It's Easter so nobody will be around posting party

[MrsPeacefrog]

Well, I personally am going to be non existant over the next 3-4 days as I am hosting Easter at my house this year and need to spend the next 2 days cooking and cleaning, then Sunday actually doing the hosting and eating. Then Monday cleaning up the disaster it will leave in my house :crazy:

So what does everyone else have planned? Will you be around as usual or do you all do something special for Easter?

[LISA]

It's my sister's turn to host so I'm free :woo: but it will be oh so much fun with my mom boycotting Easter because of my BIL :tearhair: :sigh:

[schwanda]

I'm on call all weekend. So I might be around some. Tom's heading back to NY on Sunday morning so he'll be there in time for the Yankee game. No real Easter plans since I'll be on my own with the kids.

Amanda

[MrsPeacefrog]

Ack! that sucks, Lisa. One of my uncles isn't coming because of my Aunty and her husband :rolleyes: It's always so awkward. I don't want to not invite anyone but you know there is always going to be a "is she going?" question. ack.

[Shel]

I work for a church, yet tomorrow, Good Friday, I have to work until noon since everyone else in on vacation :mad: However, Saturday we have a nice day planned with all the kids: getting our family pics taken, lunch etc. Sunday we'll do church, then go to ILs for Easter Dinner. She likes to make the big meals for the holidays and refuses to let me help with dishes. Have I ever mentioned I adore my MIL?????

[Clare]

I'll be around as we don't have any plans. I assumed that we were going to Alex's aunty's house for lunch on Sunday as that's what we always do, but we haven't heard from them so no I'm thinking that we're not invited this year :dunno: We might be going to a friend's house for a bbq and Easter egg hunt on Monday, but other then that, nada. You're all stuck with me :silly:

[TtownAnne]

I'll be around too - DH has to work on Sunday (last Sunday before taxes are over), so Caroline and I will hopefully go and visit my mom and dad.

[Alyssa]

Saturday we have various plans all day. Sunday we're going to my parent's for late breakfast and an egg hunt.

[Michele]

We're leaving for Florida on Sunday. :woo: We're going out to dinner there, but nothing really Eastery.

Saturday I'm sure will be crazed. We have our usual swimming lessons, then we'll probably be doing all the last minute stuff before a trip.

[Joan]

I'll be around. Nothing planned.

[Melissa]

I'll be around as much as usual. I actually have class work due on Sunday, since I'm not religious, that isn't a big deal, but for some of my classmates (many are church organists, music directors, etc...) this was a week of hell.

Reed is working on Friday, but it should just be a half-day. Sunday we are going on base for their Easter Dinner, they have an AWESOME dinner!!! They make crab cakes that are to.die.for.

[Jayne]

Dan is off tomorrow but I am not :cry: I have Timmy from 7:30-4:30. We have a huge easter Egg Hunt at 5pm. Picture 40 children running and screaming for egg's inside (Because we should have 1-2 inches of snow on the ground when we wake up) YUCK

My sister and BIL got their keys to their new house today so we will be helping them move all day Saturday.

Sunday I have to sing at the 8am service and serve communion. Then I will come home at 9. Have Easter with the kids and get them dressed for chuch and be at church at 10:30 for service and for me to sing again. Then we are off to the IL's for lunch at 1 and then off to my Grandfathers at 4 for dinner and another Easter Egg Hunt.

Monday the kids are still off but it is back to work for Dan and I.

[Bridget]

I'll be gone. Have to go to mom's house which normally sounds good, but not this year since the house is a wreck since we got back late Monday and went straight back to work. :dead:

So I'll have to try to repack some clothes tomorrow night and go down (basically no internet again :complain: ). Oh crap and I'll also have to prep the Easter baskets. Saturday we'll decorate eggs. That night they'll go to church but the service will be at least two hours long so they don't want me to take the kids because I'll just end up dragging them out early anyway (they're not used to it). Sunday the Easter Bunny will bring the baskets and we'll do an egg hunt. I plan to leave a bit early, but we'll have a big Easter dinner, so it won't be too early. Usually my mom does ham on Easter but not sure what she's doing this year.

It will be fun, but I'm just tired. :lol:

[Kara]

Tomorrow inlaws are taking Josh and 2 friends to dinner and a movie for his birthday. I want to take Austin out to eat and maybe shop a bit LOL.


Saturday we are all going to see Meet the Robinsons and then stop down at our friends for dinner.

Sunday is Josh's birthday:) We'll probably go to church, then stop at our friends, and then we're meeting everyone at Carrabas for Josh's birthday dinner.

Monday kids go back to school :( A day to recover would be nice though!

[MrsPeacefrog]

Well it looks like a mix and match of peoples schedules. I have just spent the better portion of my day cleaning. I have cursed myself for offering to host Easter this year a few times already. :lol:

Tony has done an awesome job outside, he has gotten rid of these bushes I have been dying to get rid of they made the front of our house look like a mess, so now it's all clean and neat looking. I just sat down to put my feet up for a few minutes before going into the kitchen to get started on some desserts but I can hear Jacob crying so he is awake and therefore I don't get my break.

byeeeee

[Mary DK]

I'll probably be around a bit since we don't have really many plans. I do need to pick up this house & do laundry... fun, fun, fun! :rolleyes:

[MrsPeacefrog]

ok, I think I over estimated my ability to do everything I need to do and not completely exhaust myself. It's 5:30pm and I have non stop cleaned all day, you know the "visitor" clean that you do, well I just seemed to not be able to just do whats needed, when I get into something I start getting this need to simplify the area and completely reorganise while I am at it which takes a stupid amount of extra time :rolleyes: Why can I not stop this compulsion? :crazy:

I also went to bake some brownies for dessert and I forgot to buy butter and all the shops are shut due to Good Friday, so I have to now add that to the list of things to do tomorrow :rolleyes:

I am sure you have all enjoyed my bitching and moaning :heee:

[sabrina]

Not much planned here. I am sick. We are going to Good Friday services tonight. Dh is working today but hopefully will be off the rest of the weekend. Tomorrow we are going to decorate Easter Eggs, maybe make some kind of a dessert for Easter dinner. I have to make two egg casseroles for Easter breakfast at church. Sunday we have Easter breakfast at church and then Easter services. Then on Easter I am cooking lunch for just the four of us. For lunch, I am taking the easy way out. I am putting a beef roast in the crockpot, fixing mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and corn, and American biscuits. I was also thinking about fixing a seven layer salad and maybe a fruit salad. So I have an easy weekend coming up and I am so excited.

[Cami]

Everything is closed here today! It's so weird!!

We're leaving for a vacation tomorrow morning. DH just realized he's going to have to go straight from Vienna to the US for work so I'm going to have to drive around Austria and fly back to London alone with the kids. :rolleyes:

The Easter Bunny came to our house this morning because we'll be gone on Sunday. The kids were so excited. All they've eaten today is chocolate.

Happy Easter!

[Clare]

Everything is closed here today too, Cami :nod: It's normal to me though. UGh on Rudi leaving vacation early! I hope you have a fantastic time!!! :)

[Jayne]

I can't believe I am sick. I knew I shouldn't have helped the church with flowers yesterday. The Hyacinth's sent my allergies soaring and I am so plugged up and my throat hurts. I could just cry and I have to go do the arranging of them at 9 this morning for the church. I need a face mask :cry:

Like I predicted we have at least two inces of snow on the ground and there are huge flakes falling now. WHY THIS WEEK..couldn't it have done this last weekend and then gave way to a beautiful easter??? Even my minister is sick this week.

Kara, want to take Ty with you to see that movie..we didn't know he wanted to see it until yesterday he said ..."I really want to see meet the robinsons. He even has the lines from the preview memorized" :lol: I guess we will have to find time to go to that with him!

[Kara]

Oh my Jayne! All we have is a dusting!!!


I would definitely wear a mask if I were you!!

[Mary DK]

This morning we're going to Casa Mañana (children's theater) to watch an Easter play. Eliot has a t-ball game this afternoon & tomorrow afternoon :crazy: My Aunt & Uncle might come on Sunday, that means I need to get this house back to a presentable state :panic:

[Melissa]

That's interesting that elsewhere shops are closed on Good Friday. Nothing is closed here, many stores are open on Easter Sunday :disbelief: It seems that the only day stores are closed now is Christmas day.

Today Katie and I are going to gym and then we'll clean up the house afterwards. I'm not sure what we'll do tomorrow, I'd love to go to a local botanical garden but it might rain, so who knows.

[Shel]

Nothing is closed here, including the church where I work :rolleyes: I think people think we're closed because the phone has only rang once, and NOONE is here but me :(

[Clare]

That's interesting that elsewhere shops are closed on Good Friday. Nothing is closed here, many stores are open on Easter Sunday :disbelief: It seems that the only day stores are closed now is Christmas day.

.

See that surprises me seeming as America is supposedly the great Christian country. From as early as I can remember, I've been taught that Good Friday is a day of reflection and you don't do anything but stay home and think about Jesus and go to church. Nothing is open so there isn't any temptation for people to have fun on such a solemn day.

[Shel]

See that surprises me seeming as America is supposedly the great Christian country. From as early as I can remember, I've been taught that Good Friday is a day of reflection and you don't do anything but stay home and think about Jesus and go to church. Nothing is open so there isn't any temptation for people to have fun on such a solemn day.



But, you also have to remember, Clare, that the good ol' USofA is also the country that gives some workers a week of vacation a year, if even that, and new mothers 6 weeks off. It's all about working and making money.

[Melissa]

Don't forget, America practices the church of Capitalism :rolleyes: If you can earn a buck on that day, the stores will be open. Many public universities (including the one I attend now and the one I graduated from) hold classes because they don't want to look like they favor one religion over another (instead of canceling classes on all religious holidays, they don't cancel ANY).

[sabrina]

Exactly. Although, I do have to say that dh's company is closed today. He is working because they have a major project due on Monday. But he is getting paid holiday pay plus double overtime so the extra money will be nice. He could have been off anyway but they begged him to come in and they would like for him to work tomorrow but I told him that I thought he should be at home with his family. I told him he could work 12 hour days next week if necessary (he already does 10 hour days so what's another 2).

[Jayne]

Most of the factories and big companies (DH's work) are closed today yet I know the college is open. Both places that Timmy's parents work are working today so I have him. Kinda stinks honestly

[Lynn]

Keith's working today (but in Oklahoma :rolleyes: ) and this weekend starts the big push of his season. Last year his boss called him on Easter and asked him to come in. :retrofawk:

I have to go to a ladies only surprise birthday luncheon tomorrow and I don't want to. I'm going to be nice. :shuffle: When I get home I'm going to start our eggs so we can decorate them tomorrow night.

We were shafted this year for Easter. My sister didn't feel like hosting and my brother has to go to his IL's for dinner. We'll go to church, go and visit my dad and then have a feast all by ourselves. :snob:

[EricaW]

We have no plans. We usually go to my sister's for her famous Honey Baked Ham Easter dinner (she doesn't cook but she makes a mean takeout :lol: ) but she's going to be out of town this year.

I think I pissed off my mom when she asked me if we had any plans and my response was "When's Easter?" I guess when you haven't been to church in 5 or so years the significance of Easter is lost. :lol:

I'd rather not make a fancy dinner for Eric and I. I hope he agrees. :lol:

[Alysia]

Tomorrow we are going with the ILs to the zoo for their "Bunny Bounce". I am sure it's going to be packed. But, they didn't really give us a choice about going. :rolleyes:

Then Sunday we are going to brunch with the ILs plus BIL/SIL and my niece. And then having an Easter Egg hunt at the ILs house.

I would much rather sleep through the whole weekend and not have to deal with my ILs at all.

[Jillian]

We were supposed to go to my grandma's this weekend for Easter, but I was put on actual bedrest (I've been on modified bedrest) this morning cause I'm contracting a ton and my cervyx is shortening and my doctor said no to going 3 hours aways... So we have no plans...we don't even have eggs to hide for the kids cause my grandma was doing that.

I also haven't called my grandma yet, she's going to be so dissapointed.

[TtownAnne]

Holy Moley, Caroline is actually taking a NAP! :woa: She woke up ridiculously early this morning saying her tummy felt "funny", but since she was fine after eating some breakfast I attributed it to her stomach being empty since she only ate about 3 bites of dinner last night. But coming home from the grocery store she was falling asleep in the car, so I took her to lay down and she is wiped OUT. I hope she's not getting sick, 'cause then we can't go see my parents.

[Shel]

Holy cow! How lucky are you??

[Jillian]

Dan is off tomorrow but I am not :cry: I have Timmy from 7:30-4:30. We have a huge easter Egg Hunt at 5pm. Picture 40 children running and screaming for egg's inside (Because we should have 1-2 inches of snow on the ground when we wake up) YUCK

My sister and BIL got their keys to their new house today so we will be helping them move all day Saturday.

Sunday I have to sing at the 8am service and serve communion. Then I will come home at 9. Have Easter with the kids and get them dressed for chuch and be at church at 10:30 for service and for me to sing again. Then we are off to the IL's for lunch at 1 and then off to my Grandfathers at 4 for dinner and another Easter Egg Hunt.

Holy cow, there better be a nap in there somewhere!

[Jayne]

We try to get about an hour in. It makes for a long long day and Alyssa usually crashes around 7. Thank goodness there is no school Monday.

[Kara]

Jillian, stay put and rest!!!

Hopefully DH can throw something together for the kids.

DH is working till noon..They aren't closed..
No stores are closed that I know of.
Growing up we went to church on Maundy Thursday and then Easter Sunday, we never went on Good Friday??

[Michele]

I'm sick. This sucks. We're leaving Sunday for FL, and I haven't done a single thing I need to do to get ready. Today is the first day I've actually had time to go to the doctor and I couldn't get an appointment, even though I called at 9:01 (the office opens at 9:00). So I have to go to Urgent Care this evening. It opens at 5:00 so my Dad is coming over at 4:00 to watch the kids for me. I plan on being there before 5:00 so I can be one of the first people called.

I do have to say that my kids are being so good and giving me a break today. Jackson has been taking care of Anna, he got her some cheerios and a sippy of water. Now he's building some train tracks for them to play with. He can be so great sometimes! Handy Manny is my friend today...btw, is Clay no longer on Playhouse Disney? Between the shows...

Scott's company is open today. I kind of forgot it was an actual holiday, since we don't really celebrate. If I can muster up some energy I want to dye eggs today...maybe when Anna goes down for her nap.

[Alysia]

Anne~ I hope Caroline is not getting sick!!

Jillian~ Stay put!! We want to keep that baby cooking!

[Jillian]

I went to bible college and we always had class on good friday...and this wasn't a big college that started off as a christian college, this was a small small small college where the only degrees that were offered that you didn't need to be dual enrolled for were minister, youth minister, choir director, children's ministry, and christian counseling...basically men went their to be ministers and women went their to find minister husbands.

[Jillian]

Don't worry, the baby will stay cooking, I will be 20 weeks this weekend and I'm not dilated yet! I was 2cm dilated at 19 weeks with Caid, and he wasn't born till 39 weeks, so I'm not worried, but I also know that the reason he wasn't born early was cause my body responds so well to bedrest, so I won't be doing anything for the next 14 weeks either.

[MrsPeacefrog]

:yawn: Well it's 2:30am here, I was so tired by all the work I did yesterday (obviously not a good enough catholic to sit around and reflect :giggle: ) that I went to bed at 8:30pm and I woke up at 2am unable to get back to sleep, my body is so used to only getting 5-6 hours sleep it won't let me go back to sleep :rolleyes: Thought I would try a wander around here to see if I can spur myself to try sleeping again (wait did I just call you guys boring :scratch: ) :lol:

Add me to the list of people surprised you guys don't shut down completely over Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

The only things open here are petrol stations, other than that you better have a stocked fridge or you are stuffed. Tony was devistated cause he had forgotten to go buy beer on Thursday and only had 3 left to watch the footy last night :giggle: You can guarentee he will be first in line in the morning to stock back up again.

[LISA]

Everything re: grocery stores/malls are shut down today except for the big drug store chain and had I not booked it off I would have had to work tonight :rolleyes: Dh is working but it's an overtime shift for maintance, the regular plant crew has the day off.

Ok I just realized something..dh just casually mentioned this to me the other day and I totally for got about it.. his father/step mother are having a bday party for dh's niece on sat night who is turning 13..we've only just reconnected with these people..wth should I buy for this girl whom we know NOTHING about?? it's been 6+ yrs since we've had to buy her anything? ..I so didn't need this sprung on me on Easter weekend :gah:

[Lynn]

(obviously not a good enough catholic to sit around and reflect :giggle: )
:lol: Don't forget, only one 'real' meal allowed today. Sorry - that's one Catholic rule I have to break. :shuffle: I'm a sinner. :hehe:

Aaron and I just got back from the store. Holy cow it was crazy! The Most Holy Church of Capitalism is alive and well today. :eek:

[Dennis]

Lisa, just get a gift card.

[Melissa]

I had to go to the grocery store as well. Out of 18 eggs 9 cracked!!! :complain: Plus, I didn't get Paas and DH didn't like the way the other stuff colored the eggs. So off to the store I went. The interesting thing is, this store is closed every Sunday, I was surprised it was open today.

[LISA]

Thanks Dennis, I guess I'll go to the mall tomorrow :errr: and buy a gift card so she can use there.

Melissa, did you use Dudley egg dye? that's what I have and I'm dreading it now..I'll remember to make sure to buy Paas when I buy the stash for next year :)

[TtownAnne]

Or you could just use 2T vinegar, 1/2c hot water and some food coloring. :heee: Go old school! I just bought some of the new neon food color, so am curious to see what that makes. :)

[Cami]

We colored eggs the other day and it was the first time I'd used brown eggs. When we got started, I was on the phone with an American friend of mine who lives in my neighborhood. I was telling her how weird it was to dye brown eggs and immediately she responded with that New England area egg company jingle that I know I've heard mentioned here before. Something about local brown eggs being the best. It made me :giggle:

[MrsPeacefrog]

Lisa, I wouldn't even bother with that, just cash it! :lol: Less work. She can choose to bank it or spend it. I loved cash as a present (still do), it means I can save for bigger things if I wanted.

:lol2: Lynn. Meh, I also threw that out the window, I even eat meat on Fridays :shuffle: The Catholic in me is completely gone. To my mothers utter dismay.

ACK, me tired now! After getting up at 2am not being able to go back to sleep and a short stint on here, I ended up not falling back asleep till 5am as Tony was having a fantastic time snoring last night. Then the kids woke up at 7am YUCK.

I have a big day ahead of me, Easter is tomorrow, so I need to be completely ready. My sister is coming over in about half an hour to help. I need to get the bolognese sauce cooking, it's a 5 hour process so I need to do that first thing in the morning to get it out of the way. Then I need to bake the desserts, prep the chicken and other meats just for the cooking side of things. Then I need to finish the inside clean. Bathrooms, living area and mop the place as my beautiful timber floors aren't looking so beautiful at the moment. Then when I wake up tomorrow morning I will be cooking non stop till everyone arrives for Easter lunch.

I might even have myself a glass of wine tomorrow now I am in the 2nd trimester. But if this is anything like Jacob's pregnancy I will probably gag at the taste, hopefully not, I miss having a glass here and there. :lol:

[Karri]

Don't forget, America practices the church of Capitalism :rolleyes:

Not trying to start anything, but come on now. Separation of church and state. Not everyone in the great ole US of A is a christian and this is not a christian nation.

[MrsPeacefrog]

I took Melissa's comment as a joke that America is money hungry so capitalism trumps religion :dunno:

But then again what do I know about America and it's finer workings :lol2:

[Alyssa]

We colored eggs the other day and it was the first time I'd used brown eggs. When we got started, I was on the phone with an American friend of mine who lives in my neighborhood. I was telling her how weird it was to dye brown eggs and immediately she responded with that New England area egg company jingle that I know I've heard mentioned here before. Something about local brown eggs being the best. It made me :giggle:Brown eggs are local eggs, and local eggs are fresh!

[Alyssa]

We dyed eggs this afternoon, I can't get the freakin' stuff off my hands. :rolleyes:

[Karri]

I took Melissa's comment as a joke that America is money hungry so capitalism trumps religion :dunno:

Of course it is :awink: If I was a business owner, I would be open, because I don't celebrate easter. Nor do a huge portion of the US. That's what I was sayin'.

[Alyssa]

I'm really cranky. :rolleyes: WW points, meet wine. :giggle:

My mom just brought me a cute new bag though, so that is helping my spirits a little. I just tried to find a picture, and the only one I found was on eBay...and it does nothing to show how cute the bag is. It looks kinda fugly here. :dunno:
http://i17.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/92/fd/a24a_1.JPG

[MrsPeacefrog]

Deb = no sleep = stoopid. :lol2: Me understand now, everybody needs to talk slow for me.

[Jillian]

We colored eggs the other day and it was the first time I'd used brown eggs. When we got started, I was on the phone with an American friend of mine who lives in my neighborhood. I was telling her how weird it was to dye brown eggs and immediately she responded with that New England area egg company jingle that I know I've heard mentioned here before. Something about local brown eggs being the best. It made me :giggle:

We did brown and white eggs last year, the brown eggs look cool when dyed, very muted and such...martha stewart did it on her talk show so I had to try it.

[LISA]

Lisa, I wouldn't even bother with that, just cash it! :lol: Less work. She can choose to bank it or spend it. I loved cash as a present (still do), it means I can save for bigger things if I wanted.

Yep I agree.. cash it is :aok: I dread the thought of going anywhere near the mall tomorrow :errr:
dh nixed my crab lingine suggestion for supper so we're off in search of fish and chips :rolleyes:

[Clare]

Growing up we went to church on Maundy Thursday and then Easter Sunday, we never went on Good Friday??

It must be a different religion thing. Good Friday is a very important in the Catholic Church. And while I'm not a practicing Catholic anymore, I still wouldn't do anything fun or eat meat on Good Friday :dunno:

And Maundy Thursday? :scratch: Is that the day before Good Friday? We call it Holy Thursday.

[AmyP]

Maundy Thursday = Holy Thursday. I grew up Catholic so I always called it Holy Thursday. I saw a sign outside a Lutheran church near my parents' house that called it Maundy Thursday. :dunno:

DH worked all day today, although he left a little early. Sarah and I hung out at home and then went grocery shopping. Not a very exciting day. AF showed up this morning so I'm tired and crabby.

Tomorrow I need to make Baked Pineapple to go with the ham we're having on Easter. I just got the recipe from my mom. I hope it turns out well.

We are going to DH's grandparents' house and celebrating with his mom's side of the family at 4 on Easter and then going to my aunt's house around 6-6:30. It will make for a bit of a late night for Sarah, but she doesn't have therapy the next morning, or all week for that matter, so it will be fine.

It's supposed to be cold here on Easter. :( I'm glad I bought Sarah a matching sweater for her Easter dress. She's going to need it.

DH is playing with Sarah, which should get her nice and riled up before bed. :lol: I'm glad she's a good sleeper or I'd be mad at him.

[Melissa]

Melissa, did you use Dudley egg dye? that's what I have and I'm dreading it now..I'll remember to make sure to buy Paas when I buy the stash for next year :)
Yes, I did... Reed said he liked the blue color but that was it.

[AmyP]

Oh, and we're not dying eggs. Sarah is not ready for an egg hunt, so we're not bothering. She doesn't eat enough solids for candy, so I'm putting some books, a DVD, and an applesauce in her basket.

[Jillian]

It must be a different religion thing. Good Friday is a very important in the Catholic Church. And while I'm not a practicing Catholic anymore, I still wouldn't do anything fun or eat meat on Good Friday :dunno:

That was my colleges reasoning if you asked why we had classes on Good Friday, it was because Good Friday is largely recognized as a catholic holiday. Who knows...my church(christian church/church of christ (instrumental) same denomination as the college) that I went to in high school didn't do anything for Good Friday, but the church I went to in elem. with my great grandma (rlds, which I think is now called community of christ) had good friday services and a fish fry (which was always AMAZING!).

[Melissa]

Not trying to start anything, but come on now. Separation of church and state. Not everyone in the great ole US of A is a christian and this is not a christian nation.
Seriously?

Here are some statistics of the "great old US of A."
Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 1%, other 10%, none 10% (2002 est.)
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html#People
Scroll down to religions. That means that 78% of the USA celebrate Christian Holidays. Secondly, BUSINESSES don't come into play when it comes to the Separation of Church and State, if they want to be nice during holidays then so be it. Frankly, I think it is horrible that businesses do not care about those who want to celebrate holidays and be with their families. I don't care if you are talking about secular holidays such as Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, or those that have a religious basis (which BTW many are Federal holidays, how's that for separation of church and state?).

[Alyssa]

It must be a different religion thing. Good Friday is a very important in the Catholic Church. And while I'm not a practicing Catholic anymore, I still wouldn't do anything fun or eat meat on Good Friday :dunno:
You're way more 1/2 practicing than me. :giggle: No meat never entered my mind, and I don't ever remember a "rule" of nothing fun on this day. But I'm sure I'm just blocking that out. :awink:

I've never heard it called Maundy Thursday either. :dunno:

[Alyssa]

Here are some statistics of the "great old US of A."
The stats didn't copy, but I had a question on the 2% Mormon. Does anyone know if Mormons celebrate Easter and the like? They believe in JC, don't they? Anyone know?

[Melissa]

Yes, they believe in Jesus, their full name is the "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" but I am not sure what holidays they celebrate.

[Jillian]

(which BTW many are Federal holidays, how's that for separation of church and state?).


Christmas is the only religiously based federal holiday.

[Jillian]

ahh, a link... sorry, didn't mean to post that without any proof...I just hit reply before hitting paste.

http://www.opm.gov/fedhol/2007.asp

[Melissa]

Sorry, I misspoke.

[EricaW]

The stats didn't copy, but I had a question on the 2% Mormon. Does anyone know if Mormons celebrate Easter and the like? They believe in JC, don't they? Anyone know?

Yup. Being as I live in morman land and am not morman I know way more about the morman church than I would like. :lol:

Basically they just have an extra book, they have the Old & the New Testament and then they throw in the Book of Morman on top of all that. Same holidays but they might have a slightly different spin to them.

[EricaW]

I thought I should add...

I think the morman's celebrate Easter more like the protestant religions, not like the catholics. I don't hear of anyone giving up anything for lent, not eating meat on Fridays etc.

But being as I am not morman, I could be wrong. :lol:

[Melissa]

Anyway, to get back to the posting party of the thread.

We're watching "Man of the Year" with Robin Williams, its pretty good so far! We might get snow tonight, since we're in southern VA that's pretty impressive.

[TtownAnne]

We just saw Man of the Year earlier this week; pretty good, but surprisingly a dark tone for the type of things Robin Williams usually does.

We're invited to an Easter egg hunt tomorrow morning, but will depend on if we end up with any snow here too! They're talking about a coating, but that's still enough to make me reconsider an egg hunt.

[AmyP]

I forgot to mention to those who want to see Meet the Robinsons. I saw it on Tuesday with Sarah (story was way over her head but the big cartoony pictures kept her entertained for the most part) and I loved it! Cute story, and I cried at the end. :blush:

[Mary DK]

Okay, this just boggles my mind.
Just checked the weather forecast, weather for the next two days chance of rain/snow with a high of 40-48 low in the 30's :eek:
Did somebody moved my house to another state b/c this weather in April couldn't possibly be happening in Texas? :crazy: In April!!!!! :faint:

[Clare]

You're way more 1/2 practicing than me. :giggle: No meat never entered my mind, and I don't ever remember a "rule" of nothing fun on this day. But I'm sure I'm just blocking that out. :awink:

I've never heard it called Maundy Thursday either. :dunno:

I remember one particular nun scared the crap out of us about not having fun on Good Friday. If you weren't sitting at home being all miserable then you were going to hell. Of course I don't believe that now, but it still wouldn't occur to me to go out and do something on Good Friday. Not that you can do much here b/c most everything is closed anyway. The kids have been talking alot about Easter and Jesus and such but haven't mentioned staying home being sad on Good Friday, so the Catholic Church may have changed their philosophy on that a little.

[Kara]

It must be a different religion thing. Good Friday is a very important in the Catholic Church. And while I'm not a practicing Catholic anymore, I still wouldn't do anything fun or eat meat on Good Friday :dunno:

And Maundy Thursday? :scratch: Is that the day before Good Friday? We call it Holy Thursday.

Yep,. must be, I was Presbyterian. don't know what I am now LOL!

[Karly]

Kara, I just thought you misspelled "Monday" - :blush:

I'm not Catholic, and we've occasionally done something on Good Friday. A few years ago, we did have a service that day, but nothing was scheduled this time. :dunno: Sunday is the big day at our church.

Our plans for this weekend consist of an Easter Egg hunt at our church in the snow tomorrow. :rolleyes: Greaaat. After that, we're headed to the ILs to celebrate Easter with that side of the family. This will be the first time we've seen Aunt C, since Uncle R died in February. :( I hope it goes okay.

On Sunday, we have the celebration service in the morning, and then we have plans to eat out for lunch.

[Mandi]

Scroll down to religions. That means that 78% of the USA celebrate Christian Holidays.

You're presuming a lot. Just b/c someone celebrates a christian holiday doesn't mean they celebrate the meaning behind it. I mean my non-believing family celebrates Xmas and Easter, but not the religious meaning behind it. We're all about the fat man and the bunny here. :lol: So IMO that percentage is very misleading.

Anywho, I think just about everything was open here today. I'm not aware of any businesses being closed. Definitely not any retail stores, for sure. I think closing a store on a religious holiday is a bit unrealistic. If you closed a business to observe ever possible holiday (be it xian, jewish, islam, etc) you'd be closed all the dang time. It's just not financially feesible. Of course I can understand why Shel would be annoyed though, considering she works for a church.

Anyway back to the original question... no huge plans for us. Micayla's birthday is actually on easter this year. Michael is supposed to work but took part of the day off to be with her. We'll do easter baskets and an egg hunt in the backyard. We're going to make a turkey dinner (ala t-giving) with all the trimmings. Mostly b/c I have 2 turkeys in the deep freezer and I need the space. :lol:

[Joan]

All public and private schools are closed today, but everything else is open. Like Clare, I remember being taught that GF is a day for no joy, fun, food, or celebration.

I'm not feeling great but we did go to the beach. We went to Lanikai Beach and it was gorgeous! I didn't take pics but this is for all of you needing some sunshine! lanikai (http://www.portaloha.com/SecretsOfHawaii/KailuaBeach.htm).

[LISA]

Oh Joan it's beautiful!!

Ok, wtf?? it's 2am and I'm wide awake..I got maybe an hour sleep :tearhair: and we need to get up at the butt crack of dawn..greeeat :dead:

[Clare]

Seriously?

Here are some statistics of the "great old US of A."

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html#People
Scroll down to religions. That means that 78% of the USA celebrate Christian Holidays. Secondly, BUSINESSES don't come into play when it comes to the Separation of Church and State, if they want to be nice during holidays then so be it. Frankly, I think it is horrible that businesses do not care about those who want to celebrate holidays and be with their families. I don't care if you are talking about secular holidays such as Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, or those that have a religious basis (which BTW many are Federal holidays, how's that for separation of church and state?).

I looked up Australia on that site and got this:

Religions:
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/graphics/dictionary.jpg (https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/docs/notesanddefs.html#2122) https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/graphics/listing.jpg (https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2122.html)
Catholic 26.4%, Anglican 20.5%, other Christian 20.5%, Buddhist 1.9%, Muslim 1.5%, other 1.2%, unspecified 12.7%, none 15.3% (2001 Census)

So only 67% Christian yet the whole country shuts down for Christian holidays. I guess it's majority rules :lol:

[MrsPeacefrog]

You know, I think it's more to do with the fact it's just a public holiday. The nation has declared it as a day off, and everyone takes advantage of it! :lol: Maybe we are too lazy in this country, any reason for a day off we will jump at.

I have never once heard someone who isn't religious complain about getting the day off on these holidays. You would have to be a nut to!

I like that nothing is open and we can all just chill out. I don't get the big deal.

[schwanda]

We went to church on Maundy Thursday when I was growing up. We didn't usually go on Good Friday. I grew up in a Congregational Church. I always thought that most Protestant churches called it "Maundy" Thursday and the Catholic churches called it "Holy" Thursday but maybe I'm wrong. :dunno:

Amanda

[Melissa]

You're presuming a lot. Just b/c someone celebrates a christian holiday doesn't mean they celebrate the meaning behind it. I mean my non-believing family celebrates Xmas and Easter, but not the religious meaning behind it. We're all about the fat man and the bunny here. :lol: So IMO that percentage is very misleading.


And you are misreading the statistic I posted. Actually that statistic is from people who state they follow a religion, if they didn't identify themselves as Christian, they'd be part of the 22% that isn't Christian in this country. The statistic I pulled wasn't about who celebrates each religious holiday, it was based on the demographics of the country that identify themselves as a particular religion, so I'd say that yes, that stat could be misleading but it would actually be LOWER than the percentage that actually celebrate the holiday. Like you and Karri for example, I'm guessing you wouldn't identify yourselves as Christian, but would celebrate the secular holiday, therefore if 78% of the people identify themselves as Christian and celebrate, there are many others who do not identify themselves as Christian and celebrate as well.

But I should have just ditto'ed Deb, she got the meaning of my original post. I think it is repulsive that businesses make a mockery of holidays. I'm 31 and I can remember a time when the majority of businesses were closed for Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day (a day for laborers to rest!), and Thanksgiving. This isn't just about religious holidays, it is about holidays in general. But if you want to work and the rest of your family to work, more power to you, I don't.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
So we have SNOW!!! I'm literally 50 miles from the North Carolina border and we have snow. Granted it isn't much, but this is very odd!

[Melissa]

You know, I think it's more to do with the fact it's just a public holiday. The nation has declared it as a day off, and everyone takes advantage of it! :lol: Maybe we are too lazy in this country, any reason for a day off we will jump at.

I have never once heard someone who isn't religious complain about getting the day off on these holidays. You would have to be a nut to!

I like that nothing is open and we can all just chill out. I don't get the big deal.
I wish the US would do more of this.

[Clare]

You know, I think it's more to do with the fact it's just a public holiday. The nation has declared it as a day off, and everyone takes advantage of it! :lol: Maybe we are too lazy in this country, any reason for a day off we will jump at.

I have never once heard someone who isn't religious complain about getting the day off on these holidays. You would have to be a nut to!

I like that nothing is open and we can all just chill out. I don't get the big deal.

Well yeah :nod: I meant to say that as well. Any excuse for a public holiday here :lol: I reckon that if the Muslims said they wanted the whole country to recognise Ramadan, we'd happily do it if it meant a day off work :lol:

The weather is crazy, isn't it? Snow for you Melissa when it should be spring and we are still having stinking hot summer temperatures in autumn :disbelief:

[LISA]

It's sooooooooo freaking cold out :cold: I don't want to do the easter egg hunt but Paige is looking forward to it..
I just realized something about going to dh's neices bday party..there are going to be people I HATE there, I won't forgive/forget the hell they put us through..we can't back out now but their house isn't big enough to "hide" from them..I'm sooooo not looking forward to it now :mope:

[AmyP]

There was a dusting of snow on the grass when I woke up this morning. :wtf:

Sarah slept in until almost 9 this morning! :woot:

We have no plans today and I'm happy about that. I am going to make the side dish for Easter and that's about it. I also have to clear off the dining room table and find Sarah's Easter basket. She's getting Easter-themed books (a Dora one and one called Easter Bugs I found for cheap at a discount store a few months ago), one or two non-Easter books, an Elmo's World DVD (Pets), and I'll probably toss a package of applesauce in there too just for a sweet treat. :)

[Melissa]

The weather is crazy, isn't it? Snow for you Melissa when it should be spring and we are still having stinking hot summer temperatures in autumn :disbelief:
:nod: We were up to 85 three days ago! I had the AC on because our upstairs was over 80 degrees at 9p.m. Now it is 33, the snow stopped and it is quickly melting.

[Kara]

Anyway back to the original question... no huge plans for us. Micayla's birthday is actually on easter this year. Michael is supposed to work but took part of the day off to be with her. We'll do easter baskets and an egg hunt in the backyard. We're going to make a turkey dinner (ala t-giving) with all the trimmings. Mostly b/c I have 2 turkeys in the deep freezer and I need the space. :lol:

Aww I didn't know Micayla and my Josh share a birthday!
It stinks having it on Easter this year! LOL! Yet kind cool too!

[Bridget]

It's sooooooooo freaking cold out :cold: Here too. Like 20 (if that) this morning.

Ahna is sick. Started puking last night and kept it up overnight, so the plans to go to my mom's are off. :(

We're tired but we're going to try to at least clean up the house today. Hopefully Caleb can decorate some eggs although Kai will have to go buy some and get them boiled.

[TtownAnne]

I can't decide whether to be annoyed or not - DH and Caroline colored easter eggs without me! Admittedly, she was up ridiculously early this morning (has a slight cold so is all stuffy and clogged) and was pesterng about it right away, so I did luck out in the fact that when she came to our bedroom she went to HIM and not me (who is on duty 99.5% of the time) so they went downstairs and left me sleeping. I got to sleep in until 9:30am which is fabulous, but I missed out on coloring eggs! I would NEVER go ahead with an "event" like that without him because I know he likes to participate. But I got to sleep in. Should I be upset, or not? :giggle:

[Jillian]

But I should have just ditto'ed Deb, she got the meaning of my original post. I think it is repulsive that businesses make a mockery of holidays. I'm 31 and I can remember a time when the majority of businesses were closed for Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day (a day for laborers to rest!), and Thanksgiving. This isn't just about religious holidays, it is about holidays in general. But if you want to work and the rest of your family to work, more power to you, I don't.



See I guess I just don't see it that way cause my grandma had to work every other holiday my whole life...she was an RN, and it doesn't matter what the holiday is, nurses do not get it off, cause they are needed, even if it is Christmas...so, eh, I just don't care if businesses are open or not on holidays...right now since I can't leave the dang house (or more like the couch) I really don't care. :lol:

[Jillian]

by the way, it's 26 degrees here with a windchill of 13 degrees! It was seriously 75 on Tuesday!

[Bridget]

I can't decide whether to be annoyed or not - DH and Caroline colored easter eggs without me! Admittedly, she was up ridiculously early this morning (has a slight cold so is all stuffy and clogged) and was pesterng about it right away, so I did luck out in the fact that when she came to our bedroom she went to HIM and not me (who is on duty 99.5% of the time) so they went downstairs and left me sleeping. I got to sleep in until 9:30am which is fabulous, but I missed out on coloring eggs! I would NEVER go ahead with an "event" like that without him because I know he likes to participate. But I got to sleep in. Should I be upset, or not? :giggle:

Um! YES! I'd be upset. Sleeping in would be way cool though.

Jillian, I know this weather is just bizarre.

[Mary DK]

See I guess I just don't see it that way cause my grandma had to work every other holiday my whole life...she was an RN, and it doesn't matter what the holiday is, nurses do not get it off, cause they are needed, even if it is Christmas...so, eh, I just don't care if businesses are open or not on holidays...right now since I can't leave the dang house (or more like the couch) I really don't care. :lol:
I feel a little bit like that b/c Blair doesn't get holidays either unless they happen to fall on his regular day off & he works midnights so we're always having to figure out our own little schedule though I have to say that he's really good & does what it's better for the boys... like he'll stay up for Christmas to see the boys open presents & have our Christmas bkfast even though he was up all night. He's a train dispatcher, trains don't rest! :rolleyes:

[Mary DK]

Okay, so right now it's 38 degrees with a windchill of 31 & humidity at 52% & the wind is blowing... which I'm sure it makes it feel more like in the high 20's if you're just standing outside. We had a few snow flurries too but it has stopped, we're suppose to get rain.

I'm really praying for the rain b/c Eliot is suppose to have a t-ball game at 4pm & I really don't want to have to stand outside in this cold for more than an hour!! I might have to start doing jumping jacks to keep warm & that won't be a pretty sight :giggle: I'm trying to figure out a way to keep Eliot warm & have his uniform still show up :scratch:

Hmm, I have this silly rash on my arm, it itches like crazy & it gets irritated by me wearing long sleeves. Blair said that it looked like a heat rash :dunno: I have put some cortisone & some Gold Bond to help with the itching but it hasn't done much at all. I'm really wondering about what it is b/c I've had it for a few days & it seems to come & go but never goes away all the way :confused:

[LISA]

So we drove out to this Easter egg hunt and as we were driving by we saw a million people on the grass :faint: we kept on driving :lol:.I can only imagine how many more people there would have been if the weather was nice :eek:

This weather is messed up..we had a green Christmas and a white Easter :screwy:

[LISA]

Hmm, I have this silly rash on my arm, it itches like crazy & it gets irritated by me wearing long sleeves. Blair said that it looked like a heat rash :dunno: I have put some cortisone & some Gold Bond to help with the itching but it hasn't done much at all. I'm really wondering about what it is b/c I've had it for a few days & it seems to come & go but never goes away all the way :confused:

Could it be an allergic reaction to something? soap..cream?

[Mary DK]

I haven't changed anything... same soap, same lotion, same detergent :dunno:
If it doesn't go away by Monday I'll have to go see the Dr b/c it's really annoying :sigh:

[MamaGoofy]

Let's see today I am getting the deviled eggs made and the Easter Basket cake prepared. I went to church last night. It is the first time I have gone on Good Friday and can I say I sobbed like a baby. I have always gotten the meaning behind Easter but last night :wow: Amazing service!! I can't wait to go tomorrow when it's all about the resurrection! So our plans tomorrow: Go to church. Come home and grab the food and head out to my grandmother's house for Easter dinner. Since my IL's convienently can't go I guess we will have to stop by their house on the way home so they can visit with David....unless my SIL is still sick and then they are SOL... I am so aggrivated with them right now it's not even funny.

Happy Resurrection Day and Happy Easter!!!

[Melissa]

This weather is messed up..we had a green Christmas and a white Easter :screwy:
:lol: That was us too.... except I wouldn't expect white Christmases either.

Mary, that's odd, you did have hot weather, maybe you didn't see the heat rash until you wore the long sleeves?

[Jillian]

This weather is messed up..we had a green Christmas and a white Easter :screwy:

We were just talking about that last night!

[Lynn]

We just finished using the WORST Easter egg kit ever. It had these packets of dye that you put into cold water. The dye sits on top of the water and you swirl it with a toothpick to get the desired effect. That was all well and good for the first 2 eggs and then it was just disaster. Once the eggs were colored they got all sticky and gross. All of us were sticking to the newspaper covering the table. I made Keith go outside and throw the water out and we finished the remaining 6 eggs using the good old fashioned food coloring/vinegar trick.

Then I peeled the eggs to use for deviled eggs and they were sticking all over my fingers. :gah: I used a ton of vegetable oil to get the sticky off.

I'm done using those kits!

[Melissa]

Lynn, what brand was it???

[Jillian]

We had bad luck with some kit last year to, I've come to believe that if you want to buy a kit (as opposed to the vinnegar/food colouring thing) you need just a plain no gimmicks colouring kit!

[Joan]

We just got home from shopping and jakob has a fever of 102.6 :( We still need to color eggs and get the baskets together.

Anne, I'd be a little irritated, but you did sleep in...for me that trumps all!

Is this weird? Jakob got an Easter card from the grandparents but Sean did not. I kind of want to say something. Weird.

Mary, I get rashes a lot. I use benedryl until I can get to the dr. Ice packs help too. Hope the itching stops!

[Eva]

Joan, that is awful :( and wierd.


We went to the lamest Easter Fair ever today. It was only a handful of Booths. we left after only 15 mintues. They didn't even have an Easter Bunny. Tryexplaining that to a 3 year old who thought she would see a bunny. :screy: Luckily I redeemed myseld by taking her to the park which had an Easter Train. There was a bunny and they did crafts.

DH won a gaint Easter basket from our local paper full of chocolate. :eek: I don't know what we will do with all this chocolate. :faint: If I had known, I wouldn't have bothered with Easter baskets this year.

[Mary DK]

Mary, I get rashes a lot. I use benedryl until I can get to the dr. Ice packs help too. Hope the itching stops!
Shoot, I should've thought & gotten some Benadryl when I went out today, I was even at a CVS pharmacy :duh: Ice packs, I definitely have those... thanks!! :aok:

[Jayne]

We did a really cute kit. I got messy but that is ok. They looked like Q-tips and you snapped the one end and the color rushed to the other end. Then you just painted the egg with it. It was fun and easy and really in expensive (.88) I also got this spring loaded thing that held the egg and would rotate them if you did it right so Alyssa loved that since she hates to get messy :lol:

[Anne]

Is it normal to have just utter chaos at public egg hunts? I felt so bad for Emma but thankfully she did not seem to notice. They had it indoors due to the weather. From what I heard last years was the same way so this is nothing new. They had the ages split into different times. The announcer told the parents over and over again to hold on to the kids until she gave the ok to go.

There were three boxes they were going to spread on the floor and they did not even get 1/2 of the first box out and kids were out there. She tried to get the parents to get their kids but more and more ran out. When I realized she no longer had control and was letting it go on, I told Emma she could go but by that time she could not get anywhere near the stash.

Then I saw them dumping eggs in another part of the gym. At this point Dave had picked Emma up and was getting ready to just leave but I had him take her over and she got 4 eggs. There were kids leaving with their baskets overflowing...

Dave was pissed and I told him to cool it since she seemed happy. I made a big deal about her getting 4 eggs and we had a talk later that being good and getting just a little is better than not listening and getting a lot.

The only other egg hunts we have been too were up in Montana and both were outside in the local park. All ages at the same time but split into sections.

[Dennis]

Anne, I think that's pretty normal, unfortunately.

[Jillian]

Is this weird? Jakob got an Easter card from the grandparents but Sean did not. I kind of want to say something. Weird.

Maybe it just got lost in the mail? My grandma sends the kids cards for every occasion and it is not at all unusual for one of the kids to get their card a few days before the other.

[Jillian]

Is it normal to have just utter chaos at public egg hunts? I felt so bad for Emma but thankfully she did not seem to notice. They had it indoors due to the weather. From what I heard last years was the same way so this is nothing new. They had the ages split into different times. The announcer told the parents over and over again to hold on to the kids until she gave the ok to go.

There were three boxes they were going to spread on the floor and they did not even get 1/2 of the first box out and kids were out there. She tried to get the parents to get their kids but more and more ran out. When I realized she no longer had control and was letting it go on, I told Emma she could go but by that time she could not get anywhere near the stash.

Then I saw them dumping eggs in another part of the gym. At this point Dave had picked Emma up and was getting ready to just leave but I had him take her over and she got 4 eggs. There were kids leaving with their baskets overflowing...

Dave was pissed and I told him to cool it since she seemed happy. I made a big deal about her getting 4 eggs and we had a talk later that being good and getting just a little is better than not listening and getting a lot.

The only other egg hunts we have been too were up in Montana and both were outside in the local park. All ages at the same time but split into sections.


We've taken the kids to both kinds of egg hunts, and I think all of the wait till we dump them egg hunts end up being mass chaos of parents wanting their kids to get the most eggs or whatever. Our favorite just divides the kids into 3 or 4 fields based on age and the eggs are already "hidden" when you get there, so there is no waiting for them to drop. Janelle would only pick up pink eggs last year, and Kincaid kept discarding his egg for the next egg he would find...I guess he just wanted the one best egg. :lol: We vetoed easter egg hunts today since it was so cold and snowy and my dh is a wimp and I couldn't go.

[Karri]

This isn't just about religious holidays, it is about holidays in general. But if you want to work and the rest of your family to work, more power to you, I don't.

I like that many businesses are turning to giving their employees PTO. Maybe not in retail, but in business. So even with holidays, that's wrapped up in PTO. My husband has 7 weeks of PTO a year and if he wants to work on easter, he can. He can take his holidays whenever he pleases. For the holidays *we* celebrate.

I can't decide whether to be annoyed or not - DH and Caroline colored easter eggs without me! Admittedly, she was up ridiculously early this morning (has a slight cold so is all stuffy and clogged) and was pesterng about it right away, so I did luck out in the fact that when she came to our bedroom she went to HIM and not me (who is on duty 99.5% of the time) so they went downstairs and left me sleeping. I got to sleep in until 9:30am which is fabulous, but I missed out on coloring eggs! I would NEVER go ahead with an "event" like that without him because I know he likes to participate. But I got to sleep in. Should I be upset, or not?
I'd be a little upset, but I wouldn't get my undies in a bundle over it. I def. wouldn't make a big deal over it....he may just stop trying to help in the mornings all together :heee: You don't want that!
Anyway, I figure that there's a lot Chris misses out on during the day that we do, so if he does something w/o me, its not a big thang.

[AmyP]

Hi all! How is everyone's Easter (if you celebrate)?

Sarah loved her Easter basket. She was so excited to see the Elmo DVD I could barely pry it out of her hands to get her breakfast started. I got some cute pictures of her taking stuff out of her basket. I'll post them in my journal later.

Now I have to get off my lazy butt. I need to make the baked pineapple I've been putting off (gotta make it this morning because it's supposed to be served cold), and some vegetable soup. The soup can wait until tomorrow, but I really want to make it because I am going to get into enough food I shouldn't be eating today and a 0-point lunch would be a really good thing.

I took Sarah swimming last night. The place where we took Mommy and Me swimming lessons has family swim nights. So we went there and she had a great time. She fell in the locker room, though, and has a big bruise on her hip. :( It doesn't seem to be bothering her anymore, thankfully.

[Melissa]

We've been having a great Easter. Katie was very excited to see her basket and loves the color wonder Cars packet I gave her. She's already colored in half of the pages.

[TtownAnne]

I'm here - Caroline was awake before 7am to get her basket. She thought the earring tree was such a great idea, and enjoyed the egg hunt around the living room. She's feeling alot better than she was yesterday; her 103 fever finally broke in the afternoon, so now she's just coughing. I think we're going to have dinner with my parents - I was really hesitant to take her over there and potentially expose my mom to some germs, but she is DESPERATE for company and frankly I'd sell a kidney to get out of the house today too (other than the grocery store, have been stuck here since Thursday night). DH will be annoyed, but at least I'll bring him home some yummy leftovers from Mom's.

[Kara]

Anne, I don't blame ya!!
Glad everyone likes their baskets!!!

Josh thought he didn't have one this morning and was almost in tears! LOL!

I can't believe my guy is 9!!!! Doesn't seem possible!!!!

Its freezing here today!Doesn't seem like Easter!

[Mary DK]

Kara, I freak out when I think of Eliot being 6 & entering 1st Grade this fall. I don't even want to think of how I will feel when he's 9 yrs old! My baby!! :hug99:

The boys loved all their goodies, ate some candy as part of their breakfast, after all Eliot said that this was a special day & they could do that :lol: Funny enough even though they were all excited about all the new stuff they're back playing with their Thomas stuff :scratch: :giggle:

That okay though b/c they're playing nice right now, I'll bring out the new craft stuff when they start getting on each other's nerves :aok: We made Easter cookies last night & will be decorating them when Daddy wakes up :) Other than that it's just a relaxing day at home & maybe a run to Barnes & Noble later today... hmmm, I wonder if they're even open, better check on that.

[Jillian]

I like that many businesses are turning to giving their employees PTO. Maybe not in retail, but in business. So even with holidays, that's wrapped up in PTO. My husband has 7 weeks of PTO a year and if he wants to work on easter, he can. He can take his holidays whenever he pleases. For the holidays *we* celebrate.


My husbands office (and the previous offices he's worked at) does this as well, they just have holidays, I don't remember how many of them, to take when they want...we have a pretty large Indian population here, as well as many other cultures that have different holidays than the traditional federal and Christian ones. So it works well to just give everyone holidays off to use when they see fit.

I'm sure that made no sense. As an example, officially dh's office closes for columbus day, DH usually chooses to work columbus day, and then he gets an extra day off for thanksgiving, or takes halloween off, whichever. He could choose to work christmas week but take a week off in february for mardi gras if he wanted to.

[Jillian]

The kids loved finding all their goodies today, we hid their wooden eggs and all their toy food as well as their baskets from us and their baskets from my mom. They got a ton for Easter cause they actually needed new toy food since it had been about 3 years since we bought them any.

Then Caid ate his alloted candy, then he kept sneaking candy from who knows where and became a total brat and passed out at 9 am. he does not handle sugar well, I have no idea why...but yea. We did not buy them any candy...just my mom did.

[Melissa]

Jillian, that would be great if every company did that. I just don't understand why retailers need to be open on holidays, do we really need Target open 365 days a year? I'm fairly certain that their CEOs and other white collar workers aren't working those holidays, why is it ok for retailers to force their hourly employees to miss out on their family time? Does the American population REALLY need access to stores to buy more crap? I really don't think so.

[LISA]

For the first time we didn't do coloured eggs :duh: I totally forgot!! well we could still do it for the hell of it but why bother now :lol: Paige had a blast looking for her "eggs" I told her I spoke to the Easter bunny and requested spring Hershey Kisses instead of the cheap crappy chocolate eggs that I don't like :giggle: the clock is ticking now ..she has a dress on and this girl only wears dresses on special occasions and even then after a while she complains and asks to get changed into "normal" clothes :lol:
we're off soon to go to my sisters for dinner..I hope everyone is having a great day :)

[Dennis]

Jillian, that would be great if every company did that. I just don't understand why retailers need to be open on holidays, do we really need Target open 365 days a year? I'm fairly certain that their CEOs and other white collar workers aren't working those holidays, why is it ok for retailers to force their hourly employees to miss out on their family time? Does the American population REALLY need access to stores to buy more crap? I really don't think so.

Melissa, the stores open on holidays becaue they make money by doing so. People like to shop on holidays. If the stores weren't making money doing it, they'd be closed. As for the workers missing out on their family time, if having holidays off is important to them, they are free to find a job that doesn't require them to work holidays.

[schwanda]

We had an ok Easter. I'm more than a little annoyed at Tom but that seems pretty standard for Easter, too. :lol: I'm on call all weekend (another job where holidays are NOT a given!) so I had to be at the hospital by 7:30 this morning. Tom didn't contribute to Easter at all. I bought all the goodies, assembled the baskets, hid the eggs, etc. While I was in the shower this morning, Tom let Nathaniel find all of the eggs and gave him his Easter basket. :rolleyes: That really annoyed me. Easter isn't even Tom's holiday and he's made it very clear over the years that he feels fairly uncomfortable with Easter. For him to take away the experience of Easter morning from me was pretty thoughtless. Adding to my joyful Easter (insert sarcasm), Tom left Baltimore at 8:30 this morning (before I got home from the hospital) so he could get to the Yankees game. He left me on call with 2 kids (yes, my au pair helped alot but it's totally not the same) so he could freeze his butt off at a Yankee game. Yes, I'm bitter. And exhausted. And stressed.
Fortunately, the kids were very good today. Nathaniel was SO excited about the Easter Bunny. He didn't really want to share the eggs with Jessica but when he realized it was a choice between sharing or not having any, he became quite generous. I found a farm with a petting area and an Easter egg hunt for the kids. We went and Nathaniel had a blast. Unfortunatley it was 38 degrees so we couldn't stay long. Definitely a fun place and a good find! I'm glad the kids were mostly good because otherwise I wouldn't have survived today.

Amanda

[Dennis]

I'm sorry Tom ruined the morning. At least you got to go to a hunt.

[Clare]

For Tom :colfish:

So your stores are even open on Christmas Day? Do people really want to go shopping on Christmas Day? Wow.

Our stores are closed on all public holidays. Easter is a 4 day weekend here, with Saturday being the only non-holiday. So everything is closed Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. Nothing is open Christmas Day, Boxing Day (day after Xmas) or New Years Day, Australia Day, Anzac Day etc. We like our holidays :lol:

[Melissa]

For Tom :colfish:

So your stores are even open on Christmas Day? Do people really want to go shopping on Christmas Day? Wow.

Our stores are closed on all public holidays. Easter is a 4 day weekend here, with Saturday being the only non-holiday. So everything is closed Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. Nothing is open Christmas Day, Boxing Day (day after Xmas) or New Years Day, Australia Day, Anzac Day etc. We like our holidays :lol:
Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only ones where a majority of stores are closed. A couple of years ago Kmart started opening on Thanksgiving. Maybe I should think about moving to Australia. I like your policies better! :lol:

[Clare]

Well actually, where I live stores aren't even open on Sundays! The govt has tried to bring in Sunday trading a few times and it always gets vetoed in a referendum. We only have one day a week (Thursday) where the shops are open past 5pm. You'd probably think you'd timetravelled back to the 60s if you came here :lol:

[MrsPeacefrog]

I was going to say, Clare. Perth must be way more holiday happy, because we have stores open on Australia day, Easter monday and well basically all public holiday here in Sydney. The only days we have no stores open is Christmas, Boxing day, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. All the rest have stores open.



We had a great Easter, we are recovering today though. I was exhausted from all the cooking and cleaning, but it all went fantastic and the kids had fun playing with their 2nd cousins. They also loved the Easter bunny coming, we hid their eggs around the living room and they found them and were very excited that the Easter bunny hopped into their house. Aiden claims he went into his room too :giggle:

I found out that my cousin (Riley's Godmother) is pregnant too, we are about 5 weeks apart which is very exciting and fun. She uses my ob/gyn as well, so we get to go through this whole thing together, it's the first time I have gone through a pregnancy with someone I am close with.

We ate a tonne and loved a tonne and the boys drank a tonne :giggle: Yes I was jealous, but it's all good. Thankfully we got help cleaning up so today we get to just sloth around on our last day off and recover from the sugar rush and extreme labour :lol:

[Clare]

Yep, Perth's caught in a timewarp. That's why Alex goes shopping at midnight when we're in Sydney, not cause he needs too, just b/c he can :lol:

[Jillian]

For Tom :colfish:

So your stores are even open on Christmas Day? Do people really want to go shopping on Christmas Day? Wow.



Very few things are open Christmas day, in my home town there is a party store that is owned by a muslim couple, the chinease restaraunt, and a gas station none of wich are actually in town, they are like 15 miles away. Here in ann arbor (much bigger city) I'm sure there are more things open, but I don't know what. The only reason I know about my hometown is cause Janelle got really sick on Christmas day a couple years ago and we were trying to find infants tylenol...

Ohh blockbuster I think is open 365 days a year no matter what in every location...

But easter, thanksgiving, newyears, etc etc etc a lot of places are open, not malls and such, but usually the big discount chain stores like target/kmart/walmart etc...they may have shortened hours, and maybe only 1 of the 3 will be open that year, but there is usually something open. And fast food is usually open as well.

[AmyP]

Domino's Pizza was open. How do I know that? Because my youngest brother works there and he missed most of Easter dinner because he had to work. He said there were practically no customers, and they still made him work. :(

We had a busy Easter, but it was good. We had a nice dinner at DH's grandparent's house. Then we headed to my aunt's house and didn't eat (too full). Sarah played with her cousins, which was really cute. Unfortunately Sarah threw a big toy at Emily's head (she's 10 months old). I felt so bad, but my brother and SIL didn't blame me. It just frustrates me that I can't figure out how to stop her. I really don't think she remotely understands what she is doing when I tell her "no throwing". :dunno: Other than that, everything was great. The kids were wild, and they almost banged heads a few more times.

And my aunt gets the gold star of the night. Sarah had a wild meltdown at one point and I thought she was tired. Usually when that happens she'll snuggle up to me, but she wouldn't and I couldn't calm her down. My aunt offered her some milk, and that sippy cup quieted her instantly. She drank the whole thing and then ate a jar of bananas and a travel cup of applesauce. She had an early dinner and didn't eat much and I guess it caught up to her.

ETA: And a :colfish: to my mom. She gave us a couple bags of candy for Easter. Ummm...I'm trying really hard to lose weight. Candy isn't going to help. I hate to throw it away. What do I do with it? I could take it to work but I work for my dad. He's not there when I am, but he might find out. Of course, the last time I brought candy it didn't last through lunch so this may not be an issue. :lol:

[MrsPeacefrog]

Yep, Perth's caught in a timewarp. That's why Alex goes shopping at midnight when we're in Sydney, not cause he needs too, just b/c he can :lol:


:lol2: I have never done midnight shopping. :giggle: But I can definately see if the option was not there that it would be appealing! I spin out that you guys don't have things opened on Sundays. We couldn't believe it when we went to Bundaberg, but it seems more feasible to be happening up there than PERTH! Perth is a big city. Very odd.


Oh I forgot to give Tom a smack across the head for his actions today, Amanda. :hug99: What a dope!

[MrsPeacefrog]

ETA: And a :colfish: to my mom. She gave us a couple bags of candy for Easter. Ummm...I'm trying really hard to lose weight. Candy isn't going to help. I hate to throw it away. What do I do with it? I could take it to work but I work for my dad. He's not there when I am, but he might find out. Of course, the last time I brought candy it didn't last through lunch so this may not be an issue. :lol:


:secret: This stuff doesn't go off straight away. I would just keep it for when you are over with dieting and allowed to have some :dunno: Unless you have no self control :lol:

[schwanda]

Thanks for the sympathy about Tom. He doesn't always think things through. :rolleyes: Some of it is just his upbringing. For example: Holiday meal at my parents' house. Everyone knows to wait until everyone else is served before eating. Holiday meal at his mom's house. Everyone eats as soon as they have food on their plate. The Easter egg hunt was just another example of that same behavior.

Amanda

[Jayne]

I would be upset too Amanda. DH doesn't put any effort into the holiday. He just wants all the glory so if he were to ever take it completely away from me I would be so very upset.

I am exhausted. We seemed to run all over and even though we came home from 2-4 for a nap, I didn't get one. I was to busy getting my Potatoes cooking and changing kids and all sorts of stuff. I have Timmy today and I am sick. My allergies took off worse, I can hardly breath and I can't talk. Blessing for most..very very hard on me :lol:

[Karri]

Sorry about Tom, Amanda. :( We have those "its all in the upbringing" issues that arise, too. :( All I can do is make sure that our kids will NOT be like that :lol:

Amy - throw the candy away or give it to a food pantry (do they take candy?). You know you'll eat it. And its cruel to watch your husband eat it. And it'll get gross if you hang onto it for too long.

I just don't understand why retailers need to be open on holidays, do we really need Target open 365 days a year? Does the American population REALLY need access to stores to buy more crap? I really don't think so.

What Dennis said is true - they make money. And some people don't mind working those days. And then there are people who don't celebrate those holidays...should their right to run to a store be taken away b/c some people think this is a christian nation?
And frankly, yesterday, aside from needing cream cheese (and running to the store to get some! TG my grocery was open!), I would have really liked to run to Kohls. It was my only chance this week w/o the kids and I needed something from there for my trip this weekend.

[AmyP]

Karri, my husband won't touch it either. He has much better self control than I do regarding junk food. Hence why I have a weight problem and he doesn't. I may just take it to work anyway. If it gets out that I was the one who brought the candy (I work Wednesday and my dad won't be in until Friday, so it may not last that long anyway), then I'll just tell my mom the truth. I don't want to hurt her feelings, but she's seriously hindering my weight loss efforts. She knows darn well she's not getting another grandchild until I've lost the weight, so she'll understand. My mom just doesn't think things through as well anymore. She's gotten flaky since she was diagnosed with MS almost 7 years ago.

[schwanda]

That's what I do with candy in our house. I take it to work and give it away. That way other people can enjoy it!

Amanda

[Nichole]

I'm sorry Tom did that, Amanda. :hug99:

As for places being closed on Good Friday, I agree with Dennis and Karri. There was an astounding amount of people out shopping everywhere here on Friday. If all of those people weren't out buying, then the stores probably wouldn't be open. It looked to me like most of those people weren't really bothered by the fact that everything was open. If it's truly a really important holy day for someone, then I think it's on them to find a way to take the day off. :dunno:

We had a nice Easter here. The boys got to hunt for eggs and get baskets at two places, the lucky ducks. :lol: (our house and Grammy's house) We had dinner at my parents' house and I got to take a nap in the afternoon, so I'd say it was a very good day indeed. :lol:

[Shel]

Many places pay holiday pay for employees working on Easter or other holidays. I'm a Christian and celebrate Easter for that meaning, but if someone offered to pay me triple time to work it, I think I'd do it :blush:

[Dennis]

My aunt used to do radio news and she always jumped at the chance to work Thanksgiving and Christmas because she got triple pay.

[sabrina]

Triple pay - hence the reason dh worked Good Friday.

[Shel]

My aunt used to do radio news and she always jumped at the chance to work Thanksgiving and Christmas because she got triple pay.

My mom is a nurse and she works EVERY holiday just for triple time

[Mary DK]

My mom is a nurse and she works EVERY holiday just for triple time
I wish Blair got that but nope... I think it must be an Union thing :dunno:

[Shel]

My mom works for a nursing home, so no union.

[Karri]

When I was in high school, I worked at a grocery store and I jumped at the chance to work all the holidays they were open for the triple pay. It rocked.

[Mary DK]

My mom works for a nursing home, so no union.
No, sorry I meant the Union for railroad people which Blair has to belong to being a train dispatcher. Since not everybody would get the chance to work holidays & make extra $$ but who knows :rolleyes:

[Shel]

David belongs to a union and is supposed to make triple pay for holidays, but they close the plant down so they don't have to pay it :)

[Shanna]

When I was in high school, I worked at a grocery store and I jumped at the chance to work all the holidays they were open for the triple pay. It rocked.

:nod: Me too! Sundays were double pay :lol:

[Melissa]

Unfortunately because it is becoming so common place, many places don't pay extra for holidays anymore. I don't mind if people want to work the holiday, I've just seen too many people forced to do so (myself included). I just think its silly that we need to have access to stores 365 days a year.

[AmyP]

My little brother didn't get any extra pay for working on Easter. :(

[MrsPeacefrog]

:lol2: I am still laughing that people are upset over holidays!! Christian, hindu, buddist or jewish I don't care, if they wanna give me a holiday I will take it! :lol: I can do with shops for 1 day. I mean technically there is always a service station open for petrol and they sell all emergency things there anyway, so it's not like you are cut off from the world. Anyway again I think it's a cultural difference between our two nations.

Okay, I am confused now, when you say candy. What are you talking about? I said that it won't go off, but both Karri and Amy are saying it will. Obviously I don't know what you mean because I can't think of any easter chocolate that goes off in the span on a month or so :dunno:

[Melissa]

When you say "goes off" do you mean go bad? Yeah, candy really doesn't go bad quickly. My dad used to be a manager of a Bradlees and they would bring out left over candy from the year previous before the new candy comes in. Even if it does have an expiration date, it is probably in 2008 or 2009.

Also, I know I'm not the only person that thinks stores should be closed, my whole family is like that, as are a number of my friends. :dunno: I can actually count on one hand the number of times that I've been in a store (usually 7/11) or a restaurant on a major holiday (religious or otherwise).

[MrsPeacefrog]

I worked for a Lolly shop for over a year and the expiry date on the chocolate and lollies were years long! I know that chocolate and can powdery after a year or so, but when I said that Amy's chocolate wouldn't go off straight away because I didn't think she had that much more to lose and a few months isn't going to make it go bad. :dunno: Anyway, I get confused when you guys say candy cause I have heard you call anything from a boiled sugar lolly to a chocolate bar candy so I never know what you are talking about :dunno:


As for the holidays with the stores shut, I don't care for religious reasons everyone knows I am the furthest from relgion a person can be, but it's not about that for me, the holidays off with everything closed means there is no pressure to work and families truly get a day off together. EVERYBODY has the day off, nobody has the pressure of working and we all know how rare that is these days! I love that tony is home with the kids and I and we don't have the need to shopping or what ever, we go to the park and do fun activities. :dunno: I know that there is a point to be proven that if you aren't religious then why should you take a day off cause they are celebrating. But like we adopted Christmas and Easter and turned it into our own celebration, can't the same be done for good friday and other public holidays :dunno: I don't stay home and reflect, I just enjoy that tony is home and everything is closed so everyone is enjoying the day off. Just like I do the bunny thing at Easter and the santa thing at Christmas

[Melissa]

Anyway, I get confused when you guys say candy cause I have heard you call anything from a boiled sugar lolly to a chocolate bar candy so I never know what you are talking about :dunno:

:lol: I think most things sugary get called candy.

[Jillian]

When you say "goes off" do you mean go bad? Yeah, candy really doesn't go bad quickly. My dad used to be a manager of a Bradlees and they would bring out left over candy from the year previous before the new candy comes in. Even if it does have an expiration date, it is probably in 2008 or 2009.


I don't know, maybe I'm a freak but I can actually taste a difference between the hershey kisses with almonds from Christmas (that we threw out on Saturday to make room for Easter candy) and the hershey kisses with almonds from easter...so I do think candy goes off pretty quickly, it doesn't go bad as in it will make you sick, but it doesn't taste the same either.

[MrsPeacefrog]

Yeah, that's why I get confused, all sugary things for you guys are candy, where as here there is a distinct difference between lollies, candy and chocolate

[LISA]

I call chocolate chocolate..candy is something like lifesaver candy,jelly beans are jelly beans not candy so I guess I'm no help :lol:
on the subject of holiday's re: Easter..Cass asked me something today..she asked if the public schools get the day off of school and I don't know :scratch: I think they got the day off of school as well as the catholic schools too :dunno: anyone know? did you get good friday off of school if you went to a non catholic school?

[Melissa]

Lisa, in my class, many of the teachers were comparing days off. It truly varied from region to region and the make up of the school. I would say from the responses, 80% had Good Friday off, however, the majority of those were either just beginning their Spring Break, or Good Friday was a day within the Spring Break. There were a few that had to work Good Friday as it was a make up day for snow.

ETA, this is a very broad cross section of schools in the USA public and otherwise (and around the world, we have a number of international students).

[LISA]

Thanks Melissa :) I think I'll google the public school board website here and find out :)

[MrsPeacefrog]

It's school holidays here so everyone get's the Easter long weekend off. Actually we have Easter Monday as a public holiday too, although shops are open, but anyone who is fulltime does not have to work for 4 full days over the Easter weekend. All the casual workers do it. They get double time.

Argh I am so frustrated, I have lube mobile out here as Tony's car decided not to start this morning so he has taken my car to work, they quoted me $175 to do the service on it that is due, then they just decided to spring on me another $145 fee for diagnosing the problem to why it won't start! Thanks for the warning :rolleyes:

[Alyssa]

I remember one particular nun scared the crap out of us about not having fun on Good Friday. If you weren't sitting at home being all miserable then you were going to hell. Of course I don't believe that now, but it still wouldn't occur to me to go out and do something on Good Friday. Not that you can do much here b/c most everything is closed anyway. The kids have been talking alot about Easter and Jesus and such but haven't mentioned staying home being sad on Good Friday, so the Catholic Church may have changed their philosophy on that a little.Late, but ah...good old nuns. :rolleyes:

[Alyssa]

As for the holidays with the stores shut, I don't care for religious reasons everyone knows I am the furthest from relgion a person can be, but it's not about that for me, the holidays off with everything closed means there is no pressure to work and families truly get a day off together. EVERYBODY has the day off, nobody has the pressure of working and we all know how rare that is these days! I love that tony is home with the kids and I and we don't have the need to shopping or what ever, we go to the park and do fun activities. :dunno: I know that there is a point to be proven that if you aren't religious then why should you take a day off cause they are celebrating. But like we adopted Christmas and Easter and turned it into our own celebration, can't the same be done for good friday and other public holidays :dunno: I don't stay home and reflect, I just enjoy that tony is home and everything is closed so everyone is enjoying the day off. Just like I do the bunny thing at Easter and the santa thing at ChristmasThis is exactly what I wanted to say. I truly think we need to go back to stores being closed more often so that people can relax and spend time together instead of running around. Yes, it takes a little more organization during the rest of the time...but I think it's really worth it and this country would be better off for it. :nod:

[Alyssa]

did you get good friday off of school if you went to a non catholic school?I went to public school and we always had it off. From what I could tell this past week, Massachusetts public schools were off on Friday and New Hampshire was in session. :dunno:

[Clare]

All schools here have Good Friday off, no matter if they are religious or not.

To prove how much Australians love their public holidays - a few years ago we had a referendum to decide if Australia should become a republic. It would mean breaking away from Britain and no longer being part of the Commonwealth. The 'no' vote won and one of the reasons many people gave for voting against it was that they still wanted to have the Queens Birthday as a public holiday! If we were a republic, we'd lose that day off work! :rolleyes: :lol:

[Karri]

Many public schools had school on good friday. I don't know of any businesses that are closed on that day.
Aidan's school was closed, but that's because they started Spring Break earlier in the week.

[Shel]

Most of the schools here were on Spring Break, so they were off on Good Friday. It seems like they try to plan Spring Break during Holy Week so they don't have to step on anyone's toes by giving people Good Friday off and having people claim separation of church and state.

[AmyP]

The candy I got isn't chocolate. At least I don't think most of it is (I've made a point not to really look at it). I am afraid if I don't get rid of it soon it will start talking to me. :lol:

[Dennis]

Growing up we always had good friday off school. It was the start of spring break - we'd have the whole next week off.

[Melissa]

We always had it off as well. From the school schedules I looked at while teaching in CT, 95% of the schools had Good Friday off. It could be higher though.