Thanksgivukkuh 2013- Time to Get Excited (And a Giveaway!)

Alright people, it's time to get excited.

We are on the cusp of a once in a lifetime event. No- a once in an eon event. No- a once in the entire course of human history excuse for an epic food based party.

Do I have your attention?

You see, Jews love to eat. (That's not fair, humans love to eat, Jews just have an awful lot of holidays dedicated to it.) And Americans love to eat. (Perhaps more than any other humans on the planet.)

America has one epic holiday dedicated to eating. Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is essentially a two day long stuff-yourself-until-you-explode cornucopia of awesomess. First, you snack as you cook while watching an epic parade. Then there's the Thanksgiving Dinner, which you eat mid-afternoon to maximize the amount you can cram in your gullet. Then you sit back on the couch and either watch football until you've digested enough to head back for more, or play board games with your family until somebody marches off in a huff to get to the rest of the stuffing and eat it all out of spite.

Then you somehow manage to stay awake, despite the food induced sweating, long enough to have a last slice of pie for your midnight snack before passing with a radio that suddenly plays Christmas Carols around the clock.

When you wake up you have leftovers for breakfast, which is amazing, and then you have leftover turkey as sandwiches for lunch (or not turkey, if you're vegetarians, but still).

Want one of these? Donate to the kickstarter!

Then you have pie for dinner, because somehow you managed to "forget" that whole emergency back-up pumpkin pie, and now that your family has headed their separate ways, you can sit in front of the television and watch Home Alone and eat the whole thing with a fork and a can of Reddi Whip that you squirt directly into your mouth.

...or maybe that last part is just me.

But this year, there is a twist.

This year, Channukah starts on the same day as Thanksgiving.

...for the non chosen-people among my lovely readers, Channukah is ALSO a foodie holiday. Of epic proportions. You see, the thing that makes a food "traditional" for Channukah is that it's cooked in oil. It's that whole miracle of the lights thing- enough oil for one day burned for eight, so we use enough oil for six months in eight days.

That's right, if you want "traditional for Channukah" food, all you have to do is deep fry it. It's the Jewish version of the Texas State Fair.

The two most common "traditional" Channukah foods are deep fried potatoes and deep fried jelly doughnuts.

And this delicious heart-attack-waiting-to-happen corresponds with Thanksgiving, for the one and only time in all of human existence.

You see, the Jewish year runs on a lunar calendar. That means that our holidays don't match up with the same days each year on the standard solar calendar. But the lunar calendar, frankly, isn't as good. Rather than have a once every four years leap day (and a very slow conglomeration of seconds that shifts our time zones over the millennia) we have a whole leap month.

Basically, the Jewish calendar repeats on a nineteen year cycle. That means that the earliest possible day that Channukah can begin is November 28th. Channukah will never, ever, start earlier than that. That's also the day it starts this year.

Now, Thanksgiving is the third Thursday of November, no matter what day that happens to be. The latest that day can possibly be is November 28th, which is what it is this year.

So, I imagine you're all getting out your calculators, trying to figure out when the next time this is going to happen would be. Put them away now, because there's one last factor you haven't considered.

Remember when I said the Jewish lunar calendar wasn't as good as the Gregorian calendar we all use? Well,
every thousand years the lunar calendar moves another four days out of sync with the solar calendar.

And what does that mean?

It means that, unless the powers of be decide that the Jewish calendar ought to be modified, the very last time that Channukah will EVER fall on the 28th of November will be in 2146... and it will be a Monday. The Monday AFTER Thanksgiving.

So why hasn't it ever happened before?
Because we've only been celebrating Thanksgiving in this country since 1863.

...the last time Channukah started on November 28th was in 1861.

So what does this mean?

It means this is the time to DEEP FRY ALL THE THINGS! For America! And for defeating the Greeks so Jews could keep being Jewish (and eventually Jesus could be born, etc. etc. etc. for all you gentiles)!

Ever wanted to deep fry a turkey? This is the year to do it.

Ever wondered what happens when you stuff cookie dough with cranberry sauce and deep fry that? Try it out!

Deep fry your corn bread! Make sweet potato latkes!

Seriously, folks, the possibilities are both endless and delicious!

So why am I writing about this?

I am DELIGHTED to be teaming up with Modern Tribe to give away an incredible Thanksgivukkah t-shirt. This design is AWESOME, and one lucky reader is going to be getting one- in the size of their choice! There's both unisex and ladies' cut, produced on American Apparel shirts.

So you know they're freakin' comfy, which matters when you stuff your gut so much your plan ahead for your best elastic banded pants.

(Or in my case, skip the pants, just own it and wear a muumuu.)

So how can you win this amazing shirt?

a Rafflecopter giveaway



A randomly chosen winner to be announced on Sunday at midnight!

Congratulations to our winner!

The winner of Lullabyes From The Land Of Nod is Joshua and Matthew's Mommy!

Congratulations!!!!  And thanks for all the love.  :)



You can download the songs all you want, but Joshua and Matthew's Mommy will be getting a whole host of swag, including a CD!

Thank you all!

Yes, with these lullabyes you need never experience nights like this!

Win this awesome thing!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

You could win... a signed CD, some original art, and if you have kids- a special age-appropriate treat!  Who wouldn't want such an amazing cornucopia of awesomeness?


ENTER HERE!!!!!



And because I love you, another taste of what your winnings will include:




Best of luck!

Something Special for You

My babies sleep like angels- and yours can too!

As you may or may not recall, having read or not read recent posts, my dear friend and the absolute genius Phil Forsyth has helped me record an album of lullabyes.

And, as you may or may not recall- having read or not read less recent posts, I have been planning on doing something special for you (my lovely readers) to commemorate my blogoversary.

As you can probably guess by how close together I put those two statements, these are related phenomena.

To give you a taste of the genius of Phil Forsyth, here's one of my favorite of his tracks- "Modern Agressor" from his EP "Red Bricks and Green Houses."  If you're into sort of heavy banjo rock, this will definitely be your thing.  I love this song.



At any rate, Phil came by one day and helped me lay down the vocals for an album of lullabyes.  Being sort of a punk, and sort of a genius, he pretty much left them alone.  Most of the album is essentially a capella.  I think it's great- it's lovely (and a little creepy) and sounds much like I imagine my actual lullabye singing does.  It's ten of my children's favorite lullabyes.

And that is what I am offering to you, my lovely readers.  Free downloads of all ten tracks will be available for you soon.  But, for one very lucky reader, a little more right now...

With a CD of lullabyes, this can be yours! (Baby not included)

I'll be giving away one CD- signed by me, Phil, M, DD and SI.  I'll be sending this with original art, with a few photos, and perhaps some other assorted surprise goodies for your little ones (if you have little ones).  All you have to do is enter the giveaway, and on June 1st I'll pick a random winner.

To enter:

• "Follow" Becoming SuperMommy.  If you're already a follower, you can still count it.  Just comment below letting me know!
• "Like" Becoming SuperMommy on Facebook.  If you already do, great!  It still counts!  Just comment below letting me know!
• "Follow" @bcmgsupermommy on Twitter.
• For additional entries, if you're really dedicated to getting that CD and all the accompanying goodies, get somebody else to come here and comment that you sent them.

You must comment on this post for each entry to count!

I know, I know.  I'm a total narcissist.

Here's a sample track from the album.  I hope you all enjoy it!

Blogoversary

Reading to DD and SI on my blogoversary eve

Today is my blogoversary.

My first header

This isn't really such a big deal.  After all, is a blog a living, breathing thing?  Is it really any more complicated than an elaborate diversion?  A plea for acknowledgment from the vast expanses of the universe?  A bitter cry for attention in  life that has undoubtedly placed me in the role of "the mother," a notoriously ignored and under appreciated title?

A blog isn't a child, it's not a even a job.  I'm not even sure that it's a hobby.  It's just a thing that I do.

My second header

But yes, I do seem to think it's kind of important.  I've put so much of my energy into this blog, poured out so much of my soul, made so many very personal connections.  I feel I've created something that might not exactly be wonderful, but that (at least to me) feels very real.  I am very proud of my blog.  I'm proud of how well I've fallen back into my writing routine, I'm proud of the way I've managed to express what I consider the truths in my life.  I'm proud of the jokes I've made.  I've come to love my blog.

My third header

I had all these grandiose plans- I wanted to give you- the readers who have made me feel so warm and fuzzy about not just my life, but my ability to maintain a modicum of my pre-parenthood self- something awesome.

I wanted to record lullabyes for you to play to your kids.  My musician friend who was going to help me with that is a musician, which is to say "flake."

I wanted to make something nice, maybe a loaf of bread, to ship overnight to one lucky reader.  But I've been way too busy to pull out the bread machine.  That would involve clearing off the counter.

I wanted to take some spectacular pictures of my family.  Maybe a "Thank You" video.  But I didn't.  My children aren't always interested in being filmed.

My fourth header

I almost didn't even write anything today.  Today I went to the Museum of Science and Industry- without my children.  I saw some friends, I relaxed a bit, I did some homework, I ate some pizza.  And I didn't think too much about the fact that one year ago today I decided that I was going to start publicly blogging about motherhood.

I'm not really sure why I did it.  I knew that there were a lot of mommy-blogs, and I wasn't terribly interested in them.  I already had a personal blog, I didn't think there would exactly be much of an audience for my litany of diaper talk and cute baby pictures.

My first branding

But a year ago today, while my six month old twins napped, I started blogging about them.

So now here I am.  "Mommy Blogger" has practically become part of my identity.  I've learned all sorts of acronyms I'd never heard of before, I've joined half a dozen networking sites that I'd never imagined existed, and I've had strangers from all over the world (I'm always astounded by where Google track my readers from, Hello Slovenia!  Hello Germany!  Hello Australia!) laugh, cry, and ponder over the bizarre adventure that is parenthood.

Thank you, all of you, for reading.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

My blog's name's inspiration

I don't know what I'm going to do to thank you properly.  Once my musician friend finally comes around, I'll get those lullabyes for you.  (Yes, and that silly do-wop song.)  Once I'm done with my final projects I'll get that video for you.  And if you'd like, anyone who wants a box of cookies can comment here and I'll send you one.  Because I love that all of you seem to like me enough to keep this silly thing going.

...and I love this stupid blog.  From the doodles of my kids to the description of my cat.  This blog is so much like my home.  I painted my home in orange and blue, and without even noticing I designed my blog in the same colors.  My home is full of pretty things, cluttered even.  And so it this blog, little pictures and videos and a smattering of buttons.  My house is a barely contained mess, just as this blog is constantly littered with typos and dangling articles.  And of course, both are filled with my family, and my family's love.

My first foray into graphic design

So this is where I live, when I don't feel like living in the real world for a few minutes.  This is where I go to proclaim my little victories and my abysmal failures.  This is where I go to brag and to whine.

It's my happy place.

So Happy Blogoversary, blog.  I didn't get you anything, but I do love you.  And I'll definitely still be here come next April 9th, so that maybe I can do this thing right.

All my love to you, my readers, and to this amazing thing that is the blogosphere.  All my love.

Always reading, always writing

Winners!

Congratulations to TeaWithFrodo and Jessica, who are the winners of chocolates!

Jessica- I can't find an email address for you, so please send the mailing address for your friend with the teething baby to becomingsupermommy@gmail.com!

I hope this chocolate brightens the day of some seriously deserving women!

Love and chocolate to all!

Little Angels

SuperMommy and her grublings

Yes, I'm still sick.  Getting better, but my condition remains a mystery.  It isn't gerontological, it isn't my appendix, it isn't my gall bladder, it isn't my liver...

I've been feeling better, slowly but surely.  And when I have a few more answers I'll be sure to share them with you.  But in the meantime, life has been... surprisingly easy.

SI in a change purse... er, hat

Both M and I are falling behind in classes a bit.  Both of us are tired and frustrated.  But the girls?  They have been- in a word- angels.

They've been eating well, they've been fairly sanguine about their diaper changes (potty training is postponed until I am well).  They've been extra loving and extra cuddly and extra happy to do just about everything.

They've been good to their sitters, who are saints, and have been making all non-health related aspects of my life so much fun.

DD is learning more and more words.  SI has finally decided that learning English might be in her best interest.

One morning, I made them fruity yogurt for breakfast.  Not only did they not throw any on the floor, not get any all over their heads, and not smear it all over their trays, they actually scraped their bowls clean with graham crackers.  Their daddy was so proud.

DD learning to help SuperMommy out a little more

There's something truly magical about having two little people come running into your room to play with you when you're sick in bed.  Having them so happy to see you, distracted though they might be, so excited to give you kisses and then run away again...  It's been amazing.

On the days when I've been on my own with them despite my depleted condition (such as today) they've played all sorts of mommy-sitting-down games with me, given me so many kisses, and largely taken care of themselves.  Today we all sat down and watched a whole movie- "Fantasia 2000."  DD liked the whales in the water.  SI liked the toy soldier.  These girls have surpassed my wildest expectations.

Not only them, but M as well.  While I've been sick he has stepped up in a real way.  He's frequently lamented that he's lost some of his SuperDaddy touch since he relinquished his role as a stay-at-home parent.  I've seen it, and I can attest.  When you're not the stay-at-home parent, you're not quite as adept at handling the daily routine.  Especially when you're outnumbered.  He might not have gotten the dishes, laundry, or other miscellaneous cleaning done, but everyone was fed and happy.  Even yours truly.

This is what the elephant says

It's been a very long few weeks.  I am desperate for answers, desperate to stop feeling ill and dizzy and vaguely miserable.  But my family have been angels.  M, SI, and DD have made me the happiest mommy in the world.

And yes, I've lost about five pounds.  Hooray, starvation diet!

On Monday, I'll be announcing the winner of the box of chocolates!  I can attest- the Heart and Soul meltaways are both chocolaty and delicious.  So enter to win now if you haven't yet!  And I'll be posting quite a bit next week.  I have some pieces I've been working on in my convalescence.  Hopefully, they'll make you laugh and make you happy.

Best wishes, my dear readers!

Free Chocolate? Yes, Please!!!

First of all, congratulations to the winner of the Calendar Giveaway- That Damn Redhead! 

I am happy to announce MORE FREE STUFF!  And this time, the best stuff on earth.  That's right, chocolates.  I'm giving away a free box of chocolates from H&S Candies.

How do you win my delicious prize?  Simple.  Leave a comment to this post telling me why you or someone you love should get a nice big box of chocolate.

DD and SI covered investigating chocolate birthday cake

I'll announce the winner on Valentine's Day!  You have two weeks!

Get Free Stuff!

I am pleased to announce my first giveaway!

Comment with your "to-do" list for the year, and I will MAKE one lucky reader their own OCD calendar system!  A 2011 calendar, calendar square sized to-do lists, a glue stick, and a few little extras to get you going on the right foot.

Let's hear those 2011 goals!