Beastly Easter

Z and I drove to Sturgis on Friday and managed to pack two marathon games of Scrabble, an Ice Cream Pie Throwdown, Easter mass (ok, 1/4 of Easter mass), Easter brunch, a trip to the mall for bungee jumping and a train ride, an Easter egg hunt, a birthday party, and two trips to Wal-Mart in two days. Holidays have definitely gotten more exciting with the Crazies and the O Brothers thrown into the mix.

Declan, of Crazies fame

Teagan and Ruari of the Crazies family and TatO, the oldest O Bro

RicO, the little O Bro

I didn't see the cat at M & P's house, so my allergies were held at bay, making the entire weekend more enjoyable in spite of the fact that Ann and Ivy insisted on putting in the Hannah Montana movie. I'll admit, the Hoe Down Throwdown is catchy and I've even tried to get the moves down, but it's still associated with the Hannah Montana franchise. I'm still not sold.

I can't remember when the world was so full of wonder for me as it is for my nieces and nephews now. Do I feel this way because of some error in how I'm living my life, or is it because inevitably The Man or The System or some other definitively articled entity set up the cogs of American life so that it should be so? Or maybe I feel this way because I'm so locked into my work mindset, where it's always nose to the grindstone, barely looking up to see how far the sun has moved in the sky since I sat down.

I know that my life is full and I'm happy, but I also know that there is more to life than how I'm living it. Maybe when I have kids of my own they will help me recapture the curiosity and awe that characterizes their lives. Until then, I find my wonder and awe in History Channel and Nat Geo specials, how mixing ingredients and putting them in an oven can produce a cake or a phatty loaf of bread, and the green sprouting from the trees (thank you April showers, although you make me sad by turning the skies gray for a month ). But, I do enjoy me a good thunder/lightning storm now and again.

I feel the need to elaborate on the Ice Cream Pie Throwdown. I think this is the second family throwdown, the first one being a Chili Throwdown that I didn't participate in since we were still living in Colorado at the time. This time around, Z and I, Ann and Steve, Ivy, and Ric each slathered together an ice cream pie to present to the judges, our parents, M & P. Z and I conjured up what we thought would be a surefire showstopper: A s'mores ice cream pie, complete with gooey, melted marshmallows on top. Oh yes, we went there. Unfortunately, our idea was structurally unsound, and we ended up presenting a soupy pie tin of fudge swirl ice cream with a bad toupee of roasted marshmallow.

After much deliberation and munching, the winner was declared: Ric's pie was king. I can't even tell you what it tasted like because we had just eaten dinner, complete with Ruari's Tres Leches birthday cake, and then decided to throw the throwdown on top of it.

Eating is often the centerpiece of our family get-togethers, and I'm looking forward to more social eating tomorrow for John's birthday. We're going to be revisiting Lao Laan Xang and I know that the minute I sit down, I'm going to be ordering a Thai Iced Tea. I love that bright orange, creamy drink. I making myself salivate again. I probably spend 40% of my day thinking about food, be it meals I've had, things I'd like to eat, and what I anticipate eating. Call it sad, but I challenge you to find a true Filipina who doesn't feel the same way.