Leaping Leap Year

Some fun Leap Day Facts to celebrate the only day that comes around once ever four years:

  

 Historically, February 29th is the day where woman can traditionally propose marriage to a male companion. The exact history of this isn’t know, but it is speculated to have started in 5th century Ireland.

This day is often celebrated in many cities with discounts and sales, in both shops and restaurants. It’s said that frogs legs are the most popular snack today. Maybe it’s time to nibble on those bad boys!

Karin Henriksen of Norway holds an interesting world record in relation to Leap Day. She has given birth to three children on consecutive Leap Days, including her daughter in 1960 and her two sons in 1964 and 1968. Pretty cool considering people have a 1-in-1461 chance of being born on a leap day.

According to Yahoo.com, Leap Year has been around for 2,000 years, since Julius Caesar created the 365-day calendar. However, Caesar's astronomer, Sosigenes, gets credit for adding an extra day in February every four years. The Egyptians were the first people to add a leap day every four years, but the Romans were the first to choose February 29th as the official date.

Ten fun facts about Leap Year:

1. Your chances of being born on a leap day are approximately 1 in 1461.
2. There are about 187,000 people in the US and 4 million people in the world who were born on Leap Day.
3. People born on Leap Day are called leaplings.
4. In most states, leaplings must wait until March 1st to be eligible for any age-specific privileges (ages 16, 18, 21).
5. Every now and then we have to skip a regularly scheduled leap year. This happens during specific century years.
6. Century years are not leap years unless they can be evenly divided by 400. The years 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, but 1600 and 2000 were.
7. When 2/29 is entered into a majority of websites it comes up as an invalid birth date.
8. US Presidential elections and Summer Olympic Games are both held every four years and occur during leap years.
9. In Greece, people believe it is bad luck to get married in a leap year. On the other hand, in Ireland, women can propose to a man.
10. The next February 29th will come around again in 1,460 days.

Well, leaping lizards I got a lot stuff to do so I gotta run and with that........ it's another day in Catasauqua (an extra one!)

Faschnaut Day, Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday

I feel like I am falling behind in my blogs, since Donut Day came and went and I never got a chance to blog about it.  Donut Day or Faschnaut Day is an annual event here in this part of Pennsylvania and if you are a reader from out of the area you might wonder what a Faschnaut is.

A faschnaut is a fatty doughnut  treat served traditionally on Faschnaut Day or Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent starts. Faschnauts were made as a way to empty the pantry of lard, sugar, fat, and butter, which were traditionally fasted from during Lent.


I had two yesterday and they were homemade and delicious!!! 

Now Mardi Gras, is not really celebrated around here, but this Saturday my church, Salem UCC, hold a Mardi Gras (yes I know we are late this year).  Our Mardi Gras is  a flea market, food and games for the kids.  It's still a fun time and we raise some money for the church.

Mardi Gras, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday.    Popular practices include wearing masks and costumes, overturning social conventions, dancing, sports competitions, parades, etc.

And now, today, Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.   Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of Christians as a sign of mourning and repentance to God.  The ashes used are typically gathered after the palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday are burned.

So now I guess I am up to date.   I had the day off today so I made my halupkies or stuffed cabbage for Saturday.  Every year I make them at this time and Parke and I usually set the out in the snow to cool off.  Guess I can't do that this year.  My neighbor's crocus are blooming and I believe it is going to be like spring the next day or two with temps hitting the 60's, and that's what I call.....another day in Catasauqua.

PJ PARTY in CATASAUQUA - Part 2

Well, it's the day after the annual sleepover and I am tired.  For the first time in the history of the sleepovers everyone showed up.  Twenty were invited and during the course of the evening 20 attended.  Over the years we have taken the group shot on the stairs, on the sofa, and even in bed.  This years picture was on the sofa again, because it was the only place we could all fit. 

It was a night of laughs, food and fun.  First we ate, omg what great food,  4 crockpots, one with chicken chili, the next one, chicken barbeque, then sausage soup and last but not least, homemade perogies.  There was fruit, potato salad, chips, dip, shrimp,  taquitos (which were wonderful, thanks Roseanne) Lan's wonton thingys, and that's only a portion of what was there.  

We later went through books that were part of the collection from our friend Miriam, who recently departed this life.  Tons of books and we went through them and shared them with each other.  The real laughs began when we went through Miriam's scarf collection.  There were scarves for everyone and it got crazy, we made headbands, Tammy went pirate on us, and we even decided to make some of them into bandeaus, some of us needed more fabric than others.

We, of course, had to break out the fortune telling cards and I had to read everyone future, which turned out to be very bright this year for everyone.  Everyone it seems was meeting a new love, and since the only place we ever really go to meet people is church -- all I can say is WATCH OUT CHRIS KOLLAR. 

A majority left by midnight and we popped in a movie, Bridesmaids.  There were 8 of us left and we settled in around 2:15 AM.  I felt that I didn't fall asleep till around 4am, but Tammy assures me that I was snoring before that. 

Nancy #1, got up at the ungodly time of 6am and I rolled off the inflatable bed at 7:00 am.  Miraculously,  I have not napped, but instead took down my valentine stuff and got out my St. Patty's Day stuff.  Cathy and book club 2 will be proud of how I draped around the green scarves from last night.  Seriously though, the scarf that I had in my hair last night, one of Miriams', is now on my piano with a matching green candle holder on it.  The funny thing - they are the exact same color, and the candle was a gift from Miriam for my 50th birthday. 

I  prepared my lesson for Sunday School early today and I have already showered and am now enjoying the leftover chocolate wine from last night.  I don't think I will last much longer I felt like dozing off about an hour ago, so I will leave you with this.  Enjoy life, party when you can, act like a fool occasionally, and cherish your friends.  Finally, sometimes stay up late with your friends, because the next day will be another day in Catasauqua.

PJ PARTY in CATASAUQUA....tonight



no, this is not us..we wish though

 Yes, it is that day again - it is the Annual Pajama Party!  Yes a bunch of "church" ladies of all ages get together and have a sleepover!  The very first year I slept on the floor in a sleeping bag, that was 14 years ago.  I got smarter since and have an inflatable bed.  I remember turning to Cathy in the morning on the first year, her sleeping bag was next to mine and I said, "I feel like I didn't sleep" and she answered, "It's because we didn't".  The early years we stayed up late and got up early.  Miriam would start the coffee in the morning at most ungodliest of times.  This year I will really miss that.  Miriam entered eternal life not to long ago.  I know we might shed a tear or two tonight, but I know, and I really know this, we will also laugh. 

The party starts at 5:00 PM and I am not disclosing the location, just safe to say it is in Catasauqua.  That is when the food will start arriving, in waves, and that's how we eat.  I always take, it's a tradition, Chocolate Covered Strawberries.  Shirley's homemade periogies will be there and so will the shrimp that Nancy B1, always brings.  There is always a gaggle of crockpots going and food all over the dining room table, which gets moved later to accomodate the sleeping bags and beds.   I am bringing a crockpot dish also, but it is for breakfast, it is a breakfast dish which includes ham, eggs and potatoes.

We have had over the years all kinds of food.  I brought sushi one year, we have had chocolate liquor bottles that were quite the hit, along with chocolate wine (which I am also taking tonight).  While I am on the subject let's talk booze, there is enough at this party to make half the town drunk, yet I don't think there has been a time that any one of us imbided too much.  My favorite, and I bring it every year is MARGARITAS!!! START THE BLENDER!!!

I must confess though, I was not geared up for this night until today.  The loss of Miriam and other issues in my life but a little damper on my spirits, but today I am all excited with anticipation of a fun night.  We even have someone new coming tonight, a new friend.  Hope we don't scare her too much, LOL!

Sincerely though friendship is the best thing.   Friends are the most important ingredient in the recipe called life.  I love each of my friends, and each friend brings a different world with them.  Together we have a galaxy of delights, dreams and wishes. 

So let the games begin (no Karen not literally)....let's instead say, let the fun begin and if by chance you see a bunch of police cars at a house tonight let's just say that it's another day in Catasauqua.

Cheeses of Nazareth and Crazy Cats in Coats

Cheeses of  Nazareth and crazy cats in little coats is the kind of day I am having.  It's been a day full of laughs and giggles.  First it started with our North Catasauqua Community Choir, "We Sing", we had two concerts today.  One at Our Lady of Perptual Help and one at Country Meadows Assisted Living.  The songs were lively and fun.  We had lots of laughs rehearsing and even while we were singing.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it.  Afterwards the bffs and I went for dinner.   Nancy wanted to find Nazareth Diner and with a few turns here and there she found it.  While we were eating she mentioned that there was a cheese shop nearby and that she would love to find it.  I was game, I love cheese.  Anyway she asked the waitress if she knew where it was, she said she didn't know the name of the place, I turned to Cathy and said it was Cheeses of Nazareth and that was it, I and her lost it.  They said the directions and we didn't hear a word.  So they wrote down the directions for us, they said the place started with a "C"  and again I started laughing saying yup Cheeses of Nazareth.  Anyway we did find it, it was closed and it wasn't called Cheeses of Nazareth.

On another note, I have been trying to get my mom to stop feeding all the neighborhood cats, I know the neighbor's cat Oakley is like one of my own.  He has been coming over for years for treats, sits on my lap in the summer and even comes to the back door and looks in the kitchen window when he is really hungry.  But the food being out on the front porch has attracted a few more cats, one very fat little mouse, whom I think met his recent demise since he couldn't run anymore and maybe, just maybe a skunk.  So I took the food in.  I told my mom, that she can feed Oakley in the morning and that's it.   Tonight we are sitting here watching TV and there was a noise at the window, I asked Parke to check, and to be careful, just in case it was a skunk.  He opened the door and said nope, just a cat out here in a green coat.  I said what??  He said the cat was wearing a little green coat, and sure enough there was this cat, yet another one I haven't seen wearing a little green coat with dog bones on it.

Parke's theory is that the cat roughed up some little dog and stole it's coat.  The strange sites here in Catty.  Well, in case you didn't know where I lived before, you will now, just look for the house with all the cats on the front porch including the one sporting a coat, and that's ...another day in Catasauqua.

Snow in Catasauqua

This morning Digger and I took our daily morning walk, and the snow was falling.  It was only a light snow but it made everything look pretty.  I like this kind of snow and the Lehigh Valley has been very lucky this winter when it comes to snowfall.  That is, unless you like the snow, then you are not so lucky. 



So far, the 2011-12 winter has averaged warmer than normal, with temperatures in much of the Northeast averaging at least 5 degrees above normal. The 60-day average was within the top 20 warmest on record at all but one of the first order stations in the region. This winter's prevailing storm path, combined with the warmer temperatures has kept significant snowfall at bay. Consequently, there is not a lot of snow on the ground, especially when compared to last year.  






Even as I write this the snow that fell this morning is disappearing.  The one thing I love about an early morning walk when the snow is falling,  it is very quiet.  There wasn't a sound this morning, no birds, no children,  and no cars.

But now it's back to normal, at least for now, I hear it is suppose to be cold and windy tomorrow, so enjoy today; and that's another day in Catasauqua.

Super Bowl Sunday

Hello Sports fans today is Super Bowl Sunday and I thought I share some of my thoughts on the game.  I have no thoughts about the actual game, sorry, my thoughts are on the food and commercials.  Oh,  I will watch the game and I am currently watching the pre-game show (that's what I can hear over Parke's snoring, I guess he is saving his energy for the game).  I like football, but our team, The Eagles, are not playing so I really don't have a favorite when it comes to the Giant and Patriots.  My favorite is the Clydesdales.

Yes, I love the commercials, I hope there are some good ones this year.  I always love the Budweiser Clydesdale commercials, they are the best.

Here are some Fun Facts about the Super Bowl:

• 8 million pounds of guacamole is consumed on Super Bowl Sunday
• 14,500 tons of chips are eaten along with that guacamole
• Of the top 10 most watched American television programs of all time, nine of them are Super Bowls
• The Super Bowl is measured in Roman numerals because a football season runs over two calendar years
• Over 700,000 footballs are produced annually for official NFL use and 72 of them are used for the Super Bowl
• It is the 2nd most watched sporting event in the world. More than 100 million people worldwide watch the Super Bowl every year. In fact, Super Bowl XLIV in 2010 unseated M*A*S*H's series finale as the most watched show in television history with over 106.5 million watchers.
• One 30-second commercial aired during the Super Bowl costs at least $2,800,000
• The NFL has a policy against holding Super Bowl games in stadiums that have a climate of less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit, unless it is an enclosed stadium.

There is another Super Bowl,  it's called the Souper Bowl of Caring, yes Soup-er Bowl.  It it held all over the United States and it supports area Soup Kitchens to help feed those who are in need.  In the Lehigh Valley Area that would be The Lehigh County Conference of Churches.  Last year, the Lehigh County Conference of Churches served over 60,000 meals in Daybreak and the Soup Kitchen.  Our church, Salem UCC will collect a donation in soup pots next week during church which will go to LCCC.  A person from our church once said imagine if every who watched the Super Bowl just gave 25 cents to their local soup kitchen how much that would be.  Well, in 2010 that would have been $26,625,000.00. wow, that's a lot of soup.  Seriously though if you wanted to donate here is their website http://www.lehighchurches.org

 

Well it's time I started getting our food together, some shrimp for my mom, pizza, honey barbeque wings, mozzarella sticks and egg rolls for all of us and oh yes, my veggie corn dogs from Morningstar.  It's time to party!  Hey where's  my red solo cup?

Enjoy the Super Bowl I know I will between snacks and commercials.  Have a great day and that's another day in Catasauqua.

Getting Ready for Groundhog's Day

The February 2 celebration, which involves a weather-predicting woodchuck, dates back to the late 19th century.

On Groundhog Day, a groundhog in the small town of Punxsutawney emerges in the morning to a throng of onlookers. If he spots his shadow and returns to his hole, it means winter will last six more weeks. If the groundhog does not see his shadow, an early spring is sure to come.

Not to be outdone, many other towns now have their own woodchuck weatherman.  Punxsutawney Phil is the original star.   He first predicted the weather 126 years ago and has had about 39 percent accuracy ever since.

This is from the site http://www.groundhog.org/

"Come and celebrate the 126^th year of Groundhog Day at Gobblers Knob, Thursday,  February 2nd 2012. This is the main event where Punxsutawney Phil, the Seer of Seers, the Prognosticator of Prognosticators, the worlds most famous groundhog and the only real weather predicting groundhog will greet his true believers and will reveal to Bill Deeley the president of the Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club his prediction for the end of winter."

Now on the calendar the first day of Spring is March 20, so whether the Phil says so or not that is when spring arrives.  In my opinion Phil should be saying an early spring because today's temps are certainly rising to the occasion.

Maybe Catty should get a weather predicting Groundhog, God knows I have them in the backyard.   Maybe tomorrow I will look for Corky from Catasauqua and see what he says and that's another day in Catasauqua.