random thoughts – Day 1,475 – (Sunday) – Easter

Easter kind of snuck up on me. I mean, I knew on some level that it was coming, but I still wasn't ready. Many weeks ago I had bought cards to send to my nieces and in a spurt of tidying up, the cards were relocated from the kitchen counter where I would see them daily, to the small drawer with the other cards, where they sat, forgotten. A month later, they are still in the drawer.

Creepy bunny!

Mom made dinner and I drove west for the occasion. We played Scrabble. She gave me the bunny with the creepy expression that I’ve been fascinated with for years. At the old family house, around Easter time, creepy bunny would be set on a floral tablecloth atop the small table in the small entryway between the storm door and the front door. The inspiration for creepy bunny was apparently not some soft and fuzzy cute children's book illustration, which might be part of my attraction to it.

And now the long-eared bunny with the cute flowers painted on its sides and the slightly mean eyes and mouth set in a line is at my house. I hope it doesn’t scare Kiki, although she seems generally unaware of much that is above floor level. 

We dined like Easter royalty, and then, dessert was Markie’s Milky Way Pound Cake recipe. Markie was originally from Oklahoma, and married my Grandpa Ray when I was a kid. They lived in Texas, and my family went to their home several times to visit throughout the years. Markie was an amazing hostess and cook and she took good care of Grandpa Ray and we loved her.

Markie was a devotee of Southern Living magazine and when we visited, her kitchen was in high gear. There were breakfast casseroles and many times supper was a feast equivalent to Thanksgiving dinner at our house. There was a guarantee of weight gain when visiting Grandpa Ray and Markie. There were roasts, potatoes, side dishes, and every night, a freshly baked dessert. This wasn’t just for show for company, either, it was pretty close to normal life for her, but with slightly more desserts for us. 

Milky Way pound cake.

Many of the recipes Markie made during our visits were adopted into our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner menus at home – lime Jello salad with nuts and mini-marshmallows, strawberry Jello salad with sour cream, and sweet potato casserole with a brown sugar and Rice Krispie topping were regular items. And today, we had the special treat of Milky Way pound cake, made with a bunch of full sized Milky Way candy bars.

Back at home, with a bag of leftovers in hand including a slab of cake, there was time to get ready for trash day and the coming week. Kiki lounged at the top of the stairs while I cleaned her litter box, bagged the trash, and gathered the recycling.

Not much later, the mini blinds ordered last week landed in the front porch. One box was opened and the mounting directions read. An existing fabric pleated shade was removed from one window to check the mounting hardware. It was different than the hardware with the new blinds, but the new seemed to fit, so I rolled with it. In less than a half-hour, all three new shades were hung using the existing hardware.

The best part about the new min blinds is that now I can control the light. The old pleated shades were either up or down, at least until all the strings started breaking and it was risky touching them at all. Maybe I’ll open the slats on the blinds, maybe I won’t, but at least it is an option now, and I like that.