Easter came and went. Mark and I continued our tradition of Easter baskets for each other. This year we bought stuff in advanced as opposed to last year where we were both shopping the night before...the selection is much better early on and not as many stupid people taking hours to decide "do I want this bag of candy?" I really should remember that for every holiday. As Mark usually does, he outdid my simple Easter "basket" (a recycled Easter bowl I used last year) and also bought me a 18" tall hollow chocolate bunny and even my own basket. Though, I'm pretty sure he knew the bunny would be mutually beneficial.
That afternoon we went to my sister's house in Lehi for a yummy dinner and Easter egg hunt for the little kids. For some reason, hiding eggs is my absolutely favorite thing to do. I think it has to do with the fact that Easter brings back many fond memories of the hunts in my Grandma's back yard in Simi with our cousins. There were certain "spots" that eggs were always guaranteed to be hidden in: mailbox, car tires, water drains, on fences etc. And we carry some of those traditional places on as well. One difference is eggs are definitely not hid very high. 1, because all the kids are 9 and younger 2, none of us are above 5'3" (aside from spouses). So unlike our days of hunting eggs that our taller relatives would hide in ridiculously high places, we hide everything pretty much at eye level. Let's not forget to mention that these cute kiddos are also somewhat oblivious. We've had to give pretty specific hints to help them realize an egg is poking out from a bush, or tucked away in a corner.
There were also grand kids that had little to no interest in the egg hunt. Miri was one of them....I guess a trampoline is pretty fun. I'm pretty sure Miri has figured out that all the moms go back and evenly distribute the candy anyways. So why bother hunting? =)
Following Easter, I began the crazy week of checkouts. In the course of 3 days, I helped approximately 280 students (with the help of 4 RA's) make a mass exodus home for the summer. As you would expect, there is cleaning to inspect, keys to collect, and lots of paperwork to do for lost keys, etc. Friday and Saturday were VERY long days. The good thing is I've learned a few things that will hopefully allow me to me more efficient next year. So now, the students are gone, housing is quiet (minus construction 10 yards from our apartment), and we are thoroughly enjoying it for a month before summer camps start up. I also enjoy being able to stay in my pajamas in the morning and not worry if a resident will come knocking at 8:15 because they are locked out. It's the little things in life....
Then there came my birthday (24 hours after checkouts ended...what a great gift!). For those who may not have known, that's really quite okay. It wasn't on facebook and after 21, you seem to stop counting down the days until your birthday. I really didn't dread or have issues turning 24. I feel that next year, turning 25 however, I may experience more anxiety feeling like I need to accomplish something great between now and then.
My birthday was awesome thanks to family and friends. Mark's sister and brother-in-law came by Saturday evening with some beautiful flowers, Coke Zero (my favorite), and a free-standing Justin Beiber card. I can honestly say I'd never gotten a card like that before. Later, we went out with my parents to Olive Garden for dinner. I was tired and sore, but it was so nice to sit, relax and visit with them.
On Sunday (my birthday), Mark let me open my gifts. I first opened a set of Pokemon cards. He has used Pokemon cards for nearly 2 years whenever I ask him what he's getting me for Christmas or my birthday. This year...he actually did. I apparently got some cool cards in the booster pack he bought me....still not sure I get how it's played. A kid-friendly version of the card game Bang? Anyways, then he gave me the real gift, which I half knew was coming. I had been looking at black diamonds and ruby rings for a while. Unfortunately, real Rubies are more of a fuchsia color than red. So I was leaning more towards the black ones. Unfortunately my mother handed down her "small hands" gene which makes it nearly impossible to buy rings. (Seriously, I have to shop at Claire's and can only buy the stretchy rings). The ring is a size 5 which fits okay, but in the winter when my hands get cold, it will fly right off. So we're looking to get it sized down to 4 3/4 or so.
We are counting down to our cruise in less than 3 weeks. We will be headed to Catalina Island, and Ensenada Mexico. We haven't booked it yet, so it's not for sure, but we are hoping to do a horseback riding excursion one of the days at port. I have never ridden on a horse before aside from old school pony rides. My sweet husband is letting me pick that over an ATV and segeway excursion.
The week before it, we get to play parents for a week while my sister and her husband go on their own cruise. For 8 days, we will be full time parents of a pretty darn cute 17 month-old. With my work schedule 8-5 for the month of May, I won't be as free as hoped, but we should still be able to squeeze in some fun with it being warmer now, and lighter much longer. It'll be weird having a carseat installed into my car, a portacrib setup permanently in the front room, booster seat hooked onto our extra kitchen chair, and toys regularly strewn across our front room for a week. I'm looking forward to it, as Brighton is a pretty easy kid, but nervous for the 8-day crash course in parenting.
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