Countdown to Easter

Thursday:
Sis stayed home because the doctor Thursday afternoon said she had probably had the flu and was only just getting over it (strep test negative.)  We lolled around, watching "Glee," our new show (yes, there are a lot of adolescent situations but it gives us a chance to talk--about sex, pleasure, responsibility, feminism, sexism, body issues, bullying, homophobia, acceptance, etc etc etc.)

Bud came home midday (it was just a half day) and we hung out for a bit before running off to an appointment, picking up some dinner, and having some frozen yogurt.

That evening, I was gone for three hours on a night shoot for a new promotional video for the historic house.  I was very self-conscious but eventually settled into my role as narrator and costumed interpreter.  In fact, though it was in no way like a movie, I had some insight into several things--waiting waiting waiting around while lighting, set, props, etc were set up; trying to keep the same lines fresh over and over again without tripping on any words; taking direction to turn my head this way, modulate my voice that way, move a prop another way, and emote half the sentence like I did in the first take and half like the second; getting the giggles when I flubbed a line (cursing, too); becoming super self-conscious of how I looked, sounded, and moved.  But I had a great time and the video turned out pretty well.  (If I know you personally IRL and you want to see a copy of it, I'll send it to you; just email me.)


Friday:
We were kinda dull on Friday, with Sis still recovering and Bud tired after a long week at school (he was probably fighting the virus Sis had without actually developing the flu.)  We had pizza and watched Beetlejuice, which holds up pretty well some thirty years later.  The kids didn't quite get it, but nobody was scared of the ghosts or sad about the deceased.

I finished crocheting a blanket for an old high school buddy with whom I've reconnected and sent it on its way; she's having surgery and I wanted her to know I was thinking of her.  It's my usual Giant Granny Square but with a new edging called the Crab Stitch (mainly reverse single crochet around a row of double crochet.)  The colors in the photo are a little muted because it was overcast--it's actually a lovely lavender, some deeper  light green, and blue.

I did manage some shopping for the last of our Easter grocery needs.  Our final menu includes deviled eggs, pimento cheese, ham, macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, cheddar cheese rolls, green peas, and Shaker Lemon pie, with Zinger Sherbet Punch.   And I got some hyacinths and hydrangeas for Ma and for me.


Saturday:
The Easter Penguin came!    There weren't any wet footprints because we don't have carpet anymore, but he did leave the kids a set of Minecraft blocks.  We had asked Bud if he thought the Easter Penguin would come and Bud reiterated that the Easter Penguin was very reliable.

The kids skipped their morning activities, both because they weren't feeling great and because Ma and Gong arrived . . . . so we went to the movies instead!  Yep, went to see Zootopia, which was funny but also a good teachable moment on race, biological determinism, stereotypes, prejudice, free will, the role of police in society--it even had a plot to incriminate the "predators" by poisoning them with toxic flowers (see recent interview excerpts with Nixon lacky Ehrlichman who said the war on drugs was exaggerated to criminalize and oppress African Americans and hippies/war protestors.)  All it needed was #PredatorsLivesMatter.

We had lunch at a new traditional Mexican restaurant which serves fresh tableside-made guacamole, lots of grilled foods (including cactus!),  lots of authentic-seeming dishes, and fresh tortillas (I know, Texans, none of that sounds special but this is Connecticut.)  Some of it was even too spicy for Ma and Gong!

The afternoon was a hodgepodge of "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown," eating apple pie, Bud trying out Gong's tai chi sword, building an Easter nest (there were flowers in bloom this year!!), making origami bunnies and frogs, and eventually saying goodbye to Ma and Gong.

We planted a hydrangea to mark the almost-one-year anniversary of the death of beloved Aunt Sis (today, btw, was the first anniversary since my emergency surgery.)  We had planted two other hydrangeas this spring in her memory, but I think only one survived the winter (and my gardening!)

Then the "work" started!  We pulled out the Easter decorations and purged some of the books and things.  We always find extra egg decorating kits--and so Sis chose plain tab Pas dye and Bud did tie dye.  I drew on a few eggs with a Sharpie and a wax crayon--see my bunny, Bay Max, and Totoro.  Lots of fun.  Then I prepped some dishes while Mama made the traditional last-minute run to the store.  And the kids and I hid some eggs and left a basket for the little girl and boy across the street.

Whew!

And it's not even Easter yet.

Summer Fun: Doodle Dos and Don'ts

This morning before ice skating, I worked on the flags I've wanted to doodle.  I ironed them first, as they'd gotten wrinkly since the Zentangle retreat in February, stuffed in my doodle bag waiting their turn.  They're muslin flags strung together with hem tape (homemade by the class instructor) and had gotten pretty wrinkly.

I had decided to put my peace-hope-love doodles on the tripartite flag and so set to work with my permanent Identi-pen for fabric this morning at the kitchen table.

I dropped the boxes and changed the heart a bit.  I think they came out nicely.

And then I realized that there were marks--dots and streaks and such--all over the table.  I hadn't thought about my pen bleeding through the thin fabric.  

I called the kids in as a teachable moment.  Because, of course, sometimes I go on a tirade when they make a mess, honest but forseeable messes not intentionally made, but I get upset that they don't think ahead or be extra careful. And here I'd done the exact same thing myself.  So I told them that the next time I started getting upset about their making a similar mistake that all they needed to mention were the tabletop dots and I would not yell.  

The dots only sort of came up with a scrubbing from the steel wool (which then also sort of took the finish off the table.  I guess we'll know which is my spot.)

Still, the flags are lovely.

And I'm extra-prepared for when the whole family works on the blue, yellow, red, green, and white flags I bought for us to decorate and hang around!  (I think a piece of cardboard underneath would do the trick nicely.)

Making Mistakes

We've had our first Rainbow Loom crisis.  First, there were troubles getting some of the loops off the pegs without popping them off.  Then, even when we thought it was all okay, one of the fancy Starburst bracelets must have been incompletely looped because it came off the loom and fell apart.  Oh, the tears over these looms.

But I know that mistakes and failure lead to learning and so I try to be calm and help them fix it.  We talked about practice and mistakes being part of learning a skill and how doing things at the end of the day or in a rush can lead to mistakes.  Sis, who cried last night over the loom and actually ripped an unfinished bracelet off it in despair, woke up early and started all over.  "I was too sleepy last night," she admitted.  It's not always that easy.

And then there's the math homework.  The worksheet last night confused Bud and then we found a mistake in it.  But he couldn't quite believe the worksheet would have an error and there was some anxiety.  And then there was a math worksheet a week ago--the question asked for factors, which I always think of as numerals, so when Bud became confused by the question (which was confusing, to both Mama and me--and I had college calculus!), I tried to help and we came up with what we thought was the best answer together.  But the teachers corrected the answer with an equation or "multiplication sentence."  And I wrote and she said we were right.

So, as much as I know that mistakes are a great teachable moment, sometimes I want to be right.  Which is not a great lesson.