"Ano Viejo"

Yeah New Years eve, i have spent many a new years stuck on the Bay bridge counting down 5, 4 ,3 2, 1! With my girl friend. Sucks. Not the New Years i had in mind at all.
New years eve to me have always been all about the traditions and not the champagne and parties. My Mom was OBSESSED with superstition and unfortunately i am too. Not as bad as her though. The big one was cleaning! The one day really my Mom cleaned. The entire house should be cleaned before New Year's Day. On New Year's Eve, all brooms, brushes, dusters, dust pans and other cleaning equipment are put away. Sweeping or dusting should not be done on New Year's Day for fear that good fortune will be swept away. She cleaned all day. Unless it was a work day, then she did it on the weekend before new years. All dirt and rubbish must be taken out the back door. Also her birthday was in January, and she was excited the house would be cleaned for her special day. Jan 13th (born on a Friday) Which she blamed for all her shortcomings. And there were a lot. She didn't really clean at all any other days. So it too all day!

People in Japan spend weeks planning for their New Year celebrations. They buy special food and make decorations for their front doors out of pine branches, bamboo, and ropes that are believed to bring health and long life. Nice. I like this one.

An Irish tradition involves banging on the door and walls with Christmas bread to chase the bad luck out and bring good spirits to the household with the promise of bread enough in the New Year. This is probably related to the tradition of banging pots and pans in Iran, or the ancient tradition of using firecrackers to welcome in the Chinese New Year.

The youngest boy in the household lighting a candle at dusk to burn through the night until morning light is another Celtic tradition that may be a citified version of lighting bonfires to keep away the evil spirits or a carryover of the Samhain tradition of lighting tapers in the windows to chase the evil spirits.

In the Philippines children jump up and down at midnight to make sure they will grow tall. In Asia, sunrise celebrations and honoring of the ancestors and elders brings luck. German's drop melted lead into cold water and take turns interpreting the results. This tradition has become so popular that kits are sold that include the lead pellets and suggestions for reading the results.

Disturbing 80s advert

Vinegar Lore

Vinegar Love

It is intriguing to think that in today’s computerized, sophisticated world, we’re still using one product that was discovered - quite by chance - more than 10,000 years ago.

Vinegar. Simplicity itself (though its manufacture today is anything but). The French said it succinctly: vin aigre - meaning sour wine. That is its origin, the discovery that a cask of wine gone past its time had turned to a wonderful new product. Through the centuries vinegar has been produced from many other materials, including molasses, dates, sorghum, fruits, berries, melons, coconut, honey, beer, maple syrup, potatoes, beets, malt, grains and whey. But the principle remains unchanged - fermentation of natural sugars to alcohol and then secondary fermentation to vinegar. You might say wine is to grapes what vinegar is to wine.

The ancients were quick to find the remarkable versatility of vinegar. Around 5,000 BC, the Babylonians used it as a preservative and as a condiment, and it was they who began flavoring it with herbs and spices. Roman legionnaires used it as a beverage. Cleopatra demonstrated its solvent property by dissolving precious pearls in it to win a wager that she could consume a fortune in a single meal. Hippocrates extolled its medicinal qualities and, indeed, it was probably one of our earliest remedies. The Greeks also reportedly made pickled vegetables or meats using vinegar. Biblical references show how it was much used for its soothing and healing properties. And when Hannibal, a great general, crossed the Alps with an army riding elephants, it was vinegar that helped pave the way. Obstructive boulders were heated and doused with vinegar, which cracked and crumbled the barriers. By about 3000 BC, the making of homemade vinegar was being phased out and, in 2000 BC, vinegar production was largely a commercial industry. During the American Civil War, vinegar was used to treat scurvy, and as recently as World War I, it was being used to treat wounds. Household hints

Happy New Year Obama

Christmas is divine

Do not despise obedience, obedience is divine

merry Christmas

having a very merry Christmas

Christmas card

Well as my dear sister just said while i was explaining why her package would not be on time, "you can't possible get it together and send a Christmas card, you just moved! " I think she might be right. As hard as i tried i just can't do it. I really like the kind with a photograph, and we are in no shape for a picture. So here's the picture from last year. Just imagine if you will my hair is short, Mac's is long (still red) and Pat and Sophie look the same basically. Still cute.
My only Christmas wish is that Obama can clean up Bush's mess. A little would be good enough for me. I know there's a lot. But i don't want someone "terrorist" to take down another building full of innocent people. So lets try and be friends and respect other countries and cultures. People that SHARE this planet with us.
peace-

happy Chanukah

Just to clear everything up here, just in case you thought differently, because folks are usually blown away when they find this out, I am Jewish! Yes, i know it's hard to believe with my blue eyes and Irish Catholic father and all. In Jewish law it is the Mother who decides all this stuff and my Mom, bless her heart and rest in peace was a Jew. And her Mom too. If your lucky enough to have a Jewish Mom, or a woman who hung out with too many Jewish woman and became a Jewish Mom by association, this happens all the time. You will know it's all in the attitude. Not the looks per say. My Mom was adopted, who knows she could of been adopted by a nice mid west family and grown up totally different. But NO, not us. We had our beloved Fritzi to mold and warp our young impressionable souls into a bunch of crazies! We are all great folks but we have a lot of chutzpah! In Hebrew, chutzpah is used indignantly, to describe someone who has over-stepped the boundaries of accepted behavior with no shame. Got to love your Mother!

Fa la la la

This is what Sophie looks like when she sleeps. The room was pitch black when i took this picture. She drools some of the time too. You can't tell but her hand was propped on the side table, like she fell asleep reaching for the snooze button.
It has been one helluva ride so far. Moving was hard enough, but now trying to piece our life back together is even harder. The kids are totally rebelling. They need security, they need the routine. Pat took the whole week off and now he has gone back to work. And i miss him.
Right now Mac is sleeping, which is rare! A nap for my Mac is hard to come by. I am very thankful when it happens. He is quite a handful when he's awake. We play for hours the two of us, and still he wants MORE! I'm buying all Xmas gifts on-line this year. For the kids of course, i really don't want anything, it's all so commercial. What do i need anyways. Maybe a bottle of Scotch? But for the kids it's magical. Believing in this "miracle" is fun, it's what being a kid is all about. I have been baking cookies and we hung our tree. Sophie had an accident last Saturday on the monkey bars. She fractured her arm a bit and must wear a splint. Some doc in Portland was faxed her X-rays, he might put her in a cast. She has NOT been happy. She is embarrassed by her sling. It is very strange. She doesn't want anyone to fuss over her. Go figure. My Birthdays on Friday and were having a party/housewarming thing. Should be fun. I am looking forward to it.