Down the bunny trail

Last night I was excited about it being Easter so I could not sleep. It has gotten way more exciting than Christmas, I will tell you that. This morning I was this zombie but I was all happy and I got up and had this big creamy fattening cup of coffee.

I took my coffee and went upstairs and went over part of my Leonard Pennario project. La la la la la la.

All of a sudden it was 8 a.m. and Mass was at 9 and I still had no idea what I was going to wear. You should dress up on Easter and here I had not given it a thought. I went through my closets and put stuff on and took it off and nothing looked right and after a while I began to panic. Finally I found one dress that was not too bad but then I could not find the hat I needed to go with it. You are supposed to wear a hat on Easter! Hence the song "Easter Bonnet." I could not find my Easter bonnet! The Easter Bunny must have hidden it.

So I had to go to church and wear the Black Mantilla of Shame. You are a loser if you wear a black mantilla on Easter! Well, maybe my hat had been too Princess Diana-looking anyway. That was what I kept telling myself. Remember Princess Diana and her hats?

Ha, ha! Me too!

Remember this black-and-white number?

Back to the Mass I was at. I had been looking forward all Lent long to the Gloria, because you finally get to sing it at Easter and they ring all the bells. I could not wait to sing the Gloria! But then they got to it and started ringing the bells and I started to cry. I was so zoned! And so happy, I admit it.

I was in better shape in the afternoon when I went with my mom to the Mass at Our Lady Help of Christians. This time I had a good hat/dress outfit and I had the dinner situation at home under control, roasting pans washed and ready, table set.

They had no incense at Our Lady Help of Christians. I was incensed! This was the second Sunday I had been to Mass there in a couple of months. They had no incense last time either. Get it together, Our Lady Help of Christians! I was very glad I had gone first to St. Anthony where they had clouds of the stuff. As I said to my mother, this is why you have to go to two Masses. You cannot put all your eggs in one basket, especially not on Easter.

Eggs!

That was what I forgot!

Here I was just going to tell about my Easter dinner and I forgot Easter eggs! No colored eggs, no deviled eggs, no nothing! I only just now thought about it, writing this.

Zut alors!

Well, everyone was too polite to point out the omission. My Easter dinner for the family went great because my nieces, Rosie and Millie, did half the work for me. They were here yesterday and did all this baking. You just kind of point them in the right direction and give them what they need and hand them a couple of recipes and they are like little machines, whirring away at the mixer, measuring and sifting and mixing. I have this great 1950s Hamilton Beach mixer from the Salvation Army and it is a pleasure to watch it work, too. It is so quiet and smooth.

They made Chocolate Cheesecake Bars and two kinds of shortbread and lemon bars and Dream Bars with nuts and coconut. Plus a lemon meringue pie. It took all this boiling and whisking and egg separating. After that they capably made a pitcher of lemonade using lemon juice concentrate and the remains of the lemons they used for the lemon cookies and pie. The kitchen was a hive of activity and we had to open the windows because it was 80 degrees.

"83 degrees... Feels like 81." That was the weather yesterday! That was the greatest. Here it is 83 degrees and we still have the Real Feel.

Today Rosie and Millie were back and made lemonade again and they used a couple of strawberries to tint it pink. They are little geniuses. Meanwhile my little nephew George Henry ran wild and was sticking his fingers in the candles and running around with a sword. Well, we survived.

Now it is back to normal life.

I cannot decide if that is a good thing or not.