Melt the shortening in a large pan on the stove, and cool. (wood-stoves are excellent for this!)
Add sugar, eggs, and molasses, beat well.
In a separate bowl, sift dry ingredients together and add to the pan.
Mix well and chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.
Form into smallish balls. Roll in (christmas colored!) granulated sugar.
Place on greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 8-10 minutes.
Store in an airtight container to keep from getting overly crisp.
If they do lose their softness, an easy way to restore it is to place one slice of fresh bread in the container with the cookies for a couple of hours or overnight and they will be soft again!
I went fencing tonight! It's the first time I've gone since early October (before all the stuff with my Great Aunt and my trips home) and boy could I tell how long it's been! This girl is out of practice (and shape too, but who's keeping track?!)! I'll write more about this later - as I am exhausted right now! So, I'll leave you with two awesome things:
day three with aly and molly! “the best gift you’ve ever received”
this is an easy one.
the best gift i ever got (and keep getting) is the ability to go home for Christmas.
i’ve realized it even more this year - more and more of my friends are unable to go home to their families at the time of year that we all want to be surrounded by loved ones.
so that’s it - my best gift is my family and friends.
1. If you had known what they knew then, would you have boarded the Mayflower? Totally - I love adventure, and what a bigger adventure than going somewhere completely unknown to anyone?
2. How far have you traveled on a boat and how do you feel about boats in general?
I’ve traveled around a few lakes on a boat. So, not too far, but I do love them!
3. What traditions have you kept, acquired thru marriage, and/or tossed? If you're single what are some of your family's favorite Thanksgiving traditions?
I love curling up in front of the TV watching the parade with the smells of the dinner cooking floating around me.
4. What time is dinner and how many will be round your table? And what is the one side dish you cannot do without on Thanksgiving day?
Dinner is usually around 2:00. As for the side dish: STUFFING!
This year, with not going home, there were about 15 people around our “table” at our ex-pat party. However, at home my little family ranges from 3-7, depending on the year and where we’re eating dinner!
5. Have you ever used a fire extinguisher? Do tell....
Thank God no!
6. Tell about a situation that caused you dreadful trepidation and feet dragging, only to realize later it was a true blessing.
Coming to Budapest. You can read all about the past two years right here on this blog :) Needless to say, coming has been a life changing experience, even if the changing of life was scary!
7. Baked, sweet, mashed, hash browned or french fried...which one's your favorite
SWEET! :) All the way!
8. Random thought: I wish I was home for Thanksgiving tomorrow.
So, you may remember that a while back (re: all last semester) the fencing gym I was going to was closed for repairs. You might also remember my lamentations about trying to find the location(s) it was running at while it was being repaired. You might also remember how I pretty much gave up on that once the semester really kicked into gear, and how intensely crazy my bottled up energy was driving me.
Well, that will not be happening this semester! I went fencing last night, and it was amazing.
Okay, amazing because I got to go. Not so amazing because, woah, I am out of shape. Well, out of fencing shape that is. My poor little legs and feet are so blasted sore this morning. And I have a giant gash in my hand where, in the course of 3 bouts (maybe 20 minutes total - of which I won them all! This girl's still got it!) I managed to get a blister and have it start bleeding (mental note, maybe next time remember to pack the glove that doesn't have the hole in the palm). And boy, does that huuuuuuurt!
But in the end, none of that matters - I'm back in training!
I [begrudgingly] went back to the Synagogue this evening. Hellbent Determined to refigure out me and fencing in this city. Fortunately this time on the door of my precious house of fencing worship was another note - but hallelujah! There was an address attached to this one! And it was two doors down the street. How easy this all could have been a month ago if someone had put that on the note before! Ugh!
So, I dragged my bag through the snowy sidewalks and into another set of gyms and found a place where steel blades clanked and scoring machines buzzed. Noises I've missed so much! It's kind of amusing how such harsh and chaotic sounds can become some of the most comforting ones to a person. After standing around, looking for older fencers with epees and not seeing any, a nice old man - a foil coach - cornered me and asked me what I needed. I was relieved, to say the least. Though, the information I received was not the optimal (there would be no fencing for me tonight), it was progress. And that's better than all other fencing attempts I've made since I've been back.
Let me interject here my frustration with not being able to speak Hungarian, because I had a lot of questions (like: is the synagogue ever going to reopen? is it only lessons right now, or can i fence somewhere? etc.) and he had a lot of blank stares for answers. Now, yes I got the basic things accomplished, but I hate language barriers. And I feel guilty, because really I'm the foreigner, I should be the one talking not in my native tongue. Sigh.
So, I explained to him my situation (fenced last semester - really wanted to fence again) and he called the coach I was working with last semester and figured it all out for me. THANK GOD! He drew me a map complete with street names, landmarks, and bus numbers. So, tomorrow after my classes are over I'm off to find the place where I will be fencing for now. Hopefully. Keep your fingers crossed for me. It's another adventure, but it's not an adventure I really wanted to be going on.
The thing is, the reason I've been dragging my feet about this whole thing is that I've been afraid that it's closed for good. And, really, I am just not up to finding a new club (note: I would if I have to, but I would much prefer not to).
You see, fencing is a strange sport. Or maybe it's not, and it's just because it's the sport that's been with me for the longest stretch of my life (13 of my 24 years, to be exact). But belonging to a club is really like belonging to a family. Some of my most dear friends in my life are from my club in New Hampshire. Most of the people I'm still closest to from North Carolina (non-UNC students) are fencers and their families from the clubs I visited in the triangle (NCFDP & MSFC in particular). When you find a place to fence, going there becomes a habit. The people there recognize you when you walk in the door and miss you when you're not there.
I was just getting into that habit at the Honved when Christmas vacation came around. I like the people that belong to the club. Though I may not know them on a personal level (which still sometimes gets to me, but I understand), I enjoyed fencing with them and it seemed as though they enjoyed fencing with me. There's not much more you can ask for than that. For the first time in six years of fencing I've had to prove myself as an athlete and as a fencer to a group of people who had no pretenses to judge me on. I have no expectations to live up to with this club. They respect me and my fencing based on what they see on the strip.
And that is liberating.
For the first time in a very long time, my training partners are people who keep me on my toes. They challenge me. I challenge them. And while I love teaching new people how to fence, it is an amazing feeling to concentrate on my fencing. There is no one holding any expectations for me - not even me. And if you know me at all, you know how big of a deal that statement is. I'm fencing again because I love it, and no other reason. Sure I want to get better, but I'm no longer letting that drive get in the way of my progress. I've heard it said that overcoming yourself is one of the greatest challenges in fencing. I think I'm on my way there. And that whole feeling of progress and growth, both personal and athletic, is the reason I don't want to have to find a new place to fence.
(All photos are old ones of me fencing. Mostly circa 2007. The first one is particularly awesome - I think I was fencing the Air Force academy, but I could be wrong. It was taken the moment I got a touch - see my excitement? see the director's hand awarding me the touch? those are the moments I live for on strip! The second picture is me being my usual goofy self at PdF in Mass., and the final one is my "fencing glamour shot" to accompany an award I won senior year.)
I'm an active chick! I need to be doing things to keep myself happy! I need things other than school to keep me sane!
Well, it's grown into a full on case of Cabin Fever. No, really! This is exactly how I feel:
(Ps, I'm super bummed the Grammy's took away my Lady GAGA video from my last post. I'm a sad little monster!)
I know it's partly my own fault. I could have tried to go fencing this week, and really all my excuses just make me look like a lazy, lazy girl who doesn't really want to go fencing. But I do! See, this is why I'm dragging my heels: you've read in previous posts about my 45 minute travel time to get from dorm to Synagogue. You've also read about the close-to-two-feet of snow we got here in Budapest. And what I may not have been explicit about is the manner in which Budapest "shovels the sidewalks."
My mom would be so disappointed in the shovelers here, and would probably give them a lesson (which would probably be the same lesson I've been getting since I was old enough to wield a shovel in the harsh New Hampshire winters) on the proper method of snow removal. I may have whined about it when it was me with the shovel and it was a service forced upon requested of me. You see, shoveling in our world means shoveling down to the ground so that the sun can melt and dry the surface(be it driveway tar, back-deck wood, or sidewalk cement). It also means putting the snow in a place where it will not return or melt to the place you took it from (usually just off to the side of the driveway). This seems just common sense to me - do the work once and you don't have to go back and do it right again later (this is my mantra for a lot of things in life. I wish I could say all, but no one is that perfect.)
Not these Madyars. They manage to "shovel" enough snow to make a slippery sheet of packed snow that requires the balance and poise of a prima ballerina to navigate. Then they throw sand down on top of it making it into that gross brown sludge that clings to the hems of my jeans and cakes into the soles of my Uggs (which in turn makes the slippery patches of sidewalk slipperier!).
So you may be asking yourselves, what on earth does this have to do with your lazy butt not going fencing Courtney?
Well, to get to the Synagogue I have approximately 5 city blocks of walking to do. Now, though most of you have never seen a fencing bag, I'm sure you can imagine that it's pretty big and can get pretty darn heavy. Mine, fortunately has wheels. Wheels do not go well with snowy, un-shoveled sidewalks. And as my bag is really really heavy, that equates to 5+ city blocks of carrying it over my shoulder.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is reason enough for me to drag my feet and wait (im)patiently for someone to email me back (I found an email address online supposedly for the club and sent them a little note to figure out just what the frick is going on!). Though, if I hear nothing I'll make the journey on Monday. I can't live like this anymore! (Oh, and probably going to try out the aerials place tomorrow! If my MA or Med School doesn't work out, at least I can join the circus!)
However, that doesn't ease my aforementioned Cabin Fever. So tomorrow I am going to check out the Boticelli to Titian exhibit at the Budapest Fine Arts Museum. Then I'm going to help make cards for the Student Union's Candy-Grams campaign this coming week. Maybe go Ice Skating after aerials (if I find the place!). Gotta do things!
So, what's the moral of today's story people?
Mother Knows Best (at least about shoveling! Love you Mom!)
And just for fun, I found this on my procrastination adventures (instead of translating Latin).
-------
If I were a month, I’d be July. (warm, happy, and bright)
If I were a day of the week, I’d be Saturday. (lazy but full of promise)
If I were a time of day, I’d be 11 pm. (the witching hour)
If I were a planet, I’d be Mars. (cause of lots of conversation)
If I were a sea animal, I’d be an otter. (playful and full of spunk)
If I were a direction, I’d be North. (true)
If I were a piece of furniture, I’d be a bookshelf (full of stories)
If I were a liquid, I’d be sea water (everything goes back to the sea)
If I were a gemstone, I’d be a diamond (every one is unique)
If I were a tree, I’d be apalm tree (a free spirit)
If I were a tool, I’d be a chisel (capable of creating beauty & destruction)
If I were a flower, I’d be a bird of paradise (quirky yet beautiful)
If I were a kind of weather, I’d be a sunny day with a carolina blue sky (feels like home)
If I were a musical instrument, I’d be a piano. (classy)
If I were a color, I’d be carolina blue (true blue, through and through)
If I were an emotion, I’d be love. (of all natures)
If I were a fruit, I’d be a strawberry. (sweet, but with a kick)
If I were a sound, I’d be laughter. (happiness for all)
If I were an element, I’d be Neon (she's always buzzing just like...)
If I were a car, I’d be an Aston Martin V12 Vanquish (sexy)
If I were a food, I’d be Italian (mama mia!))
If I were a place, I’d be Rome (full of wonder, beauty, and secrets)
If I were a material, I’d be platinum (expensive taste)
If I were a taste, I’d be peanut butter (just like home)
If I were a scent, I’d be DKNY Be Delicious (signature scent)
If I were an object, I’d be pointe shoes (an instrument of beauty)
If I were a body part, I’d be the hands. (creation and compassion)
If I were a facial expression, I’d be a smile. (who wouldn't?)
If I were a song, I’d be Carolina In My Mind [James Taylor] (please forgive me if I'm up and gone)
If I were a pair of shoes, A pair of Jimmy Cho Red Peep Toe Pumps (always sexy, yet always classy)
It's time for a real post, I say! (Not that that beautiful and oh-so-unobtainable dress wasn't a real post!)
It's the end of week two (for me at least, after a heck of a first semester I have procured the ultimate goal of any student - no classes on Friday!) The semester is up and going in full swing; we're progressing full force ahead.
So why the heck do I feel like the Titanic headed straight for that iceberg? I am already so dang far behind?! It's a rough world in this tiny academic bubble. Each class requires nearly 150 pages of reading each week, so it's easy to get lost in the pages. Not to mention I'm really anal about these things and read it all instead of skimming through the things that aren't as
important. Fortunately I have three whole days to get stuff accomplished.
But I will probably be working on getting things together for a fundraiser Monday and Tuesday at our little school to donate to relief efforts in Haiti. I, in my desire to help, volunteered to be the Student Union member in charge of the whole thing (hey, it was my idea, I couldn't exactly pose it and then leave it there to float or flounder). Which means that now I am invested so much more than before, and need to make a powerpoint to show while we sit in the lobby by the dining hall and collect. I'm excited about it, but also so nervous.
I'm always this way - I love planning things (I founded organized and planned and executed an alumni fencing weekend event at my alma mater for the two years after I
graduated - which hopefully will continue on for years to come), people have suggested that I consider something like this for a career, but I just get too invested. I want things to
be huge and amazing. I want to do things never done before. And then it causes me so much anxiety, because what if something goes wrong? Eep!
In other news - it snowed here in Budapest! Finally something pretty to look at! I know I'm fortunate to be here, living and studying in Europe. But I seriously have a crazy case of the Januarys. It's grey out all the time, the sun sets before 4:00pm, all the buildings are grey and made of cement or other stone-like materials, people only seem to dress in greys/blacks/browns. It's just depressing and I'm trying hard to keep my upbeat and spunky nature alive amidst it all.
Seriously, my bright green Columbia ski jacket sticks out like a giant blade of grass on a dying lawn. I wear a bright Carolina blue hat on my head, loud colored scarves. I am trying to project my colorful and bright ways on a city that seems to have found itself in the Doldrums! Happy thoughts, happy music blasting on my iPod, smiling at strangers (the Hungarians, on average, have mastered the "don't care" look when traveling). Anything that I can do to salvage some sort of sunshine in this month of grey.
Oh, lastly - I tried to go fencing last night. I had to talk myself into it too, as I was suffering quite a lot from the aforementioned January Blues. I dragged my bag through the newly fallen snow, onto the bus, down two metro lines, and again through some other new snow to find out practice was cancelled. The lights were off in the Synagogue. The handwritten sign on the door read "ZARVA!" (Closed) and some other Hungarian that I clearly could not understand. Was gonna try again tonight, but figured I'd not test fate and just wait until next week. It's a long trip to just turn around and come home!
I do not envy those ladies! Naked! In the Snow!
Gearing up for Valentines! So Cute!
This is just aching for a late night meeting between lovers.
"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.
[A.A. Milne]
I’m really a quote-aholic. For some reason I find it calming to find reason in the words of others. Because, though I love my words a lot, sometimes other people seem to just get it right. Sometimes a few short words of others take the place of what could be a rambling and incoherent mess of my own.
So, this Winnie-The-Pooh quote really does it for me at the start of this new decade. I’m here, standing at the edge of my life and I have no words to explain what it feels like to be here. In an odd way, I feel like my life is really just beginning. I know I should have had this feeling before I moved to Budapest, but I think there were so many things going on at that time, both with the move(s) and some unresolved things I felt like I was leaving behind me, that I couldn’t just sit back and feel what was happening to me.
And now, I am feeling it. I really, really am.
It’s been a few weeks since my last real post. And I guess I owe you all some sort of update that doesn’t include my favorite Christmas movies or commercials (though, it was fun to go back and look at all those things again). Coming back to the States threw me for a loop, and not because of any reverse culture shock or anything, but a loop of love from my family and friends. There are so many people to see, and not out of feelings of obligation, but people I really want to see and who really want to see me. I cannot count the number of times I’ve been forced to take a step back and realize how truly blessed I am to be so loved by so many. If it’s true that you can measure someone’s wealth and worth by those who love them, I must be wealthier than Microsoft.
I got back into New Hampshire from Budapest (via Zurich) on the 15th. Well, it was almost the 16th by the time I found myself tucked in and exhausted in my bed. The flights were fine. In my usual manner, I made fast friends with the woman sitting next to me. She was this 81 year old woman from Krakow, Poland, and she has to be one of the sweetest little things I have ever met. I helped her get to and from the lavatory since she had a hard time walking, and chatted with her and shared a bottle of airplane wine with her. She gave me her address and phone number and made me swear that when I finally get to Poland (which, being Polish myself, she said I absolutely had to go no matter what else I did in my life) I will call her up, visit, and she will cook for me all the glorious Polish food I could dream of. You can bet I’m going to take her up on it, I love meeting new and interesting people like her.
And then, the 17th I took off for my beloved North Carolina. I made it to Baltimore that night and stayed with some friends of my friends from the Carolina Fencing Family. They were very gracious to have me over in the middle of Hanukkah and especially because of traffic I got there so much later than I planned! But I had a wonderful time talking to them and seeing their beautiful children. And to avoid bad weather and traffic I had to leave early the next morning. But I was so glad to get to NC - it has truly become my second home over the past six years. I expected to feel out of place, like life had gone on without me. And it has, but I didn’t feel it in a bad way. It didn’t hurt. And I think that’s because all the people who made NC home for me are still a major part of my life and my adoptive family. I visited my old work, had lunch with my old co-workers, hung out with my old roommate, went to a party at Carrie’s (and spent a while re-apologizing for missing their wedding!), finished my Augustine paper, met up with my favorite old professor - Brett, went to aerials, took a much missed ballroom lesson, and just pretended I still lived in the happiest place on earth. The drive home again saw me in Baltimore, but with other friends who I haven’t seen in far too long. Jes and David and Jes’s mom and I shared a bottle of prosecco and chatted. Then Jes and I chatted until far too early in the morning, I napped for a few hours, and then sleepy-eyed got on the road by six (potential for bad weather and a long drive made that decision for me).
After a mad rush to buy Christmas presents, Friday came and brought Christmas with it in a brightly colored boxes and happiness sort of way. It was an odd year for presents, as the parents did not want to buy me things that would either take up too much space to go back with me, or would remain at home untouched until I’m gone from Budapest (and my things are gone from their house) for good. So I ended up with a lot of CD’s (burned to iTunes), DVD’s (Blu-Rays that dad can keep for now that come with digital copies, burned to iTunes), and books (I’m a sucker and cannot live without them). I also got a new sweater, Uggs (which make me feel like a sellout, as most sorority girls at UNC wear them in the dead of summer with mini skirts, I swore I would never own them. But since I now again live in a place that has a real winter and a need for warm footwear, I caved), and giftcards for massages and haircuts. I’m happy with them, as they’re things I need and will use. Plus, just being home is the best present in the world.
I also have fenced in two tournaments since I’ve been home. Let me tell you, the happy feeling that started with fencing in Budapest has picked up steam back at home. I have not been this happy fencing in years. I know college fencing leads to burn out, but I am so happy that my love for the sport is coming back to life. I got to hang out with old friends and fencing family and just fence for the fun of it again. I’ve reconnected with people I assumed were out of my life for good, and am so glad that they’re not! I won a little women’s epee tournament (6 people), came in 6th in a mixed epee at the same place (of 24 people, I think), and came in the top 16 as the highest female finisher at the Hangover Open for epee (of 42, and the spot came with a bottle of Champagne - the first one I have been of age to actually take home with me!). I’ve been told by countless people that I look happier right now than they’ve seen me in ages. It has to be true, because I am feeling more like myself and happier than I have felt in ages. It’s an amazing feeling and I hope it never goes away.
There’s so much more, but I’ve already written a short novel here. More later, promise!
This post might be a little uninteresting to some of you, so I'll have to slightly apologize ahead of time. However, I've been meaning to write this one for quite some time, and just never had the time to sit down and write it - a post on fencing in Budapest.
You'll remember back a month or so ago I posted about how I finally made it to a fencing salle here in Budapest. It's the Honved Fencing Club and it's a few stops on the metro away from the center of the city. The club is held in an old synagogue which is incredibly beautiful on the inside. The old mosaic tiles are still on all the walls and I am constantly in awe of the architecture and art of the building each time I enter.
Oh and it's cheap, which is good with my student stipend. It cost roughly $50 a month which allows you to fence any day of the week you choose to come. My private lessons are about $10 for roughly twenty minute lessons, however some particularly good lessons combined with the fact that I'm usually his last student on Thursdays means that I've had lessons run close to an hour (yes, to answer the question running around your minds, I pretty much feel like death at the end of those lessons). Hours sound around 5-7pm Monday-Friday. I try to make it at least twice a week, but some weeks I get there three times and some weeks I've been lucky to make it once.
It's only a foil and epee club, so for me it's a little strange to not have all three weapons flailing around me when I walk around. The other strange thing I've noticed is that the sound of a club is different without the sounds of saber in the air. It sounds silly, but try being at a club where one weapon isn't represented, it sounds strange.
And it's absolutely unheard of to fence the weapon other than your own, even for fun. So my meager foil game is probably getting pretty rusty. Oh well. Glad I left my foil and sabre equipment at home then. (I'm going to have to bring everything home with me anyways, it all needs repairing so bad. I have all the stuff to do it here except a tiny screwdriver I have no idea where mine ran off to - and I can't find anyone anywhere.). I'll hopefully be fencing at the SFC Holiday Open and the Hangover Open as well while I'm home.
As far as a fencing facility is concerned, it's amazing. It's three levels - the first floor is primarily for foil, the third floor for epee and the second floor (which is kind of a mezzanine/half-floor) has a few strips and is also used for private lessons. The epee level has 8 working strips with lights on both ends so that both fencers can see and the wires are hid under the floors. The floor is mostly metal strips, but not all parts of the strip are grounded (grounded, for you non-fencers out there, meaning that if you hit the floor the light won't go off saying you've hit your opponent).
And as for the fencing - no knock to my NH or NC fencing families, but this is hands down the best fencing I've had in my life. And especially the best fencing I've had over the past 3-4 years. It's just a completely different world here. I train with members of the Hungarian National team and people vying for spots on it as well. I train with people who love the sport the way I used to love the sport. Which is making me love my sport again. There is no greater feeling for me right now than to walk into the gym and not feel like I'm about to have a panic attack.
I've had to prove myself too, which has been a new and wonderful experience for me. They're used to having foreigners come for a week or two to train on vacation, but they don't often get people for longer. So I've had to show them that I know what I'm doing and I mean business. Meaning I've had to beat up on some of the less good fencers to get the better ones to fence with me. It's paid off.
Like tonight. Tonight was the best night of fencing in my life over the past 4 years. Seriously. I ache and walk with a little limp because my feet and knees hurt. I'm bruised up, I have a slice on my shin, and a huge bruise on my back (left) arm because some guy I was fencing got frustrated that I was beating him and redoubled with something that looked (and felt) like a punch. I fenced some of the guys on the national team, and you could tell that they expected to walk all over me - and while the end scores (3-10, 4-10) make it seem like they did, they did not. I frustrated the heck out of them. I might not have been making my light go off as often as I would have liked, but they weren't hitting me either. Those bouts lasted close to 15 minutes (straight) each. And that's quite a lot for 10 touches!
I can't wait to fence some in NH and NC again with my old fencing buddies (and get some foil and sabre in too!), but I am going to miss this club while I'm away.
Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!
