Ahhh...Fat Tuesday--Gotta Love It! Interestingly enough, even though Fredericksburg is a very German community, today we all adopt a very French Cajun lifestyle and party all the way until Ash Wednesday.
I decided to look up some info on the internet regarding Mardi Gras and share some of the things I discovered. Mardi Gras season is from January 06th until 47 days before Easter Sunday...or the day before Ash Wednesday. Those silly Cajuns (God love 'em!) actually created a season and a reason for drinking from the 12th Day of Christmas (also called Epiphany and is the day that the Magi supposedly showed up to present gifts to Baby Jesus) until the start of Lent, which I'm guessing after all of that partying it's not hard to give up alcohol and dry out a bit. Perhaps a touch of genius and a lesson that could be used for everyone wanting to participate in Lent--just overindulge for a couple of months and it'll make giving up whatever you're giving up a lot easier.
While it is thought to have come to New Orleans via French Explorers in the 1699's, the official colors (purple, green, & gold) weren't picked until 1872. Chosen by Rex, the King of Carnival, they stand for justice, faith & power respectively. I don't know about you, but they are ALL things I'm thinking about while celebrating Mardi Gras! Speaking of, I gotta go and actually read the Fredericksburg Standard Post to find out what our little German town is doing to celebrate!!
Bottoms Up!
shez :)
28 February 2006
19 February 2006
Happy New Year!
Okay, so it's mid-February and I'm just now getting around to wishing everyone a Happy New Year! A lot has been happening. The Winter Olympics have started and I'm eagerly watching every moment that I can. Unfortunately, I just found out about the Knitting Olympics...so I won't be able to participate (I could have finished April's VERY belated birthday present!). But not to fret, April, it will be finished soon (I hope!) If you want to learn/read more, check out Rebecca's blog at ewedevil.com
Other news: Christi has moved to Rome, Georgia!!! I helped her move. In fact, I am currently in Rome, typing this on Tracy's computer. It's very picturesque here....and even though I'm only in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains, I am in awe! We departed Fredericksburg at some ungodly hour (4:30am), drove about 14 hours--which put us in Birmingham, Alabama--which is where we stopped for the night. We found a hotel, ordered in pizza, and were excited to be out of the car, as were Chloe and Ginger, who spent the entire trip sitting on top of each other, fighting for space in a very cramped back seat! The next day we only had about 2.5 hour drive into Rome. We unloaded the car, unpacked a bit, and went to check out Tracy's store (Belk--you can check it out at belk.com), had REALLY strong margaritas and average mexican food for dinner and called it an early night. Note to everyone: unless you like extremely sweet drinks, may I not recommend diet coke and passionfruit rum (which was bought by mistake and wasn't realized until we were already home, in our pj's, and the drinks were made!)
The next day...we headed north to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Another note to everyone: Chattanooga is a city that you want to visit when it is warm outside. Or at least not snowing, which was beautiful, but most of the attractions--like Lookout Mountain (which allows you to see 7 states)--require a significant amount of time outdoors! It was sleeting when we got there (and windy to boot!), so we had lunch at a microbrewery, which was good. Christi, Tracy, and I shared a beer sampler--which had small tastes of each of the 7 beers they offered. There were some we loved, some we liked, and a couple we hated. Ultimately, Christi and Tracy went with a stout and I chose the black cherry porter.
INTERRUPTION: what is going on with the ice dancing? I'm watching it while typing this and so far 3 couples have fallen!?!?!?!? crazy stuff!
Today was a lounging/relaxing day--we didn't even get out of the house until well after noon. After we had lunch (at Hooters--hey great wings and cheap beer durning the Daytona 500!) Speaking of, apparently Nascar is huge here, so I watched the entire race. Although, Christi and I had to call Chelle to find out who to cheer for (#48, Jimmy Johnson is her favorite), so we cheered for him--and YAY! he won his first Daytona! I'd like to think that we were good luck for him!! or not.
Tomorrow is an unpacking day--as Christi sent most of her stuff via FedEx and Tracy piled them all into a room to await our arrival! And then Tuesday it's back to Texas and work, work, work! Which, by the way, I will be taking over the wine shop again until I head back to school.
More on that later...for now, it's back to ice dancing (make that 4 couples who fell!). perhaps someone needs to check out this ice!
GO USA!! and AUS!! and NED!!
:) shez
Other news: Christi has moved to Rome, Georgia!!! I helped her move. In fact, I am currently in Rome, typing this on Tracy's computer. It's very picturesque here....and even though I'm only in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains, I am in awe! We departed Fredericksburg at some ungodly hour (4:30am), drove about 14 hours--which put us in Birmingham, Alabama--which is where we stopped for the night. We found a hotel, ordered in pizza, and were excited to be out of the car, as were Chloe and Ginger, who spent the entire trip sitting on top of each other, fighting for space in a very cramped back seat! The next day we only had about 2.5 hour drive into Rome. We unloaded the car, unpacked a bit, and went to check out Tracy's store (Belk--you can check it out at belk.com), had REALLY strong margaritas and average mexican food for dinner and called it an early night. Note to everyone: unless you like extremely sweet drinks, may I not recommend diet coke and passionfruit rum (which was bought by mistake and wasn't realized until we were already home, in our pj's, and the drinks were made!)
The next day...we headed north to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Another note to everyone: Chattanooga is a city that you want to visit when it is warm outside. Or at least not snowing, which was beautiful, but most of the attractions--like Lookout Mountain (which allows you to see 7 states)--require a significant amount of time outdoors! It was sleeting when we got there (and windy to boot!), so we had lunch at a microbrewery, which was good. Christi, Tracy, and I shared a beer sampler--which had small tastes of each of the 7 beers they offered. There were some we loved, some we liked, and a couple we hated. Ultimately, Christi and Tracy went with a stout and I chose the black cherry porter.
INTERRUPTION: what is going on with the ice dancing? I'm watching it while typing this and so far 3 couples have fallen!?!?!?!? crazy stuff!
Today was a lounging/relaxing day--we didn't even get out of the house until well after noon. After we had lunch (at Hooters--hey great wings and cheap beer durning the Daytona 500!) Speaking of, apparently Nascar is huge here, so I watched the entire race. Although, Christi and I had to call Chelle to find out who to cheer for (#48, Jimmy Johnson is her favorite), so we cheered for him--and YAY! he won his first Daytona! I'd like to think that we were good luck for him!! or not.
Tomorrow is an unpacking day--as Christi sent most of her stuff via FedEx and Tracy piled them all into a room to await our arrival! And then Tuesday it's back to Texas and work, work, work! Which, by the way, I will be taking over the wine shop again until I head back to school.
More on that later...for now, it's back to ice dancing (make that 4 couples who fell!). perhaps someone needs to check out this ice!
GO USA!! and AUS!! and NED!!
:) shez
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