{SQT} Easter Happenings and Discovering a Love of Chainsaws

1. Happy Easter Friday- go eat some meat! And if you have any Easter candy left, have some of that too. We’ve devoured most of our goodies, except for Addie who rations out her candy far longer than I believe humanly possible. (It’s why I always wind up stealing more candy from her basket than anyone else’s- she’s the only one that has any!)

2. I hope you all had a joyful Easter at home. We watched Mass at the usual time and were still late even though we didn’t need to drive anywhere. I did make everyone dress up and after dinner we snapped a family photo out front. We had our usual dinner of lamb, and Tony made cannolis and ricotta pies with the help of the kids. So at least if the kids are going to rot their teeth with Easter candy, I can hope all the calcium in the pies and cannoli filling will offset some of the damage.

3. We usually buy Easter lilies (which I always say I’ll plant in the yard but never do), but this year I simply cut a few remaining daffodils and pulled some lily of the valley to make a small bouquet for the table. I did scatter a few eggs around the yard for an egg hunt and enthusiasm was high even when I said I didn’t put money in any of the eggs (thanks to my grandmother for setting the bar so high). We also managed a Zoom chat with family and a Facetime call with my sister in Los Angeles.

4. We had a couple of nice days, interspersed with rain, which means our yard is muddy with various wheelchair tracks running through it. Teddy’s chair was successfully fixed on Monday, so Tuesday when the sun popped out, he and Fulton were eager to get outside. Fulton was so eager he got his chair stuck next to a walkway beside some shrubbery while trying to speed away from something. During our attempt to free him, we needed to cut down a large chunk of a flowering bush. I wasn’t sad- we were planning to cut down most of the shrubs out front anyway because they were so overgrown.

5. Therefore, once Fulton was unstuck, I just decided that was the day the shrubs were coming down. I was a bit nervous about using our chainsaw, but I derived a lot of satisfaction from cutting down all the overgrowth. There’s still some stumps and roots left, but it’s already 100x better. I’m hoping to tidy things up a bit where I started before I unleash my inner Paul Bunyan on the rest of the shrubs around the house.

6. Our governor just announced schools in NJ will be closed until May 15, so that’s at least another month of distance learning for us. Teddy and Fulton are not complaining. Things like the homeschool formal dance, Edie’s Confirmation, and Addie’s graduation ceremony are all still up in the air. We had also just finally gotten our house approved to start the foster/ adopt process and now that too is on hold. It’s not the end of the world, but I think it’s always a little disappointing when the milestones you envision for your children and family don’t fall into place the way you picture they will.

7. I finally started watching Downton Abbey. I’m only on the second season but I’m thoroughly hooked and I can see what all the hooplah was about. I much prefer to watch things after the show has ended because then I can just enjoy it in my own time without worrying about catching spoilers online or getting caught up in discussions on plot points and characters. I prefer knowing that I’m watching it because I truly enjoy it and not because everyone else is and I don’t want to feel left out- I don’t question my motives. At some point I’m sure I’ll check out that tiger show everyone is talking about right now, but it’ll take a few years.

How was your Easter? Write it down then link it up below. Be sure to include a link back to this post so your readers can find the rest of the Quick Takes. I look forward to reading your posts!