We were quite busy on Thursday, dyeing eggs, stuffing plastic eggs with candy. I tried a new dyeing technique this year and I think I would do it again. Basically you use very little water and paint the eggs instead of dipping them. It really let Hannah do more than sit and watch them.
Hannah liked shaking the eggs with the jelly beans in them. So much, in fact that I had to take them away and put them back on a high shelf. We also got invited to dinner and so I did what preparation I could ahead of time so I wouldn't have to get up at 4 a.m. Sunday to pull everything together.
On Sunday, the Easter bunny visited Hannah and left her some legos. Every time we get the mail and there is a package, she looks at it, shakes it, and says "Oh, I hope it's Legos." It never is. But good ole' E. Bunny came through. He also left her some chocolate peanut butter eggs. My parents also sent Hannah some Easter treats.
I spent Easter morning finishing off the food, having done most of the preparation on Thursday. Then we went to my friend Susan's house. She lives in this 100-year old beauty with fun little nooks and wood everywhere and doors that go nowhere. There is even a secret staircase. Although I love these old houses, they are drafty. She invited another family of four, her neighbor, and one of the men with intellectual disabilities that she looks after. All told, there were 11 of us. My carrot and ginger soup creamed with coconut milk was especially well received. Susan's husband poured the leftovers in a bowl for him to keep after everyone had several servings but someone took it into the living room and ate it. When we were done eating, there was nary a meatball and not really even sauce to spare. I also made some sugar cookies (I use half granulated sugar and had powered sugar and people can't believe how good it makes them) and people fought over them. So, I've done my good domestic deed for the next little while I think. We also had some homemade bread with rosemary, a salad with apples and walnuts, and noodles with tomato sauce. When I was younger, we always had this great big ham and lots of other good things that took a long time to make. This was the first time I have been to a big Easter dinner in more than 10 years. It was actually quite fun.
The rest of the day was spent finishing a midterm. This was a test that took me 8 hours to do. I had to do 9 grammatically judgement tests, amend the errors, classify them, and then offer pedagogical remedies. Then I had to listen to ESL students speaking and identify every phonological error with the international alphabet and then classify and make a remediation plan as well. I always dread having to start stuff like this, but once I get going I am fine. Then I read a paper for a friend and planned a class I have to teach on Monday and presentation for Wednesday. A very full weekend.
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