Disturbing...

Friday is trash pick-up day at the Showalter house. As we pulled into our garage last night Brian said, "Huh, there's an extra trash can sitting there." We inherited another trash can. Weird, but not so weird.

This morning we were sitting outside drinking coffee and playing fetch with Reggie. All of sudden Brian says, "I hope there's not like, a dead baby in that trash can." I gasped in horror, nearly choking on my mouth-full of coffee, wondering what in the world could have made Brian come up with this possibility.

He walks to the trash can, checks it, returns to me and reports, "No dead baby."

A few moments later he says, in a matter-of-fact tone, "It happens you know."

Phew! I guess we narrowly averted that messy situation.

The Flair Fairy Has Struck Again

The Flair Fairy continues his or her sneaky work at church, further intriguing me. Who in the world can this possibly be?

My most recent pieces of flair:

My sister suggested that I should knit an item such as a hat or scarf to place these wonderful buttons on. I think that's a FANTASTIC idea. What to knit, what to knit...

A Little Knittery Update

My sister was here this weekend and we have both become huge fiber fanatics. She is probably a bigger fiber fanatic than I am. And it is oodles of fun to have somebody here who totally gets my obsession and can talk fiber lingo with me. And she brought a hysterically funny knitting book from her library, Mason Dixon Knitting (they also have a website here). I sat at my dining room table and read bits of the book that would make me giggle with joy, and then I would share the excerpt with my sister who would giggle with me...and admittedly our giggles sound creepily a lot alike. And our husbands would look at us and then at each other feeling lost, and say, "I don't get it." Which would make Lanie and I laugh even harder. The book even had a section that was written as if for the characters of The Red Tent which is one of my favorite books of all time. I could have died and gone to heaven, it was the funniest thing I have read in ages.

AND, my local yarn store was having a customer appreciation night on Friday and so my sister joined me and I bought yarn and it was delightful. So we sat together and I knit and Lanie crocheted and all was right in the Showalter house. Here are projects I completed this weekend:

I finally finished my socks! Hooray!

And here is my uneasy male model, Brian. His hat I had made him was just too small. It fit my nephew, Casey, really well. So I gave his hat away and it made Brian really sad. So I knit him up a new one and he is quite pleased...and so am I.

A Hillbilly Christmas Treat

Last year I heard tales that it is quite spectacular to keep one's (real) Christmas tree until the summer and then burn it. And the wheels, they started a turnin' in my head. And this last Christmas I just happened to decide, for the first time in about five years, to buy a real Christmas tree. So on January 2, I deposited said Christmas tree on my back patio and just let it lay there. Sure, I could have put it in my garage to dry out but where's the fun in that? For the last three and a half months that tree has laid on that patio as a sad reminder of how horrible Brian and I are at the whole "curb appeal" concept.

This past weekend my sister Lanie and her family came to visit. They spent the night at our house Friday and then the plan was to move the party to my brother Tim's glorious slice of heaven way out in the country on Saturday. We'll call his homestead "Schmucktopia." Schmucktopia is 19 acres of private grounds, surrounded by trees which are surrounded by corn fields. They have a fire ring area out back where the stars shine more brightly than you can imagine and happiness abounds. Robust political debates are had. (Tim is right-wing, I am left-wing. Together we make a chicken.) The dogs roam freely and Reggie gets muddy and the frogs sing their mighty song. And the time had come to burn the Christmas tree.

We hauled the tree over there and Saturday night we gathered every person by the fire to watch the ceremonial burning. I wanted the tree to stand up straight in the middle of the bonfire but Brian and Tim thought I was crazy (considering that the fire had been already built up to an unsafe level). Brian grabbed the tree and I waited with baited breath. All chairs were moved far away from the fire and all humans were behind them (I don't know what we thought was going to happen). Brian threw the tree on the fire...and that darn tree just kept jumping off the fire into Brian's arms where he attempted to throw the tree back on. After dancing around with the flaming tree for several rounds we finally screamed at him to "LET IT GO!" And that tree took off and it was all I had dreamt of. 25 foot flames, loud crackling, wild sparks flying, small children shrieking in fear. Three minutes later it was all done. And it was totally worth it; every second of it. If only I had 10 trees to burn. It was that good. I would highly recommend this to all of you who deal in real Christmas trees. And perhaps you all already knew this and wonder why I haven't tried it before. I was a rookie this year...but next year, I might even buy two trees.

I'll Beat You With My Shillelagh (Pronounced shi-LAY-lee)

BLARNEY! I'm happy to report that the St. Patty's Day party was a lot of fun. Irish music, a quiz of all things Irish, a limerick writing contest, Irish pictionary, a game of heave-ho, silly prizes, and loads of people dressed in green. Oh yeah, and a whole bunch of green food that I hope did not have a "greening" effect, shall we say, on every one's "digestive systems."

My Limerick for Brian, who was, sadly, absent for the festivities:

(To be read with an Irish brogue)

There was a big doofus named Brian

Couldn't win, but he always was tryin'

He'd argue with me

But the best fighter I be

And our spats always leave him a'cryin'.

Accidental Trendsetter

I was listening to NPR yesterday (it's so annoying to hear that isn't it?) on my way home from Goshen and "Talk of the Nation" was dealing with the new trend of being recession savvy. The terms being bandied about were "recession chic" and "recessionista." Leave it to our country to turn something bad, like the current economy, into a trendy bandwagon to jump on.

The show was sparked by an article by Kelly Marages of the Washington Post entitled, "I'm Not Buying Recession Chic." She begins the article talking about how people who brown-bagged their lunch in corporate America were, until recently, considered weird and dowdy. And now, "these days, it's precisely parading that plastic container around the office at midday that shows that you're resourceful, that you're rolling with the times, that you're cool in a do-it-yourself recession-y kind of way." Oh dear.

Topics of the conversation included how all the morning talk shows are jumping on this theme and providing ideas on their shows for saving money in this economic wilderness. For instance, people have been stunned that they can rewash plastic bags and reuse them. Imagine that. Or that they can *gasp* cook at home. Lay-away has now come back into vogue. The guests on the show yesterday made a point of saying that those that need to be frugal with their money, and that always have, ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THIS STUFF AND DO IT! The wealthy now love to talk about how they are making changes because of the dreadful economy. High end restaurants are now offering $150 tasting plates, down from the usual $300. Many argued that it is precisely the wealthy who need to be spending money right now. It is their job to fuel the economy. I don't know if I completely agree, but if their motivation is to be "recession chic" and not responsible, then they should probably go ahead and keep spending.

And then it occurred to me. Oh my word. I accidentally became a "recessionista" without knowing it. The "Great February Dine-In" could be interpreted as me becoming "recession chic." Oh geez!

I'm sorry economy! I can't help you right now. I understand you're going through a rough time but I'm not wealthy and I've been dining out as if I am. You are on your own. I'm not leaving you hanging like this to be "cool." It's merely coincidence that my analysis of personal finances coincides with this new, and very strange, trend. Please don't hold it against me. I'll try to help you in other ways.

Maybe though, it is all the talk of the economy that scared me into taking a closer look at our spending. If it is, isn't that a good thing? I don't know. But I hope that all of you don't take me as trying to be "recession chic." I'm just not really chic at all.



P.S. I will not be washing out plastic bags and reusing them. They never dry and they always seem greasy no matter what. I decided long ago (after my mother washed and reused every plastic bag that came across her path) that I simply must draw the line there. Ha! Take that recessionistas!

Top O' The Mornin' To Ya!

I loves me some St. Patrick's Day! I don't know what my deal is with embracing these holidays that were not celebrated in my childhood home but St. Patrick's Day and Halloween are two of my favorites. I think the monotony of our lives needs to be broken up by little bits of festivity. So I'm happy to have reasons from many traditions to whoop it up a little.

So throw off your Lenten melancholy - it's time for celebration. (Evidently in Ireland Lent was traditionally suspended on St. Patrick's day.) So, if you gave up chocolate for Lent go ahead and have some chocolate today. Throw back a pint of a green beverage, dance to some Irish jigs, cook up some corned beef and cabbage, find a blarney stone to kiss, and find the Irish in you!

I decided this year for MYF (youth group) we should have a St. Patty's day shindig. Which was all good and fine until I realized I needed some party activities. Not only that, I need party fun that doesn't involve alcohol which seems to be a heavy theme in most of the online research I've done for party ideas. Prizes? Give 'em a pint of Guinness. Missed pinning the shamrock on the leprechaun? Take a wee nip o' the whisky as punishment. Hmmm. So I'm working on some ideas that teenagers won't think are lame. Well, they'll probably be a little lame but I hope every one's a good sport.

The party isn't until tomorrow so if you have great ideas or games you've enjoyed at other St. Patty's Day gatherings, I'd love to hear them. Really. I leave you with this Irish blessing:

May those who love us, love us.
And for those who don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if he can not turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we may know them by their limping.