On Good Friday we paint our eggs.  We wash them well in soapy water, boil them in a water and vinegar mixture on low heat, and line the table with newspapers.  The entire family is over as it is a time of great celebration.  The children are playing in the yard, leading the lamb all around the acacias on a leash of gold braided cord.  The six of us women are inside, adding raisins, chocolate and the mixture of finely chopped walnuts to the sweet dough of the babkas we are soon to bake.

At sundown when the eggs are ready to be painted the children come in and gather around the table.  The men, somber and quiet, leave their chess games and prayer books and go outside and kill the lamb.  Only they know the seriousness and the symbolism behind what they do.  They don’t splash any blood on door posts, they don’t chant any prayers.  It is a time to be cautious, not stupid.  But we will all sleep under the same roof tonight.

“Grandma, grandma, tell us the story of the red eggs,” the children ask.  Their cheeks are ruddy from a day spent in the brisk spring air.  And grandma sighs and sits herself in her chair at the table. The rest of us fall silent and contemplative, thinking of all that had passed to bring us to this moment.

“Almost 2000 years ago tonight, Christ the son of the Virgin Mary was dying on a cross, to save us from our sins.”  Grandma begins, and her eyes fill with tears.  She knows what it is to lose a son, her youngest had died years ago.  ”And His mother, just like any other, was broken hearted.  She gathered some eggs from her chickens and boiled them to take for Him to eat.  She placed them in a linen napkin in the prettiest woven basket she could find.  But when she got there, she was beside herself with sadness.  Her son was suffering greatly.  He was bleeding and in pain, and all she could do was clasp His feet to her.  As His holy blood poured over the eggs, it colored them the brightest shade of red.”

To keep the children from crying over the lamb, we gather field flowers, bitter greens and grasses on Saturday.  We prepare the lamb feast for Sunday after the sun goes down, and the little ones are asleep.

On Sunday, the children awaken to find the fresh grass nests they had prepared the day before filled with candy treats.  They select an egg from the many colored ones and knock them against each other’s exclaiming, “Christ is risen,” and responding “Christ is risen indeed.”  We dress in our newest clothes, clothes from far away relations who have escaped the horror of our daily lives, and walk down our cobblestone street to the tram.  Like everyone else, we are going to church.

Happy Easter!

For more more egg stories, go to #mce_temp_url#.

When Krista of #mce_temp_url# asked if I’d like to guest post, I felt as honored and nervous as I did going on my first date with the boy of my dreams.  I accepted, of course.  She’s too beautiful of heart and spirit (and also of face) to turn down.  And she is a superb writer. So, will you please head on over and see what I had to say?  After that make sure you go through her posts.  You’ll gasp in awe at her words.

I don’t make new year resolutions.  I’ve rarely kept the ones I’ve made while younger, and I don’t need guilt laying its blanket on my shoulders.  I have no patience for what ifs anymore.  Nor for regrets.  Life is a mystery and it is short.  Filled with uncertainties and history refusing to be buried, it is violent and predatory and wicked.  Yet at the same time, it is so beautiful it takes my breath away.

I have learned an amazing thing in 2009.  From men and women and you, dear readers, who could have taught me quite the opposite.  I am only as powerless as I think I am.  Whatever may come my way, I am the mistress of my reaction.  And so I thank you.  As I enter a glittery and sparkly new year, my intention is to live fully.  Without guilt or hesitation.  And without fear.  Such I also wish for you.

Have a blessed 2010!  And may you grow to your fullest potential, surpassing even your expectations.

Thank you all for celebrating my blog’s birthday with me!  I adore celebrations!  I am so pleased to announce the winners of the giveaway, and hope that you all take a few minutes and visit their blogs as soon as possible, as they are absolutely lovely and captivating and I just know that you will love them as much as I do.

The first one belongs to Miss Cavendish, who dishes about literature and fashion, and fashion in literature.  She is extremely cool and stylish, and I would have loved to have her as a literature professor when I was in college.  I would have gone shopping with her, that’s for sure!  You can find that under the Blogroll since WP is acting weird and I can’t link directly from here.  Go right now and look!

The second winner is lovely Audrey from L’air Du Temps.  Her posts are about life in New York City.  There is nothing hurried to them though.  They are so beautifully written and graceful.  You’ll feel as though you are inside a bejeweled kaleidoscope.  She is also in the Blogroll.  Head on over right now!

Congratulations to the both of you!  You can get to my email address by clicking on the  About Me link in the left hand upper corner of the blogsite.

I have so much fun doing these giveaways, that with the holidays coming up I have decided to have THREE more.  Make sure you check in to see when they are announced and leave comments for a chance to win!

Now that I have mastered the baby steps of the blogosphere, I’m ready to explore the world.  In the coming year I’m hoping to be a bit more structured and focus on the issues that really matter to me, instead of mindlessly rambling on about who knows what.  Not that the ramblings aren’t interesting mind you.  It’s just that I’m a big girl now, and I can handle the big girl stuff.  And there’s plenty that I feel is ignored, and shouldn’t be.  Maybe that’s too drastic a word, but there you have it.

First of all, I am amazed and blessed by all the wonderful women surrounding me.  Many I have not met in person, yet their strength, their persistence and their dedication in the face of trouble and suffering, leave me in awe.  These women make a world of difference in the lives of so many people.  They are deserving of my praise and of my support and I will dedicate a post every other week in bringing attention to them and their cause.  If any of you know such women, please drop me a line so I may get in touch with them.

Secondly, friendships are important to all of us. I believe that I have the most fantastic friends in the world, because I do!  Thank you girls!  Again, some of you, I haven’t actually met, but rest assured you are just as important  to me and to my well-being.  You love me and appreciate me and there’s none of that ego thing going on where you feel threatened by me.  Trust me, I know what that feels like. I have people in my life who would rather walk on hot coals than acknowledge or pay a compliment.  I will dedicate some time exploring the issue of friendship and how it has shaped my life.  Don’t worry I won’t name names, unless I have your permission.

And of course, relationships cannot be left out.  So much of what goes on between darling hubby and yours truly will remain between us.  From time to time though, I will share a little gem with you all.  Such as I still get butterflies in my stomach, weak knees, and all that other mushy stuff, whenever I see him.

Rest assured, I will also throw in religion, politics and sex, just so we don’t get bored.  You know how I love a passionate discussion between opposing minds!  So fill your mug with coffee (or tea), put up your feet and join our big girl talk.  I, for one, cannot wait to get started!

P.S. If you need to email me, click on the About Me link.

According to random.org, the winner of our fabulous $25 Target giveaway is number 32! Aurora please email me your address so that I may send you the gift card! Congratulations and enjoy!

my daughter

She’s got an innate sense of style.  My mother says I was the same as a child, but who is she kidding?

perfection!

There’s nothing else to say!

traveling is always best with my favorite people.

Oh, the things we do, the places we go…

my love affairs

Can’t think of a better way to spend an hour!

yummies

I am a happy carb addict.  Especially to St. Honore’s cafe eclairs.  As close to heaven on earth as it is possible.

the history of all things

I’m enthralled by it all.

architecture

architecture

I would love to live in that bottom one someday…

interiors

Ornate…

interiors

Not so ornate.

So now that I’ve shared a few, I’d like to hear about yours.  What are they?

Land is passed down through men, fabric through women. (L. T. Ulrich)

While browsing the aisles at Powell’s last week, I came across three wonderful books, all by the same author, and all dealing with the history of the early American housewife.  I had just finished reading Freya Stark’s memoir, The Journey’s Echo, and didn’t feel like anything in my ‘to read’ pile was good enough.  I was looking for adventure.  I had a need to explore new territory, previously unexplored through my reading.  The three books offered all that.  I couldn’t wait to get home and gobble them up.

The author, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, is a Harvard historian who has researched for years the subject of domesticity in Colonial America.  Housewives, and their role within the familial fold, have been explored in the smallest detail.   Ms. Ulrich, mother of five, and a housewife herself well into her thirties, began researching the subject for pleasure while taking graduate courses at the University of New Hampshire. 

I had a hard time putting the first book down.  In fact, I read it within a day and a half, as that night I didn’t sleep more than a few hours, so absorbed was I.  Good Wives, shows what it was like to be a woman and a wife between the years of 1650 and 1750.  The roles of women were clearly defined, yet at the same time they overlapped with those of men.  While women were mostly subservient, they did assert themselves and indirectly influenced decisions within their communities.

Her second book, A Midwife’s Tale, won the Pulitzer Prize.  In it, Ms. Ulrich scrutinizes the diary of Martha Ballard, housewife and midwife, between 1785 and 1812, to offer a better view into the daily life of women.  Besides exploring the role of women in the community, the book also looks at marriage and sex, and the history of medicine.  The fascinating thing about this book, is that this working mother and wife dealt with some of the same issues that women deal with today.  Two hundred years later we still go to work, come home, cook, clean, and try our best to raise our children.

In The Age of Homespun, Ms. Ulrich focuses on the history of the homemade.  From baskets to furniture to cloth, she offers the history of the time and place where each of the selected 14 objects originated, as well as the lives of American women and the value placed upon them. 

For quite some time I have been debating of going into business for myself.  While I enjoy what I do tremendously, I figured I was capable of being my own boss, and so with support from my family and friends ventured forth and started the process.  The field, healthcare and geriatrics, is not a new one to me.  I have been around it (and actually managed two of these homes), for a large portion of my adult life.  However, owning one, and having the sole responsibility, is a different matter.  It isn’t one to be taken lightly, and so my hesitation. 

Then an opportunity presented itself and I couldn’t put it off anymore; and it would have been a shame to (it has been stressed), as one rarely comes across such an opportunity.  So, I’m embarking upon this adventure through faith and hope, although the course of getting licensed is a lengthy one, and I am not a person with an abundance of patience.  What I have in abundance though, is a love of people and a desire of making a positive impact while sharing in the life stories of others. 

In the meantime, and helping with that patience issue, the following quote has been repeating itself in my mind: “Time isn’t something that always proceeds at the same pace.  It is we who determine how quickly time passes.” (P. Coelho) I have decided that until I become licensed I am going to love my dear ones and read and write like crazy.  Because, as Margaret Atwood says: “Art is long and life is brief and mortality looms.” Now that is something I have all the patience in the world for. 

It’s not what you are, it’s what you don’t become that hurts.   -Oscar Levant