Island and bake cookies all day… she taught me so many things about baking that I feel confident I can bake almost anything. Also, as I have noted previously I have been baking cookies weekly for the local support group.

2020 is a different year – with the pandemic and the need to stay at home as much as possible I decided to bake all of the favorites and a new cookie this year.

Here is the result of about two weeks of baking.

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I will go through each cookie so you can see them up close, if you would like any recipe just leave me a comment and I will send you the full recipe.

The Almond Bars are a family favorite and always the first cookie I bake, the Almond Crescents are tricky to make, you roll the individual balls of dough into a log and shape like a crescent… over the years Virginia would try to show me how to do.. hers were always exactly the same size but mine were not.. I had to do two batches this year but they came out reasonably well… Still very tasty!

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The Peppermint Blossoms are another favorite.

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A few more cookies:

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I want to thank my friend Susan for giving me the Neiman Marcus Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookie recipe. It is one of the most delicious cookies I have ever baked.

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A favorite activity is decorating the Gingerbread Cookies, this year I had to do myself so did not get as creative as our daughter-in-law Gretchen would do but at least it is colorful!!

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Introducing the New Cookie for 2020 – the Confetti Cookie – I picked up this recipe from the internet and chose it for the new cookie:

Baking Cookies, Brownies and Cakes is so much fun and at this time of year very festive. The true joy is giving them out, this year I will give a sampling to the grocery ladies and the neighbors, plus the cookie exchange next week.

I encourage you to try one new cookie, if you choose one of these just ask for the recipe in the comment section.

I wish all my readers a Joyous and Happy Christmas and an absolutely fantastic 2021…. it is precious to have our family and friends and even though we can not see them all this year they will be close to heart and even close via Zoom.

Stay safe and most of all have fun!!!!

Thanksgiving this year was different for so many of us because of the coronavirus pandemic.

We were able to have our son and his wife here to share in the holiday, they have been here since Wednesday afternoon when I picked them up at Wegmans in Florham Park where an Uber that they got into arrived at the store about an hour and quarter after they left New York City.

The day started early about 6:15 am, I made the Mac and Cheese recipe from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa  Family Style Cook Book.  It uses a mixture of Gruyere and Cheddar Cheese which a little bit of flour and butter makes a creamy filling.

Shortly after 9:00 am Paul, Gretchen and I went to the Flanders Track and ran a Turkey Trot (5K version).  The weather prediction was rain but when we went out it was cloudy but had stopped raining… half way through our last ¼ mile loop it started to rain and then pour, so we finished in the rain.  Just wonderful to be out there together – of course they were ahead of me and at about the last ½ hours I turned around and met them so we could finish together.

We got home and showered and had second course of breakfast – I had oatmeal earlier – of scrambled eggs and muffins.

Then it was off to the preparations, made the stuffing next, stuffed the turkey and got into the oven about 12:15 pm.  Many hours later the turkey was done – about 4:30 pm…. it was a 13.8 pound turkey.

Next was the potatoes and yams, peeled cooked and mashed.

The other side dishes of cranberry sauce (made day before), and Brussel sprouts (great new recipe, sautéed in butter and then baked – topped with parmesan).

The menu included Turkey, Stuffing, Cranberry, Mashed Potatoes and Yams, Brussel Sprouts and Salad. 

We then got the appetizers ready – Cheese and Crackers, Veggies and Dip, Sausage, Parmesan Mushrooms and stuffed Jalapenos.

Just before desert we had a zoom session with my family on Long Island, Virginia and New Hampshire…

For dessert and to cap the wonderful day we had two wonderful pies for dessert.

We all had a wonderful day being thankful for all that we have and especially the family we have near and far.

A few day before Thanksgiving and so much to be thankful for.

I am thankful for my family, dear wife Megan, son Paul, daughter-in-law Gretchen.  Also my Mom and sisters  Megan’s brothers and the extended family of nephews and nieces, cousins, et. The numerous friends and neighbors we are so lucky to have.

Each one unique and wonderful in their own way!

Over this crazy year I have met most of our neighbors through my weekly cookie delivery missions, that also includes four women in town who I met shopping for them during the early / height of the pandemic.

Truly a wonderful thing to share with others.  Since 2015 I have baked weekly for the Support Group here in town, with the pandemic I continued to bake but delivered to the neighbors and grocery ladies instead. Today the family two houses up from us with two preschool girls gave me a loaf of pumpkin bread and the next door neighbors brought over cookies earlier this week.

Recently I was approached by the nominating committee for the Morris County Mental Health, Substance Abuse Advisory Board about being the Chairman for 2021. I have been on the board since 2014, and now with my reduced hours of working I have the opportunity to do more in this and other areas.  So I said, even though slightly frightened and intimidated I would be willing to give it a try.  I met with Carol and Barbara (the nominating committee) yesterday, they were very encouraging and said they would support me along the way.

This will take effect at the regular mid-January meeting – I feel ready for the challenge as I have a much better understanding of the workings of the board.

I continue to run, when the weather is not too cold.  I should get the treadmill that I ordered on Monday of next week.

I wish everyone a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving!

Thank you for reading my blog, feel free to leave a comment.

This is a great country – I tell myself that every day when I fly the flag on the flagpole in the front of the house.

The principles of our freedoms and rights are spelled out in the US Constitution, which has guided this country for 244 years, the method for electing the president is specially stated in the Constitution, each state getting a number of electors equal to the number of congressional representatives they have, which means that each vote counts equally regardless of size of the state you are in.  This has worked beautifully for 244 years.

 Today I celebrate my 46^th anniversary in the Company.  It is hard to believe on this day in 1974 I walked into the office of George B. Buck Consulting Actuaries – the original company that had several corporate transactions over all those years, which today is known as Conduent, Inc.

Buck Consultants was spun off last year as a separate company.  I am with the Outsourcing Group under the corporate umbrella.

Times are a lot different than they were back when I started working – we had huge calculators  on our desks and had to fill out forms for keypunchers to load programs to the computer, you got punch cards you could bring back to rerun or adjust the program to fit your client’s needs.

Today you do everything on a computer, tablet or phone, you carry the phone with you wherever you go.

I first worked in Manhattan, 2 Penn Plaza which was adjacent to Madison Square Garden, in 1986 I moved to the newly opened office in Secaucus and moved to our current residence in western Morris County, New Jersey.

It has been a long and fruitful career – I have taken several good friends from these working years.  I continue to work a part time schedule and help the team with major projects and assist them as issues that come along.  This fits nicely into my schedule.

At this writing there are two vaccines that are in final stages of review and should be ready for distribution later this year and into next year.  These new vaccines are genetically created which allowed for faster development.

We had our first frost last night – that finished off the begonias and impatiens that had been blooming beautifully this late in the season…. All of summer is packed away anxiously awaiting the arrival of spring / summer 2021.

This year has been quite different for sure, with the coronavirus pandemic putting a quash on a lot of our normal activities.  I do believe we are in a better place with this virus even though infections are spiking again.  Of course we don’t want to see anyone sick and we hope those that are get a full recovery.

We had grey skies and rain all week and today is the first day of sunshine – it was cold this morning when I did the work around the house.  I should have worn gloves as my hands were freezing….

It is a bit of a drag adjusting to the cold weather – hard to figure what to wear around the house and to go outside.  However the fall colors are absolutely beautiful. The changing seasons and variety make it worth it.

I have been reading and doing puzzles, the latest book was given to me by one of the ladies I did grocery shopping for, the 93 year old woman.  It was “Redemption” by David Baldacci.. I had never read anything by him and it is a crime mystery / drama….  I did like it and was glad to have experienced it.  I am not sure what I will read next.   The latest puzzle has been hard to get started…. I got about ¾ of the  outsides done and a small corner… I am trying another section next.

We packed up goodie bags for the kids, hopefully we will get some to come.  Hopefully the kids in the area will come and not just go to grandma and grandpa.  We shall see.

Have a great Halloween and stay safe and healthy!

The trees are changing to bright colors before they fall to the ground.

The summer items are stored in the shed.

The garden is being cleaned out of the plants that bore an abundance of vegetables and herbs this summer.

Halloween is a week from Saturday, we have candy ready and little bags to put the candy in since we need to avoid close contact or using a common bowl as we had before.

There are some young  children in the neighborhood so hopefully we will get several kids to come.

I will miss the summer but the changes in season bring some variety to our surroundings.

Hopefully we will have a mild winter, last year was relatively mild with only two or three small snow storms and not too many bitter cold days.

Our Thanksgiving holiday will be home with our son and daughter-in-law, it will be nice to prepare the traditional meal with special trimmings for the small group that we will be.

We will spend the Christmas holiday in Florida with the Dolan family, which we have enjoyed several times in past years.  It is nice to get a warm break from the winter here and we have a great time with the family down there.

I have continued to run, which I enjoy, we get some warm days which I try to take advantage of.

I do not really want to go back to the YMCA, currently you have to make an appointment, I will wait until the vaccine is available and things begin to open up.

The pandemic has been difficult on all of us, we had to change our way of interacting and give up certain things.  Fortunately we are secure in our income which has not been impacted by the hit the job market took.  My part time position and pension are holding us together very well.

We know not everyone has been as fortunate as we were and we are appreciative of what we have and help out whenever we can.

I hope you all enjoy the changing seasons and continue in safety and good health.

Hello Everyone!!! 

I am still running, I took about a week off after the half marathon and got right back to it, running 4 or 5 miles three or four times a week.

The weather has turned cooler which is perfect for running, I do delay for a temperature in the 50’s and above… I have to get used to it.  I ordered light weight zip sweatshirts so I can easily take off while running, many times I wear a long sleeve and it gets too hot, so this seems like a good option.

I ran a virtual 10K on Saturday, October 3, 2020 and did well.  I really enjoy running on the Greenway paths here in town, the shade and peace and quiet.

I have set my sights on a full marathon sometime about a year from now, considering our planned trip to Hawaii next May the training cannot really start until early June 2021.

When I started training for the half marathon I was unsure how it would go and it went great.

I stuck to the training schedule almost exactly and will do the same with the full marathon.

I have been baking weekly for the support group and this week I gave out cookies I had made (oatmeal raisin) to the grocery ladies. 

Dee, the 93 year old woman waited for me outside her apartment and I sat to talk to her for a few minutes.  She told me she was working with her daughter to get a new drug plan, the one she had was discontinued and now the search is of course higher cost but do not cover her drugs.  We were talking about the types of plan and she said when she started out there were different plans and she was covered by Blue Cross which coordinated with Medicare..  she said but that was back in the 80’s and I thought – good grief she was almost my age back then.  Imagine how fast time flies.

As you know I am a big proponent of staying active and have been walking almost daily with my wife Megan.  Every bit of motion feeds itself and makes us stronger.

Keep moving and stay safe in these difficult times.

September 12, 2020

I completed my first half marathon on Saturday, September 12, 2020, here in Succasunna at the Horseshoe Lake Complex and out to the West Morris Greenway connecting to the Black River Wildlife Area Trail.  Most of the race was run in the shaded mostly gravel path, being cautious of root stumps and puddles.  

My son Paul led off for the first half of the run, managing my pace a little slower (about 13 minute pace) and helping me identify the stumps (in training I had tripped on one of them).

After the first half, where we turned around to head back to the finish.  Paul ran with a backpack which held spare water bottles, we exchanged one bottle for another at the turnaround spot (mile 7.4).

This was an incredible experience and I cherished every moment of it.

At about 9:30 and mile 9 my Mom called me, she calls me every day around that time.  I answered it with my watch and it connected to my air pods, I was able to talk to her for a few minutes while I continued to run.  I told her I was doing “Excellent”

We continued along and I ran a little faster – I was confident I could finish strong and really did not stop or slow down at any point after the turn around.

There is a good short hill that crosses over a small stream near the head of the Greenway trail, it also carries some pumping pipes for the sewer plant that is along the path, I ran / walked in both directions.   On the way back there is about a half-mile left to the half marathon.  

I came in strong and was very happy as we did the last piece of the race.

Megan was there with the camera and our friend JoEllen was also there with a sign greeting us at the finish line.

I did the 13.1 miles in Two Hours, Fifty-Eight Minutes and 50 seconds for an average pace of 12 minutes 49 second pace.  It was under three hours which is phenomenal.

My phone died at mile 12.4 and did not record my finish.  We recharged the phone and Paul re-ran the .7 miles at my pace.  The official clock added time because of the pause and recorded me at 3:04:44 time.

I learned that I should have hit the button to turn off the screen light, also set the light intensity lower for the long runs.  A lesson learned.

This was an incredible experience – the training really did pay off and make a difference.  I started training on June 16, 2020.  I completed 42 training over 13 weeks.

I am setting my sights on a full marathon sometime in October or November, 2021.

I am in awe that I was able to do a half marathon and thrilled and in awe of aiming for a full marathon.

I know we can always do something better, walk a little more or faster, up a few hills never tried before.. everything you do makes you more healthy – of course being careful and incrementing gradually is very important, even critical to success.

I want to especially thank my son Paul for his guidance through my training period and his willingness to carry a back pack while running to hold the water bottle supply. He excellently paced me for the first half of the race. Thank you!!!

Also, I want to thank my wife, Megan for all her support… wishing me safety every morning when I left for training, asking me if I was OK and how I did after my runs…. just giving me so much encouragement.

Thank you to all my friends who encouraged me along the way.

Thank you for reading my story, keep moving, be strong and stay healthy!

A rock song introduced by the musical group Journey in 1981.

On my 35 anniversary of work, my son Paul sent me this song as a gift.

Every time I hear this song I think of my son and of the lessons of perseverance I have accumulated over the years.

This song is on my running play list and when it comes on I get a little more strength and pick up the speed for a bit.

Lyrics by Journey, my comments / reactions are in bold following each verse.

“Just a small town girl

Livin’ in a lonely world

She took the midnight train going anywhere”

• The excitement of going to a new place.

“Just a city boy

Born and raised in South Detroit

He took the midnight train going anywhere”

• No matter who you are you can explore and find excitement

“A singer in a smokey room

The smell of wine and cheap perfume

For a smile they can share the night

It goes on and on, and on, and on”

• Opportunity abounds..

“Strangers waiting

Up and down the boulevard

Their shadows searching in the night”

• Looking for opportunity

“Streetlights people

Livin’ just to find emotion

Hidin’ somewhere in the night

Workin’ hard to get my fill

Everybody wants a thrill

Payin’ anything to roll the dice just one more time”

• Working hard is rewarding

“Some will win, some will lose

Some were born to sing the blues

Oh, the movie never ends

It goes on and on, and on, and on”

• Everyone has an opportunity

“Strangers waiting

Up and down the boulevard

Their shadows searching in the night”

• Looking for happiness

“Streetlights people

Livin’ just to find emotion

Hidin’ somewhere in the night”

• Still looking

“Don’t stop believin’

Hold on to that feelin’

Streetlight people”

• Have faith – you can do it

“Don’t stop believin’

Hold on

Streetlight people”

• You will be great

“Don’t stop believin’

Hold on to that feelin’

Streetlight people”

• Live for today and enjoy the time you get with friends and family

As I prepare for my half marathon 8 days from now the 4 month’s of training is starting to pay off.  I have stuck to the training schedule almost exactly with very few variations.  I have had my rough periods as I expanded my distances or dealt with high temperatures and humidity.

It is very exciting and frightening at the same time.  I am thrilled that I am able to do this and plan to continue to run after the race as long as I am able – when we get into the bitter cold hopefully the YMCA will be open to work on treadmills again.

Friendship is a wonderful thing!

Looking up Friendship on Wikipedia you will see this, introduction included: –

• Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an association, and has been studied in academic fields such as communication, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and philosophy, social exchange theory, equity theorem relational dialects, and attachment styles

• Although there are many forms of friendship, some of which may vary from place to place, certain characteristics are present in many types of such bonds. Such characteristics include affection, kindness, love, virtue, sympathy, empathy honesty, altruism, loyalty, generosity, forgiveness, mutual understanding and compassion, and enjoyment of each other’s company, trust, and the ability to be oneself, express one’s feelings to others, and make mistakes without fear of judgment from the friend. Friendship is an essential aspect of relationship building skills.

Well that is a lot to say about friendship.

I have the pleasure and wonder to have many friends. I won’t use actual names but I want to honor so many friends I have, not that I could include them all here. I won’t include all of them.

I have noted that my oldest friends are from my earliest days at my first job, the remnants of which I still hold 45 years later.

JL, BJH and JS were among the first people I met working at Buck, JL was the best man at our wedding in 1977.  I still communicate regularly with BJH, who lives in New Hampshire.

JS lives in Connecticut with her husband, I last saw them at my 60^th birthday party 8 years ago.

We visited BJH in New Hampshire a few times year’s back when she had a group of cabins for rental we speak and communicate via email on occasion.

YCK I know from later years at Buck, she is married to CK, they currently live in the Los Angeles area of California.  We visited them in California last year, or I should say we visited YCK, CK was in the hospital at the time.

KPS was my boss at one point of my career and since he retired about 5 years ago we have kept in touch and become friends.  We visited him in his vacation home when we were in the Outer Banks the last 5 years.  He is married to TS and they enjoy the Outer Banks longer than we do, we did three weeks this year, which was great.

DLS I met on the first outsourcing project I worked on, it was the Mobil implementation, KPS was the account executive, I was the project manager and DLS was the requirements writer. This was the early days of outsourcing and we were developing the procedures as we went along the way. DLS and I became friends and have a nice routine of writing to each other every day, now that I am partially retired we use our personal emails. We have been to her wedding and bat mitzvah of their daughters.

DS is a friend I have known for many years, we worked together when I was in the Practice Leadership Group at the company – this was around 2014, for a few years. We became friends because of our mutual deep DB Knowledge, he being very strong on regulations and administration and me being an actuary with varying experience in consulting, actuarial work and administration. We shared ideas and our work challenges with a brute of a boss we had at the time. We found we shared several things around family, gardening and life’s challenges. We share love of country but are polar opposites politically.

Here in town today I have several friends from the DBSA Succasunna group, from the garden and the neighbors I have met from distributing cookies this year.  Also the ladies that I shopped for have become friends for the most part.

Friends complete us and complement us, hold us in check and are fun to talk with and visit.

They are the fabric of our lives and keep us focused and help us in the hard times when they do come.

Enjoy your friends!!!