Easter Weekend

 Holidays without kids is boring!  No eggs to color, baskets to fill, eggs to hide, little girls to dress.  We had McDonald’s fish sandwiches on Friday to avoid eating meat but nothing else was done in preparation for Sunday.  Saturday was a bit strange in that we did not attend the Easter Vigil which is a very long service.  Palms are burned to make ashes for next Ash Wednesday.  Oils are blessed to be used in sacraments throughout the year.  People entering the church are baptized if they never have been in any Christian church, they are Confirmed in the Catholic Church and receive their First Communion.  Lots going on.  It starts at 8 and goes for a few hours.  

So Sunday morning we dressed and went to 9 am Mass.  We had no trouble parking but the church was full, the gym pretty much so, the hall had just been opened so we went in there.  Rows of 4 seats filled the area so we sat in the middle leaving an empty chair on either side to keep someone from sitting next to us.  By Mass time and beyond (who shows up at 9:15 for a 9:00 service on Easter?) the hall was filled too.  Communion ministers came to us so things went smoothly.  We were out before the church emptied, got right out of the parking lot and made our way home.  

We had just a short time before we left to have brunch with Terry and Carol as their guests at the country club.  The big restaurant area was booked so we went to the smaller one and it was great.  No crowd at all and a very nice spread to choose from.  We didn’t leave there until almost 2:00.  After going home to change, we went to their house to play cards.  Carol won with a Shanghai and Ted came in second.  It was close to 9 when we came home.  Our Easter turned out very nice.

The kids sent a video of CeCe emptying her Easter basket.  We had sent three hair bows we bought in Mexico and a gift card to Carter’s.  They put one of the bows in her hair and she was more interested in the card.  She loves books and opened it and appeared to read it.  The gift card was of no interest!  She turned 18 months Easter Day.

Monday was cleaning day and laundry.  I stripped our bed and did three huge loads of laundry and cleaned everything but our bathroom.  It will have to wait until tomorrow.  Ted cooked dinner since it was close to dinner time and I was still putting clothes away.  He even emptied the dishwasher so after dinner, I cleaned up.

Tuesday I finished cleaning our bedroom and bath. It felt good to have the laundry done and the house cleaned.  For dinner I made ribs in the Instant Pot. 22 minutes in the pot, 3 minutes under the broiler.  Delicious, falling off the bone. 

Wednesday Ted joined some old friends to shoot in a competition at the Houston Gun Club.  I washed my car windows after a bird decorated them all in white doodoo!  Then I went to Ross to buy a frame and to Office Max to return some ink cartridges. 

We decided this year to make one annual contribution to our church from our RMD to take advantage of the tax deduction. We lumped everything into one total. Sunday’s, Christmas, Easter, St. Vincent de Paul, food bank, Bishops Fund, Building campaign, etc.  I delivered the check from Morgan Stanley along with our desired breakdown to our church office. No more remembering to get the envelope(s) ready on Saturday!  

Our landscaper said he is 4-5 weeks out to get to our bull rock and sod placement.  If we wait long enough we may not need sod!  Maybe it will fix itself.