Easter

Easter was reasonably good. Allow me to recap...

Good Friday

I posted on Good Friday, so there isn't much to say. We had Swiss Chalet for dinner because none of us felt like cooking.

Saturday

I cleaned the bathroom a bit. It was the first time I'd ever scrubbed a toilet, and I think I did an okay job. I could've done better, but eh. Afterwards, Mom called me back to scrub behind the toilet seat and the front edge of the tub. Boo.

Katie called in the evening to say that they had severe wind warnings where she is, so she said she'd come up in the morning instead.

Sunday

We chilled for most of the morning, because Mom made her desserts ahead of time. Katie came... I can't remember when she came, but it was in the morning, lol. We watched Bill Mahr's film Religulous, which was neat. Kind of funny, how the channel decided to play it for Easter Sunday.

And then all hell broke loose: I was on my period. I panicked, because I wanted to be able to wear my skinny-ish jeans and still be comfortable. In the end, I wore them and my green and brown flowery top that Grandma and Grandpa gave me for my birthday a few years ago, and my Avon egg necklace that G&G gave me a few years ago. I threw on my brown safari jacket, took my pads and a book, and off we went.

The weather was great: balmy, with a bit of wind. When we got to Uncle Brent's, Heather's daughters, Jenasee and Tegan, were waiting at the window for Katie. It was so cute.

Sometime before dinner, Grandpa asked me if I was a chocoholic, so I said something like, "Yeah, I think I am." He told me, "I brought some Easter candy, it's over there, so go help yourself." But it was all the cheap stuff - plain chocolate eggs, bunny-shaped chocolates, and those gross sugar eggs. For YEARS, Grandma and Grandpa gave us grandkids those sugar eggs. I'd eat some of them to be polite, but Nathan hated them. Nathan couldn't come to Easter dinner because he was sick (and legitimately sick, from what Mom said). I should tell him about the sugar eggs...

Dinner was good. Patti didn't speak to us or even take out desserts. Kevin came, though, but that's 'cause Kevin's a nice guy. She probably ate off his plate. And Becca was being a little madam, especially to Katie. She had her earbuds in her ears for most of the day, and wore these shorts that were rolled up so much (they were the kind with the button-tab for rolling up the cuffs), they qualified as Daisy Dukes. Seriously, Becca? Daisy Dukes on Easter Sunday? Short-shorts are for summer, not family gatherings with young, impressionable children around!

Dessert was a kind of lemon cream pie, pineapple and coconut squares, and blueberry rhubarb crisp. I think Uncle Brent has the leftover pie. I heard Grandpa say very loudly that he 'should take some leftover dessert with him'. The seating arrangements were hilarious - Brent sat me, Katie, Mom and Dad in the kitchen, and Patti, Kevin, Jesse and Becca had to sit in the living room. I don't think Patti was impressed :)

And guess what I found in my duck wing? A BEEBEE! Just like the goose at Thanksgiving dinner!

Yay!

I was able to renew that Stewart Copeland autobiography! I just decided, on a whim, to see if it would let me renew the book, and it did! So it's not due until the 23rd. I think that's enough time to read it - it's not very thick, and it's roughly the diameter of a paperback, but it's a hardcover. Plus, there are some pictures in it, which takes up a few pages. I'll have to start it right away so that I can finish it quickly :)

I think I've decided what to wear on Easter Sunday. Or maybe I haven't. If the weather's too warm for jeans, I'll have to dig out a skirt. Or shorts. It's supposed to be reasonably warm on Sunday, so I don't want to wear something that's too warm.

It's really warm today - so warm I may change into shorts (!!!). The dogs just love this weather, because they can stay outside longer. That, and Smiles loves sleeping on the back porch in the mornings, before it gets too hot; and Goldie just sleeps in a patch of sun on the stairs near the side door. The new side door we got installed last summer throws more light than the old door, and Goldie just loves it.

Hmm... should I tempt fate and put on some shorts? ;)

So we've been cleaning like crazy today, because my sister's coming up tomorrow night. I swept up cat litter and took out the bathroom garbage and all that lovely stuff. Dad tackled the living room, and Mom's attacking the kitchen.

I saw a Small White butterfly a little while ago. Lovely.

Finished, and started

I finished the dishcloth and started another one, with the same colour yarn, same needles and same pattern. I think I'm going to use up a partial economy skein of Bernat Handicrafter and just make dishcloths to my heart's content. After all, it keeps me from going crazy.

So lately I've been addicted to Kristin Chenoweth's rendition of 'Hopelessly Devoted To You', from the first season of Pushing Daisies...



I prefer it over Olivia Newton John.

So it's eleven days 'til Easter Sunday, and I've got this feeling of impending doom. But then again, I feel that way about most holidays. At least now I'm no longer at a young and impressionable age, which means I can be snarky if I like. I like that.

At least some people I like will be there for Easter dinner. It's going to be at Uncle Brent's, so Justin and Breanne should be there. Plus, Glen (my mom's cousin) and Maxine (his wife) are coming, from what I heard via eavesdropping (hehe...). I haven't seen them in a while, so it'll be nice to see them. And it'll be nice for Grandma.

As for the rest of my extended family, I honestly couldn't care less. Uncle Brent, while I like him, can be very Jekyll and Hyde at times. Grandpa is a jerk, period. Aunt Patti didn't put my name on our Christmas card, just my mom's name, my dad's name, and 'and family', while my brother and sister got their own cards - if she addresses me by my name, I plan on saying, "Wait, what did you call me? I thought my name was And Family - after all, that's what you put on the Christmas card." Petty? Perhaps, but it's about time I stopped letting myself be a verbal doormat with my relatives.

Yesterday I took a practice test thing in my GED books on run-on sentences and sentence fragments, and I got every question right. I was utterly gobsmacked.

Easter Weekend, Part 2 (or, 'I Really Don't Want to Be Here')

Time for part 2 of the weekend :)

Saturday

We didn't do much Saturday, but we did have turkey and ham for dinner, which was fabulous. Mom made scalloped potatoes, too, which kicked ass. I didn't have any of the Arctic Gardens peas and zucchini, though, as I hate peas, but I had salad. And we had lemon meringue pie for dessert :)

Sunday

I listened to the radio for a bit, then came upstairs. We didn't bother with Easter baskets, so partway through Sunday Morning Mom gave me a chocolate bunny and some Peeps. After she gave chocolate bunnies and Peeps to Katie and Dan (who came down later), she gave mini Whopper eggs to me and Katie. They were originally for Aunt Patti's boyfriend's kids, but they weren't coming to the hospital today.

I had lemon meringue pie for breakfast, and since dinner had been changed to lunch, I didn't eat before we left. Katie and Dan went to pick up Nathan and Steph at... 11:00? 11:30? I can't remember, but it was somewhere around that time.

We arrived just as Grandpa was wheeling Grandma into the room. This room that Grandpa booked was basically an apartment, with a kitchen/dining/living area, a bathroom and a bedroom. It was a nice room, but I really, really didn't want to be there. I wish I had brought a book with me, but that would've been rude.

And Grandpa was being... weird? Sullen? I don't know. He said nothing to me as he handed me my Easter card. He handed them out like it was his duty and didn't give a crap about it. And when he handed me a bag of chocolate eggs, he said something like, "Here, before I forget." It was odd.

Oh, and I found out that these friends from Arizona actually live here in the province. Huh.

And Becca (Patti's kid, my cousin) was dressed like a hooker. She was somewhat nice to me, though. She offered me a Baci chocolate that Patti's friend had brought. The little piece of paper that came with the chocolate cracked me up - had something witty printed on it, but I can't remember the exact words.

And I never really got to visit Grandma, because there were so many people. I don't know what the hell Grandpa was thinking, having that many people around Grandma at once.

Oh well. At least I got to see Justin, and I got to eat some killer ice cream cake.

Easter Weekend, Part One

Yes, I'm going to post about the weekend in chunks, a concept stolen from AJ. Hope you don't mind, AJ :) lol

I'll start with today, Good Friday.

(I didn't bold that to put emphasis on religion, by the way.)

Today started with me drinking my leftover ginger ale from last night for 'breakfast' while checking the library site to see if they'd be open tomorrow. Turns out they are. And when I told Mom, she said, "Yes, they are! Saturday isn't a holiday!" Jeez, Mom, I'm only trying to help. Way to encourage a girl...

Then it was cleaning. For me, that meant tossing the dogs' blankets in the washing machine with a good scoop of Borax to make them smell nice and pretty, taking any dirty towels, clothing and facecloths down to the laundry room, etc. Then it was sweeping time, which resulted in me having to take a break due to thirst (which was due to a crappy breakfast) and a sore back. My back is still a little sore, but not as bad as before.

I can't remember when Katie and Dan arrived - I think it was around noon. After some chit-chat, Katie and Dan left to go somewhere. I don't know where. There was crap on TV, so Mom and I watched The Incredibles on DVD - well, I watched it, since Mom kinda abandoned the movie. Dad watched the rest of it with me, though. Katie and Dan came back near the end. After pausing the credits to find out who did the voice for Syndrome, I took the DVD out and switched it back to TV, and we watched on BBC Canada until Top Gear came on. It was around that time that Katie and Mom left to visit Grandma in the hospital, so me, Dad and Dan watched Top Gear, which was pretty cool. I read a bit of Blood and Chocolate during Top Gear as well.

Mom freaked out at me near dinnertime because I had walked behind her while she was handling a pot of potatoes. And the she told me to get out of her way whilst I was making sure the bottle of cleaner was okay (it had fallen in the sink). Grr. I ate dinner - beef shank stew stuff (which had these friggin' rings of fat, so I had to get a Dr Pepper after dinner) and mashed potatoes. I watched Coronation Street and Jeopardy!. Dad badgered me to wash dishes, and I didn't. Hell yeah.

And then I had to fish a dog toy out from under the couch. Which was a pain. In my back. And then my mom told me that I was the source of a bad smell, so I came up here, in the Spare Oom. And then she called me down to apologise, because it was actually the dog bed that smelled. And I came back up here.

And Spectacle is coming on in roughly 14 minutes, so I'd better finish this post quickly. Sounds like we'll have to eat in our laps Easter Sunday, and Grandpa hinted about shunting us kids in the friggin' sun room to make room for their friends from friggin' ARIZONA!!!!!

....phew.

13 minutes to spare.

I guess I should post this post now. I'll report back soon, maybe tomorrow. And most likely Sunday evening, to dish out the dirt on the dinner.

12 minutes. Gotta go.

...wait, now it's 11 minutes! Bye-bye :)