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Greetings!
As I write this month's newsletter, there is a crisp breeze
coming in the window, I hear the sounds of dry leaves blowing
around, and I am actually shivering! What a difference a month
makes! Fall is truly here, and with it all the fun activities the
changing seasons bring.
Halloween is my favorite holiday, no matter that my trick or
treating days are long behind me. My husband and I dress up to hand
out the candy, and the kids and parents are always thrilled to see
what theme we've come up with. Try it, it's great fun!
With our newsletter, it is our goal to provide useful information
and tips to help you keep your life in balance, and to be on call
for you when you need help. We'd love to hear what you would like to
see in upcoming issues.
With pumpkin wishes and cider dreams,
Ellen Lovelace, Founder and President
| October Calendar |
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2 Yom Kippur
"Yom Kippur" means "Day of Atonement". Jews set aside this
day to atone for their sins. It is a day of prayer and
fasting, one of the most important days in the Jewish
calendar. During Yom Kippur, people seek forgiveness from God,
and seek to give and receive forgiveness and reconciliation
with others.
9 Columbus Day
Today honors Christopher Columbus' first landing in the New
World on October 12, 1492. He actually landed in the
Caribbean, not on the US mainland. Despite all the controversy
of who "discovered" North America (Native Americans, Nordic
Explorers, etc), Columbus did in fact discover the New World
for the Europeans, who previously thought the world was flat
and ended in the Atlantic Ocean.
29 Daylight Saving Time ends
"Fall back" with your clocks one hour before going to bed
on the night of Saturday the 28th. (And did you know it really
is called "Daylight Saving Time," and not "SavingS"?!)
31 Halloween
Ghosties, ghoulies, monsters, and vampires. No stress, no
holiday overload, no inlaws. Just fun, kids, costumes, and
chocolate. What could be bad?! If you haven't done it in a
while, carve a real pumpkin this year. All that goopy mess
makes for a great time!
Have other dates this month that are important to you:
birthdays, anniversaries, etc.? Visit our Forget
Me Not page on our website to learn how QCS can make sure
no important date ever goes forgotten again.
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| Sale Shopping Made Simpler |
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Online shopping can be a great way to save time and gas.
But scouring hundreds of sites to find just what you want--and
on sale no less--can be really time consuming. A new website,
www.shopittome.
com, aims to make it all kinder and gentler for you.
During your free registration process, you choose from over
60 major name brands like Calvin Klein and Nike and enter your
sizes. You can even specify if you are looking for something
particular, like a coat. Then, the site goes to work searching
major online retailer sites to find your selected items in
your size, on sale. It then emails you as often as you choose,
with links to all the great stuff it has found for you.
Check it out: who knew you could have a personal shopper
online as well as in the stores?!
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| Halloween History 101 |
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It’s nearing the time of year when we all rush to the
store, stock up on candy and wait for the parade of doorbell
ringing pirates and fairies. Halloween will be here before we
know it. Just when did the holiday originate and where?
Halloween dates back over 2000 years to the Celtic festival
of Samhain (pronounced sow-in), the New Year. They celebrated
this holiday on November 1st, the end of the harvest and
summer. This day began the dark cold winter, a time of year
often associated with death.The Celts believed that the night
before the New Year, October 31st, the spirits of those who
died that year would walk the earth in search of bodies to
possess for the next year. Not wanting to be possessed, the
villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes so they
would appear cold and uninviting. The villagers would dress up
in the skins and heads of animals, often being destructive in
efforts to frighten away any spirits looking for bodies to
possess.
In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated
November 1st as All Saints Day and the night before All
Hallows Eve, eventually referred to as Halloween.
TRICK OR TREAT? The custom of trick-or-treating is thought
to have originated in ninth-century Europe with a custom
called “souling”. On November 2, All Souls Day, beggars would
walk from village to village begging for “soul cakes” made
from bread and currants. The more cakes received, the more
prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead
relatives of the donors.
JACK-O-LANTERN The history of the Jack-O-Lantern is the sad
tale of a notorious drunkard and trickster named Jack. Jack
tricked the Devil into climbing a tree, and then carved the
image of a cross in the trunk of the tree, trapping the Devil.
He made a deal to let the Devil down from the tree if he would
promise to never tempt him again. After Jack’s death he was
denied entrance into Heaven for his evil ways and then denied
entrance into Hell for tricking the Devil. The Devil gave Jack
a single ember to light his way through eternal darkness. He
placed the ember in a hallowed out turnip to keep it glowing.
The Irish are said to have used turnips as their “Jack’s
Lanterns” originally, but when they immigrated to America,
they found that pumpkins were far more plentiful.
QCS wishes you all a very safe and enjoyable October 31st!
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You Can Do THAT For Me?! |
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As we talk about the work we do, invariably folks are
stunned to find out about some recent task we handled. So,
each month we'll tell you about something interesting we've
done. It might also spark an idea for how we can help YOU!
Recently we helped a family pull off the Bar Mitzvah of
their dreams. With one month to go, the working parents
realized they were in over their heads with too much remaining
and no time to get it all done. QCS to the rescue!
We managed all the small details of each aspect of the
event,from choosing the centerpieces to developing a play list
and selecting games for the DJ. We coordinated timelines and
schedules, and reconfirmed all vendors. We even handmade the
favors! In short, we made sure the family's complete vision
for this special day was fully realized.
On the special weekend, we hosted the Friday evening and
Saturday morning events at the Temple, as well as the big
party Saturday night. It was a lot of hard work, but it all
paid off, as the guests, Bar Mitzvah boy, and family had a
great time and were able to enjoy their weekend.
Did you know that we offer everything from full event
planning services months in advance, all the way up to
day-of-event coordination? Let us take the hassle out of your
event so you can sit back and have a great time. After all,
it's YOUR party! |
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