Where: Crossville, TN
When: Friday, October 9, 2009 11:30-9:30 pm and Saturday, October 10, 2009 11:00 am-9:30pm
German food including; Pork Schnitzel, Kasseler Rippchen(Smoked Pork Chop),
Bratwursts, Knackwursts, Weisswursts(White Sausage). Domestic and imported beverages. Enjoy music with the Just 4 Fun Band, Rheingold Band, and the Bavarian Echo.

Where: Lancaster, TX
When: October 9-10, 2009
German food, beer, wine, and root beer will be available. Entertainment includes live music, a Bavarian dance club, amusement park rides, and art. This event has free parking and free admission.

Where: Red River, NM
When: October 9-11, 2009
Event includes German “OOMPAH” polka music, food, microbreweries, a brew contest, and activities for the kids.

Where: Puyallup, WA
When: October 9-11, 2009
German “grub and grog,” will be served. Activities include Maypole dancing, a root beer garden, face painting for kids, and the Oktoberfest Northwest Running of the Wieners. That would be a race with wiener dogs. Sounds cute. This one sounds like a big event, so be sure to check the website for full details.

Image credit: Sxc.hu

Post from: Blisstree

Oktoberfest Coming To A Stein Near You

Some couples celebrate anniversaries while they are dating.  There seem to be a lot of variations in these anniversaries and I have no idea what the right answers are for determining these.  How often do you celebrate?  It could be every week, month, year?  And even more importantly, how do you decide on your official day to celebrate?  Is it the first meeting, date, kiss, night you slept together, or day you decided to be exclusive?

There are are really so many possible answers to all of these questions and infinite options.  It all seems to be very personalized for each couple.  Everyone has a little story about the day that they pick as their anniversary and they get to tell the story everytime they celebrate on their special day (so let’s hope that it’s more interesting than “the night we sealed the deal”).

So I’ve come to my decision about what I think about dating anniversaries:  they are a day to put aside to celebrate the romance in a relationship.

It is not official like a wedding anniversary, so there is no need to worry about cards or gifts for other people.  The dating anniversary is completely insular to the couple.  It is a day that couples program to fit what they agree upon in their relationship and they come together for a specific moment of romance.

If this is not something that you need or are looking for in a relationship, then you will probably find that you are one of the couples who doesn’t celebrate dating anniversaries.  If you are looking to add a little romance reminder into your dating relationship, then this is a great place to find it.

Image: sxc.hu

Post from: Blisstree

Do You Celebrate Dating Anniversaries?

This idea has been rolling around in my mind for some time and I would say that I had prayed for some direction on how best to celebrate her short life, but I don’t remember doing so. So it seems strange to say that prayer was answered unexpectedly the other day. I was chatting with Mary-Reid – our sons play T-ball together on the same undefeated team (had to throw that in). We were discussing the mother of a mutual friend who has been struggling with her own years-long battle with cancer. I said, “I understand what she’s going through. My mother died from cancer. It will be 10 years this month.”

Mary-Reid turned to me with a look of surprise. I recognized that look almost immediately. She was part of my club, this unwanted sorority of women who have lost their mothers. “I lost my mother to MS two years ago this month. The 29th,” she said. I said, “Mine died on the 18th. I’ve been trying to decide what to do on that day.” She said simply, “Dead Moms Day.”

She admits it sounds morbid, but then again, it would not be celebrated if one’s mother were still alive. She celebrates the day eating the food her mother most loved – tiny Krystal sandwiches and doughnuts for breakfast. She has a friend whose mother died on St. Patrick’s Day who serves ice cream sundaes for dinner on her Dead Moms Day. The evening of each of their Dead Moms Day these two friends go to a local restaurant and order a mountain of food and drink bottles of wine and laugh and cry and remember.

So I have designated today as my Dead Mom Day. We will pull a great bottle of wine from our meager wine cellar because my mother was quite fond of wine. (I already told Rick we wouldn’t choose her favorite label because she and I had different tastes in spirits!) We would start by popping a bottle of prosecco, because my mother loved bubbly, and we will christen our newly planted garden in her honor, because my mom adored gardening to the point that even terrible allergic rashes on her arms couldn’t keep her out of the flowerbeds. And we’ll do something fun for dinner, because my mother enjoyed cooking and trying new recipes.

While significant for me, these activities also seemed somewhat selfish. I felt I needed to do something more, something that would show others just how genuine she was. So I called the Vacca Campus of the Department of Youth Services, which serves as an alternative to jail for young juvenile boys, and asked what I could give in memory of my mother. My mother was a stay-at-home when I was in elementary school but she grew bored with being the PTA president. So in her early 30s she enrolled in law school. She worked in private practice for a few short years but couldn’t stop accepting pro bono cases from people who needed help but couldn’t afford an attorney. She felt most drawn to juveniles, many of whom were good kids but had little direction finding the right path in life. It was a perfect move when she took a job as the juvenile defender for Memphis City juvenile court serving as appointed attorney to children from less fortunate families. She worked there nearly 20 years before her office belongings came home packed in boxes with notes of condolences.

The administrator at Vacca was gracious and a little surprised. He said the boys would most appreciate sports equipment, so we will deliver a generous supply for the 75-plus boys there in memory of my mother. I hope to continue the celebration next year.

I think back on all this life has presented me these past 10 years and there is no avoiding the gap left behind by her death. It is a wound that will never heal. But I think she must know what’s going on with me down here. I think she’d appreciate the gift to Vacca. And I know she’ll be with me in spirit today, as always.

Love you, Mom.

Photo, Flickr, debaird

Post from: Blisstree

Dead Moms Day

Their lineup includes:

~ Spring Celebration Carrot Cake
~ Savarin Cake with Vanilla-Grand Marnier Syrup
~ Lemon Bundt Cake with Berry Rhubarb Glaze
~ Jamie’s Coconut Cake
~ Have Your Own Cake and Eat It Too
~ Strawberry Shortcut Cake
~ Caramel Peach Upside-Down Cake.

I’ve got two birthdays coming up next week and I think I’m going to try the coconut cake and the carrot cake! What are your favorite celebration cakes?

[image: flickr]

Post from: Blisstree

Celebration Cakes from Food Network

I’m wondering these things because it is a reality that many American families have to deal with, every June. With divorce rates and teen pregnancies so high, many families are left without a father. I’m curious to know how they deal with a day like Father’s Day and the void that so many children must feel. I know that the absence of a father is something that single mothers deal with year round, but certainly, it must be worse on a day designated to celebrate a man who (in their situation) doesn’t care to be around or has passed away.

If this situation applies to you, please let me know your opinion on the topic. I know it must be difficult to deal with and I feel empathy for those who fall under this category. I myself, have had a hard time with Father’s Day since my parent’s divorced and my dad moved so far away. Furthermore, my Grandpa (who became my father figure after the divorce) went to heaven in February. It will be a tough day for me, as I will be delivering my Grandpa’s card to his grave. I am blessed, however, to be able to celebrate the wonderful father that my husband is to my children. Many are not so blessed. To all of you who will live through tomorrow, fatherless, my prayers and thought are with you.

Post from: Blisstree

Father-less Day

Holy homemade handkerchiefs! Mother’s Day is right around the corner! I have been so busy, that it hasn’t really been on the top of my priority list. The time has come to start thinking of ways to make this Sunday special. I need to think of a gift or an act of kindness to show my mother how much she means to me. Unfortunately, I’m bad at this kind of stuff, so I’m relying on all of you. I smell a contest!

Okay, here’s the scoop. I need Mother’s Day ideas…good ones, silly ones, even slightly odd ones will do. Submit your ideas in the comments section. Each idea needs to be a separate comment and here is why: I am going to select one individual comment to win this bouquet of flowers to send to the woman of their choosing on Mother’s Day.  You may even send them to yourself! The contest starts now and ends on Friday at 8am PST. You may submit as many as you’d like, as long as they are submitted as individual comments. The more you submit, the greater your chances of winning are! Good luck!

flowers by: www.proflowers.com

Post from: Blisstree

Ma Mere, Mon Ami (My Mother, My Friend)