Easter Traditions

We celebrated Easter yesterday.  Seems a little late, but, that's how we Orthodox people roll.  We also appreciate the half price Easter candy.  I'm sure half priced Easter candy is a HUGE factor to consider when deciding which Sunday will be Orthodox Easter.

One of our Easter traditions is dying Easter eggs.  Colorful Easter eggs are really pretty.  Our eggs are dyed all one color.  Red.  The red color represents the blood of Christ while the egg represents rebirth.

Growing up. I remember my Mom and my Grandmother dying Easter Eggs.  It was a big ordeal.  My Mom would dye dozens and dozens of eggs.  Giving them to various family members and friends.  This was something my Mom liked to do alone.  I did get to watch her whole process but never really participated.

My Mom is in a home now.  She hasn't dyed Easter eggs in years.  For the last five or six years, I have been the one in charge of dying the eggs.  Making sure to hard boil before coloring.  I have the packets of Greek red dye.  I have enlisted the help of my daughter.  I don't want the tradition to just die.  It would be nice if it continues with my children.

Every year that I do this, I feel a little sad.  Easter has always been a big deal in my family.  We would go to my grandparents house.  It was a time to see all of my Aunts, Uncles, cousins and, of course, eat lots of food.  Good food.  Everyone was happy (probably because they knew they were going to eat a lot of good food).  Lots of laughter.  And, lots of jokes.  Especially from my Dad.  My Dad, Uncles and my Grandfather would start cooking the lamb at 6:00am.  With the whole cooking process, they would drink quite a bit of wine.  In fact, I think drinking wine was required when cooking the Easter lamb.  My Uncle George would walk around with a platter of lamb, making sure everyone got a sample.  When the lamb was done, so was all of the rest of the food that my grandmother and Aunt had prepared.  Once their job of cooking the lamb was done, my Dad, Uncles and Grandfather retired to the family room to "watch" golf (yea.... golf) through their closed eyelids, of course.

Unfortunately, many of my relatives have passed away.  My cousins now celebrate with their own families, so, our Easter celebration is now just my immediate family, my brothers and their families.

I hope to keep this tradition going with my children.  I hope they have as many good memories about these traditions and family get togethers and continue them with their children.

TV

I'm sure you remember many posts back, I talked about our free TV and how it was starting to go.  The TV eventually died and we had to purchase a new one.

We have been trying to properly dispose of the old television.  You can't just throw it in the garbage.  You have to take it to one of the town's recycling events.  Our town holds a recycling event on one Saturday of every month.   It's usually in the morning hours.

For some reason, we have missed the last 5 of these recycling events.  I know some of these events (probably only one) we had something going on that day.  The others just slipped by...unnoticed.

The TV is still in the family room.  RT and I joke that we are going to end up moving the TV with us because we will keep forgetting to recycle it.  I suggested turning it into something useful.

A picture frame?

A vase?

A paperweight?

We have marked next month's recycling event on the calendar.  I'm hoping we remember this time.

I'll keep you posted.

Purse

I know that everyone was worried sick about my purse situation.  You can relax now.  I found a new purse.  I have been using it daily for the last month and I still like it!

I am starting my next purse search now.  I know I just purchased this one, but, I figure it's going to be a long process to find the next one.

Prayers are welcome.

Funny Search Results

It's been awhile since we've taken a look at the search results.  I like to see what people enter into their search engine to bring them to my blog.

I get the usual searches for Girl Scouts.  Along with those normal searches, I get the odd, unusual searches.  I like to look at them every once in awhile to see how I get visitors.  They're great for a laugh or two.

Here we go:

Father daughter hoe down

I'm assuming this one is for my Daddy Daughter dance posts.  I don't remember talking about a hoe down.  Maybe I should somehow incorporate that in the future?


Clean up on aisle 13 we were no where near aisle 13

I love it!  Someone else must like the movie, "Mr. Mom"


My Frightening journey

Well...scary journey...frightening journey....same thing.  I'm living this journey and I'm frightened all of the time.


I guess I'm going to have to expand my weird topics so I can reach more of these people.

Door Bell

Most houses have a door bell by their front door.  I say "most houses" because I've visited houses where they did not have a door bell.

Our house has a door bell.  The chime is obnoxious  different every time someone rings it.  It is also very loud, so you can hear it everywhere in the house (well, not so much in the laundry room).

We don't get tons of unannounced visitors.  Usually we know if one of the kids is having a friend over.  Lately, tho, the friend stands on our front stoop and texts our child to let them know that they are here.  I've busted a few.  I told them they can ring the door bell and that it doesn't bite.

When someone does ring the door bell, RT and I go through this ritual every time.

(door bell rings)

RT:  Who's that?

Me:  I don't know.

RT:  Who would come over at this time?

(it could be any time of day or night and we say this line)

Me:  I don't know.  Did you invite someone over?

RT:  No.

Then, we do what any normal person does in this type of situation.  We ignore it.

What?  Are we supposed to do something else?

If the person really wants or needs to see us, they will ring the bell again.  We might even move around during the second ring.

Oh, and a little heads up if you plan on dropping by.  We will definitely answer the door on the third or fourth time you ring our door bell.

Dance Mom

Bella had another Dance Competition.  This is our second competition, so, I should be a pro at being a Dance Mom.

I'm amazed at the number of Mom's backstage that are getting their daughter(s) ready.  One asked me if I had a sewing kit she could borrow (Note to self:  Bring my sewing basket with me next time.).

I'm pretty good at holding a mirror (Bella insists on doing her own makeup and hair).  I'm also good with a few pointers (that usually get ignored).  I can also spray a fierce line of hair spray, when needed.  Oh, and I've got the healthy snack options down.

I haven't mastered the bossiness and the constant trivial criticism.  Or being quick tempered and snapping at my child for being (a child) herself.

I also haven't broken down and purchased a glittery "Dance Mom" shirt.

I've come so far on this Dance Mom journey, but, I still have such a long road ahead.

My Weird Dog

Apparently, Pippen has decided that he is now sharing our bedroom.  He likes to be invited up to bed.  Once in our room, he takes his spot on the carpet on my side of the bed (he's still a Momma's boy).

If we decided to go to bed and he missed his invitation to our room, he will stand at the bottom of the stairs and let out this  God awful  dog cry.  I don't usually notice his crying right away.  The kids usually hear it before I do (you can hear them telling him to be quiet).  When I do finally hear him, I think, maybe he will stop.  You know, how babies cry it out?  They eventually fall asleep?  Unfortunately, my fur baby dog doesn't give in easily.  So, there I am, calling him to come up stairs.

RT calls him a spoiled Momma's boy.

And...he is probably right.

Napkin Stash

During our little vacation, I used quite a few of RT's napkins from his car.  They are perfect as napkins, Kleenex, picking stuff up, cleaning, etc.  I insisted that Nick grab a few before hopping on the plane home.  He was coming down with a cold and I figured having a few would come in handy on the plane.

Even though we  I used a million  quite a few, there are still millions left.

He now has some time to hoard  build up his napkin stash before our next trip (or family get together).

Car Dealer

Of course I had to take my car in to the dealer today.  And, guess what?  Today is the first day of The Masters Tournament.  Yay, golf!

Only I could plan something like this....

Looking forward to many hours of  torture  golf.

Hotel Pens

I just want you to know that I brought a number of hotel pens with me on this trip with the hopes that I would use them all (I have a whole section of my backpack dedicated to house the hotel pens that I currently own).

I did not take any new hotel pens.  I wasn't even tempted.

You will be happy to hear that one pen kicked the bucket on this trip.

Only 9 million more to go.

2020 Campaign for President

During out little Spring Break trip to Washington D.C. we visited memorials, museums and even The White House.  We took the usual White House tour.  We also took a tour of The West Wing.  All of these political and presidential vibes rubbed off on RT and he decided to launch his 2020 Candidacy for the Presidency.

He has yet to put together his platform and his running mate.  So far, he is enjoying all of the media and paparazzi attention.

Stay tuned.

An Entire Day Using the word Historic

If you know me, then you know how much I dislike the overuse of the word "Historic."

It started during the 2008 Presidential Election.  The press used "historic" when talking about the election.  After the election, historic was used even more.  It got to the point that you knew someone was going to refer to an event as "historic."

Think about it.

Everything you do.  Everything that happens in the world, will someday be considered historic.  Something that future generations will look back on, learn or read about in history books (or history books online).

I thought it would be fitting to go an entire day using the word historic in our everyday communication.

This was the perfect day to try this experiment.  What better place to use the word than in an historic place like Gettysburg?  Battle of Gettysburg.  Civil War.  The Gettysburg Address.  All historic!

Regular everyday activities like eating breakfast turned into eating an historic breakfast that consist of historic eggs (or cereal, fruit, toast, etc).  Of course, you can't eat that breakfast anywhere.  It had to take place at an historic restaurant.

We visited historic battlefields in historic Gettysburg.  The Battle of Gettysburg was an historic battle.  It was also an historic bloody battle of the historic Civil War.

We visited one of the historic bloody battle fields.  We also visited the historic cemetery.

When we had our fill of historic Gettysburg, we hopped onto the historic Pike and headed out of town.

Bella said she was hungry (historically hungry) and wanted to stop and eat at an historic restaurant.  Everyone wanted to stop at an historic bathroom (one that uses historic toilet paper).

After reading this post, I'm sure you feel the same way I do about the overuse of the word historic.

Lucky Penny

While on vacation, RT found a penny in front of the hotel.  He dubbed it his Lucky Penny.

We were getting ready the next morning (cheesing out of the hotel)RT went to put his "lucky penny" into his pocket and it fell onto the floor.  He looked for it for  20 minutes  quite awhile.  He got down on the ground, searching for the penny.  He even pulled a flashlight out of his backpack.

Bella tried giving him a penny to take the place of the "lucky penny."  Unfortunately, the luck doesn't pass on to another penny, so, he declined the offer.

Right before we left our room, I got down on the floor to look for the penny and found it under the bed.  RT was quite happy (and shocked that I found it in seconds).

For the rest of the trip, we made sure that RT had his "lucky penny" on him before leaving the room.

Elections and Voting

This is a little late to write and post, but, I'm putting it out there anyway.

We just had an election and I feel the need to talk about the candidates.

I'm not going to talk any specifics.  I'm not that political.  I'm going to talk about doing the job.  The candidates come forth with a platform of what they plan to do if they are elected.  Some actually complete one or two of the items on their promise list while others, well, they try (I think?).

I think what would help me in my decision making is knowing that a candidate is going to pick up (remove) all of their campaign signs.  I mean, it's the day after the election (sometimes weeks after) and the signs are still out there.  How do I know that the candidate that won can do the job if he/she can't even clean up the  mess  signs that were used to elect him/her?

I want a candidate that cleans up their signs.  A person that cares about his/her town/state/country.  Not one that litters.  Cleaning up the signs tells me that they make sure things will get done.

Seeing those lone signs out there makes me want to demand another election.

April is National Card and Letter Writing Month

For some reason I always forget to post this on the first of the month.  That's OK, though.  You still have time to get started on your letter writing.

I mean, who doesn't love getting a handwritten letter in the mail?  I know that's the first piece of mail I open.  A handwritten letter is a lot better than opening up a bill.

It's time for you to get out all of that pretty paper and cards that you are saving for a special occasion.  Now is the time to use it!  And, don't worry if you don't have pretty paper.  Grab some paint, stickers, washi tape, crayons, or markers and create your own artistic paper.

Letter writing is also a great way to practice your penmanship (I think we all need the extra practice). Don't worry about bad handwriting.  Loved ones know you and your  bad  handwriting.  They still love hearing from you.

Don't know what to say?  How about, "Hi" or "Hello"?   Instead of wishing a friend or family a happy birthday on social media, how about sending them a physical card?  You can write a few lines in the card wishing them a happy birthday. Let them know that you are thinking about them.   Send a "just because" note or card letting them know that you appreciate them.

Go ahead!  Grab your pens and paper and start writing!

Vegan Diaries - Black Bean Protein Bites

Thought I would give these little protein bites a try.

Black beans are packed with protein (15 grams per one cup).  The rest of the ingredients are pretty healthy, too.  Great when you want to include some protein in your snack.  Also a great "no guilt" sweet treat.

Here's the recipe:

Black Bean Protein Bites

ingredients:
1 cup oats
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup coconut flakes
15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 TBSP agave (or maple syrup)
1 TBSP coconut oil
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

directions:
Put oats, peanuts and coconut flakes in Vitamix (or you can use food processor or blender).  Blend until close to a powder.
Empty powder mix into separate bowl.
Put beans, agave, coconut oil, cocoa powder into blender and mix.  Add in the powder mixture and mix until combined.  Add in chocolate chips and gently mix.
Scoop and roll dough into balls and place on parchment paper.  Place in refrigerator for 20 minutes to set.  Store in container in the refrigerator.


*can use cashews instead of peanuts
*I like agave.  Personal preference.   Feel free to use maple syrup.

These little bites make a tasty (and healthy) snack.

If you try them, let me know what you think.

Enjoy!