a weird week

This week, more than others I can think of, has more odd-little-holiday days:

Yesterday (3-14) has been deemed Pie Day. (because of 3.14, pi). I didn't get any pie. If I had wanted tolerably good pie (the only kind worth eating) I would have had to have made it myself - no restaurants here specialize in pie and the grocery-store pies are all the cardboardy frozen variety. (A friend on twitter suggested: we can try again on 7/22....which is also pi, if you do the math).

It was also something called 'White Day" or "White Valentine's Day" in Japan. This is where men (who get the chocolate on the February Valentine's Day) reciprocate. So women get the chocolate. There's an element of social obligation to it so it wouldn't be JUST like the carnation giveaway I remember from school Valentine's days, where the "hot girls" or the "popular with the guys*" girls or the girls who have a generous boyfriend get all the carnations and the rest of us knew exactly where we stood with the guys (on the outside....)

(*I am being polite here and not using the word-beginning-with-e I would like to use)

Today is the Ides of March, allegedly the day when Julius Caesar was assassinated. (I joked on Twitter that since I didn't get pie yesterday, I hope that also means I don't get knifed today. Though in reality, I have absolutely zero power and no one would be envious of the role I play, so I can't imagine someone wanting to take me out for that reason.)

I don't know of anything for tomorrow, but Thursday is St. Patrick's Day. While my "major" heritage is Irish, I don't really celebrate this day - I don't care for beer (and especially not for "drinking mass quantities") and I didn't care for corned beef* even when I could still eat salty stuff. So I'm not sure that I will do anything that day. I suppose I could look in my Irish cookbooks and see if there's some kind of cake or small baked good (I don't care that much for soda bread any more) and make that. Or at least have a strong hot cup of tea - despite the stereotype of being big beer drinkers, the Irish are also the #1 consumers of tea in the Western world, and they tend to brew it, as they say, "Strong enough to trot a mouse on top"

(* though people tell me that's an American thing and is rarely eaten in Ireland where lamb or mutton stew is more common).

Friday is Furlough Day #1 for me. I'm the only one observing that day though. Not sure what I'm  going to do but Not Working will be a feature of the day.

Sunday is Palm Sunday. Not sure if we're doing anything special (traditionally the children carry in palm leaves) and we have someone from the Regional office in the pulpit. (I know her a little bit and she's been here before, so I'm looking forward to the message she brings)