I Pitty Da Foo!!!!!!

Happy April Fools Day!!!!

“Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world, can write anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best possible information.” – Michael Scott

This year I got to wondering...where did April Fools come from?! Therefore, I turned to my faithful friend, Wikipedia, and he didn't fail me!!!

"In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1392), the "Nun's Priest's Tale" is set Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two.[2] Chaucer probably meant 32 days after March, i.e. May 2,[3] the anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia, which took place in 1381. However, readers apparently misunderstood this line to mean "March 32," i.e April 1.[4] In Chaucer's tale, the vain cock Chauntecler is tricked by a fox.

"In 1508, a French poet referred to a poisson d’avril (April fool, literally "April fish"), a possible reference to the holiday.[3] In 1539, Flemish poet Eduard de Dene wrote of a nobleman who sent his servants on foolish errands on April 1.[3] In 1686, John Aubrey referred to the holiday as "Fooles holy day", the first British reference.[3] On April 1, 1698, several people were tricked into going to the Tower of London to "see the Lions washed."[3] The name "April Fools" echoes that of the Feast of Fools, a Medieval holiday held on December 28.[5]

"In the Middle Ages, New Year's Day was celebrated on March 25 in most European towns.[6] In some areas of France, New Year's was a week-long holiday ending on April 1.[5] So it is possible that April Fools originated because those who celebrated on January 1 made fun of those who celebrated on other dates.[7] The use of January 1 as New Year's Day was common in France by the mid-sixteenth century,[3] and this date was adopted officially in 1564 by the Edict of Roussillon.

"In the eighteenth century the festival was often posited as going back to the time of Noah. According to an English newspaper article published in 1789, the day had its origin when Noah sent his dove off too early, before the waters had receded; he did this on the first day of the Hebrew month that corresponds with April.[8]" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools'_Day

References
2 The Canterbury Tales, "The Nun's Priest's Tale" - "Chaucer in the Twenty-First Century ", University of Maine at Machias, September 21, 2007
3 a b c d e f Boese, Alex (2008) "April Fools Day - Origin " Museum of Hoaxes
4 Compare to Valentine's Day, a holiday that originated with a similar misunderstanding of Chaucer.
5 a b Santino, Jack, All around the year: holidays and celebrations in American life, p. 97, 1972
6 Groves, Marsha, Manners and Customs in the Middle Ages, p. 27, 2005.
7 April Fools' Day, Encyclopædia Britannica
8 Olmert, Michael (1996). Milton's Teeth and Ovid's Umbrella: Curiouser & Curiouser Adventures in History, p.186. Simon & Schuster, New York. ISBN 0-684-80164-7.

LYB!!!!!

April Fool's 2009!!!

[I promise I started this the night of April Fool's!!! I've just been VERY distracted!!!]

Fore Warning: This is going to be a LONG blog!!!

As most of you know I've been working for my cousin in American Fork since July 2008. "The Boss" & I are the only full-time males of the office and there are 6 females that officially "rule" the office. This being said...you can only imagine MANY of the conversations that take place in the office...most of which are geared towards the feminine side of life. There is one office member in particular that holds NO reserve in letting it be known that her & her husband (Jenna & Andrew) are trying to bring a "little one" into this world!! It's become common talk in the office to guess the order in which the Ladies will become pregnant. I find it VERY hilarious!!! But I know it's stressing "The Boss" to the max!!!

Anyhow...on with the story...for the last month or so the Ladies of Foundations have been planning an April Fool's joke to play on "The Boss". With all the pregnancy talk around the office the Ladies decided to play a pregnancy April Fool's. Alyssa decided she'd be the one to "pull The Boss' leg". It played out perfectly!!
For the last month or so Alyssa's been talking about how she missed her "friend". We've been teasing her that it's because she's pregnant, but she's been adimant that it's not possible, however we kept harassing her.
So...a week or so ago she found out that an acquaintance of hers is pregnant & Alyssa approached her to see if she'd be willing to provide a "positive test" for us. She was hesitant, but after a little persuasion gave in & acknowledged the hilarity of the situation.
So...Wednesday morning (April 1st) Alyssa came in to the office & stated that she was sick yesterday when she got up & that she wasn't feeling any better this morning. We harassed her that she was "preggy" & Emily told her that she was going to go next door to Albertson's & get a pregnancy test. After much debate Alyssa conceeded, but she said that she had forgot her cell phone at home & if she WAS going to take the test that she would need to have it so she could call her husband. Of course it was agreed that that would be appropriate.
Of course the whole time she's gone we're joking about her going someplace to get a "sample" but then we'd also joke about how disgusting that would be to have the "sample" floating around in her bag when she came back, so we blew off that idea.
When Alyssa returned we joked with her a bit & then Emily & I went next door to Albertson's to get the "test". However, on the way over Emily mentioned to me that Alyssa picked up a test when she (supposedly) left to get her phone. Alyssa had her acquaintance take the tests & gave them back to her & Alyssa gave the tests to Emily in the original packaging so that The Boss wouldn't recognize the difference. {Man...I just realized how long this story is getting...sorry if I'm boring you but it was HIL-AR-IOUS!!!!}
Emily & I returned to the office, gave the tests to Alyssa & she disappeared into the bathroom for what seemed like an eternity, but was actually only about 10 minutes. We began to worry that maybe she really WAS pregnant...especially when she first came out of the door. The look on her face was SOOOO convincing. She came out of the back of the office with her hand over her mouth & she was shaking uncontrollably...at least until she got past The Boss' desk, out of his line of sight, then she got the BIGGEST grin on her face. She grabbed her bag & walked straight out the front door to her car without looking back!! She drove off!!!
The look on The Boss' face was unforgettable!! He was a little hesitant at first...he even asked: "do you think someone could act that good?!" We played off of his hesitancy for about 1/2 an hour. Alyssa called & spoke with Emily & they continued to make it sound like she was struggling but that Alyssa would return to the office shortly.
When Alyssa returned we continued to talk about it, but not too much because we "knew" how sensitive of a subject it was. (RIGHT!!!!) We kept it going for about an hour & then...out of the blue...Alyssa made a comment similar to: "wouldn't it be funny if I left to get my phone & had someone else take the test?!" The Boss wasn't paying too much attention to what was going on, but you could tell her heard what she said because he immediately stopped was he was doing, paused where he was for about 30 seconds, then turned around & aksed: "are you serious?!" We all just screamed "APRIL FOOL'S" and EVERYONE had a good laugh the rest of the day!!!

Oh, the fun times I'm going to miss at Foundations!!!!

LYB!!!!!