The history of Ash Wednesday*

* According to this Ashley.

I started celebrating Ash Wednesday probably 10 years ago when I was in college. I didn't want to be disrespectful of the real reason for the day, but I decided that I just couldn't let this opportunity to have a day all to myself (and other Ashleys, but whatever) pass me by. It was too good. I guess birthdays are sort of like that, but it somehow seemed extra cool that it was related to my name. Anyway, that first year, I think I sent cards to friends and family with pictures of me, which sounds a bit weird to me now. But I was still a novice. Another year, I had an Ash Wednesday party, where a bunch of friends and I colored copies of a few pictures of me from my childhood and I asked them random trivia about me throughout the night. But it wasn't until I was in Poland that I even saw people who recognized the holiday in the traditional way. I found it fascinating to see people walking down the street with black marks on their foreheads. And last year was the year of name pancakes. So my celebrations have been many and varied.

Then last week, Anna burst into my room early one morning and told me I needed to see something right away. She was vehement. Unconvinced that it was an emergency, I stayed in bed until I could escape the fog of sleep. When I finally did get up, she took me into her room and, hopping up and down, pointed to her calendar and told me that there was a day called Ash Wednesday. She was thrilled! And so was I. (She was also extremely excited that it was on the same day as George Washington's birthday, but that's beside the point.) Anyway, it's super fun to have her be excited about Ash Wednesday too.

So far today, we have celebrated by having a funny food day. We ate breakfast on tin foil with funny utensils and cups. (Anna picked them out and suggested I have the "scraggily" tin measuring cup. Thanks for that. She also thought we needed some old fruit snacks to go with our meal. And on Ash Wednesday, I just have to say yes.) You can tell much of my celebrating takes a five-year-old girl into account, can't you?

And then lunch was contained entirely in several red foil cupcake liners left over from Valentine's Day. Fancy, right? We'll see what tonight has in store.

While that has been fun, it's probably not the way I'd celebrate if I didn't have to live real life. Here's what I wish I was doing for Ash Wednesday:

Starting in on my endless supply of Nielsen's Frozen Custard

while signing copies of my award-winning bestseller

while watching season 3 of this

and booking my trip to Antarctica (not even kidding)

by way of Greece

and maybe Tahiti too, while we're at it

Now if only I can get people to start taking Ash Wednesday as seriously as I do (or at least publishing my book . . . or taking me to Antarctica, I suppose), I think I will have arrived at the perfect way to celebrate. And Anna's on her way. Maybe next year.

Annacdotes 21

This is how the valentine shirt turned out. I unknowingly bought fabric paint that dries very clear, unless you use a ton, so—while still cute and glittery—it didn't show up very well.

So Anna felt the need to kick it up a notch.

1. A recent prayer: "Please bless the kids in my class, that they will be healed from their colds, which they have been given . . . which was a non-good present."

2. To delay going to sleep as I was leaving her room: "Mom . . . wait. [ten second pause] I space L-O-V-E space Y-O-U space M-O-M space [five second pause]. . . wait, no space. Exclamation point, exclamation point, exclamation point, period." From my sweet robo-daughter.

3. Anna often chooses the shoes she wants to wear each day based on how fast she can run in them.

4. We got a new whiteboard at our house recently and it has become the new favorite toy. (See picture below.) I'll translate some of Anna's notes for you. Starting at the top, it says (and must be read with an accent), " 'Ello Stephanie Scoresby. May I have this dance?" Then under that, it says, essentially, "Whoever reads this will be punished. Thank you." When Anna called me over to read this particular note, I gasped. But she told me that the punishment was a hug. I was both delighted and a little concerned.

5. Anna also frequently decides what to wear each day based on how many colors and patterns she can wear at once.

6. After walking a friend home one chilly evening, Anna walked in the door and said, "My face is burning cold!"

7. Anna was dressing up the other day and came in wearing a black comb taped below her nose. For a mustache, naturally.

On that same note but on a different day, this was Anna's best effort to disguise herself as a man.

A fragmented Valentine's Day

I bet you thought this post was going to be a bit more philosophical, with a title like that, didn't you? Well, sorry to disappoint, but it's actually about . . .

THIS!

My latest valentine. I loved it so much I had to blog about it. Anna and I set out to make some special valentines the other day, and she immediately started cutting paper up into little strips. That inspired the mosaic design for mine and something yet to be determined for hers. (Don't you love the invisible pouch for secret notes? I know I do.)

Then I started thinking about making a valentine paper chain, and I wondered how I could make it cool, besides just using valentine colors. And my brain came up with this, which I was very proud of it for. 

It's still a very simple design, requiring only cutting, folding, and stapling, but also very cool. Too bad it wasn't for us.

The rest of our Valentine's plans include decorating cookies, obviously, making more special valentines, trying out this technique on one of Anna's shirts (even though I give their headline a huge thumbs down), and making Anna's valentine box for her class party, which will be one of the most monumental moments of my parental career. I LOVED making these boxes when I was a kid, so I'm pretty sure we'll love making them together. (She WILL love it. I'll make sure of that.)

 Happy Valentine's to you!