Happy New Year — 2010
I knew how to bring in 2010 right -- asleep. Yes, I slept through New Years! Here is the story. After work I went to the bank, Target, grocery store, and then home. At home I watched some TV and ate dinner with a glass of sparkling wine around 8pm (it was a special day, I started to celebrate early). I knew I had a few hours before going out, so I decided I would take an hour nap, then get up and get ready (a nap so I would be more apt to staying up late -- sounded like a good idea, right?). But no -- the "once in a blue moon" blue moon had another idea for me (at least that is what I am "blaming" it on).
If you don't know, the Full moons used to have 12 names, one for each month, such as "harvest moon." The term "blue moon" referred to the rare 13th full moon in a year. It only happens on New Years every 20 or so years.
The old wives tale goes that the moon can effect humans, for me, I guess it made me sleepy (and as you may know, I have not been sleeping well for the past few weeks). My quick nap turned into 8 hours. It's the first night I slept over 5 hours straight through in two weeks. I guess that's the silver lining -- at least I got some sleep -- I'll catch the next New Years in 364 days. When I awoke groggy and realized what happened at 4am, I figured it was to late to call/text anyone "Happy New Years," so I just went back to bed. But that didn't last long, now it's 6am, I'm groggy but awake, and I have a headache.
Oh yeah, because I did not do my regular after work routine, I forgot to un-silence my phone. I am so sorry to the people that called/texted me Happy New Year --Happy New Year back!
As for my New Year's resolutions, I have come up with 4 (for now). First, I want to make friends in Dallas. To do this, I am going to put myself out into the social scene. Not just bars/clubs, but gatherings, such as things held by my apartment complex or volunteering at events -- anything that I find information on that intrigues me, I will try and go. Second, I want to lose 10 pounds. According to the weight charts at the doctor's office, I am still overweight by 5 pounds for my height and my ideal weight is 10-15 pounds less then I am now. I am going to lose the weight by using my apartment complex's gym regularly, at least 3 times a week, and eating smaller portions (with counting calories). Third, I want to try and reduce self-inflicted stress in my life. I need to stop analyzing everything to the point where it drives me crazy. This is going to be a hard habit to break and I am still trying to figure out how. Fourth, I need to stop relying on spellcheck and Google. I have become lazy when it comes to spelling. I need to focus more when typing and only use Google when I honestly don't know how to spell a word.
Happy New Year! Here's to a fantastic 2010 -- wow, 2010!
Merry Christmas
The week before Christmas was miserable for me. Let me explain. I have now realized that almost 90% of your christmas spirit comes from decorations and friends/family -- all things I did not have around me. Because I am newly on my own, I don't have any Christmas decorations -- in fact, the only thing I had was 1 Christmas card from my grandparents. As for the friends/family, my close, close, group of friends are now living all over the world. The closest friend/family is a three hour drive from me. In my mind, I kept thinking about what I had last year at this time -- before the "divorce." With all this in my mind, I was in a real melancholy state. Now you have the context, here are the events that pushed me over the edge.
The weekend before Christmas my mom came to visit. We had a fantastic time, then she went home. You know that feeling of when you have to say, "Goodbye" -- then the rest of the day just feels empty and quiet? Yeah -- empty, quiet, and alone. Now the events of the week -- I got really bad news from a close friend, could not sleep all week, my eyes were always red/puffy so I used my old eye drops that I now discovered have a side effect of dilating eyes (party of self-conscious +1), badly burnt my tongue, found a dent (looks like it is from a rogue shopping cart) on my car, bashed my shin into my platform bed (so hard it bled and bruised), I got two (yes, two) canker sores, my face broke out, I still hate my hair cut (and can tell I am losing/getting gray hair -- which is adding to the self-consciousness), and was forcing myself to "keep it together" because I still had work everyday.
When I finally got home to my mom's on Christmas Eve (after a long three hour drive), I walked through the door and said "Hi" and busted out crying. I just could not keep it in anymore. We sat around and talked for a few hours. My mom said it best, I had the holiday blues. I'm so used to being around people. When I was in a relationship I was always around someone, when that ended I was always around my mom, then I went traveling -- always around people. Now, I go to work and come home to an empty apartment -- it is really starting to get to me. Yes, now and then I get together with old friends -- but it is only once in a blue moon.
(Side note: If you know me, while I was writing this blog, my mom's cat (Chloe) just attacked Salem, and I unknowingly yelled, "Morgan, stop!" -- sigh). Anyways, enough blubbering.
Christmas Day, I felt slightly better (still kinda down, but I finally got over 5 hours of sleep). My mom and I opened gifts. I got furniture, home decorations, kitchen supplies, and a 40" flat screen TV (TV has been my closeted friend in Dallas; it talks to me and always has interesting topics to entertain me -- yeah, i'm anthropomorphizing my TV, that's how looney I have been). I got my mom a new Blue-ray DVD player that also streams Blockbuster and Netflix video on demand. I helped her set that up and for the rest of the day we watched movies. It was a perfect gift for her. She loves movies. Now with the Netflix VOD, she can watch unlimited movies anytime she wants all for only $9 a month -- perfect. We have already watched 5 movies.
Saturday I got a full night sleep. My mom and I have been running around catching the sales, mainly window shopping. Sunday, I am going to go visit some old college friends. Monday my mom and I are going down to Houston to shop and see my best friend at the hospital (I have not seen her in over two months -- since she went in for her transplant). Tuesday, I am going to the doctor to get the burn on my tongue checked out and get a general checkup. Then I will head back up to Dallas -- I have work on Wednesday.
For New Years, Pam and Briana invited me to a New Year's party they are going to in Denton -- now I have something to look forward to. My next post will be around New Years. It will include my new year's resolutions, how I plan on making friends in Dallas, and just a small blurb on my fantastic job (I told you I would never write about my jobs on my blog -- but because everyone keeps asking me about it, I will write a small general description). I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas/Happy Holidays!
Thanksgiving
My mom came up to Dallas around noon. She took me to a restaurant on a 27 floor that overlooked Downtown Dallas. It was a four-course meal with complimentary bottomless mimosas. Absolutely fantastic. After, we drove around Dallas and I showed her some of the residences I am working on at work. Then we went to a movie. She drove home around 8pm.
Now that thanksgiving has come and gone, I have satisfied my yearly requirement to be thankful and can go back to taking things for granted.
That is a bit cynical, isn't? But that represents what I am most thankful for this year. I am thankful for the fact that I can tell that is cynical. It seams that everyone is thankful for things -- family, friends, bosses, homes, technology, presents, so on -- tangible items.
What about the intangible things? The invisible things? I have always looked at life as a cup. You know the saying, "is it half full or half empty?" For me it's neither -- it's half with water and half with air -- always full. This year I am truly thankful for all the intangible things in my life (the invisible things, like air). My intelligence, feelings, personality, character, talent, creativity, health, memory and experiences. The things that make me who I am.
Don't get me wrong, I am thankful or the typical things most people are thankful for around these days (especially family and friends), but I am truly thankful for the opportunities presented in my life.
Oh, and I am thankful you are reading my blog. Happy Thanksgiving.
Halloween Candy
Well, it must be almost Halloween in this material world of ours. I was at Walmart the other day (yes, Devon went to Walmart, pick up your lower jaw) and found the aisle of Halloween candy. You read right, aisle of candy. You have to understand, it does not come through well in the photo, this is about 80 feet (160 feet if you include both sides) of candy -- CANDY. This aisle is in addition to the normal (non-Halloween) aisle of candy. The best part, no prices are listed. And we all know it's proven that you buy more when no prices are listed -- I don't know if that is true or not, but it probably is.
Now think about this. As of July 2009, there were 883 Walmart stores in the USA. If every Walmart in the USA has this aisle of candy, how much candy is that? My other question is, what happens to the candy this is not purchased? I know some will go on clearance and get gobbled up (pun intended), but what about the stuff that isn't. Does it go back to the manufacture, get repackaged, and they try again? Is it resold next Halloween? Does it go to the dump? Or does it somehow magically end up in little-old-ladies' handbags?
Here are some fun facts I found online from my research. Austin, Charlotte, and San Antonio lead USA Halloween spending on candy and decorations, with $53 per household. Only 26% of homes gives out full-sized candy bars -- those that do are usually the "Ah, rich people... probably make [you] drink cider and bob for apples" (props to you if you know what movie this quote is from). Prohibition was a sweet age of revenge: Baby Ruths, Oh Henry!, Charleston Chew, Mounds, Milky Way, Reese's peanut butter cups, Bit-O-Honey, Mr Goodbar, Milk Duds, Butterfinger, and Snickers all debuted between 1920 and 1930. The average person will spend around $20 on Halloween candy this year. I ate Twizzlers while writing this blog.
Hallowe’en
I have done some research on Halloween. I knew that it stemmed from a pagan holiday, but I did not know which one. My original intent was to find some poetry or old folk lore, but instead I found recipes and some interesting facts.
"Halloween," originally spelled "Hallowe'en," is from the phrase "All Hallows' Eve," shortened from "All Hallows' Even" ("even" being an old word for "evening"). Which all stemmed from the Old English term eallra hālgena ǣfen meaning "all saints' evening," for it is the eve of "All Hallows' Day," which is known now as "All Saints' Day."
Halloween ("Oíche Shamhna" in gaelic) has origins related to the Celt's traditional pagan Samhain festival on October 31st. Samhain is a festival held at the end of the harvest season. The Celts believed on October 31st the division between the living and the dead dissipates, the departed become unpredictable, causing sickness and/or damaged crops. Costumes were worn at the festival in an attempt to imitate the evil spirits and placate them.
An old Irish Samhain meal tradition is to serve Colcannon with small coins concealed in it as prizes. Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish made from mashed potatoes, kale or cabbage, butter, salt, and pepper (give or take some ingredients).
Traditional Irish Colcannon
Ingredients
- 1 pound small red potatoes, cut in half
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 cup thinly-sliced onion
- 1/2 head cabbage, tough outer leaves removed, thinly sliced (should make about 6 cups)
- 1 cup milk
- Salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Preparation
- Steam potatoes over boiling water in a steamer basket until tender, about 15 minutes. Place in a large bowl and cover to keep warm.
- In a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and add onion, cooking about 2 minutes, until it is translucent. Add cabbage and continue cooking about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until cabbage is beginning to brown.
- Reduce heat to low and add milk, salt, and pepper, stirring to combine. Cover skillet and cook about 8 minutes, until cabbage is tender.
- Add cabbage mixture to the potatoes in the bowl and mash with a potato masher.
For dessert, a traditional Báirín Breac bread (aka barmbrack). Barmbrack is a cross between Irish Soda bread, raisin bread, and Mardi Gras King Cake. To make a traditional Barmbrack, trinkets and charms are always added into the mixture. Upon cooling, pieces of the cake are carefully cut and eaten and the charms divined. Barmbrack traditional charms include (some of the meanings are antiquated -- if not downright insulting):
- Bean/button: Bachelorhood
- Thimble: Spinsterhood
- Gold Ring: Marriage
- Matchstick: Husband will beat wife
- A small piece of cloth: Poverty
- Coin: Wealth
Naturally, your own charms and meanings can and should be utilized as a part of your Samhain traditions. Each charm should be wrapped carefully in parchment paper and placed in equal intervals throughout the bread before its final rise. Remember, when adding charms to your Barmbrack, be certain to warn the eaters.
Traditional Barmbrack
Ingredients
- 1 cup Constant Comment tea, prepared
- 4 cups white flour
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp Allspice
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 stick butter
- 1 package of yeast
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp white sugar
- 1 1/4 cups luke-warm milk
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup dried fruit
- Charms
Preparation
- The evening before, soak the raisins and dried fruit in the brown sugar and tea. Constant Comment is an orange spiced tea which adds a delicious flavor to the fruits, however any black tea can be substituted. Drain before using.
- Sift flour, spices and salt into a bowl. Rub in the butter.
- Add the yeast to the teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of the warm milk.
- Pour the rest of the warm milk and the egg into the yeast mixture and combine with the dry ingredients and the sugar. Beat well and knead until the batter is stiff but elastic.
- Fold in the prepared fruit. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave in a warm place until the dough has doubled (about 1 to 2 hours). Knead again for another 2 or 3 minutes and divide between two greased 1 1b loaf pans.
- Wrap the charms in greaseproof paper and then hide them in the dough. Be sure they are well distributed. Cover again and let rise until the dough comes up to the top of the pan (30 minutes to an hour).
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, until the top is nicely browned and the bread sounds hollow when thumped.
Christmas
This Christmas was slightly strange. Everyone I talked to said that this Christmas doesn't feel much like Christmas -- may it be the temperature or what. For me, just getting back from Germany through off my holiday feelings. I left the cold, snow, Christmas markets, mass city decorations, and Glühwein behind. When I arrived in Texas, it was 70 degrees (22 C), no snow, no city decorations (other then lights at night), no Christmas markets, no Glühwein, and no Christmas Tree. Sigh.
But, Christmas came anyway. I can tell you this, it began to feel more like the holidays with family and friends around. I went to my mom's house Tuesday night for our annual "Christmas Eve" night. We had a traditional holiday meal -- I cooked the turkey -- making it the second bird I cooked this year. We exchanged gifts too. I got a Roomba iRobot. Yes, I got a Roomba! It works perfectly; it actually does what it says it does.
On actual Christmas Eve (Wednesday), we went down to my uncles house in Houston. He just moved to Texas from Nevada for his job. We spent a nice dinner evening with his family. It was nice to see some of my cousins I never see. Living in DC, and his family in Nevada/California, we did not make it to family Christmas in Utah at the same time often. Now we live less then an hour away from each other in Texas (we met in the middle of the country -- ironic).
On Christmas Day, it did not feel much like Christmas. Mainly because of no Christmas tree (because of moving in December; the house was not decorated). I think having Christmas decorations really enforce the feeling of Christmas. Now, Christmas has come and gone. The next major event: the new year. I am excited for 2009 -- this new year is going to change everything: finishing college, house, finding a job/whatever... who knows...
Thanksgiving & Bonn Christmas Market
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Being here in Germany on Thanksgiving is kind of hard. They do not celebrate it here and I really miss family. To help the "pain," the program I am here with gives all the students a Thanksgiving party; with turkey and all. I think I said that AIB has students from Texas A&M University and from LMU from California. The party was a joint Thanksgiving, so it was nice to have more Americans around to help celebrate and create the Thanksgiving mood. It was a nice dinner. We had pounds of mashed potatoes, 6 turkeys, stuffing, salad, fruit salad, green beans, souffles, cobblers, pies, and more.
After the two hour dinner, the Texas students went to Bonn Christmas Market-- and the Glühwein was flowing. The markets take over the plazas in the city. They set up little quaint themepark villages. It is such a cool experience. The shops, lights, food, smells, sights, merchants, so on. All that was missing was caroling; which supposedly starts in December. The cup system here is neat. You go up and order your drink. Included in the price is a deposit on your cup/mug. If you like the cup/mug you just keep it and your deposit is the cost of the cup/mug; or you can go up and give it back and receive your deposit back. The Christmas mugs this year is a hand painted strong mug with scenes from around Bonn, so I kept mine as a souvenir. Oh yeah, I also did the same in Vienna.
In other news, today also marks the last day of my semester classes! Whoop! No more classes. Now I have 9 days of traveling, roaming, relaxing, and packing. I am going to Barcelona, Spain, November 29th till December 2nd. Then, home to Texas on December 8th at 9am (German time). It really is bitter-sweet. I want to stay, but I really want to go home.
Boo! (That’s German for “Boo”)
For Halloween the studio decided to have our own party (because Germany does not celebrate Halloween) then go clubbing in Cologne. We all went over to Pam's host parents house, which graciously agreed to host the party. We all contributed 3€ and Pam went to the store for hotdogs and snacks (it was BYOB). The class mainly went as leaves, 4 people went as the current presidential (and VPs) candidates, and one person went as if she was stuck in the 80s. The party was really fun. 
Our professor even came and did face painting. We had a good time being all together outside of the classroom. We were going to meet Miriam (our AIB program coordinator) in Cologne, but she sent a text saying she did not fill up to it. Because it was cold, we were relying on public transportation, and everyone was dressed up, we did not go. The party started winding down at midnight. Everyone wanted to make sure to catch his or her last U-Bahn home, so we ended the party.
I got home at around 1am. I expected just to go to sleep, but the next part of my night made a 180 degree turn, no, more like a 360 degree turn. If you want the full story, ask me in person. Basically, I ended up in Cologne until 9am. So yes, I was up all night. I got back to the dorm at 10am, and went to sleep. I got up at 5pm for dinner and AIB movie night. I got home from movie night at midnight. Sunday, I got up late at 1pm; after much needed rest. It was a very good weekend. I am glad I finally went out in Cologne; an amazing Halloween!
UN, Castles, & Pumpkins
This week in school we have mainly been working on our studio projects. On wednesday we went to the UN Campus for a tour/visit. It was an interesting visit. I really did not know much about the UN. A little Bonn history: When Germany was split into Western and Eastern Germany (and Berlin was split as well), Western Germany moved their capital to Bonn. For 20 odd years Bonn was the capital and had everything governmental. You know that iconic video of the German parliament where they all, as if rehearsed, jump up cheering when they hear the wall is coming down? That was in Bonn (which btw, I am going to that building/room this Saturday).
That iconic moment was good news. The subsequent events after were not. Now that Berlin was reunified, Germany decided to move its government back to Berlin. The Bonners didn't know what would happen to the city. Would it shrivel up and be forgotten? To prevent such fate, the German parliament passed the Berlin-Bonn legislation, establishing the UN Headquarters of Germany in Bonn. Bonn is now the fastest growing city in Germany. And for good reason: it is centrally located in Europe, it has a small town feel with the resources and infrastructure of a metropolis, and a city that supports the UN full heartily. One of the best parts of the tour, they took us up to the 29 floor of the UN building and we got a 360? view of over Bonn.
On Thursday we went to Schloss Dyck. It is an old castle from the Dyck family, built over 1000 years ago. We went on a garden tour. It was neat to see because the gardens are modern while reflecting the history of place. All the gardens where hidden in tall grasses, kind of like european corn fields (to give you a mental image). It was fun running in the fields; such a perfect activity during autumn weather. After the tour we all went back to studio and had a pumpkin carving party. It was nice to do something all together that had nothing to do with school; relaxing and rejuvenating. This weekend I am just working on projects.