We did our grocery shopping on Friday after work.  We usually shop twice a month on payday.  One of 

my favorite ways to do this is to "shop from home".  ShopRite allows me to order my groceries online and they do all the choosing and bagging.  I just show up and pay and they load the bags in my car.  I usually place an order on Thursday and we pick up our food late Friday afternoon.  We go into the store for fresh veg and meats so we can choose those but for cans and boxes and things?  I am willing to allow someone else to choose for me.

Know what they charge for this service?  5.95.  Yep.  Less than 6 dollars to save me over an hour in the store.  I love it.

All of this is to introduce this photo of crepuscular rays.  (I love that word--crepuscular).  We were sitting in the car waiting for the store employees to bring out our groceries and this is what the sky looked like.  A storm system was beaking up and the clouds were spectacular.

Wanna see something else spectacular?

This is our bed of bulbs under the tree in the front yard.  The bed needs to be redug but the bulbs don't care.  The daffodils are blooming daily and the hyacinths and tulips are leaping from the ground to join them.

And best of all, we pruned back the rose bushes like the instructions said and they are full of new leaves and look beautful.  No blossoms yet (it IS early) but they are fully leafed out and look so hopeful.

Some things I have been working on and some things I have made.  First, I am spinning this roving that reminds me of sunflowers and so it reminded me of Kate (her favorite flowers)

I have finished the first braid and started the second.  I am giving it to her to use on her loom.

And here is something I made.  Bread Pudding.  I absolutely love this.  Peter Kevin won't eat it.  He calls it "poor people food".  I told him with the price of eggs, milk and bread these days that it is hardly "poor people food".  I made a small pan for El and me and a small pan for Kate.  It's a good way to use up some leftover rolls that may be a bit too old for regular consumption.

And one more thing I made.  We got this roast on clearance after the holiday (sounds weird doesn't it?).  Pk loves it so when I see them at a reasonable price, I buy them.  Usually at Christmas and Easter.  

I usually cook roasted vegetables with them.  The tomatoes cook down and make an amazing juice with the onions and peppers and mushrooms and potatoes.  It's tasty and it all cooks together and is ready with minimal fuss.  We like dinner made with minimal fuss most days.

It is pouring this morning.  Even with an umbrella, water resistant jacket and walking quickly, my feet and lower legs are damp.  I have the heater on under my desk to help them dry out.  I don't mind getting wet on my way home but I hate to sit around damp all morning at work.

Unfotunately, I have to leave the comfort of the warmth and go get charts for clinic this morning.  I hope your Monday is a bit drier than mine.

II 

I think Spring may be in a hurry to catch up with the calendar.  In the past week alone we have had these beauties start blooming and the hyacinths are putting their colorful dresses on and the tulips are sticking their greens out to check for wamth.

We haven't had much sun but it doesn't take too much to encourage these guys to come out.  (of course this includes pollen but we'll ignore that for the moment).  We've had a week of rain, some of it hard so the flowers are less than perky in some places but the weekend promises to be sunny.  Not necessarily warm, but sunny.  I'll take it.  

I've been at my job for 20+ years.  Yesterday, I got the email saying "thank you for working for us for 20 years.  You have 36,000 points to use so choose a thank you gift".   My thank you gift for 15 years was a watch and it worked out welll so I went for a new watch for this year.  I chose this Fossil Stella watch with "bling" and a stainless steel band (I have metal allergies and have to get stainless steel).  They notified me that it's on its way.  They have all kinds of things but nothing I need/want so it may be boring to get the same kind of thing twice but a new watch is not a bad thing. I don't wear my watch outside of work much but I depend on it all day.

The hard part is "20 years".  I'm not sure how that happened.  People today don't seem to keep jobs for long periods of time but hop around.  I realized that I will probably work here until I retire.   At 57, it would be difficult to find a new job.  The good part is that I like what I do most of the time.  If I could just stay out of trouble for "occurrences" than all should be well.

I am pleased to say that I did our taxes yesterday.  Why do I wait until the last minute?  Because we don't get money back but usually owe money.  This year we broke even with the feds and we'll owe the state 70 dollars.  Not bad at all.  I don't know why I put it off.  It usually takes about an hour total and consists mostly of data entry.  I pay 12.99 for software to do all the math and figuring out for me.  I input our data and it tells me what to pay.  Easy.  This year time just got away from me.  Maybe because it's felt like winter for so long that it's hard to accept that it's really spring.  

Pk was told yesterday that he would have to work tomorrow and I arranged to take a half a day today since he was determined to work from home today to make up for tomorrow.  After keeping him at work until after 9 last night, they excused him from Saturday and he went in today.  I rescinded my half day but we'll leave just a bit early (I worked late yesterday, too) and go hang out at the book store and read magazines and drink expensive coffee.  We enjoy starting the weekend this way.  The rest of the weekend will probably be spent with soccer games and maybe some yard work (there are some late peas to be planted) and just general putzing around.

Right about now, it sounds heavenly.  

We have colored eggs at our house every year since Peter Kevin and I got married.  We try out all kinds of new things.  This year, I used a non-alumminum pan and the colors came out bright and true.  Then we used the weird "rice thing" that Pk found on Facebook.  

You put rice in a bag (or a container) and add food coloring.  Then you shake it around and add an egg.  The rice colors the egg and it can give it a nice speckled look.  

Like I said, we try all the things (some are less successful-ask my girls about the Year We Did Glitter Eggs).  This was an interesting gimmick.  It used less than a half cup of rice so not too wasteful.

We had a nice weekend.  I ran to the grocery store after work on Friday (after leaving late because the clock onn my wall has a dying battery, unbeknownst to me).  I got finished in time to pick up Pk and then some Chinese food and get home to put away the groceries and put the beans in water to soak.  

Saturday we cooked and did laundry and opened the windows wide to let in the fresh sunshine.  The house smelled of baking beans and baking bread and bacon.  It was yummy.  We colored the eggs and then had a FFY (fend for yourself) meal.  There were also soccer games in there.  

Sunday, after some more soccer games, we had breakfast and watched MASH on Netflix.  Pk took a nap and I worked on some fingerless mitts for one of my interns.  The girls came for dinner and we had a table full of talking and stories for a while.  

Happy Birthday was sung and the cake was consumed and all in all, it was a nice weekend.  I could, however, have used a day off today to sleep a bit.  Last night Pk and I shared a bout of insomnia (we really don't have to share everything) so this morning was a challenge. I am prepared for the day so I don't have to rush around.

Happy Monday!  When I was a kid Easter Monday was a holiday (or at least felt like one) and there is a part of my brain that still expects it.  Unfortunately, the rest of my world is not on board with that.  

Sigh.

I can't seem to stop myself from taking these early morning photos of my walk into work.  Maybe because I know this light is fleeting and that the colors will be gone in a few weeks.  I have noticed that 

the sky is significantly lighter when we walk out the door, which is helpful when you're leaving the house at 6:30.

This is the view from 9th and Locust right where I come up from underground off the train.  That tall building is an apartment building and the square-ish one on the corner is a Greek "old age" home (yes, people around here call it that).  The hedge in front of the building is the home of some little brown birds (lbbs).  They are the cutest things.  If they're all in the hedge, it's like the hedge is singing as you walk by.  Lots of twittering.  It is smile provoking every day.

My Aunt Joan was a holiday sort of person.  She never met a holiday she didn't like and she had decorations for each and every one.  I wonder what happened to them when she died but maybe it's best not to know.  I was the recipient of many holiday themed things (and not just penguins) which included this creamer and sugar bowl.  I had forgotten about them.  For some reason, I went digging through the Easter box (what?  you don't have a box of stuff for each holiday?)  and wrapped in newspaper and nestled in some colorful baskets were these.  I pulled them out and washed them.  We are hosting dinner on Sunday and I am going to use them.  Even if they never hold sugar or cream, they are reminders of the woman who celebrated life.  I have also put bunny paw prints on the windows and untangled the Easter tree.  Just a bit of spring in the middle of all the freezing temps.

After I gave the sweater to my pregnant intern, my other intern (who is older and already has children) said, " I wish I'd known you when I was pregnant".  This made me think that maybe she should be the recipient of some knitted joy.  I pulled out a skein of merino/cashmere/silk and am making her a pair of fingerless mitts as a thank you for all that she's done this year.  I know she got a lot out of working here but I also got a lot out of working with her.  They are beginning the process of letting go and will all be gone by the end of April.  I love having students.  They bring such enthusiasm and help remind me why I do what I do.

This week will mark a year since Peter Kevin lost his job and our life flipped upside down.  It's been a tough year but as Pete said this morning, "we're still standing".  Life is not the same today.  He has a job and we are adjusting to having less money (sucky but better than nothing) to spend.  He gets calls once in a while and puts out resumes but it's less urgent and there is less stress.  In less than a year when we've paid off the mortgage, it will ease up more.  

As for me, I am keeping track of my occurrences so I don't enter into the disciplnary process.  It's a rollling year so one dropped off yesterday.  Three more need to drop off before I am out of serious trouble and four or five have to drop off before I can be sick.  This led me to come to work with a raging respiratory infection last week so I could request a vacation day to stay home and be sick.  Yes, I know how absurd that sounds.  I am still fighting off the end of the cold.  Pete's in a new environment and like a kid in a new school, he is bringing home All The Germs.  

There are no real buds on the trees yet.  I guess it's not too surprising when it looked like this

only 10 days ago.  We have bulbs coming up and a few hardy crocuses are blooming but I think Easter will not be as colorful as it has been in the past. 

 Today we will be on the hunt for some decent kielbasa for Easter.  Our former place closed and we're hoping the Polish deli will be able to become our new supplier.  I will be cooking and baking most of the weekend and I'm looking forward to it (mostly- I do like my quiet weekends).

I hope you all are healthy and happy and enjoying this transitional season.  Not too cold, not yet hot, just right.