It's no secret that I really like holidays. But that doesn't mean that I like every holiday. There are only eight or nine holidays that I formally celebrate (I'm still undecided about Pioneer Day), but there are lots of other holidays that show up on calendars and in other settings.
Since nothing worthwhile happens in the early part of January, I'm going to review the holidays that I know exist. In order for this to be a surmountable task, I'm not going to do any research. That would take too long.
New Year's (Eve and Day). When I was a young kid, I didn't consider this a holiday--probably because I wasn't in school to hear about it, since the New Year season happens over Christmas break. I added it to the canon of holidays I celebrate when I was ten or eleven. I count it separate from Christmas. There may be some overlap with Christmas--for example, I listen to any music that came out during the dying year, including Christmas music, and I eat anything I want, including leftover Christmas candy--but I try to keep the holidays separate.
Epiphany. This is the traditional end of Christmas, but since I'm a twenty-first-century American, it doesn't mean anything to me.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day. MLK was a great guy. I just don't know how to celebrate this day other than it being a day off. I also don't really like the shift from "Civil Rights Day" to "Martin Luther King Jr. Day." MLK certainly deserves his own holiday, but dedicating it solely to him seems unappreciative of the efforts of other people. As "Civil Rights Day," it still primarily honors him, but it honors others as well.
Groundhog Day. I don't mind that this holiday exists. I do mind that otherwise respectable calendars waste ink on this holiday. If I lived in Pennsylvania, it would be another story, but I don't. What can you do on this holiday? Absolutely nothing. It's not a day off. It's grounded solely in a superstition. I don't think I've ever even seen a groundhog. In fact, I hate to even acknowledge it; yet I must because some people seem to think it matters. It does not.
Chinese New Year. There actually was a time when I added Chinese New Year to the canon of holidays I formally celebrate, due primarily to the fact that my sister-in-law is from Taiwan. However, it is very difficult to celebrate an Asian holiday in America. You usually forget it's even happening, and no one's doing anything about it. Also, my usual style of celebration is to celebrate the holiday before it comes but not after, but Asians do it the other way around. And since it jumps around on the calendar in January and February, it just complicates things.
Mardi Gras. Since I'm neither Catholic nor Louisianan, Mardi Gras means nothing to me.
Lincoln's Birthday, Presidents' Day, Washington's Birthday. I lumped these together because I don't think it's possible to really analyze them separately. I think they created Presidents' Day because it was a little silly to commemorate two different presidents so close together. Why couldn't one of them have had a birthday in August? Presidents' Day is kind of MLK Day Part II: a much-needed Monday off during the most depressing time of the year. There's not really much you can do to celebrate the day. I certainly don't want to put up decorations of Woodrow Wilson and Richard Nixon.
Valentine's Day. This is probably my least favorite of the holidays I formally celebrate. Some people call it Singles Awareness Day (SAD). I'm not that cynical (usually), so I don't call it that. But I have to admit that in many ways, that's what it is, which is probably why it's not my favorite. For me, it's just a day of candy. But I'm all for candy. I also get excited for it to come, because there's been no major holiday since New Year's. But it is a poor substitute for Christmastime.
Pi Day. I think it's a remarkable coincidence that pi sounds like pie, and pies are round, which is what pi is used for. I guess I don't know why we need a day for pi when we don't have one for other mathematical constants. If pi were instead called livernunions, it probably wouldn't be anything special.
The Ides of March. If you hadn't read Julius Caesar in high school, you wouldn't even know this existed.
St. Patrick's Day. This is the most pointless of the holidays I formally celebrate. I'm not Irish. I've never been to Ireland. Yet I like it. I like thinking about leprechauns and pots of gold and eating green food. I just wish people didn't use it as beer day, because nothing good ever came of drunkenness. There have been lots of Irish immigrants, which is why we have the holiday, but it's weird we single out a single culture for a semi-big holiday.
April Fool's Day. I've never been big on pranks, other than your typical "There's a spider on your back!" I do like seeing what Google does every year, but it's not a meaningful day to me. And since I'm a boring person, nobody ever plays pranks on me. Which I appreciate.
Passover. Not being Jewish nor from a Jewish culture, I've never had any need to celebrate Passover.
Easter. What a peculiar holiday. There are two aspects to it: the Christian, Resurrection aspect, and the secular, eggs and bunnies aspect. They are very different. And having a day devoted to baby animals and colored eggs is very random. Sometimes I think, "That holiday actually exists?" But it's a fun day, so I formally celebrate it.
Earth Day. Held on April 22, Earth Day has only been around since the 1970s. This is a holiday that I think could become big, but at the moment it's not that big. It's important to have a day to think about our planet and what we can do to be better stewards of it.
Arbor Day. I primarily know about this holiday, the last Friday in April, because of It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown. It's really a Nebraska holiday, so if I lived there I might care more about it. It used to be a bigger holiday in Utah (in at least the 1930s, the LDS Church offices were closed on Arbor Day), but I think Earth Day has stolen the attention away from Arbor Day. Which is probably a good thing, because trees aren't the only important thing on our planet. But I do like to spend time among trees on Arbor Day.
May Day. You only hear about this day in elementary school. I did come across a mention of it being celebrated in a town in pioneer Utah, but today it has no relevance to us.
Cinco de Mayo. This holiday's bigger here than it is in Mexico, but I do suspect that it's gotten bigger there because it's bigger here. I love Mexican food, but this isn't really a day I celebrate. I can foresee it becoming a new St. Patrick's Day years from now, but for now I'll just use it as a reason to eat burritos.
Mother's Day. There was a time when I added Mother's Day to my holiday canon, but since all you do is give presents to your mom, there's not really much you can do to celebrate it. Also, every day should be Mother's Day.
Memorial Day. We often visit my grandparents' graves at Memorial Day. I like Memorial Day because it marks the beginning of the patriotic/Fourth of July season. Then there are those memes that make you feel guilty for having fun on Memorial Day. Pssh. Those who have departed would want you to have fun on the day. Don't make me feel like a terrible person for simply having a barbecue.
Flag Day. I mostly know about this holiday because it's my cousin's birthday, but it's very convenient that it falls between Memorial Day and Independence Day, making a continuously patriotic period.
Father's Day. Like Mother's Day, at one point I formally celebrated this one too, but it's even harder to celebrate than Mother's Day.
Canada Day. I'm not Canadian. Niagara Falls is the only part of Canada I've ever been to. It doesn't mean anything to me.
Fourth of July. My opinion of Independence Day has increased in recent years. I've always liked it and celebrated it, but I like it more now. It's an all-American holiday. And I don't mean that in the obvious sense. I mean that, while other holidays have become popular in more recent times, the Fourth of July has been a major celebration in America for almost as long as America's been around. I'm no historian, but my impression is that Independence Day was the biggest holiday of nineteenth-century America. My opinion of the holiday has gone up along with my opinion of summer.
Bastille Day. I shouldn't even mention this, because I only know about it because I studied French.
Pioneer Day. I'm still undecided on whether to formally celebrate this one, because it's not a national holiday. But I did have fun celebrating it last year. For years I didn't really celebrate it, and I scoffed at the notion of using patriotic decorations. After all, the pioneers of 1847 fled the United States for what was then Mexican Territory. But then I learned that at the very first Pioneer Day celebration in 1849, they used American flags and other patriotic American things, even though they didn't even have territorial status yet. (Utah's land became part of the U.S. in 1848. The pioneers didn't celebrate July 24 in 1848 because Brigham Young and many others had returned to Iowa.) Pioneer Day is therefore a valid continuation of the patriotic season. I think the recent trend of "Pie and Beer Day," commemorated by non-Mormons, is silly. It is a historic fact that Utah was founded by pioneers who just happened to be Mormon. You don't need to be religious to appreciate the pioneers. I think part of the problem is caused by Mormons who seem to make it Mormon Day. Your ward and stake floats about Book of Mormon stories and worldwide temples really have nothing to do with the pioneers or July 24. This needs to be a nonsectarian holiday.
Rosh Hashanah. Again, I'm not Jewish. I don't even know what people do at Rosh Hashanah.
Labor Day. I know someone who says this is his favorite holiday because you don't have to do anything to celebrate it. He's right. I don't formally celebrate it, but I greatly appreciate it because it heralds in fall.
National Talk like a Pirate Day. Oh, you mean Free Krispie Kream Donuts Day. I don't care about this day. I would only eat Halloween-themed donuts anyway.
Leif Ericson Day. I learned about this October 9 holiday when I was in high school and loved the idea of it. After all, he discovered America before Columbus, so why does Columbus get all the credit? Well...
Columbus Day. Although Leif Ericson might have discovered America first, his discovery didn't change the world. Columbus did. I'm amazed at how cynical people are about Columbus Day. First of all, it's hard to judge a person from 500 years ago. And even if he were just a completely evil person (and people rarely are), the fact remains that the world as we know it exists because of Columbus. Whether he was a good or bad person is irrelevant to that. Nevertheless, it isn't much of a holiday.
Halloween. I lied earlier. Halloween is the most pointless holiday I formally celebrate. But it doesn't seem pointless when it's so fun! I've found that people tend to love holidays near their birthdays. Maybe I love Halloween because my birthday's in late September. But part of what I love about Halloween is that it brings in the big holiday season. (There was also that phase I went through when I wanted to be a vampire...) Halloween is my third favorite holiday.
Election Day. This day is less of a deal now that you can vote by mail. I mean, last Election Day I couldn't even go to a polling place.
Veterans' Day. Thanks to the veterans for sacrificing so much--even everything--for our country. Too bad Veterans' Day isn't as fun as Memorial Day.
Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday! I love the food, the earthy colors, the stereotypical Pilgrim hats, the cool but not cold November weather, the days off, and the festivities in general. It's just wonderful.
Hanukkah. I think Hanukkah would be more like Purim and Rosh Hashanah if it weren't for Christmas and everyone feeling bad for the Jewish people. I wouldn't mind celebrating Hanukkah, but I don't know anyone who does.
Christmas. Some people say they don't like Christmas, but I think they're lying. I do think it's overrated, but it's rated so highly because it's so wonderful. I get sad when it's over. Christmas is second only to Thanksgiving in being delightful. I don't get, however, why it needs to start in early November (or earlier) and extend well into January (or later). Christmas already gets more decorations, candy, music, movies, and attention than any other holiday. Why does it also need more time?
Kwanzaa/Boxing Day. Here are two holidays I know nothing about that fall on the same day.
Here is my ranking of the eight holidays in my canon:
Thanksgiving
Christmas
Halloween
Fourth of July
Easter
New Year
St. Patrick's Day
Valentine's Day
Pioneer Day would probably be between Fourth of July and Easter, since it's really just Fourth of July Jr.
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Merry times
As I sit writing this on a January Sunday morning, I feel a little sad for this time of year. You get everything that's bad about Christmas (except perhaps for stress and mess), but you don't get any of the good. It's a depressing time.
At the same time, I look back fondly on the holidays that just happened. Since my last blog post of the year is a year in review, Christmas is long over before I backtrack to write about it.
I worked December 21-23, but I got Christmas Eve off. On the 23rd, my mom had been kind enough to make gingerbread while I was at work so we could make gingerbread houses. I hadn't made a gingerbread house since 1996. (Graham cracker houses are not gingerbread houses.) They were a little difficult, but they worked out.
On Christmas Eve, we took my grandparents to the Old Spaghetti Factory. Since I'm a sucker for anything seasonal, I got a chocolate peppermint creme soda, which would have been better without the chocolate. It was the third and final time I drank soda in 2015. (The other times were on St. Patrick's Day, when I had some kind of green drink that obviously had Sprite in it, and my niece's birthday, two days before Pioneer Day, when I had "Brigham's Brew" root beer.)
That night, while my mom made preparations for dinner at our house the next day, I made the rest of the gingerbread into cookies. I'm no artist, but these turned out better than last year's.
For Christmas I got a food processor, which should come in handy, especially in conjunction with the vegetarian cookbook I got for my birthday. So far I've only used it to cut up vegetables for a delightful carrot soup, but my mom used it to crush Oreos for a dessert. It should make things easier.
My other main gift was a FitBit Surge watch, which I didn't get until yesterday and is a combination birthday/Christmas/my own money present. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to set it up yet. I am quite annoyed that with 2015 technology, there are still compatibility issues. But I mostly want it for trail runs, and trails are all snowed over right now.
I also got a "Letters to Santa" game and a miniature "sandbox" with no sand.
I spent Christmas day in my H&M Christmas sweats. I was Vector for Halloween, but it was on Christmas that I had to keep telling everyone "These aren't pajamas." Christmas was very similar to last year in that it began snowing late on Christmas Eve and we had a white Christmas; but the difference this year was that there was already lots of snow on the ground.
During New Year's week, I had to work every day except for New Year's Day. That will make it less difficult to return to work tomorrow.
I was delighted on New Year's Eve to hear about the new law banning microbeads. I've had some face washes with the beads in them, and I just assumed the companies were intelligent and ethical enough to use some biodegradable material. I was furious when I learned they were simply plastic and were wreaking environmental havoc. What moron does that?! I'm glad the new law is in place. And if you don't like the new law, you're either a moron or a jerk.
I spent New Year's Eve at a friend's party. With the exception of my mission, it was the first time in my life I didn't spend New Year's Eve with my parents. Among other games, we played a game where we pretended to be at pseudo-academic conferences; I answered questions for "cow midwifery" and "my time on Hamburger Island." They asked me to propose a New Year toast with our sparkling cider. (What's the point of having a New Year's party if you can't remember it?) As I walked home that night in the less-than-10-degree weather, I had to play "Auld Lang Syne" on my phone.
I did pretty good with my 2015 New Year's resolutions, with the exception of my weightlifting one, my least favorite form of exercise. It started out fine, but then spring came and I switched to running and never went back to weights. So my 2016 goal is to do strength training at least once a week. I also had a goal to do hour-long runs, and I got all the way up to hour-and-a-half-long runs, so I'm satisfied with that. I was pretty good with my non-exercise goals as well.
On New Year's Day we had a traditional extended family meal at Golden Corral, my grandparents' favorite. I was astonished with how much food my cousins wasted, including an entire piece of carrot cake. How can you waste carrot cake!?
My stake also did a New Year's Day night party at the Bountiful Rec Center. The only fun activity I did there was swimming, because free swimming. You better believe I didn't set one foot in the ice skating rink.
And now it's the worst month of the year. I'm trying to live my life dwelling on the positives of the particular time of year. But it's hard for me to find positive things about early January. I guess if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
At the same time, I look back fondly on the holidays that just happened. Since my last blog post of the year is a year in review, Christmas is long over before I backtrack to write about it.
I worked December 21-23, but I got Christmas Eve off. On the 23rd, my mom had been kind enough to make gingerbread while I was at work so we could make gingerbread houses. I hadn't made a gingerbread house since 1996. (Graham cracker houses are not gingerbread houses.) They were a little difficult, but they worked out.
 |
| Notice how I used leftover pumpkinundation things--candy corn marshmallows for the roof, and pumpkin spice chips for the lines. |
 |
| My mom did this one... |
 |
| ...and this one. |
That night, while my mom made preparations for dinner at our house the next day, I made the rest of the gingerbread into cookies. I'm no artist, but these turned out better than last year's.
For Christmas I got a food processor, which should come in handy, especially in conjunction with the vegetarian cookbook I got for my birthday. So far I've only used it to cut up vegetables for a delightful carrot soup, but my mom used it to crush Oreos for a dessert. It should make things easier.
My other main gift was a FitBit Surge watch, which I didn't get until yesterday and is a combination birthday/Christmas/my own money present. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to set it up yet. I am quite annoyed that with 2015 technology, there are still compatibility issues. But I mostly want it for trail runs, and trails are all snowed over right now.
I also got a "Letters to Santa" game and a miniature "sandbox" with no sand.
I spent Christmas day in my H&M Christmas sweats. I was Vector for Halloween, but it was on Christmas that I had to keep telling everyone "These aren't pajamas." Christmas was very similar to last year in that it began snowing late on Christmas Eve and we had a white Christmas; but the difference this year was that there was already lots of snow on the ground.
During New Year's week, I had to work every day except for New Year's Day. That will make it less difficult to return to work tomorrow.
I was delighted on New Year's Eve to hear about the new law banning microbeads. I've had some face washes with the beads in them, and I just assumed the companies were intelligent and ethical enough to use some biodegradable material. I was furious when I learned they were simply plastic and were wreaking environmental havoc. What moron does that?! I'm glad the new law is in place. And if you don't like the new law, you're either a moron or a jerk.
I spent New Year's Eve at a friend's party. With the exception of my mission, it was the first time in my life I didn't spend New Year's Eve with my parents. Among other games, we played a game where we pretended to be at pseudo-academic conferences; I answered questions for "cow midwifery" and "my time on Hamburger Island." They asked me to propose a New Year toast with our sparkling cider. (What's the point of having a New Year's party if you can't remember it?) As I walked home that night in the less-than-10-degree weather, I had to play "Auld Lang Syne" on my phone.
I did pretty good with my 2015 New Year's resolutions, with the exception of my weightlifting one, my least favorite form of exercise. It started out fine, but then spring came and I switched to running and never went back to weights. So my 2016 goal is to do strength training at least once a week. I also had a goal to do hour-long runs, and I got all the way up to hour-and-a-half-long runs, so I'm satisfied with that. I was pretty good with my non-exercise goals as well.
On New Year's Day we had a traditional extended family meal at Golden Corral, my grandparents' favorite. I was astonished with how much food my cousins wasted, including an entire piece of carrot cake. How can you waste carrot cake!?
My stake also did a New Year's Day night party at the Bountiful Rec Center. The only fun activity I did there was swimming, because free swimming. You better believe I didn't set one foot in the ice skating rink.
And now it's the worst month of the year. I'm trying to live my life dwelling on the positives of the particular time of year. But it's hard for me to find positive things about early January. I guess if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
Sunday, December 27, 2015
The end of another year
I look forward to this post all year, the one where I remember what I've doing during the past twelve months. 2015 has been a pretty good year.
January. It was a warm, dry January. It was kind of depressing, actually. I did research for my boss, Reid Neilson, and sometimes research was easier than at other times.
I began spending my Thursday evenings by helping tutor some Tongan high school kids in Salt Lake. One Thursday night after going to tutoring, I got a call from Reid Neilson--he wanted me to look over some press releases, because the next day it was announced that he had been appointed as a new Assistant Church Historian.
February. Another warm, dry month. I saw Woods Cross High's production of Mary Poppins on February 6, and the next day the wind blew our recycling all over the neighborhood, the same day I went to an awkward concert of the Utah Pioneer Heritage Arts at the Daughters of Utah Pioneers museum. On Valentine's Day, my family went to Promontory Point.
March. March wasn't a really eventful month. My laptop got knocked to the floor and the charger broke. I began working as a contingent (contract) employee, but I was doing the same things I was doing as an intern. But with better pay and benefits. Apparently it was so uneventful that I don't have any pictures to share, so instead I'll post this music video that came out in March.
April. I got a new laptop to replace my broken one. On Easter I made a picture with what I imagine Isaiah was describing when he talked about "wizards that peep and mutter":
I went to Thanksgiving Point for a tulip festival. I had some fun experiences with trail running: I discovered beautiful North Canyon on Arbor Day, and one night I got very lost.
May. It didn't snow like I was hoping, but we did have an impressive hailstorm.
I was given a calling as a stake family history director, so I had to begin going to the Bountiful Heights Family History Center on Saturdays. My family went down to Cedar City and Millard County for a cousin's baby shower and a cousin's farewell. On Memorial Day, I ran (mostly) to Ensign Peak and nearly stepped on a snake.
June. On June 1, I had an impromptu trail run up to Elephant Rock in Mueller Park, even though I wasn't dressed for it. Reid Neilson asked me to take his place on a women's history tour as part of the Mormon History Association convention in Provo, and that same weekend I went on a ward trip near Altamont, Utah. I got my broken laptop repaired, resulting in me having two. My June evenings were spent eradicating goathead plants and seeing sego lilies along trails.
At the end of the month, I ran North Salt Lake's 5k and discovered I've gotten much slower, even though I can run farther. And my nephews arrived from California for a few weeks.
July. Spent the Fourth of July with my nephews, and then we drove to California to take them home. It was a very fast trip, and we only had one full day in California. We went to Muir Beach.
This summer was the first time I formally celebrated Pioneer Day, because I learned more about the early celebrations of the day. One Friday night I drove up Parleys Canyon for a work party and got stranded up there because my car wouldn't start. I took it in to be fixed, but they couldn't figure out the problem, because it started just fine for them.
August. In the beginning of the month, my family went to a family reunion in Fillmore, and we got to see many of the artifacts of my pioneer ancestors. Most of the reunion was at a hotel built in the 1920s, when people were apparently shorter.
I also went on a short hike near the U with two other people and we got lost (but not really). I began transitioning to a new job, working on a women's discourses project with the Church History Department. I went to see the National Parks (band) in Kaysville.
September. I began working full time on the women's discourses project, and I began a pumpkinundation roundup on this blog. I was flattered when Reid Neilson gave me cookies for my birthday. I began my new calling as an assistant ward clerk, and my stake calling got busy as we had to coordinate stake FHEs. We made murals to support family history, not knowing they were too heavy, so they kept falling down.
October. I dressed up as Vector from Despicable Me for Halloween, and in that costume I won a North Salt Lake Halloween 3k, but that's because most of the people were children and their parents. My parents went to Hawaii, leaving me alone in the house for the days before Halloween and the beginning of November. I spent Halloween with my niece, and on Halloween night our cat brought us a rat. Not a mouse like she usually does, but a huge rat.
November. I went to Orem to see the Addams Family musical, and there was a certain Mark Melville there who had gotten my tickets in addition to his own. My family went to California to spend Thanksgiving with my brother's family. We went out to eat for Thanksgiving, but I had a stomach bug of some kind and could only eat a little bit. We took family pictures while we were there.
December. We got a late start to the Christmas season, since we had been in California for Thanksgiving weekend. We had lots of snow, to the point that I stayed an entire day home from work. I went to Christmas concerts by the Lower Lights and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. We made gingerbread houses.
It was an enjoyable Christmas.
Although there aren't a lot words in this blog, it took a while to gather all the memories. I don't feel like writing anything else, except
~Happy New Year!~
January. It was a warm, dry January. It was kind of depressing, actually. I did research for my boss, Reid Neilson, and sometimes research was easier than at other times.
February. Another warm, dry month. I saw Woods Cross High's production of Mary Poppins on February 6, and the next day the wind blew our recycling all over the neighborhood, the same day I went to an awkward concert of the Utah Pioneer Heritage Arts at the Daughters of Utah Pioneers museum. On Valentine's Day, my family went to Promontory Point.
March. March wasn't a really eventful month. My laptop got knocked to the floor and the charger broke. I began working as a contingent (contract) employee, but I was doing the same things I was doing as an intern. But with better pay and benefits. Apparently it was so uneventful that I don't have any pictures to share, so instead I'll post this music video that came out in March.
April. I got a new laptop to replace my broken one. On Easter I made a picture with what I imagine Isaiah was describing when he talked about "wizards that peep and mutter":
May. It didn't snow like I was hoping, but we did have an impressive hailstorm.
June. On June 1, I had an impromptu trail run up to Elephant Rock in Mueller Park, even though I wasn't dressed for it. Reid Neilson asked me to take his place on a women's history tour as part of the Mormon History Association convention in Provo, and that same weekend I went on a ward trip near Altamont, Utah. I got my broken laptop repaired, resulting in me having two. My June evenings were spent eradicating goathead plants and seeing sego lilies along trails.
July. Spent the Fourth of July with my nephews, and then we drove to California to take them home. It was a very fast trip, and we only had one full day in California. We went to Muir Beach.
August. In the beginning of the month, my family went to a family reunion in Fillmore, and we got to see many of the artifacts of my pioneer ancestors. Most of the reunion was at a hotel built in the 1920s, when people were apparently shorter.
September. I began working full time on the women's discourses project, and I began a pumpkinundation roundup on this blog. I was flattered when Reid Neilson gave me cookies for my birthday. I began my new calling as an assistant ward clerk, and my stake calling got busy as we had to coordinate stake FHEs. We made murals to support family history, not knowing they were too heavy, so they kept falling down.
October. I dressed up as Vector from Despicable Me for Halloween, and in that costume I won a North Salt Lake Halloween 3k, but that's because most of the people were children and their parents. My parents went to Hawaii, leaving me alone in the house for the days before Halloween and the beginning of November. I spent Halloween with my niece, and on Halloween night our cat brought us a rat. Not a mouse like she usually does, but a huge rat.
November. I went to Orem to see the Addams Family musical, and there was a certain Mark Melville there who had gotten my tickets in addition to his own. My family went to California to spend Thanksgiving with my brother's family. We went out to eat for Thanksgiving, but I had a stomach bug of some kind and could only eat a little bit. We took family pictures while we were there.
December. We got a late start to the Christmas season, since we had been in California for Thanksgiving weekend. We had lots of snow, to the point that I stayed an entire day home from work. I went to Christmas concerts by the Lower Lights and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. We made gingerbread houses.
Although there aren't a lot words in this blog, it took a while to gather all the memories. I don't feel like writing anything else, except
~Happy New Year!~
Sunday, December 20, 2015
White snow and red cranberries
What a wintery week!
This wasn't the first snow (it's been snowing since November, at least here on the hill), but this was the first problematic one.
I didn't even make it to work on Monday. I didn't think my little car would make it down (or up) our hill safely, and even if it did, it sounded like the commute was terrible. I had to use some of my vacation time for Monday, because I was only able to work an hour from home.
My dad called early in the morning and said that the snowblower hadn't been working, so I set out to shovel the driveway by hand. It was more than a foot deep (I didn't measure, but it had to have been), so I could only do a little bit at a time or it would be too heavy. This picture shows how much I got done in an hour. Or maybe it was two hours.
Shoveling was definitely my workout for the day. After three hours of shoveling, I was less than halfway done. Our neighbor across the street (whom I hadn't met, since I'm a terrible person) offered his snowblower, so I accepted. But I'd never used one before, so when he saw me struggling, he came over and did the rest of it. It was very kind and saved me hours of work.
However, by that point the driveway needed to be shoveled again, so I thought I'd bring out our own snowblower. I figured that it hadn't been working because the snow was too deep; but I later learned that my dad thought it wasn't working because he had one of the switches flipped the wrong way. I got it started, and I was able to get a lot done that way. I figured while I was going downhill with it I might as well do our neighbor's sidewalk. Then I had to turn around. And since I hadn't used it before, I didn't know that you could switch between one wheel functioning (to turn) and both wheels functioning. I only had one wheel going. And let me tell you, pushing a snowblower with one working wheel up a snowy hill is no easy task. When I would push on it, it would push me down the hill, rather than the snowblower up the hill. Somehow I eventually got it back up our driveway, and I was furious with the machine. I later felt a little silly when I learned how to turn both wheels on. I probably spent around seven hours (or more) in the driveway that day.
However, I was reflecting that it's not really something I minded doing at this time of year. I had Christmas tunes playing from my phone in my pocket, and I wasn't at work, and I had wassail in the slowcooker. It was kind of pleasant. Much better than shoveling in depressing January and February.
The next day I went to work late, and I had to brush all the snow off my car. (My niece had brushed off some of it the day before, but there was still a lot on it.) And once I got the snow mostly cleared off, the tree dumped more snow on the car--and on me.
I was lucky enough to be able to go to the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas concert on Saturday night. We applied for tickets both at my house and at my sister's, and my house didn't get any but my sister's did. I used the tickets with my niece, while my parents went to the standby line and also got in.
I was amazed with how great it was. I mean, I knew it would be good, but I didn't think it would be that good. Between 2011 and 2013, the guests were operatic, and the 2013 guest, Deborah Voigt, was especially awful. Last year's Sesame Street guests were charming, and Santino Fontana was fine. But Laura Osnes was surprisingly good and had a great voice. There were some opera guests, and while I honestly think people only like opera because they're trained to, these weren't as bad as some are, and it fit with the Handel theme of the show. They had an entire segment on the story of Handel's Messiah and how it was performed for charity. I found it very inspiring. I always listen to Messiah at Christmas and Easter, so sometimes I get a bit tired of it, but I was reminded how beautiful it is.
My one annoyance was that they sang "Over the River and through the Wood" and "Jingle Bells," which were originally written for Thanksgiving. There are already hundreds of Christmas songs, so why do they have to purloin more from the small canon of Thanksgiving music? I don't mind "Jingle Bells" as much, but with "Over the River" they replaced the word "Thanksgiving" with "Christmas"--thus consciously trampling all over my favorite holiday!
And I just want to say something about cranberries. Cranberries are nice and festive (in cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving and in other settings at Christmas), but plain they aren't very good. Last week I made a recipe from my vegetarian cookbook, panfried squash with cranberry and orange sauce. In October I made a similar recipe and I wasn't a big fan, but it was OK. This time, the whole thing was disgusting. The cranberries gave it a sour, bitter taste. And for the previous recipe I used a pumpkin, which was fine, but this time I used a kabocha squash. I literally gagged on it. At one point I moved the squash out of the sauce, but there was a piece hiding out in the sauce, and when I ate it I gagged again. And to top it off, the brown rice I was using was stale. You can bet I'm not making it again. (This happened in time for last week's post, but it didn't fit with the theme.)
I didn't even make it to work on Monday. I didn't think my little car would make it down (or up) our hill safely, and even if it did, it sounded like the commute was terrible. I had to use some of my vacation time for Monday, because I was only able to work an hour from home.
My dad called early in the morning and said that the snowblower hadn't been working, so I set out to shovel the driveway by hand. It was more than a foot deep (I didn't measure, but it had to have been), so I could only do a little bit at a time or it would be too heavy. This picture shows how much I got done in an hour. Or maybe it was two hours.
However, by that point the driveway needed to be shoveled again, so I thought I'd bring out our own snowblower. I figured that it hadn't been working because the snow was too deep; but I later learned that my dad thought it wasn't working because he had one of the switches flipped the wrong way. I got it started, and I was able to get a lot done that way. I figured while I was going downhill with it I might as well do our neighbor's sidewalk. Then I had to turn around. And since I hadn't used it before, I didn't know that you could switch between one wheel functioning (to turn) and both wheels functioning. I only had one wheel going. And let me tell you, pushing a snowblower with one working wheel up a snowy hill is no easy task. When I would push on it, it would push me down the hill, rather than the snowblower up the hill. Somehow I eventually got it back up our driveway, and I was furious with the machine. I later felt a little silly when I learned how to turn both wheels on. I probably spent around seven hours (or more) in the driveway that day.
The next day I went to work late, and I had to brush all the snow off my car. (My niece had brushed off some of it the day before, but there was still a lot on it.) And once I got the snow mostly cleared off, the tree dumped more snow on the car--and on me.
I was lucky enough to be able to go to the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas concert on Saturday night. We applied for tickets both at my house and at my sister's, and my house didn't get any but my sister's did. I used the tickets with my niece, while my parents went to the standby line and also got in.
My one annoyance was that they sang "Over the River and through the Wood" and "Jingle Bells," which were originally written for Thanksgiving. There are already hundreds of Christmas songs, so why do they have to purloin more from the small canon of Thanksgiving music? I don't mind "Jingle Bells" as much, but with "Over the River" they replaced the word "Thanksgiving" with "Christmas"--thus consciously trampling all over my favorite holiday!
And I just want to say something about cranberries. Cranberries are nice and festive (in cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving and in other settings at Christmas), but plain they aren't very good. Last week I made a recipe from my vegetarian cookbook, panfried squash with cranberry and orange sauce. In October I made a similar recipe and I wasn't a big fan, but it was OK. This time, the whole thing was disgusting. The cranberries gave it a sour, bitter taste. And for the previous recipe I used a pumpkin, which was fine, but this time I used a kabocha squash. I literally gagged on it. At one point I moved the squash out of the sauce, but there was a piece hiding out in the sauce, and when I ate it I gagged again. And to top it off, the brown rice I was using was stale. You can bet I'm not making it again. (This happened in time for last week's post, but it didn't fit with the theme.)
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Peace on Earth
Since it is Christmastime, I have been busy and don't have much time. Therefore, I will not be providing links or citing sources tonight. That way, I can have more real-life adventures to blog about here!
Anyway, the theme this week seemed to be love and compassion for all people, regardless of our differences.
Last Sunday, I watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, and the message I took away was love and service. I don't really remember what they said, just what I felt--but that's the point of those meetings anyway. Then after it was over, I was asked to help a stranger move, and in the spirit of Christmas I did just that. I could have stayed home and put up Christmas decorations, but service seemed more Christmassy.
Then Donald Trump made his Islamophobic comments. I don't care about what he says, but what gets me is that people agree with him. People were cheering after his comments. People like that actually exist?!
Fortunately, the backlash against his comments was far stronger, and people were making lots of supportive comments for Muslims. Mark Zuckerberg did. Governor Herbert did. I don't agree 100% with Gary Herbert, but I often agree with him, and I have great respect for him because he's willing to say things unpopular with his party. His statement continued to cement my respect for him.
The Church also released statements about religious freedom made by Joseph Smith, about being willing to die for believers of other faiths and about welcoming all. At work I was able to read several more similar statements he made. There's a tendency to think of nineteenth-century folks as being heartless and mean, but my experiences dealing with primary sources have shown their true compassion, even though they did things differently than we do.
For my scripture study this year I've been reading the words of Latter-day prophets, so this part of the month it's been Gordon B. Hinckley. I planned out my scripture study nearly a year ago, but this week one of the talks just happened to be about interfaith charity work.
On Wednesday night, my family went to the Lower Lights Christmas concert at Kingsbury Hall. It was awesome. I'm amazed how many talented people are in our state. It was a beautiful Christmas evening.
At this time of year, we talk about "Peace on earth, good will towards men," wresting it from its biblical context to describe the feelings we should have now. This is a good thing; we could all use a more peace and good will, whether it's in December or June.
Unfortunately, we have those who would do exactly the opposite at this time of year. There's a small group of militant atheists who chafe at "Merry Christmas" or anything remotely similar. On the other hand, there's a small, but probably larger, group of militant Christians who chafe at completely innocuous things like "Happy Holidays" and plain red cups. Way to ruin the most wonderful time of the year, guys!
(Before this gets too heavy, I will share some holiday mirth. I had some eggnog in the fridge, so my mom went to drink some, but she hadn't seen the container--she just knew that I had some--so she poured some liquid from a container that said "Egg" on it. It wasn't until she drank it that she realized it was Egg Beaters--simply egg whites!)
Anyway, my hope for this Christmastime, and always, is to have the spirit of brotherly kindness. Not "You're stupid for believing in God" or "You're a jerk for not believing in God" or "I don't want to associate with a heathen like you."
But "I will love you and serve you in spite of our differences." "Let us work together to serve the common good and help those who need it." "Let's unite in the things we both hold dear."
Merry Christmas!
Anyway, the theme this week seemed to be love and compassion for all people, regardless of our differences.
Last Sunday, I watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, and the message I took away was love and service. I don't really remember what they said, just what I felt--but that's the point of those meetings anyway. Then after it was over, I was asked to help a stranger move, and in the spirit of Christmas I did just that. I could have stayed home and put up Christmas decorations, but service seemed more Christmassy.
Then Donald Trump made his Islamophobic comments. I don't care about what he says, but what gets me is that people agree with him. People were cheering after his comments. People like that actually exist?!
Fortunately, the backlash against his comments was far stronger, and people were making lots of supportive comments for Muslims. Mark Zuckerberg did. Governor Herbert did. I don't agree 100% with Gary Herbert, but I often agree with him, and I have great respect for him because he's willing to say things unpopular with his party. His statement continued to cement my respect for him.
The Church also released statements about religious freedom made by Joseph Smith, about being willing to die for believers of other faiths and about welcoming all. At work I was able to read several more similar statements he made. There's a tendency to think of nineteenth-century folks as being heartless and mean, but my experiences dealing with primary sources have shown their true compassion, even though they did things differently than we do.
For my scripture study this year I've been reading the words of Latter-day prophets, so this part of the month it's been Gordon B. Hinckley. I planned out my scripture study nearly a year ago, but this week one of the talks just happened to be about interfaith charity work.
On Wednesday night, my family went to the Lower Lights Christmas concert at Kingsbury Hall. It was awesome. I'm amazed how many talented people are in our state. It was a beautiful Christmas evening.
At this time of year, we talk about "Peace on earth, good will towards men," wresting it from its biblical context to describe the feelings we should have now. This is a good thing; we could all use a more peace and good will, whether it's in December or June.
Unfortunately, we have those who would do exactly the opposite at this time of year. There's a small group of militant atheists who chafe at "Merry Christmas" or anything remotely similar. On the other hand, there's a small, but probably larger, group of militant Christians who chafe at completely innocuous things like "Happy Holidays" and plain red cups. Way to ruin the most wonderful time of the year, guys!
(Before this gets too heavy, I will share some holiday mirth. I had some eggnog in the fridge, so my mom went to drink some, but she hadn't seen the container--she just knew that I had some--so she poured some liquid from a container that said "Egg" on it. It wasn't until she drank it that she realized it was Egg Beaters--simply egg whites!)
Anyway, my hope for this Christmastime, and always, is to have the spirit of brotherly kindness. Not "You're stupid for believing in God" or "You're a jerk for not believing in God" or "I don't want to associate with a heathen like you."
But "I will love you and serve you in spite of our differences." "Let us work together to serve the common good and help those who need it." "Let's unite in the things we both hold dear."
Merry Christmas!
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Bringing out the tapes
This week, I've been thinking about the way media consumption has changed.
When I'm on my own computer, I'll usually listen to the music files I have on my computer--usually in a shuffle playlist with everything I care to listen to, but sometimes my various holiday playlists as well. I'm not on my own computer as often anymore, because I don't have homework and I have better things to do than YouTube and silly websites. When I'm at work, I use Pandora and Spotify. (I make good use of Pandora's "I'm tired of this track" feature, and I switch to Spotify when I run out of skips. Spotify has a disproportionate amount of alcohol commercials. They clearly don't know this market. Sam Adams commercials are especially annoying.)
I still buy CDs. If I own a CD, I can listen to it as a CD, or I can simply listen to the digital files by ripping it to my computer and having Google Play upload it. I don't have to choose, because I can have both. I've listened to CDs more since I moved up here and have been commuting to work, since I listen in my car. (Surprisingly, one of my favorite albums that I've purchased from 2015 was Fall Out Boy's American Beauty/American Psycho.)
However, last month my CD player quit working, and I haven't gotten it to work since then. However, I won't really know whether it works or not until spring, because it doesn't like to work during cold weather. I find this a little unfortunate, because I've bought several Christmas CDs, yet I haven't listened to them as CDs, only as digital files.
It makes me wonder if I should buy any CDs at all anymore. This week, Google Play had three free Christmas albums--Kelly Clarkson, Mariah Carey, and Blake Shelton--so I had to get them to improve my Christmas playlist. (At the moment of this writing, they're still free, but I don't know how long that will be.) I also bought Walk the Moon's Talking Is Hard when they had it on sale for ninety-nine cents.
Anyway, in the absence of a working CD player, I looked through our family's leftover collection of tapes, since my car is old enough to have a tape deck. Most of it isn't stuff I'd care to listen to, but I was looking for some nostalgic Christmas music. I found one tape that I put in--it was mediocre at best, but I was surprised when it was playing along and suddenly my mom began singing "I Am a Child of God"! I remember those days when, if you wanted to record something, tapes were the way to go.
It's easy to be nostalgic and miss those things--but there's a reason that mixtapes and tape recorders are obsolete, because they really are cumbersome. I thought about making mixtapes for my car, but I have a tape deck adapter, so it would just be easier to make a playlist on my phone and use that.
This was terribly uninteresting. Sorry about that.
When I'm on my own computer, I'll usually listen to the music files I have on my computer--usually in a shuffle playlist with everything I care to listen to, but sometimes my various holiday playlists as well. I'm not on my own computer as often anymore, because I don't have homework and I have better things to do than YouTube and silly websites. When I'm at work, I use Pandora and Spotify. (I make good use of Pandora's "I'm tired of this track" feature, and I switch to Spotify when I run out of skips. Spotify has a disproportionate amount of alcohol commercials. They clearly don't know this market. Sam Adams commercials are especially annoying.)
I still buy CDs. If I own a CD, I can listen to it as a CD, or I can simply listen to the digital files by ripping it to my computer and having Google Play upload it. I don't have to choose, because I can have both. I've listened to CDs more since I moved up here and have been commuting to work, since I listen in my car. (Surprisingly, one of my favorite albums that I've purchased from 2015 was Fall Out Boy's American Beauty/American Psycho.)
However, last month my CD player quit working, and I haven't gotten it to work since then. However, I won't really know whether it works or not until spring, because it doesn't like to work during cold weather. I find this a little unfortunate, because I've bought several Christmas CDs, yet I haven't listened to them as CDs, only as digital files.
It makes me wonder if I should buy any CDs at all anymore. This week, Google Play had three free Christmas albums--Kelly Clarkson, Mariah Carey, and Blake Shelton--so I had to get them to improve my Christmas playlist. (At the moment of this writing, they're still free, but I don't know how long that will be.) I also bought Walk the Moon's Talking Is Hard when they had it on sale for ninety-nine cents.
Anyway, in the absence of a working CD player, I looked through our family's leftover collection of tapes, since my car is old enough to have a tape deck. Most of it isn't stuff I'd care to listen to, but I was looking for some nostalgic Christmas music. I found one tape that I put in--it was mediocre at best, but I was surprised when it was playing along and suddenly my mom began singing "I Am a Child of God"! I remember those days when, if you wanted to record something, tapes were the way to go.
It's easy to be nostalgic and miss those things--but there's a reason that mixtapes and tape recorders are obsolete, because they really are cumbersome. I thought about making mixtapes for my car, but I have a tape deck adapter, so it would just be easier to make a playlist on my phone and use that.
This was terribly uninteresting. Sorry about that.
Sunday, November 29, 2015
A most unusual Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I don't know, however, that this was my favorite Thanksgiving.
My family decided to drive out to California to visit my nephews. (My brother and his wife just happen to live there too.) I generally like to spend holidays at home, but I guess traveling at Thanksgiving is better than traveling at Christmas.
I used a few of my vacation hours to leave work early on Wednesday, and we took off. Parts of I-80 were pretty snowy in eastern Nevada, but it cleared up in western Nevada. We spent the night in Winnemucca before continuing our drive on Thanksgiving morning. We had a motel room with very noisy pipes, so I woke up and had a hard time falling asleep again. It was not a good night's sleep.
On Thursday morning, we stopped at Del Taco in Reno. As I finished my breakfast burrito, I felt very full. I didn't think it was that big. Oh well, I thought, I just hope I get my appetite back for Thanksgiving dinner.
(Speaking of breakfast burritos, whenever I think of them I remember that one time Jan Terri called them "breastfast burinos.")
My brother's family doesn't really do American traditions, so we decided to eat Thanksgiving dinner at a Hometown Buffet. I've never gone out to eat for Thanksgiving before, and it's not my ideal holiday, but it would have had its perks to gorge myself while visiting with my family. Unfortunately, it would not turn out that way.
As we got to the restaurant, I could tell that there was something different from just being too full. I hadn't eaten that much. I was chilly, and it wasn't that cold. And even though I hadn't slept well that night, I seemed excessively tired. I got traditional Thanksgiving foods on my plate, but only tiny bits. I couldn't even finish my roll, and I never waste food. I had to have pumpkin, pecan, and apple pies, but I could only eat a few bites of each. (They were small pieces, so I wasn't as wasteful as it sounds.) I was super tired, and I couldn't bear the thought of eating more, so I sat with my head on the table. I know that's not polite, but it was all I could do.
After we went home, I took a nap, and I felt better, but after watching Free Birds that night, I felt worse again. I went to bed with chills, so I was dressed quite warmly with lots of warm things on the bed.
At some point in the middle of the night, I was literally dreaming about Pilgrims when I woke up really warm and not feeling well. That time I could tell this wasn't going to be a go-back-to-bed-and-feel-better thing, because I was already in bed. I got up and went to the bathroom and tossed my cookies (or, rather, my Thanksgiving dinner). It was the first time I'd done so since 2004. I'd forgotten just how unpleasant an experience it is. I didn't remember that "it" ends up in your nose. However, once I was done, I was sweating--and felt much better. I felt fine the rest of the trip--maybe not 100 percent, but probably around 90 percent most of the time.
Although the Thanksgiving holiday wasn't great, it was a still fun weekend visiting my nephews--Preston, who is 11, and Franklin and Nathaniel, who will be 8 and 6 in January. Franklin is generally the shyest of the three, and Nathaniel is least shy, but among us it was almost the opposite. Nathaniel didn't bond a whole lot with us--it's not that he was shy, he just did more of his own thing. Franklin, however, loved talking with us. He loved to tickle me (I am very ticklish) and get "puppy rides" from me. The others did too, but not as much as Franklin. He loved calling me simply "Uncle," and he began calling his dad "Uncle's Brother." (It was only a year and a half ago that he learned his dad and I were in the same family, and it kind of blew his mind.) He's grown into a delightful kid.
We climbed up nearby Albany Hill, which is within very close walking distance from their apartment (their fourth dwelling since they moved to California in 2012). Surprisingly there's a significant Wikipedia article about the hill. Hopefully next time I'm there I'll be feeling better and can go on a trail run there.
I've never seen so much graffiti as I saw in their neighborhood. Franklin spotted a "gangster tree" or "graffiti tree."
We asked Nathaniel if he would quit growing up, and he responded, "I can't, it's the life circle."
I love visiting them, but I actually am getting less sad to leave them. That's because I know they'll remember us, and they won't change as much from visit to visit as they used to do. I just wish they would move to Utah.
***
This is the last week of Pumpkinundation Roundup. You'll have to let me know if you want me to do it again next year. Now, some people say, "Why can't you have pumpkin pie for Christmas?" They point out the lyric "Pennyslvania and some homemade pumpkin pie." Well, that song doesn't specifically reference Christmas. What about "when they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie"? That song is even less Christmassy, and coffee doesn't have anything to do with Christmas either. What about "Later we'll have some pumpkin pie and we'll do some caroling"? You got me there, but one song hardly makes it so. Besides, when was the last time you "rocked" around a Christmas tree?
Basically I consider pumpkin pie and all other pumpkin things to be a fall thing, not a Christmas thing. That could change, but that's how it is now.
I didn't really have anything new this week, except that I made a smore with pumpkin spice marshmallows and candy corn Hershey's. It was better than the one I had with candy corn marshmallows. I also had pumpkin pie at Hometown Buffet, but I was in no mood to take pictures.
I'm going to do a recap of all the pumpkin and candy corn things I consumed between September and now, with ratings on a five-star scale. Arby's pumpkin cheesecake shake wins the distinction of the worst pumpkin thing I had. I can't pick a favorite, but I loved the Spiced Pumpkin Pie Clif Bar, Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts, and Taco Time Pumpkin Pie Smoothie. All candy corn items have three stars (except for Brach's Autumn Mix).
Nature's Path Pumpkin Flax Granola***
Planters Pumpkin Spice Almonds****
Calley's Favorites Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies****
Pumpkin Spice Frosted Mini Wheats**
Pumpkin Spice Oreos***
Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts*****
Spiced Pumpkin Pie Clif Bar*****
Kashi Pumpkin Spice Flax Granola Bars***
Sunbelt Bakery Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars***
Dreyer's Slow Churned Pumpkin Patch Ice Cream****
Kneaders spice cupcake***
Quaker Pumpkin Spice Instant Oatmeal**
Chobani Pumpkin Harvest Crisp Greek Yogurt**
Eggo Pumpkin Spice Waffles****
Pumpkin Spice Peeps****
Pumpkin Puffins Cereal **
Hershey's Pumpkin Spice Kisses**
Pumpkin Pie Blizzard*****
belVita Pumpkin Spice Breakfast biscuits***
Archer Farms Pumpkin Corn Tortilla Chips***
Kodiak Cakes Pumpkin Dark Chocolate Minute Muffin****
Homemade Argentinian pumpkin soup****
Homemade pumpkin waffles*****
Pizza Pie Cafe pumpkin dessert pizza****
Arctic Circle pumpkin pie shakes*****
Nielsen's Frozen Custard pumpkin concrete****
Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Seed barkThins ***
Homemade pumpkin pizza dough***
Nestle Toll House Pumpkin Spice Chips***
Fiber One Pumpkin Bars***
Thomas Pumpkin Spice Bagels****
Kneaders pumpkin chocolate chip cake*****
Sara Lee Iced Pumpkin Cakes ***
Little Bites Pumpkin Muffins***
Taco Time pumpkin pie smoothies*****
Taco Time pumpkin empanadas****
Great Harvest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread****
Homemade panfried pumpkin with tomato sauce**
Homemade pumpkin chocolate chip cookies***
Hostess Pumpkin Spice Cup Cakes ****
Kneaders pumpkin spice steamer**
Entenmann's Pumpkin Donuts****
Kneaders pumpkin cheesecake***
pumpkin bread at a Halloween party***
Homemade Pumpkin Black-Bean Turkey Chili ****
Corner Bakery Pumpkin Whoopee Pie *****
Corner Bakery Gingerbread Pumpkin Bundt Cake****
Wilton Pumpkin Spice Candy Melts **
Various pumpkin pies**** (they're all basically the same)
gooey pumpkin butter cake*****
Stephen's Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa***
Arby's Pumpkin Cheesecake Shake*
Franz Baker Shoppe Pumpkin Filled Pie**
Atlantis Burger pumpkin eggnog shakes****
QuestBar Pumpkin Pie Bar***
homemade pumpkin chocolate chip bread (I didn't make it)***
Village Inn pumpkin pancakes ***
Arctic Circle Pumpkin Oreo shake*****
"bite-size" pumpkin chocolate chip cookie****
pumpkin cake donut****
Kneaders pumpkin bread****
Candy Corn Peeps ***
Lofthouse candy corn cookies***
Jet-Puffed Candy Corn Marshmallows***
Hershey's Candy Corn bars***
Hostess Candy Corn Cup Cakes***
Charms Candy Corn Pops***
Candy Corn Taffy***
Brach's Peanut Butter Cup Candy Corn***
Starburst Candy Corn ***
Candy Corn M&Ms***
Brach's Autumn Mix ****
I could continue doing a roundup, like gingerbread, peppermint, or eggnog, or in a couple of months red velvet. But for my own health, I don't think I should do that.
My family decided to drive out to California to visit my nephews. (My brother and his wife just happen to live there too.) I generally like to spend holidays at home, but I guess traveling at Thanksgiving is better than traveling at Christmas.
I used a few of my vacation hours to leave work early on Wednesday, and we took off. Parts of I-80 were pretty snowy in eastern Nevada, but it cleared up in western Nevada. We spent the night in Winnemucca before continuing our drive on Thanksgiving morning. We had a motel room with very noisy pipes, so I woke up and had a hard time falling asleep again. It was not a good night's sleep.
On Thursday morning, we stopped at Del Taco in Reno. As I finished my breakfast burrito, I felt very full. I didn't think it was that big. Oh well, I thought, I just hope I get my appetite back for Thanksgiving dinner.
(Speaking of breakfast burritos, whenever I think of them I remember that one time Jan Terri called them "breastfast burinos.")
My brother's family doesn't really do American traditions, so we decided to eat Thanksgiving dinner at a Hometown Buffet. I've never gone out to eat for Thanksgiving before, and it's not my ideal holiday, but it would have had its perks to gorge myself while visiting with my family. Unfortunately, it would not turn out that way.
As we got to the restaurant, I could tell that there was something different from just being too full. I hadn't eaten that much. I was chilly, and it wasn't that cold. And even though I hadn't slept well that night, I seemed excessively tired. I got traditional Thanksgiving foods on my plate, but only tiny bits. I couldn't even finish my roll, and I never waste food. I had to have pumpkin, pecan, and apple pies, but I could only eat a few bites of each. (They were small pieces, so I wasn't as wasteful as it sounds.) I was super tired, and I couldn't bear the thought of eating more, so I sat with my head on the table. I know that's not polite, but it was all I could do.
After we went home, I took a nap, and I felt better, but after watching Free Birds that night, I felt worse again. I went to bed with chills, so I was dressed quite warmly with lots of warm things on the bed.
At some point in the middle of the night, I was literally dreaming about Pilgrims when I woke up really warm and not feeling well. That time I could tell this wasn't going to be a go-back-to-bed-and-feel-better thing, because I was already in bed. I got up and went to the bathroom and tossed my cookies (or, rather, my Thanksgiving dinner). It was the first time I'd done so since 2004. I'd forgotten just how unpleasant an experience it is. I didn't remember that "it" ends up in your nose. However, once I was done, I was sweating--and felt much better. I felt fine the rest of the trip--maybe not 100 percent, but probably around 90 percent most of the time.
Although the Thanksgiving holiday wasn't great, it was a still fun weekend visiting my nephews--Preston, who is 11, and Franklin and Nathaniel, who will be 8 and 6 in January. Franklin is generally the shyest of the three, and Nathaniel is least shy, but among us it was almost the opposite. Nathaniel didn't bond a whole lot with us--it's not that he was shy, he just did more of his own thing. Franklin, however, loved talking with us. He loved to tickle me (I am very ticklish) and get "puppy rides" from me. The others did too, but not as much as Franklin. He loved calling me simply "Uncle," and he began calling his dad "Uncle's Brother." (It was only a year and a half ago that he learned his dad and I were in the same family, and it kind of blew his mind.) He's grown into a delightful kid.
We climbed up nearby Albany Hill, which is within very close walking distance from their apartment (their fourth dwelling since they moved to California in 2012). Surprisingly there's a significant Wikipedia article about the hill. Hopefully next time I'm there I'll be feeling better and can go on a trail run there.
I love visiting them, but I actually am getting less sad to leave them. That's because I know they'll remember us, and they won't change as much from visit to visit as they used to do. I just wish they would move to Utah.
***
This is the last week of Pumpkinundation Roundup. You'll have to let me know if you want me to do it again next year. Now, some people say, "Why can't you have pumpkin pie for Christmas?" They point out the lyric "Pennyslvania and some homemade pumpkin pie." Well, that song doesn't specifically reference Christmas. What about "when they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie"? That song is even less Christmassy, and coffee doesn't have anything to do with Christmas either. What about "Later we'll have some pumpkin pie and we'll do some caroling"? You got me there, but one song hardly makes it so. Besides, when was the last time you "rocked" around a Christmas tree?
Basically I consider pumpkin pie and all other pumpkin things to be a fall thing, not a Christmas thing. That could change, but that's how it is now.
I'm going to do a recap of all the pumpkin and candy corn things I consumed between September and now, with ratings on a five-star scale. Arby's pumpkin cheesecake shake wins the distinction of the worst pumpkin thing I had. I can't pick a favorite, but I loved the Spiced Pumpkin Pie Clif Bar, Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts, and Taco Time Pumpkin Pie Smoothie. All candy corn items have three stars (except for Brach's Autumn Mix).
Nature's Path Pumpkin Flax Granola***
Planters Pumpkin Spice Almonds****
Calley's Favorites Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies****
Pumpkin Spice Frosted Mini Wheats**
Pumpkin Spice Oreos***
Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts*****
Spiced Pumpkin Pie Clif Bar*****
Kashi Pumpkin Spice Flax Granola Bars***
Sunbelt Bakery Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars***
Dreyer's Slow Churned Pumpkin Patch Ice Cream****
Kneaders spice cupcake***
Quaker Pumpkin Spice Instant Oatmeal**
Chobani Pumpkin Harvest Crisp Greek Yogurt**
Eggo Pumpkin Spice Waffles****
Pumpkin Spice Peeps****
Pumpkin Puffins Cereal **
Hershey's Pumpkin Spice Kisses**
Pumpkin Pie Blizzard*****
belVita Pumpkin Spice Breakfast biscuits***
Archer Farms Pumpkin Corn Tortilla Chips***
Kodiak Cakes Pumpkin Dark Chocolate Minute Muffin****
Homemade Argentinian pumpkin soup****
Homemade pumpkin waffles*****
Pizza Pie Cafe pumpkin dessert pizza****
Arctic Circle pumpkin pie shakes*****
Nielsen's Frozen Custard pumpkin concrete****
Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Seed barkThins ***
Homemade pumpkin pizza dough***
Nestle Toll House Pumpkin Spice Chips***
Fiber One Pumpkin Bars***
Thomas Pumpkin Spice Bagels****
Kneaders pumpkin chocolate chip cake*****
Sara Lee Iced Pumpkin Cakes ***
Little Bites Pumpkin Muffins***
Taco Time pumpkin pie smoothies*****
Taco Time pumpkin empanadas****
Great Harvest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread****
Homemade panfried pumpkin with tomato sauce**
Homemade pumpkin chocolate chip cookies***
Hostess Pumpkin Spice Cup Cakes ****
Kneaders pumpkin spice steamer**
Entenmann's Pumpkin Donuts****
Kneaders pumpkin cheesecake***
pumpkin bread at a Halloween party***
Homemade Pumpkin Black-Bean Turkey Chili ****
Corner Bakery Pumpkin Whoopee Pie *****
Corner Bakery Gingerbread Pumpkin Bundt Cake****
Wilton Pumpkin Spice Candy Melts **
Various pumpkin pies**** (they're all basically the same)
gooey pumpkin butter cake*****
Stephen's Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa***
Arby's Pumpkin Cheesecake Shake*
Franz Baker Shoppe Pumpkin Filled Pie**
Atlantis Burger pumpkin eggnog shakes****
QuestBar Pumpkin Pie Bar***
homemade pumpkin chocolate chip bread (I didn't make it)***
Village Inn pumpkin pancakes ***
Arctic Circle Pumpkin Oreo shake*****
"bite-size" pumpkin chocolate chip cookie****
pumpkin cake donut****
Kneaders pumpkin bread****
Candy Corn Peeps ***
Lofthouse candy corn cookies***
Jet-Puffed Candy Corn Marshmallows***
Hershey's Candy Corn bars***
Hostess Candy Corn Cup Cakes***
Charms Candy Corn Pops***
Candy Corn Taffy***
Brach's Peanut Butter Cup Candy Corn***
Starburst Candy Corn ***
Candy Corn M&Ms***
Brach's Autumn Mix ****
I could continue doing a roundup, like gingerbread, peppermint, or eggnog, or in a couple of months red velvet. But for my own health, I don't think I should do that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)