Easter'ed Out

I decided to add a pic to this post. This is the "Pre-Easter Burnout" me. Not the best pic of me, but isn't it "springy"? :)

The highlight of Easter for me is singing in the church choir. I love the songs, and singing them on that day is very meaningful for me. That is what Easter is really about, and that is what feeds me spiritually. Easter just goes downhill from there.

I spent the night before Easter making a mad scramble to do all of the traditional things I always do. I make homemade chocolate marshmallow easter eggs (yes, homemade marshmallow even) and I share them with my neighbors. One neighbor girl loves them, but part of me wonders if the other neighbors are saying, "Dang, here she comes with those horrible eggs again".

We had gone to Berkeley with our family and inlaws during the day. We visited my husband's grandparent's grave. We went to all the old family homes. It was a trip down memory lane for him and his mother. But by the time we got home we were all exhausted. 9:00 at night came and I realized my kids hadn't dyed any Easter eggs. I quickly boiled them and had them dying Easter eggs at 9:30 at night. I know that might seem silly, but the tradition is important to them.

In our house, the Easter Bunny doesn't bring baskets, SHE hides Easter candy all over the house, and the kids take an empty basket and go searching for it. In the past, SHE has had help from MR. Easter Bunny, and even their Teenage bunny children, but this year SHE did it herself, and finished up about 12:30 at night. Mrs. Easter Bunny was quite exhausted as she climbed back in to her rabbit hole.

Easter morning I got up and remembered my little one had to give a talk in the children's meeting at church. I scrambled to not only get myself ready for church, but get the talk written. Suddenly I was informed that bacon had been cooked, and I should go cook some french toast for an Easter breakfast. Not something I really had time for, but I whipped it up fast, and finished getting myself ready for church in time to get there early for one last choir practice.

After church I started on Easter dinner. All the traditional things like ham, and potato casserole. We also had asparagus, fresh green beans cooked with garlic, and a yam casserole my mother in law made. Easter dinner is tradition, just like everything else we do on Easter.

The neighbors knocked on my door about 6:30 and said they were finally ready for the neighborhood easter egg hunt. More eastering...dang I thought I could finally take a break. Luckily, I conned my husband and his brother in to hiding most of the eggs. I was able to flit about taking pictures instead. After the egg hunt we had dessert. I made strawberry shortcake.

It's crazy what we do for tradition. We kill ourselves to make sure we fit in every last tradition. I'm exhausted, I'm glad Easter won't come again for another year. But at the same time, I really do like all the traditions, so next year will find me making homemade marshmallow eggs, dying eggs in the middle of the night if necessary, hiding eggs at the crack of dawn if necessary, cooking my brains out for an Easter breakfast and dinner, singing in the church choir, hiding eggs for the neighborhood egg hunt, and falling in to bed exhausted at the end of the day.