Easter Monday Round-Up

JP is in Austin for a few days, fulfilling his promise to be back at the home office of his company for 2 days every 2-3 weeks. This did not sound like a big commitment when he made it, and it still isn't one really, but it felt big when he drove away after dinner Sunday night knowing we won't have him back until late Tuesday. I realized later that he's never left me alone with the kids for a night. Ever. I've always been the one traveling and he's always handled everything back home with nary a word of complaint. So I've got this, and it's going completely fine, but I miss him. We work best as a team and despite my insomnia and other sleep issues, I sleep even worse when he's not right next to me. I woke up three times last night and I had no one to snuggle up against or to wake up to tell that I couldn't sleep (because I feel that someone should know) or to startle when I woke up in a panic at 2 a.m. because there was a train and I thought it was a hovercraft (carryover from the Hunger Games I think).

skeptical; doesn't like grass touching her feet

Easter came and went. It was low key and lovely. The Bunny stuck to a strict $40 budget for a new swim suit each, some pool toys, and new books (no candy, because we're mean; also, we prefer baked goods and I made lots of those). So the kids are set for summer and I can finally stop reading "Bark, George" every night.

 
for a brief moment my hair has volume; Honey Badger doesn't care

Claire remained generally skeptical about the egg-hunting. Like what was the big deal? Why is everyone so excited for me to get my feet sandy and pick up some colored plastic balls? Especially when my big brother will get some for me.

 
posing

Seriously, without any prompting from us, Landon very carefully alternated placing the eggs he found in his and Claire's baskets. JP, whose main goal in life was to beat everyone at everything, preferred a "grab all I can before a grown-up yells at me" strategy, and I, who was more diplomatic but still mostly looked out for myself, do not know where he came from.

 
nothing says Easter like a matched set of water guns

We took a long walk and then JP had to cram 14 hours of work into the 10 hours he had left in the day, so I took Claire to Walmart for the continuation of Easter festivities. I agonized over bath towel colors and accessories and Claire picked up a few pillow pet friends to keep her company in the bath aisle. We said goodbye to them before check-out. We got home just before a big rainstorm hit, so the kids and I watched Puss in Boots while JP toiled away. Then I made prime rib for the first time ever, which introduced my only source of stress for the day. We have purchased steak approximately 10 times in our entire marriage and this was the most expensive piece of anything we'd ever put in our shopping cart. AND we somehow lost our meat thermometer and it was raining too hard to make me want to go out and get one. So I winged it (and stressed over it) and read approximately 1,000 online recipes and reviews (and stressed some more).

 
Claire wins at delegating

And it turned out perfectly. I served it with baked garlic fries, fresh green beans, the most delicious au jous ever, and fresh crusty bread. It was amazing and a big step up from the baked ham we usually have but don't actually like. JP drove off, I put the kids to bed, and then I watched Mad Men all by myself and got totally freaked out after googling the story of the serial killer rapist referred to in the show.

 
ridiculous

Our renovations continue. I was going to post updated pictures, but now I think I'll wait until everything is done in a room to post it. It's costing what could have been Claire's full college fund, but I'm sure she won't hold that against us down the road. I've lost years of my life agonizing over etsy purchases for wall decor and near daily trips to Lowe's, Home Depot, and/or (usually and) Target. Tonight's post-dinner run with the kids netted us a beautiful arctic white drop-in sink, lovely polished chrome shower fixtures, and coordinating vanity light. When we pulled up to the store Landon cried out, "Oh, but this store is BORING!" Obviously he hasn't been watching enough HGTV.