Eastertime

Wow…time has really gotten away from me. Apologies to the three people who actually read this -- I’m sorry for the delay in posts. For the past two weeks life has been carrying on as usual. And actually, I’m drawing a blank right now – what in the heck have I been doing!? Ah yes….after my shopping spree in the snow storm, Sean decided to get in on the clothes action himself. The very next weekend we hit up Kohl’s and Macy’s and he bought some great new clothes for Spring/Summer. My favorite item was the pair of plaid shorts…I’m a sucker for the preppy look and Sean wears it well. In addition to clothes, we took a long awaited trip over to Williams-Sonoma. Uncle Kevin and Aunt Sandy gave us a gift card for Christmas and we finally remembered to bring it with us to the mall! It took some serious browsing before we decided on what to buy. Since our poor kitchen is bursting at the seams (due to lack of cabinet space), we couldn't splurge on any utensils or appliances so we settled on specialty foods -- Margarita mix, soft pretzel mix, coffee cake muffin mix, and yeast. I know...yeast is way out of place there, but it came with a recipe for Parmesan Black Pepper No-knead bread. I couldn't pass it by. These items are sure to set us up for some great Summer parties.

Choosing to avoid green beer and shamrocks, I spent St. Patrick’s Day with my good friend Jill at the Bonefish bar. She’s one of those friends, full of positive energy, who puts me in a great mood whenever I see her. We could spend hours talking without running out of things to say, and I love that. We bounced around between hundreds of stories - some sad, some serious, some funny – and before we knew it, three hours and three glasses of wine had passed. Spending time with Jill was way better than green beer.

The rest of last week was just ho-hum. I did manage to dye a few eggs. Check it out -

I know they're boring, but green was the only food coloring I had at home. Anyway, work asked us to bring in Easter eggs for a contest, so this was my contribution. I decided to spice up my entry by adding a third egg. Get it? Ham? HAM? Green Eggs and Ham. I know, I know...side splitting material.

I was excited that my company allowed us a holiday for Good Friday. The day was beautiful and I was able to do some last minute shopping for an Easter dress (which will also act as "The Dress Stacey Wears to Summer Weddings".) I made Coffee Cake Muffins for Easter breakfast, and after a very inspiring service on Sunday, Sean and I went to Bonnie and Ed’s house for dinner. Along with honey ham, pineapple casserole, and deviled eggs, potato salad was part of the spread. I normally don’t enjoy potato salad – too much mayonnaise for my taste – but Ed surprised me with a delicious batch. I made sure not to overeat since I’m still part of this weight loss program, but then a piece of cheesecake started calling my name…Oops. You can imagine my surprise when I was down 3 pounds at the weigh-in the following Monday. It was my biggest weekly loss since the beginning of the challenge. So thank you, Cheesecake, for not sticking to my thighs.

Bonnie put Casey in a lovely yellow Easter dress complete with a matching straw hat. It was adorable, hilarious, and mildly freaky all at the same time. Casey loves wearing clothes.

Another significant part of Easter weekend was that Sean replaced his own brakes. This may not be a big deal for some of you, but I was really impressed with his mechanical talent. Sure, it took him most of the day to figure it out, but the point is that he did it! (and he saved himself a big chunk of change…which also makes me proud.) I can't even change a tire...

As this week comes to a close I have 2 things on my mind: 1) Will Sean finally mow the yard? And 2) Will Lost be good tonight? I hope so…because last week’s episode was somewhat of a bust. I actually fell asleep at the end.

****UPDATE**** LOST was a re-run. ARGH! They ran out of the new episodes, so we are officially on hold. This island drives me crazy...