Happy Easter!

Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.  ~ JPII

Happy Birthday, Trevor!

To celebrate your special day I took time today to complete the following activities:

I treated a stranger to Starbucks coffee.
Communed with the Almighty during a 10 mile run.
Not in possession of a Bible, I read passages from the following books focusing on early christian leaders and philosophers:

The Easter Egg Experience

Easter, a season of sweet traditions and nature’s rebirth. Every year that I can recall, my family displays our growing a collection of Pisanki; an Eastern European tradition of decorating eggs with symbols of life and rebirth. Unlike my relatives in Poland, I have zero artistic skill when it comes to creating my own Pisanki.

The best I’ve created look like the ones pictured below.  Over the years, I’ve created a style of Easter egg which projects to viewers a post modern, tie-dyed effect.  Don’t ask for precise details on how I create this style, I don’t have any good answers as to why.  It’s art, okay, that is all you need to know 🙂

I also realize the Easter bunny table cloth adds the perfect amount of je ne sais quoi to the entire Easter egg experience.

This fine tradition comes with a useful life lesson – don’t judge an egg by its shell; what’s inside matters most. Nutrition data reveal that Easter egg whites are great source of good quality protein, nutrients and are low in calories.  Many of my colorful creations have found their way to local food banks, as I always make more than I need for myself, family and friends.

Other than munching on a Reese’s Peanut Butter bunny, coloring Easter eggs is fast becoming my favorite Easter tradition. I find I can feed a creative soul with art and feed a hungry person a healthy and nutritious food item – a win/win situation altogether.

 Find more inspiring traditions and recipes at Celebrate with Hershey’s. 

 

Snark Factor Tonight!

Listen live to the Snark Factor every Wednesday night at 8pm EST on FTR Radio where I will be joining Fingers Malloy, Irish Duke to bring news bites at the top of the hour followed by sparkling chats with invited guests. If you are a fan of my blog, you’ll know that I have an eclectic taste in news of the day.

On tap tonight:

The Supremes, The Supremes!  The robed bunch take on gay marriage – no one knows the outcome until they come out with their ruling.

Buster is a very grumpy dog;  apparently the darn Groundhog Punxa-whats-his-name LIED about the coming of Spring.

Buster is not amused.

Hello There!

Time flies when life happens.

Have been busy with work, travel and a half marathon in Virginia Beach. I didn’t really train for this Half and was ever so happy to complete the course with a sort of acceptable time of 2:14:00. Honestly, I had no idea how I would fare in this run since I made the decision to stop boot camp the month prior to this run. Brilliant move, girl.

As you can see in the short  FaceBook video below, I survived the run and was very, very happy to share the news:

I’ve gone back to bootcamp fitness training and have adding more miles of running per week in anticipation of  two big runs in April; The DC Cherry Blossom 10 miler and Nike Women’s Half Marathon. Also, the first Sunday in May is reserved for the awesome Philadelphia Broad Street Run where I am looking to PR.

The 2013 Philadelphia Flower Show this year showcased the best of Britain.  During my visit, I took a few hundred photos of the exhibits and found perhaps a dozen that actually look like I know how to work a camera.

In a nutshell, I’ve been goofing off the past few weeks and have found myself behind in posting on the blog. No worries though as I  have some amazing content to share and plan to catch up on my posts this week.

One final note, an awesome reader of this blog is celebrating his birthday on March 30th and has made the following request:

For my birthday, Tania, I ask that you perform a random act of kindness to someone.
I would also like you to pray, read your Bible, or otherwise get close to God that day.

I will make sure to follow through on this request, Trevor.

Meet the New Pope – Francis 1

Source: independent.co.uk via Tania on Pinterest

 

First pope from the Americas and first Jesuit to become Pope.  Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now called Pope Francis 1 hails from Argentina and is no friend of Christina Kirchner and those of her ilk. This should make for some interesting conversations in the near future.

Also, the new Pope Tweets!

Source: latimes.com via Tania on Pinterest

Let The Conclave Begin!

Vatican City, Rome – On Tuesday, 115 Cardinal ‘Electors’ will begin the process of choosing among their peers the successor to St Peter, otherwise known as The Pope. The process is steeped in centuries old tradition and draped in secrecy with far more human influence than Divine. God has always come across to me as a deity who is very direct in communicating with mere mortals via burning bush and all that. Although I’m not  a biblical scholar, I don’t recall God organizing a secret vote to select Peter as the first leader of the Church.  While researching the history of the Conclave, I happened upon a great quote summary on Catholic.com regarding the origins of Peter as Pope.  The post give great insight on how the leading thinkers of the early Church were cementing the role of Peter as the rock of the Church. For those wondering, the article is Nihil Obstat.

In brief, the Cardinals will meet in the Sistine Chapel and vote twice a day until they come up with a name that has garnered more than two-thirds of the vote. Once the elected Cardinal has accepted the promotion, the world will know when they see white smoke from a Sistine Chapel chimney. This process may take a few days or perhaps months as it has happened once or twice over the centuries. Either way, wake me when it is over.

I hold little hope for an American Cardinal to be selected as Pope. Who do you think will be elected to become the next Pope?

Thank You!

Thanks to all who sent kind wishes after the passing of Tiny. The days have flown by so quickly and I want to make sure I acknowledge your kindness.

It is as I always suspected –  I have the best blog followers in the world.

HUGS!!!

All Nighter in Congress

#standwithRand

Farewell My Sweet Tiny

Though she be but little, she is fierce!

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the sudden passing of my little Pomeranian named Tiny. Her journey here on earth ended around 10 this morning, in her bed with those she loved near. He passing was quick and painless – one moment she was standing, the next, she shook free from the surly bond of life and went running into eternity.

In a few days, Tiny would have reached her 15th birthday. A great age for a little dog. In August, Xrays revealed an enlarged heart and liver along with a twist in her esophagus.  It was soon after that her health started to decline rapidly and changes in her baseline personality became more apparent. She was my constant shadow over the years. However, last night she stopped following me simply sitting motionless in the living room staring at nothing in particular; she did not react when I called her name or touched her.  I knew then her time was short yet was not prepared for how little time was left.