In honor of Halloween,
and in honor of Jay
I am reviewing Easter
also because my kids asked me about this very subject on the way to school today
and I'm reviewing it from a Western Christian viewpoint, because that's the one that's easiest for me without getting into all kinds of philosophical yoga positions

Easter = a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus

Easter also = another holiday that has been secularized and commercialized

I like Easter because it moves around on the calendar. It does this because it is a movable feast and is based on the lunisolar calendar, in which "months" are lunar but years are solar. Our calendar that we use now, the Gregorian one, is a solar calendar. Research that later if you want, but we are talking Easter here.

huh? OK, so the months in a lunisolar year are about 29-30 days long. This only gives you a year with about 364 days, so there has to be a leap year every so often. So like the Hebrew calendar (dating from 3761 BC) that has 354 days, every 3 years or so, you add an extra month.

Isn't this what we have now? No, I already answered that.

Why is Easter based on that? I'm glad you asked that. (Just play along here - I'm aware that I'm asking and answering my own questions) Easter was originally a "pagan" holiday. Pagan meaning not Christian. So when it was taken over (we'll get to this in a minute), it was, for a while, celebrated on different days of the week. We all know (don't pretend you don't) now that it's celebrated on Sunday. An Easter rule, implemented in the Middle Ages, is observed on the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the day of the vernal equinox. When it says full moon though, it means the Paschal full moon, which is different from the astronomical full moon. Man Jay, I think I picked the hardest holiday evah! Paschal comes from Pascha which translates from which translates from which translates from Passover.

What was I saying? Oh yeah, so the Paschal full moon pretty much lands on the 14th or 15th of a lunar month. Again, research it further if you're interested. Anyhoo, all this makes Easter fall between March 22 and April 25. It falls most often on April 19th - go figger.

We gonna talk about the pagan part again now. So Easter comes from Eastre/Eostre/Oestre, which comes from an account written by the Venerable Bede, known to his contemporaries as The Dude, written in ca. 700. The common school of thought says that Eostre comes from the word for Spring. She was goddess of/for spring/fertility/dawn/birth. There were also several other gods/goddesses who had stories of virgin births/resurrections that may have been precursors to Jesus' life. Boy/that's/a/lot/of/slashes/!/

I choose to believe that any stories or myths or legends were where prophecies of Jesus had been twisted in the retelling AND listening of them. Like a horrible karmic game of Telephone. It's something I've given a lot of thought to and have come to an educated conclusion. So if have thoughts that disagree with MY thoughts of Jesus and Christianity, you can put them up your rabbit hole. Unless you can state them in a thought provoking and intelligent manner. Clear? Moving on.

What? Easter? Oh yeah, OK.
So where did all the cute bunnies laying eggs and whatnot come from? Well what comes from eggs, I mean besides platypuses (or is it platypi?)? Eggs symbolize birth. They also, along with the hare, symbolized the Norse goddess Ostara and fertility. It could also be that the rabbit is associated with the moon in ancient cultures. And I also heard that Jesus could jump pretty good, and that He sort of looked like a bunny. Not funny? I'm going to hell? In an Easter basket?

Easter lilies? looks like reproductive organs

Sunrise service? welcoming the sun god on the morning after the pagan celebration of the vernal equinox

With all silliness aside (Yes, I can do that occasionally), Easter is a celebration, in it's current Christian form, of the rebirth of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It celebrates and reminds that we, WE, have the potential for eternal life. It reminds that God cannot be overcome by mortal forces and reminds that in Jesus there is life.

I'm sure I didn't come anywhere near the depths of the origin, symbolism, or meaning of this very interesting holiday. Thanks for the suggestion Jay.

I'll leave you a quote from the oft-quoted C.S. Lewis. It's not neccessarily about Easter, but it's a good one nonetheless.

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

These are the people in my neighborhood. They're the people that you meet when you're walking down the street. They're the people in my neigh - bor - hood.

Crazy old guy who dresses like a lady. Who pushes a shopping cart and has long curly gray hair. Who wears heels, skirts, and tank tops. Who, thankfully, keeps his/her issues to him/herself.

Dirty Indian (self professed). Who wears a straw hat with no top to it, for air conditioning he says. Who walks his 3 dogs on a mix of belts/chains/and leashes. And tells my kids weird stories. But doesn't really bother me too much, since he never propositions them and is very kind.

Various can collecting urban outdoorsmen. Who ask me for change. And I always answer with, "Do you think I'd live in this neighborhood if I had money?"

We also have a shopping cart that is on a different corner every morning. I've never seen anyone move it. Don't worry though, it's not like it follows me around while creepy music plays.

Anyone have a sweet tooth?

Do any of you have a 5 year-old that has had an accident? And that accident is the first one they've ever had since getting out of diapers? And that same 5 year-old can become very embarrassed very quickly? And is also incredibly sensitive about things of that nature? Well we do, and he did. And my heart hurt for him and I wanted to make the whole thing not have happened. So as calmly as I could, I helped him clean up and then hugged him tight. And it is still going to bother him and make him slightly freak the next time he has to use the bathroom. Which may be at school tomorrow. And I won't be there to help him calm down. So I will say a little prayer just for him. And I made it VERY clear to the other kids that they are to pretend like it didn't happen and they are never to mention it again. And I think that's how Heavenly Father treats us when we make a mistake. Not sin, mind you. Just something embarrassing or a slight transgression. It's how we should treat each other. In this highly charged political climate, we would do well to remember that most people try hard to do the right thing and help each other. Especially if they're 5.

For Louise, cause she likes me I guess :)

10 Years Ago I...
1. was about to be pregnant with Sassafras
2. was living south of Atlanta
3. was going to school 2 colleges ago
4. was 20
5. had hair down to my booty

5 Things on today's "to do" list...
1. painting
2. driving
3. cleaning
4. blogging ;P
5. breathing

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire...
1. pay off debt
2. help family with school/debt
3. travel
4. invest
5. build a center for kids who can't read good

5 places I have lived...
1. Lilburn
2. Snellville
3. Carrollton
4. Newnan
5. where I live now

5 jobs I have had...
1. Hat tag taker-offer
2. Commissioned artist
3. retail
4. fast food
5. data input


I tag 5 of whoever wants to do this - so, you, you, you, you, and you

I took Pickles to Boy Scouts tonight. We went on a field trip and one of the things we saw was the house that belonged to the guy that founded the town we live in. The following ensued:
Pickles: What was the name of that guy?
me: It was Colonel ______
Pickles: I thought his name was George
me: It is, but he was a Colonel in the military
Pickles: Ohhhhhh...so he was really small?

He also told another scout, who didn't seem to think it was as cute as I did, that if we were bears, we'd all be about to start hibernating. Wouldn't it be great if humans hibernated? We could use up all our stored fat, get a break from everything, and be ready to start anew in the spring.
Would you like to know a few hibernation facts? You couldn't care less? Oh well...

Squirrels do not hibernate. I always sort of thought they did.
There is a type of bird called the Poorwill that hibernates.
Bears do not truly hibernate, since their temperatures remain fairly stable and they can be easily aroused.
There is a lemur that hibernates, and it is the only primate known to do so.

So aren't you glad you came by? You got a chance to read a funny Pickles story AND learn some fun facts to share at your next party and/or job interview.

So there I was, minding my own business...

I got up and took the kids to school today. Again, I marveled that any mother would be dressed and make-upped and ready to go as I was still in my jammies with a hoodie thrown on. It's pretty dreary today, as it will be nearly all winter. I came home and began earnestly procrastinating. I still have my jammies on, and I'm following links from friends' blogs and I realized that I MISS HOME! An emotional tsunami of homesickness washed over me. I was totally not expecting it because I've really been having a good time with my friends here. I lead a beading class at Soup-er Saturday last weekend, I've helped do Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts this week, and I got to hang out with two of my favorite people here yesterday afternoon. So where the crap did all this homesickness come from? My morning would not have been much different in Gaw-ga, but the whole experience would have changed. Mornings in GA start with lots of animal noises. *insert farm/redneck jab here* F'real doh. Even if you live in a neighborhood, someone on the next street over has chickens and those little buggers start cockling and doodle dooing before the sun comes up. And all the little birdies in the trees too.

-side story-
when I was about knee high to a grass hopper, I came out of my room one morning and asked Mommy what that noise was. It's the birds, Shelle, they're singing! Isn't it beautiful? No. Tell them to BE QUIET. See? I've been pleasant my whole life :)

Ok, back to my wallowing. You can also hear various neighborhood dogs barking. Everyone pretty much has a dog. I'm pretty sure that phrase "Everybody's brother and their dog" had a Southern source. We even had goats in our backyard one time (we traded them for firewood from trees we had taken down) and those guys would be making all kinds of racket too. Is the scene set? Good. There is also sometimes a light fog in the woods coming up off the creeks/ponds/lakes that are everywhere. Most neighborhoods/trailor parks have at least one creek running through the back of them. Because copperheads have to have somewhere to live. This fog doesn't usually last that long, but if you're up early enough to see it, then you'll also be up early enough to smell the clay while it's still all wet with dew. I wish I could bottle that smell. Pine needles, red clay, and something so deep down and earthy that it defies description. Well, I'll try to describe it anyway. Like the footprints of native people, the clean sweat of numberless field workers, and the blood shed from too many wars. Too literary?

The sky in the mornings starts with a pale yellow and you can almost watch it turn blue. A blue that doesn't happen anywhere else. You don't get much sky there, so it's concentrated. Here in the Midwest, the sky's so big that the blue is all stretched out. In the deep south though, the rolling hills covered in trees sort of blocks out a lot of the sky. When we moved here 3 yrs ago, I would feel agoraphobic if I was up on a bluff, because you can almost see more than 180 degrees of sky! Too much, too much my brain would scream! I'm OK now, just in case you were worried about my brain screaming.

So, d'ya think that writing all this down will help me feel better? I prolly should still call some folks today just to get a Southern fix. It makes me a little sad that when people meet me and find out where I'm from that they say, Wow! I had no idea, you don't even have an accent. Well, I haven't been steeping it for the last 3 years, thanks very much. Don't worry, I'm sure it will come back when we go home.

So I'll just click my red converse (I'm not really a glittery shoe type of girl) together 3 times and say...
there's no place like the ATL
there's no place like the ATL
there's no place like the ATL


PS, if you want to see Obama ride a rainbow unicorn go here. Thanks Eve.

I stole this one from someone else's blog but it's too good not to share. In your face Olivia! But in a nice friendly way of course :)


and the other part of the phrase from the last blog is "wild hair up my butt" Sorry to cause confusion - Nobo, I'm talking to you...

So I got a wild hair and decided to...

I just wanted to see what that phrase looked like in print. Because it's a pretty accurate description, you know. Having a hair in that particular crevice can make you want to do crazy things.

So thanks, for stopping by. :)

It's all in a name

James has requested that I call him Dr. Husband on my blog from now on. Since he never reads this unless I read it to him, he won't really know, now will he? He was Onion Head as a baby, so...

We used to call my sister Elizabeth, Lizard Breath and Lickabutt, but only when my mom wasn't around. We also call her E because with such a long name (9 letters!) that's how she signed stuff as a kid.

One of my favorite extra moms always answered Mrs. Santa Claus when she called the house and we politely asked who was calling please.

My nickname is Shelle cause that's what I said my name was when asked as a wee lass.

Sassafras is sometimes Shorty, or said Shawty.

Pickles desperately wants a nickname. Maybe Tuffy. It was my dad's nickname as a kid and I think it's pretty cool. I need to think up a good one before other little boys give him an embarrassing one. Like the Kid Who Won't Keep His Finger Out Of His Nose.

Old Fogey-ness

James and I called the po-po the other night on some neighbors for a noise complaint. They were filling the streets, literally since we live across from a college, and shouting profanities into the wee hours. I have no problem with folks wanting to get their groove on, it's the Libertarian in me, but when someone is pontificating loudly and profusely about the lineage of someone else's mother, in the street, at 2 AM, then I feel I must take action. Party all you want till midnight, then take it inside people! I got stuff to do in the mornings, hear?

Also, today is Bud Appreciation Day. He's been having a rough time in kindergarten, so today we are celebrating his Bud-ness. We're all going to write in his journal (I keep journals for each kid) about how much we love him. He gets to pick the dinner menu and then we're going for a walk and to get ice cream. When we told him last night that he could choose fun things to do for his special happy happy day, he asked if he could do the laundry by himself! We should have Bud Appreciation Day more often!

Just because I tell the kids I'm making soup for dinner and that it's kid soup so they should jump in the pot, James thinks I'm warping them. I say I'm teaching them to be creative thinkers. Why, just yesterday the boys were arguing about what you were if you were the last one there. Pickles said last one there was a rotten sonic and Bud countered with NO, last one there is a wet potato. So just because they think I'm magic and can change traffic lights from red to green, and just because I describe smells with incredible detail (i.e. a dead skunk that's been dipped in gasoline), or just because I tell them that being alone upstairs is nothing to be afraid of because if there are ACTUALLY monsters up there, you are not actually alone, their dad thinks they may need therapy later. hmmmph!

A tisket a tasket
A little boy in a basket...


Tagged by Louise
6th album, 6th pic

I tag Eve, Ginia, Olivia, and E (start a blog E)
go forth and tag

It's a yoke

courtesy of E

A lady gets home and tells her housekeeper
"Jose, take off my shoes."
"Jose, take off my shirt."
"Jose, take off my bra."
"and Jose, if I ever catch you wearing my clothes again, you're fired!"

Bob Barr

Wait, who is Bob Barr? He's running for President.
Of what? The United States
Of America? Yes
I thought only Obama and McCain are running. No, there are others running too.
Hmmmm, well who is he? Well, I'll tell ya...


So, Barr has been a part of the GA political scene for around 30 years. He's done some good things there. I hear he's a good person. I also know that he was against some of the things that W implemented after the 9/11 attacks. He is for more civil liberties than most Republicans.

Ok, my problems with Bob Barr are these:
1. I think he's opposed to the use of medical marijuana even though he says now that he's aligned with it. He did a 180 on his position regarding from 2002 to 2007. This is in direct opposition to the Lib. platform. I do agree with it's regulated use, but even if I didn't, I would have a hard time reconciling his lack of support of the party's position that's he's running with. A lot of people are afraid that legalizing this plant will create a nation of potheads who run amok. Not true.
2. He's a member of ACLU. In theory, the ACLU supports peoples' rights, in actuality, the ACLU sticks their nose where it doesn't belong and completely ignores others issues where it should stick its nose. Maybe more on this later.
3. He voted for the Patriot Act. While he later said he regretted his pro vote, he's a big boy and should have thought it through before his yes vote. Again, this is completely at odds with the Lib. party's platform.

"1.2 Personal Privacy

We support the protections provided by the Fourth Amendment to be secure in our persons, homes, and property. Only actions that infringe on the rights of others can properly be termed crimes."
http://www.lp.org/platform

4. He supports banning Wicca as a religion in the military. While not in direct opposition to Lib. principles, it does go against the ideals of personal liberty.


Let's discuss why he's OK.
1. He supports the Fair Tax and/or a consumption tax. I know you don't like this plan Big Jay, but I do. We can discuss it later if you'd like :)
2. He likes Social Security Reform. I like that too. Let's privatize - BIG TIME!
3. He is seriously disappointed in the UN. I advocate kicking them out of our country :)
4. Personal gun ownership. The right to protect ourselves. 'Nuff said.
5. He voted YES to make partial-birth abortion. Can I just make a side note here to say that the BIG O voted present on this one? PRESENT?!? You just happened to be there when everyone else was deciding whether it was murder to extract a baby and then kill it? No O-pinion Obama? Barr voted that it was wrong. While I'm politically pro-choice (I think I should be able to make that choice rather than the govt), partial-birth abortion is wrong.
There are countless other reasons shown by his voting record that he would be a good choice.

Go here is you'd like to see.
http://www.ontheissues.org/Bob_Barr.htm

I had a friend ask if I thought voting Lib. was throwing away my vote. I emphatically believe that if I vote the way that aligns with my heart and mind, then it is NOT a wasted vote. I remain true to myself and let my voice be heard. If more people weren't afraid that they were throwing away their vote, the Lib. party would be taken more seriously. This country was never meant to be a 2-party political system.

And that's the way I see it.

A happy 85th birthday to my GrandDad! This man is partially responsible for my sense of humor. He told us wild tales of how things got their names, mixed up words on purpose, and generally encouraged us to be as silly as possible. He started life on a KY tobacco farm, was involved in business, including helping Arby's to become a huge company, and now lives in FL with my step-GrandNorma. We love you GrandDad!

Yesterday when I picked the kids up from school, Bud sighed and said he has too many girlfriends. That can be a problem I concurred. Then he said that he wasn't sure if Payton liked him that much but she kept giving him letters. Then he held up a piece of paper with A's drawn all over it.

You know, I enjoy Girl Scout outings so much more than Boy Scout outings. Boys' IQ's get lower in direct relation to how many boys there are. The more boys there are, the dumber they are. We took Pickles' troop out to a punkin patch last night. I had the Hamster with me too. Bud was going to go, but he didn't eat his dinner or behave, so he got uninvited. So it was dark and we took about 30 boys into the back fields to pick out a punkin each and eat hot dogs. We were in the middle of a bunch of corn fields (because this is IA and if you go a mile in any direction you will be in a corn field), and the boys were doing a maize maze. Then they all started hollering that they found a dead goat. Well, my response was "Don't touch it!" "Not with your hand, foot, a stick, or another Cub Scout!" Our leader's response was, it was probably a coyote or something that got it. Wait. What? So have fun boys! And watch out for coyotes!

I must say, mostly just in case she reads this, that we have a great leader :)


BTW, anyone who wants to order popcorn needs to give me a call/email so I can get it written down for Pickles. He's not on fire about it, but it would be a little sad if the only order on there was from his mama.

God is good. In small things and giant things...

Political thought for the day
Over the weekend the big O said that he'd like to spread the wealth around. Hmmm...It's not really his to spread around, is it? And another thing - if the wealth is spread around, then no one would be wealthy. You have to have highs and lows. Opposition in all things, right? If there is no bad, then there is no good. If there is no poor, then there is no wealthy.

Eve, I think you owe me 45 minutes of my life back...

OK, I had to do a blog lite after bitching about the debate and the election.

They are celebrating a cat-eating festival in Lima this week. I don't know how long this link will last, so go! Now!
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1782932.ece
Once we had a dog named Molly. We took Molly to the vet, a new vet, and had to fill out new patient forms. One of the questions was "how much do you love your pet?" My answer was "she' great! But we'd eat her if we had to..."
If someone wants to eat cats, who cares? Go find something more important to be passionately against.

Also, I'd like to thank my mother for teaching me how to break into houses with a credit card. It comes in very handy when you are buckling the Hamster into the car on the way to the kids' schools and you accidentally leave your purse (which houses the cell phone, keys, and other various tools) in the house as the 9 yr-old shuts and locks the door behind herself like she's supposed to.

meow...

Sorry, nothing funny about this post...
Do you think that perhaps voting for Obama now and having him put in fours years would be good in the long run? I think that most of you know that I feel a lot more Libertarian than Dem or Republican, so I'm not really for McCain but I think the Dem's candidate right now has some dangerous ideas. Explaining on a world stage exactly when he'll pull troops out, or which countries he's likely to go after is not a very safe thing to do. It will NOT make the rest of the world like us better. They're not going to like us anyway. So if Obama's in there for 4 years, there's not really much he can do with the economy that would turn it around enough while he's the C-in-C. Having him in charge will weaken the military. It will make more people dependent on the govt and burden the wealthy with tax increases. The wealthy people create jobs, btw. Taxing them is not going to encourage them to do anything except work less. On the other hand, McCain isn't that great a choice either. He also supports a natl healthcare plan, he just doesn't call it that. He mentioned last night in the debate that he'd like to give people/small businesses credits towards healthcare. All that means, my dear taxpayer, is that you still have to pay for it by way of tax increases, but that it gets filtered through the govt before you can use your own money!!! Between laughing at the candidates proposals and jabs last night and feeling furious and frustrated at their plans for our country, I'm more upset about this election than ever. Do you really believe that Obama representes change for the good? I most definitely believe that things will change if he becomes pres, and honestly I think he will be elected in Nov (sorry Dad). But I don't think it will be a change for the better. He may be able to make us slightly more popular in the world's view, but should we care that much about what other people think of us? Of course, it would be good if people stopped wanting to bomb us. Will McCain's possible presidency really be all that different from Bush's? Probably, since he's such, ahem, a maverick. Maybe I'll just vote for Sassafras, she's an excellent diplomat...

I hope this made at least a little sense...

If anyone doesn't know what to get me for Christmas...


This would actually make me crazy(er) so don't really.

You know what? My kids are awesome. I know yours are too, but I get such a kick out of mine. My dad would say "they tickle me." I took Sassafras to the StuffMart yestertime to get some provisions and rather than wander over to the toy section or pick out craft stuff, she bought herself a lint roller. And she actually used her own money, and she shopped wisely, because one had 70 sheets for so much cash, and the other had 30 sheets for slightly less. She's 9 and she comparison shopped lint rollers.

this past week

James let his bike get stolen again

Sassafras gave herself a black eye

I finished another baby quilt

Someone gave us 6 grocery sacks full of apples

I booked a flight to FL to see my Granddad this weekend (so if anyone can help James and the kids with rides this weekend, let me know - thanks!)

We used some of our deep dark food storage

I co-led a Girl Scouts meeting

I got turned into a newt, but I got better

and a million various small things that make up Life

p.s. to all those I lurve who try to leave me comments: you don't have to register to leave a comment, just change it anonymous silly!