Hoppy Easter and Other Miscellaneous Ramblings

“cough cough” AHEM! Yes, it’s me! And only a week & three days after the previous post. Not bad, for me anyway.  So, on with the show!

First & foremost, before I do anything, I must thank Chrissy at “I Shoulda Been A Stripper”.  A few weeks ago, she gave me this wonderful award.   

It’s the “Feels Like Home” Award.

There is only one requirement to this award & that is simply to pass it on.

Pick five people who make you feel welcome; who make this strange virtual world of ours feel more comfortable, habitable – and then pass them this award as a token of your gratitude, a thank-you gift.  So, I shall pass it along to:

Reffie at Confessions of a Reforming Geek

Mom Zombie at Mom Zombie

Aunt Becky at Mommy Wants Vodka

Dana at Life is Good

Clare at The Lilac Grove

It was very difficult to choose out of so many great blogs, but those are my five that are comfy spots to me.

What next?  Shall I dazzle you with my brilliance?  (cough cuckoo cough)  No, I know.  I’ll ask a question.  Guess what I got?  I bet you’ll never guess.  C’mon, what do ya think?  Any ideas?  Ok, I’ll give you a hint.  You may get to see me live.  (& maybe hear me sing) LOL.  Ok, no singing, I promise.  Is that a good enough clue?  Did someone say webcam?  YUP! That’s it.  I got a webcam.  And I am thrilled!  Now I can do vlogs & you can see my loveley face & hear me sing (NOT!).  No, I will not sing online.  I wouldn’t torture you like that.  I have to figure how to set it up.  I have this week off for Easter break so I should have time to figure it out.  I am looking forward to doing video blogs, but kind of nervous, too.  We also got the webcam to talk to my family out of state on Skype.  We did that at my sister’s house on New Year’s eve.  We got to talk to my uncle in Minnesota face to face.  It was pretty awesome.  I’ve been playing around with it a little bit so we’ll see how it goes.

Yes, I am on Easter break, thank goodness!  I have off all next week.  It’s getting really bad at the school with all the fights.  There have been fights all year, but it seems when it gets warmer, the kids get out of control.  These kids were actually getting in fights on purpose so they could post them to “youtube”.  Is that ridiculous or what ?  I wish I could get out of there, but my daughter has one more year left of school, so I am pretty much stuck.  I certainly won’t leave with her in that school.  She is doing awesome academically & it really pisses me off that certain groups of kids ruin the school for those that care.  The principal said he is tired of it & just doesn’t do anything anymore.  We have to call the police in most of the time.  I just pray that no one gets killed one day. Sorry to bring down the mood. 

Anyway, I want to wish all of you a very Happy Easter!  Don’t eat too much candy!  Hopefully, you’ll be seeing my smiling face soon!

Donning my Easter Babushka,

Collette   (((HUGS)))

 

Easter Vacation

I am so glad that it’s Easter vacation, or Spring Break-whatever you want to call it. It’s a break for me from work at the high school cafeteria. WOOHOO! (Sorry, I had to get that in!) No matter how many days I get off, I always need more. Less than 2 months left till summer vacation. It can’t come fast enough.

Maybe you can tell that I don’t like my job much. It has its good & bad points. I’ve been working there for over 5 years & have been trying to work from home for longer than that. But, I do believe that I am there for a reason. I think that no matter where we are in our lives, we are there for a reason, a learning experience, for ourselves & others. When our “job” is finished there, we are brought to the next lesson. We never cease to learn, to teach, or to grow. I guess my point is that until the need that brought me there has been filled, it’s where I will be.

OK, or until I can make at least as much working from home that I make there (which isn’t much). So, I just have to get busy & find something online quick! And although taking surveys doesn’t sound bad, I just couldn’t do too many at once. I just like to work on the computer & at my own pace for maybe an hour or 2 a day. Then get to all the manual labor I do here at home that I don’t get paid for (housework!) LOL. If the government would pay us according to all the work we actually do during a week, we would be rich! (until after taxes)

Well, I guess I have bounced around enough subjects for today. Just a little bit of this & that to think about. Back to my online money search & more laundry. If you have any comments or just want to say “HI”, leave a comment or message & I’ll be back again. Have a great day!

Peace & Laundered Babushkas,
Collette

Happy Easter!

Hello everyone! I just wanted to write a short note & wish all of you a very Happy Easter & Happy Passover! Blessings to one & all on this special day! For all the kiddies & kids at heart, I wish you lots of jelly beans, peeps, chocolate, & other candies. May everyone find lots of eggs on their Easter egg hunt & in their Easter baskets.
Have a beautiful day, enjoy & love each other! I will see you soon!
Love & Babushkas,
Collette

It Never Fails…

So, here it is, early April, temps still a little cool, ready for the “April Showers”. I’ve seen the robins, which is a sign that spring is really here. I bought dh, dd & myself nice, comfortable outfits for Easter, which is this coming Sunday. Even the air has that unmistakeable smell/feel of newness, growth…Spring.

Well. it did, until last night.

The news had been reporting possible snow for a few days already, but with the warmer air here in Michigan, I didn’t really expect much of anything. Then the snow reports turned to a winter storm warning! No way! I am so tired of & done with snow from this past winter. It has to be finished snowing for the season, doesn’t it? Well, I guess Mother Nature decided on a belated “April Fool’s” joke. Sure enough, it started snowing heavily around 11 pm & kept on going through today. Being that the temps were above freezing most of the time & the ground had warmed up a little, most of the snow melted or was heavy slush. Right now, there is snow on the grass but on little else in our area near Detroit. Weather reports are still predicting some flurries through tomorrow, I believe.

As the saying goes in Michigan, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait 5 minutes”! I am hoping that this will be the end of the snow & we can finally celebrate the earth coming back to life.

Besides, I just bought a coral handbag with shoes to match. That explains why I picked up the outfits for Easter. I had nothing to match my new accessories! Then, I felt guilty about buying for just myself & purchased outfits for my dh & dd.

So far, the weather for Sunday is looking to be sunny & about 56 degrees. I may get to wear my new shoes after all. But, as Murphy’s law says, if anything can go wrong, it will. IT NEVER FAILS!!!

Wondering if they make thermal babushkas,

Collette

My Easter Traditions

Now that Easter is almost here, I want to share some of the Polish traditions we have this time of year. Some have been intact as long as I can remember & some a little newer but just as important to me.

Both pairs of my grandparents were born here, I believe, but their parents were born in Poland & came over in the early 1900’s. My Babcia, (dad’s mom). is the only grandparent still living @ 92 years old. So, we have 4 generations living here in the U.S.

We have many traditions through the year & Easter is one of the main ones. Before Easter, we have Lent, which is a Catholic time for fasting and praying for forgiveness. The day Lent starts is Ash Wednesday. The day before is Paczki Day! On this day, we eat paczki (jelly donuts with more fat than usual) to get rid of all the flour, sugar, yeast, & sweets before Lent starts. The bakeries here are packed from morning till night on that day!

On the Saturday before Easter, my Babcia, my 2 sisters, my daughter & me go to church to get our Easter baskets blessed. We take some food that will be eaten on Easter such as: kielbasa, ham, hard boiled eggs, bread, salt & pepper, and anything else you want to add, for this will be eaten Easter morning as our breakfast. We usually add a butter lamb, made by each of us, to our baskets. They usually turn out looking like any animal other than a lamb & more than likely, will have been, stabbed, squashed, or otherwise deformed due to self-consciousness of other lambs looking too professional…lol.

On Easter Sunday, we eat our blessed food for breakfast. In the afternoon, we go to a family member’s house to share our meal. It consists of a sliver of raw horseradish on a slice of hard boiled egg for blessings & good wishes to all. The first course is the barszcz (white borscht), made from ham & kielbasa water, juice from dill pickles, sour cream, & peppercorns (which I usually end up biting into!). Into the soup, we put a mixture of ham, kielbasa, eggs & bread. The main entree is ham, smoked kielbasa (store bought), fresh kielbasa (made by us),bread, butter, cole slaw. Later on if anyone is hungry, we have ham & kielbasa sandwiches, usually with lots of horseradish.

Our traditions are based on lots of food & the love that goes into making them! Spending time with family is one of the best traditions you can have.

So, what are your Easter traditions? I’d love to hear what everyone does!

Talk to you soon from beneath “My Babcia’s Babushka”!

Collette