Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter thoughts






It has been forever since I've written, and that's crazy, because so much is happening right now. Not that I can remember it, but I know there have been dozens of times lately where I have said, "Oh, I've got to write that down." And then off it goes, into the whirlwind of crazy days.

But today - I can remember today. Thea is sick - again. Snotty nose, coughing, etc. But she managed to sleep pretty well last night, waking at 6 a.m. I was up till 11:30 making hot cross buns and working on a web site, so that was a little on the early side, but no matter.

Unfortunately, our geezer-dog Breton, who is now 16, needed to make it out the door just a few minutes earlier than she did, so we had some super-special brown eggs to pick up on the floor first thing. But as soon as that was done, the kids were diving into their baskets. Thea got a new baby with long hair that she can carry it around with. Liam got an Indian and a lego car and a few bits and bobbles. And of course, there was the jelly bean hunt.

My parents went with jelly beans over Easter eggs probably because in Nova Scotia, like Homer, there is no way you are going to be hunting for eggs outside. Jelly beans are fun to hide inside, and a crafty Easter bunny can hide them in such a way so we are finding them for weeks after - in fact, it's not uncommon to find a jelly bean months later.

We also filled some eggs with cherrios for Thea, and she figured those out all on her own, and sat eating the profits of her labor in the living room adorned with her beautiful new Easter dress. Click. Click.

Liam was in full manic mode - typical kid faced with prospect of sugar and presents in one setting. Matt set to work balancing all that out with a big breakfast, which we ate, and then settled down to enjoy the beautiful, sunny morning. I looked at the clock. 8 a.m.

It's been a wild couple weeks. In fact, it seems like one of us has been sick since we got home from Hawaii - mostly Thea. But it is getting rather sunny and springy out, so that's good.

Last week was completely consumed by volcanoes. We've been dodging ash clouds for several weeks, but on April 4, Redoubt volcano exploded again and we woke to a huge, dark cloud coming over us. Volcanic ash is dangerous to electronics, not to mention your airways, and it's best to keep it out of you house, computers, mouth, etc. But that's a hard thing to do. So we jiggered the stove to draw air from inside the house rather than out, and closed up the cat door.

The ash cloud really dumped on us that time - and then almost immediately, it started blowing hard, so the ash was flying around all day. We huddled inside all day - except Matt, who went surfing in it. As the sun came out later in the day, the ash did what ash does - started melting the snow like crazy. On Sunday, people emerged from their cocoons and started trying to get to the grocery store, etc. But the ash was everywhere. We did a lot of dog-paw wiping, and floor mopping, but I can still feel it everywhere, and the ground is still coated with a gooey like ash-water mix.

But by Tuesday, we could stay inside no more, so Thea and Liam and I went for a walk down the road. Thea was delighted to get outside, and we were tromping in mud puddles when I turned around to see Thea stuffing a mushy dog turd in her mouth. Gaaaccckkk. I wiped it out of her mouth with my glove, then stuffed a little snow in her mouth and wiped that out. But still. Gaaaacck. Of course she was not happy, but I was surprised she kept complaining and didn't get over it after a bit. After all, we were outside, which is her favorite thing. When we got back in the house, I took off her boots to find two bloody socks - her boots had rubbed two holes on the side of her foot. Not exactly what you would call a stellar day in motherhood.

And no, I would say that dog poop does not agree with her. People asked.

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