Saturday, April 23, 2011

Traditional Conspiracy

Yesterday was one of those really nice, productive, family days. After I built the square foot garden bed, I had promised Sophia that we would dye Easter eggs. Strange traditions we have around Easter. Christ rose from the dead, here, have a vibrantly colored, hard boiled egg. Yay. More chocolate, please. I suppose traditionally Easter time was the end of a period of fasting, and it comes at a time to usher in spring, and eggs are symbolic of renewal, etc....I find our Easter traditions to be very strange, and have a tough time explaining that the Bunny just comes in to hide the eggs for us, and brings the basket of toys and candy. I, uh, yeah, I don't even know what to say about it. I'm going to continue the conspiracy, as my parents did before me, and their parents before them.


She's having the time of her life coloring these eggs, but she was flying through them faster than I could say "Wait for me. I am going to make myself an egg salad sandwich".


Which was REALLY damn good. Again, another shameless, unpaid plug for Hormel Real Bacon crumbles. Just a teaspoon in the egg salad and it went from good, to DAMN good. Not vegetarian friendly....if you want a DAMN good vegetarian addition for egg salad, I recommend sunflower seeds. Salted sunflower seeds in egg salad is divine. Thanks to Beans and Barley for that brilliant idea.


Apparently we're at the age where the goofy "smile" is what we get whenever the camera comes out. So, she explained to me in great detail how the Easter Bunny was coming and he'd take our dyed eggs and  hide them all over the house for her to find. I just nodded, "uh, huh, uh, huh."

So, while I'm supervising the egg coloring, and eating that bitchin' sandwich, the doorbell rings and it's the postwoman, with a package for Sophia. That's always exciting. Who doesn't like to get an unexpected box in the mail? I know I like presents. Anyway it was a lovely Easter care package from her Grandma Joyce in Chicago.


She's really excited. The wrapping paper has glitter on it! Way to go Gramma!


Even though she is an ace with reading, she wanted me to read the card to her. It was very sweet.


And then she saw what was in the package and it was sealed as "THE BEST present EVER". (They all are...but Zoobles are the newest craze and she LOVES them)


Sticking with tradition, a holiday would not be a holiday in my family without a pair of new socks. Yeah, I said it, we get new socks for every holiday....damn near. That's how we like it.

And in keeping the best for last, I have to admit that I go a little over board with the Easter Bunny and we conspire to bring FAR too much chocolate and candy into the house, and it's all under the guise that it's for the kid, but in fact, I've already eaten way more than I'll ever admit to. So, because I tend to lose my mind and end up with a whole lotta stuff and Sophia's baskets end up looking like the epitome of gluttony and consumptive excess, I went to the Dollar Tree for a lot of it, and Aldi for a couple other things. So, anyone in the know will tell you that most, well, ALL the stuff at the Dollar Tree is made in China. (Not that there's anything wrong with China) So, one has to ask the question: In China is it the Easter-Saurus instead of the Easter Bunny?


Sophia thinks that these are the coolest things EVER. I bought it for the dye...it was a dollar. It was there. I didn't read the package.....


So, if you were the Easter Bunny, would YOU want to hide a passel of dinosaur eggs? Can anyone tell me what the hell dinosaurs have to do with spring time, bunnies, chicks and Easter??

We don't have much planned for today, but I told Sophia I'd make a big breakfast, since we're picking up an old tradition and dusting it off for Easter Sunday. For the first time in several years, more than I can remember, we'll be gathering for an Easter meal at my aunt's house. We won't be at home to linger after our dinosaur hunt, and have a late breakfast together on Sunday, so I figured we'd do it today.

I'm really looking forward to spending some more time with my cousin and her brand new baby girl, and having the entire clan together. It's been a long time since we've all spent Easter together and in the years that have passed, we've grown a bit. The dining room table leaves are added, and the card tables shoved at the end for the kids. We've moved on to create new traditions with our own families, but none of us have forgotten the old ones we've shared with each other, as we pass along the Bunny conspiracy from generation to generation.

Sophia can't wait for the Easter Bunny to come tonight, and I can't wait to see her light up tomorrow morning.

Happy Easter!


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