Saturnalia

 This year I'm celebrating interesting week celebrations throughout the year.  The year is almost over but I still have a couple more holidays for us to celebrate.   

Saturnalia is a mid December holiday (think December 17-23) that honors the Roman god, Saturn, the god of agriculture.  Saturnalia was a Roman festival that offered sacrifices (or gifts) to the gods in the winter season.   During this holiday, everything shut down.  Businesses closed.  No school.  Homes were decorated and the people put on bright colored togas.  Even the servants participated.  In fact, the owners served them!  The holiday was celebrated by singing, dancing, eating, gambling and of course, gift giving.  It was known as "the best of times."

How to celebrate?

Invite friends and family over for a meal.  Make sure you throw some music and games in there.   Oh and don't forget to post on social media, #Saturnalia 

Some important things to remember when celebrating:

Wear green and gold.  These are the official colors of the holiday.

Decorate.  Covering doorways, walls, staircases with lights and garland

Make some cookies in the shape of stars and moons

Give out small goodies to your friends and family as they leave

Oh, and don't forget to have a great time!

Now this sounds like a fun holiday to celebrate!

Halcyon Days

 This year I am celebrating the interesting national weeks throughout the year.  Today is the start of Halcyon Days.

Halcyon Days is observed for two weeks and coincides with unusually calm seas.  I needed a little background on this celebration.  This started from Greek mythology.  The goddess Halcyone, the goddess of winds, married a mortal who drowned at sea during a bad storm.  Halcyone loved her husband so much that she jumped into the sea after him.  The other gods and goddesses saw this and turned them both into birds.  For two weeks during the winter season (the week before and after the Winter Solstice), the winds are calm on the sea so the birds can build nests on the water and lay eggs peacefully.

How to observe #HalcyonDays or #HalcyonWeek

Halcyon Days describes a time of happiness and success.  Other key words used: happy, golden, peaceful, blissful, carefree, joyful, idyllic and contented.  The holiday season can become quite hectic.  This is a great time to focus on having halcyon days with your family.

It's also a great time to brush up on your Greek Mythology and check out the full story on Halcyon. 

My Weird Dog

 As I was outside picking up after my weird dog today, I was pondering the strong odor of his "business."  Why does it have to smell so bad?  What makes it smell nasty?  Why can't it have a more pleasant smell?  Just one of the scary things that go through my mind while doing an everyday chore.

When I am outside performing this clean up, the song, "Wishing Well," by Terence Trent D'arby comes to mind.  Yes.  You need to listen to the song right now.

"Wish me love a wishing well, to kiss and tell

A wishing well of butterfly tears

Wish me love a wishing well, to kiss and tell

A wishing well of crocodile tears"

Except, back in the day when this song was played on the radio, that last line sounded A LOT different.  You see, we didn't have the internet to look up lyrics for songs.  We had to try to figure them out on our own.  So, that last line sounded like "a wishing well, a crock of dog sh*#."   If you watch the video and try to read lips, that is what Terence is singing.  Given all of that information, now go back and listen to the song.  It's okay. I'll wait.

Now imagine hearing this song on the radio.  How did this get past the FCC?  Maybe singing about picking up after the dog is acceptable for radio.  I mean, someone has to do it.   Why not sing about it?  

What do you think Terence Trent D'arby is singing?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

St. Nicholas Day

  There are many stories about the life of St. Nicholas.  I found my information here.  The following is a quick summary.  Click on the link to read more details. 

St. Nicholas came from a wealthy family.  His parents died when he was very young.  He grew up in his faith and strongly believed to give to the poor.  He became Bishop and was know for his generosity, love of children and concern for sailors.  Under the Roman Empire he was persecuted for his faith.  He went to prison.  He was released and died on December 6.  The anniversary of his death became a celebration known as St. Nicholas Day.

There are many variations of the story of St. Nicholas. He gave money for three poor girls dowries, he helped children, gave to the poor.  Do a little research.  You will even see how Santa Claus evolved. 

My children are older and they still make sure that their shoes are placed by the front door for St. Nicholas visit.  

Do you have any special traditions you do with your family during the holidays?

National Handwashing Awareness Week

 This year I am celebrating interesting weeks throughout the year.  This week is National Handwashing Awareness Week.

I was unable to locate the history behind this week.  I'm thinking this was started in 2020 because of the pandemic as a reminder to wash your hands.

This celebration is set during the winter months when colds and flu run rampant and serves as a gentle reminder to always wash your hands.  

80% of diseases can be transferred by touch.

Washing your hands a few times per day can reduce diarrhea rates by 40%.

Touching your face can spread sickness, pneumonia, a cold and the flu.

The most important times to wash your hands are before and after making food and after using the bathroom.

Less than 75% of women and less than 50% of men wash their hands after the bathroom.

The ideal amount of time to wash hands is 30 seconds (but 15 seconds ok).

Most bacteria on our hands are underneath our fingernails.  Always make sure to clean under them.

Studies show that people who wash their hands use fewer sick days

Are you as grossed out as I am?  

By the way, I'm one of the people who wash their hands often.  Maybe a little too much.  

Ok, let's get through the rest of this, shall we?

How to observe #NationalHandwashingWeek

Make a point to wash your hands several times per day.  Yea, after reading those statistics above, I think you will be washing your hands after reading this post.  

And posting to social media might be a great idea to remind your friends and family to wash their hands. 

Remote Start

A remote starter is a radio-controlled device which is installed to preheat or cool before the owner gets into their vehicle.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in a previous post but I no longer am the proud owner of the Jetta.  Yea, you're right.  I was never a proud owner of that car.  The car that was in the shop at the dealer at least 4 times a year.  I did catch up on what was happening in the world of golf though.  

My new car has a feature called 'remote start.'  That's where you press a button, while you are nice and toasty indoors, and the car warms up while you run around like a mad person make your way out the door.  This is a feature that I was never interested in having on a car.  I love the cold and feel it's a great experience being in the car and suffering while it is warming up.  Probably something to do with my Midwest upbringing.  

There have been a couple of mornings where I was rushing around getting ready for work and decided that I could have the car warm up while I continue to run around like a crazy person.   I found that I was able to hop in the car and drive off.  No sitting around waiting for the car to warm up. 

I don't think I will be relying on this new feature, but I do have to say that it has its perks.

Christmas Crafts and Holiday Gifts

  It's that crazy time of year again!  

Snow.  Holiday Parties.  Snow.  Crafts.  Gifts.  Gift wrapping.  Snow.  Cookie making.  Hot Chocolate. Sledding.  And more snow!

I thought I would make your life a little easier and put some links up from my blog to some easy Holiday Crafts and Gifts that you can make yourself, with kids or even a Girl Scout Troop.

Here we go:

Christmas
Animal Ornaments 
Brazilian Holiday Flower (great children's craft)
Candy Cane Sleigh 
Christmas Cards and tags
Felt Heart Ornament 
Foam Gingerbread House (children's craft)
Foam Ornament Gift Tag 
Jingle Bell Bracelet (children's craft)
Mitten Gift Tags 
Mosaic Christmas Tree (children's craft)
Picture Frame
Snowman Ornament 
Stocking (out of construction paper) (children's craft)
Winter Scene (children's craft)
Snowman Ornament
Snowman Winter Craft (children and adult craft)
Ugly Christmas Sweater Felt Banner


Gifts
Homemade Bubbles
Bath Bombs
Laundry Detergent (powder)
Homemade Hair Detangler
Homemade Liquid Hand Soap
Homemade Lip Balm
Homemade Lotion


Miscellaneous Crafts/Gifts
Bangle Bracelet (wrapped)
Blank Books 
Bubbles (homemade)
Book Mark
Bottle cap necklace
Cork Board using Old Picture Frame
Decorative Wrapping Paper 
Dryer Balls
Fun Scrapbooks
Gift Box
Paint Chip Monthly Calendar
Pumpkin Soap Recipe
Twine Napkin Holders 
Note cards  
Homemade Sidewalk Paint 
Sit upon (a cushion to sit on)
Wrapped Bangle Bracelet


Don't forget to make some cookies this season.  They go great with hot chocolate!  (Well, cookies go great with everything!)  Here are some links to cookies that appear on the blog:

Cookies:
Butterscotch Chip Cookies
Avocado Chocolate Cookies
Chocolate Chip Blondies
Chocolate Chip Blondies (vegan)
Chocolate Chip Chokies (Mom's famous recipe)
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Deep Dish Cookie Pie

Icing for Sugar Cookies 
M & M Cookies
Nutella Cookies 1
Nutella Cookies 2
Peanut Butter Bars
Peanut Butter Raisin Bran Cookies

Pfeffernusse Cookies
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Vanilla Pudding Cookies

If you make some sugar cookies, make sure to check this out for an easy Sugar Cookie Icing recipe.

My favorite cookies are the pumpkin cookies, M & M cookies and of course the Pfeffernusse Cookies.