My Family Fare

After reading Garrison Keillor's "A Wobegon Holiday Dinner," I find it hard to even fathom the conversation of food. Oh well, here it goes...


My family used to have large gatherings for the Holidays, but much has changed since I was a child. We would have Easter egg hunts and ham dinner, Thanksgiving Day with the traditional turkey dinner and Christmas presents and a ham/turkey dinner (since no one could ever decide on the main course) followed by a week of leftovers at my Grandparent's house. Our family has grown apart and many have moved away. I have been told that the holidays I remember were not all they cracked up to be, but I still long for those days where there were so many people that my grandpa and dad had to make an extra table out of a sheet of plywood.

I am an only child and I married an only child. Our holidays are small, yet I still cook like there were thirty of us. My grandma has passed the cooking torch down to me and I enjoy having the Holiday dinners at my house. It usually consists of about ten of us, depending on the year. I always make everything from scratch, like I was taught. My family never really recorded recipes, we just add a little bit of this and a little bit of that until it tastes good. My grandma always says I need to write down my recipes, but I never measure, so I don't really know how to start.

One thing that I can always make and MUST be at any dinner for my family is deviled eggs. I, for one, think deviled eggs are the easiest thing to make, but my whole family insists that I make them better than anyone else. As a matter of fact, this last weekend was my dad's birthday dinner and we had it at my grandparent's house. It was really nothing big, just my mom and dad, grandparents and my husband and I. The second I walked in the door my grandma said she had a project for me. I was already mortified because I walked in and she had her Christmas tree up...on November 7th! Anyway, I complied as I usually did and walked into the kitchen. What else did I see but a bowl full of hard boiled eggs. Nothing had to be said. I got out the egg plate and made my deviled eggs. Its funny how my eggs have become a staple of any meal...our cholesterol must be off the charts!

My Community

ANGEL Learning is a community. Many people each day take the first steps in bettering themselves as human beings by taking higher learning courses. ANGEL learning is a community because the members are here with the same purposes whether they be for career opportunities or self advancement. The members of ANGEL learning have chosen this community for many various reasons. Most desire the freedom that online courses give you to have a career and be able to participate in a more convenient time. Some people are nervous about being in a classroom environment and choose to be anonymous. Many people have families and choose online learning over putting their children in daycares. Others just want to wear their pajamas to class (well maybe just me). Whatever the reasoning is for choosing the ANGEL learning community, we are all in it together.

The ANGEL learning community is new to Everett Community College. Most of what holds this community together is the simple fact that we are all learning a new program together. We must be supportive of one another in order to succeed. We all want to learn and we all value education. Each and every one of us needs each other to learn from. We all need to help in different ways. Some of us are more computer savvy and look to others for advice. Others have never written a college essay or blog before and are looking for feedback and constructive criticism. And many of us have never even experienced college before and need others to walk us through this pivotal process. We all need each other and we all value other perspectives.

Sometimes people do not fully understand the time and effort an online class requires. Some feel that an online course is an “easy A” and that they should be able to skate their way through with minimal effort. ANGEL learning is different, though, more specifically, English 101 D. The instructors require us to log in every day. Late work is not accepted and if you do the minimal, you will get an average score (which is a C). Some people turn in projects late or participate in Discussion Boards late and this causes more work for the others. If there are no posts to reply to, then how does another student fulfill their course requirements? This may cause a lot of tension in the groups and we must have an outlet to vent those frustrations. In order for this community to be cohesive, we must let others know that their action have an effect on others and some people are not happy with an average grade.

I am a member of the ANGEL learning community. I fit in with this group because I belong to the courses and participate in the activities. I always do my best and strive for perfection and I feel this makes me fit in rather well with the community. I enjoy the fast pace of online courses. I also enjoy participating in the discussion boards. I feel that most in this community assume positive intent and that creates great conversations. In this community it is okay to disagree as long as you respect other people’s opinions. I feel that I can keep up with the fast pace of the community. I enjoy being a part of the ANGEL community and I hope you all do too.

The missing link.

"Have you seen my purse?" I ask out loud. Not to anyone in particular, just anyone who would listen.

"What does it look like?" Asks a strange woman.

"Um... It's a purple suede handbag with purple leather handles!" I say to the strange woman.

"Does it say anything on it?" The woman questions.

"No, but it's dark purple and you can't miss it! It's about 12 by 8 inches and PURPLE! Have you seen it?" I retort hysterically, tears streaming down my face.

"Haven't seen it," Replies the woman. The woman then walks away as if nothing has happened.

"Thanks a lot!" I scream to her. She doesn't turn around. I wonder how she would feel if she lost her purse.

I start think about the contents of my precious purse, the purse that never leaves my side. The purse that has everything I need; my keys, my Enhanced driver's license, my debit card, my checkbook, my pet perks rewards card, my sunglasses, my cell phone, my chap stick, my Epipen, my Tulalip Casino rewards card, my health insurance cards, pictures of my friends' babies, receipts, my blockbuster card, a Tully's gift card, an office depot rewards card, a Hallmark rewards card, my Costco card, my Petco P.A.L.S. card, my HP ink cartridge card, a Stadium Flowers petal club card, my frequent goldfish card from the Waterfront fish market, my Staples business rewards card, my Men's Warehouse rewards card, the two four leaf clovers I found carefully pressed between my my library card and seldom used Rite Aid rewards card, my vet's business card, the butterfly pencil a student gave me, and my text book. I then start to think, no wonder my neck hurts so much!

Suddenly I find myself laying on a park bench completely hysterical. How did I get here? What kind of scene having I been making in the past fifteen minutes? Where's my husband? He can help me...maybe I should call him. Then I remember....MY CELL PHONE IS IN MY PURSE! I start to hyperventilate! What am I going to do? How could I possible replace all my worldly possessions?

Suddenly, a man approaches.

"Excuse me, Ma'am," He says. All I can think is I hate being called ma'am! I'm not even thirty yet!

"Ma'am?" He asks again. "Is this your purse?" I look at the man standing before me. I see it! A bright light encircles the beautiful purpleness of my purse!

"MY PURSE!" I exclaim. "Where did you find it?"

"It was over there by that tree. You're lucky I looked inside. I was just going to turn it in to the police, but something made me open it. You sure do have a lot of stuff," The man replies.

"YOU LOOKED THROUGH MY PURSE!! WHAT AN INVASION OF MY PRIVACY!" I scream at the innocent man. "I mean, thank you!"

"Um...Your welcome," the man says hesitantly slowly stepping backwards.

"I'm sorry sir, it's just.." I try to explain.

"No need for explanations, I know that I would be lost without my wallet. You might want to think about cleaning that thing out..it's pretty heavy. Amazingly organized, though,"

"Thanks, I have a little bit of..."

"OCD," the man states. He walks away and disappears into the crowd.

Thank goodness that I never saw him again, he probably thought I was a complete nutcase! I bet he didn't even know that I was usually a totally together, happily married clean freak (not pack rat). He probably thought I was some crazy cat lady because of all my pet cards and vet business cards. I bet he didn't realize how family oriented I really was, or how much I like Scooby Doo. I do, however believe that he realized how much I like my purple purse.

**I used my purse in this exercise because it serves as my wallet as well.

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