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I don’t know if a gift for my family really counts, but since there are no strict rules for the gift-giving challenge, I’m going to call our Easter activities my gift for the day.  I helped the Easter Bunny with some ideas for just what the kids would want in their baskets, and he hid eggs everywhere!  I have personally eaten enough candy to cancel out my next 15 Zumba classes.

A few days ago Ben said that since I missed Thanksgiving (I had the flu) we should have a big Easter dinner and invite a bunch of people over.  Because I always say yes to everything, I initially agreed, but the more I thought about it I just didn’t see how I could handle it along with everything else.  As of yesterday afternoon we hadn’t planned, shopped, or invited anyone, so I went online to see where we could go out for brunch/lunch/dinner.

I was lucky to grab some of the last tickets for a lunch cruise on the Spirit of Boston.  It was GREAT!  The food was typical banquet food, but it was such a GORGEOUS day and it was a really nice ride around Boston Harbor.  The Easter Bunny came along too, and Norah got over her fear of furry creatures with giant heads and by the end of the cruise she wouldn’t stop hugging him.  That exposure therapy really works!  They had goody bags, egg dipping, and an ice cream bar for the kids.  There were definitely times that I wished I was alone in my room at the asylum with a ham and scalloped potato TV dinner, but the DJ was loud enough to drown out the kids’ bickering for the most part.

Everyone came home and took a nap…a great day all around.  I find it vaguely disturbing that the three photos from Easter morning where the kids look the most excited are the ones with the $1 bills, but I guess it could be worse.  I heard Adlani say to Norah the other day, “You can’t buy ANYTHING with a dollar!”  He has probably pocketed all 3 dollars by now…halfway to a new Bakugan!!

In case you’re just tuning in, I’m working on a challenge that entails giving a gift each day for 29 days.  Today is Day 11.  Read on to see what my gift for today was, and why my husband and son are virtually bald…

I found out this week that one of my oldest (in years of friendship, not age) and dearest friends has Leukemia.  She’s a young, vibrant, healthy, beautiful mother of two boys, and she’s attacking cancer head-on.  I know that her strength, positive attitude, sense of humor, and all of the people who love her will see her through, but the treatment will be extremely tough.

My gift today was to assemble a care package to send to her.  I can’t say what’s in it in case she’s reading this post, but Ben and Adlani decided to get into the act and help out too:

My gift today was a donation to the Massachusetts Audubon Society.  We took advantage of the beautiful weather and the Good Friday holiday to spend the afternoon at Drumlin Farm, a trip that has become an annual pilgrimage to commemorate the beginning of the beautiful spring weather.

It was a little muddy, and there were quite a few detours on the way because of the flooding, but we had a great time and enjoyed the gorgeous afternoon.  The kids were exhausted afterward, so we took a driveway nap – one of my favorite pastimes when the kids were babies.  I’d drive them around until they fell asleep, then I’d go through the drive-thru at Dairy Queen, drive home and sit in the driveway eating my ice cream and reading a book.  When I got tired out I’d put the seat back and zonk out.  That’s what I did at about 5 p.m today, minus the ice cream.  Ahhhhhh…..

Here are some photos from this afternoon…lots of signs of spring:

I just found out that the woman who wrote this comment about me on Facebook is running as a write-in candidate for school committee.

“Lori, I think you should get the facts about the 2 way program before you assume it is being used as a punching bag. For the English speaking kids it’s a great program but How long do you think your children should ride on the backs of all the latino kids in this community. A program is suppose to work for everyone not just the white middle class. I understand after 6 months your child was speaking spanish and you were so excited but were the latino kids in your child’s class speaking English in 6 months. If your biggest issue is a bus ride you should be thrilled..what happens to these spanish speaking kids after your child moves on fluent in spanish? do you even care? You should because if it wasn’t for them your child wouldn’t have this program.”

If you live in the ‘Ham, please vote on April 13th.  The three school committee members who are up for re-election are running unopposed, so if people decide not to vote because there’s no point, a write-in candidate could actually win.  If your kids are in the Two-Way program…a person who spreads these misconceptions about the program (not to mention unfounded lies and assumptions about me) is not the best choice for school committee.  Just my opinion…vote as you see fit, but VOTE!
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