witches and magic

I grew up in a bit of a conservative household. We dressed up for Halloween, but my mom wouldn’t ever let us be witches. Even when we were little and we watched Hocus Pocus, my mom thought that it wasn’t a good idea to dress up as the Sanderson Sisters. I wanted to be Sarah Jessica Parker’s character because she was blond and she was pretty. It didn’t matter though, because I was a chubby kid and as I said, we were forbidden from dressing as witches. I kind of left it alone after that, but then Harry Potter happened. First there were the books, then the movies, and then there was the lecture I sat in on at Oxford. An Oxford professor talking about witches? Sure!

My first attempt at dressing up as a witch was Halloween 2007 in Ukraine. I was a teacher and I wanted to throw my students a classic Halloween party. We bobbed for apples, ate Ukrainian donut shaped treats off strings, and danced to some happenin’ music. I dressed up a witch, partly because as an adult I had every right to do what I wanted and partly because I had a black shirt and skirt and making a cape wasn’t going to be very hard to do. I looked great…and scary. See?



Okay, so in this picture I don't look TOO scary, but still. I look dirty, right?

So yesterday, I went to watch the final Harry Potter movie with my friend, Chris. She dressed up as Professor Trelawney and quite frankly, she had the BEST costume in the whole place. I didn’t plan ahead so in about 45 minutes, I threw together a purple Rita Skeeter outfit. I was only missing the true ringlets in my hair and a quill. It was great.



This morning (or early afternoon), I am recovering from the midnight movie by lounging in my PJs, writing on my mac as I watch The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. It’s a great one. And again, it has that magic stuff. I love it! There’s something about magic and witches that I like more than all the vampires and werewolves that are so popular these days.

To be honest, as far as Sci-Fi/Fantasy goes, witches would always be my choice. My cousin loves the dragon stuff. My sister loves vampires and werewolves. My brother loves werewolves. I love witches and magic. I just do.

Lent

Lent. It starts tomorrow. I didn’t really ever learn about Lent until college when the Nazarene chaplain talked about it at Wednesday’s Ash Wednesday chapel. I got the ashes on my forehead and decided to give up chocolate. It was rough though. I had to wait until after my birthday to eat the candy my mom had sent to me. This year, I’m not sure I’m participating in Lent. But since in the next half an hour I plan to start my Fat Tuesday celebration, I thought it might be good to think about what I could possibly give up. Here are my ideas.

#1: Sarcasm – Nope. There’s no way I could handle myself without sarcasm for 40 whole days.
#2: Chocolate – I’m already on a pretty serious diet. What would be the use of cutting off the random piece of chocolate I consume once every two weeks?
#3: Jelly beans – Nice idea, but I don’t even eat jelly beans unless it’s Easter.
#4: Sandwiches – Sure, the whole idea of Lent is to help you focus more on Holy things by cutting out other idols and obsessions, but I couldn’t give up sandwiches. Come on, I’m a good enough person. Let me have my sandwich! ☺
#5: TV – It’s hard enough to go a weekend without watching TV. Why on earth would I try this for Lent?
#6: Writing – Are you kidding me? You might as well ask me to hold my breath for 40 days. Are you really ready to plan a funeral?
#7: Soda – Ok. This is an idea. But I just tried to cut off soda for a week and only lasted 6 days. Sad.

That’s it. I give up. I’m not sure what I should do for Lent this year. Perhaps I could just try to think happy thoughts. I like that. Be happy for 40 days. It’ll be 40 days towards my goal for 2011. All I want is to be happy. Hmm. I like this.

Happy Mardi Gras, y’all!

snow and holiday thoughts

Snow! It’s snowing here in Nampa, Idaho. We’re watching Robin Hood, the one with Russell Crowe. Shanna’s working on her computer, doing teacher’s homework. Ma Bunn is holding baby Jayden. Pa Bunn is staring at the movie television set, engrossed in the film. Spencer lies engulfed in his Spiderman comforter, watching the action in Nottingham.

And here I am: sitting at my computer, typing a blog post. At least I’m in front of the computer. That means it’s more likely that I will work my on my final project revisions. (Sigh. I wish I were already done. ☹)

Eh. Life is good. I had a delightful pancake this morning, with a few chocolate chips melted inside it with some of that delicious peanut butter and maple syrup on top. It really feels like the holidays. We’re not doing much of anything. If the tree and decorations were up, it would definitely feel like Christmas.

I’m going to miss the Christmas holidays with my family this year. It’s by choice of course. I want to visit my Peace Corps family in Ukraine, but still. I’ll miss out on the good old BBJ traditions.

Eh. I’ll survive. I always do. And I’ll still get to celebrate New Years in Portland. YEA!

Holiday stress

What is it about family and holidays? Why do we get so stressed out? Why do we have to cook so much food? Half of the stress comes from problems in the kitchen. There aren’t the right ingredients. She wants lemon zest in the apple pie. He doesn’t. It goes back and forth. And not until everybody sits down at the table together is the tension relaxed.

I’m not one for stress. I especially dislike stress at family get-togethers. I just wish it could be much easier.

Albino turkey

Shanna and Shane cooked the Thanksgiving turkey this year. This is what it looked like. It was extremely white, not golden like usual. It still tasted like turkey...it just was white...really white.

Please note: Shane and Shanna are very good cooks. I enjoyed their cooking a lot.

Please also note: I hosted Thanksgiving in 2006 at my apartment in Ukraine. I cooked the turkey. It was horrid. I never want to cook a turkey again. Should I ever get married, my husband should note that I will not be in charge of cooking turkey...maybe a ham but no turkey!

Top Ten Things About Thanksgiving...

1. The green bean casserole

2. Hanging out with family

3. Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV

4. Playing board games and card games

5. Turkey...the only time of year I'll eat turkey...I don't like that kind of bird.

6. Decorating for Christmas and listening to Christmas music suddenly becomes okay.

7. Chex Mix

8. The "I'm Thankful For" Speeches (which we totally skipped this year)

9. The Veggie tray

10. The prospect of great sales on Black Friday (even when I don't have money to shop

Thanksgiving weekend...utterly stuffing!

It seems that every time I visit my parents in Dayton, I end up eating too many sweets, drinking a whole lot of sugared soda and forgetting to eat anything of real substance. Lucky for me, yesterday was Thanksgiving and we ate turkey and other totally awesome food. My favorite was the green bean casserole. Yummy!

This was my first family Thanksgiving since 2003. For the past five years, I've celebrated with friends and colleagues. Yesterday was all about the family. I played Scrabble with my brother's partner and read my British chick lit while we watched holiday films.

It was a fantastic weekened. I love turkey day and all it brings to me.

Belated Halloween Post

I was a nurse for Halloween. I'm pretty sure it was the most comfortable Halloween costume ever invented. And now I can use the scrubs as pajamas. AMAZING!

I went to a party with cousin Penny on Friday and then on Saturday, I worked the U of O football game.

This all happened a week and a half ago. And right now, my apartment is decorated for Christmas. Wahoo!