Easter weekend

all three shifts at the stamping plant met their quotas for the week, so they all got a three-day weekend! three whole glorious days (nights!!) off for E, in which:

- we looked at Mars and the moon with the telescope and discovered that you can stare at them with your naked eye(s) for what feels like hoooouuurrrs without any appreciable movement. but magnify them, and watch as they pretty much zoom across your field of view. especially Mars. that red f*cker is FAST.

- i walked 90 pounds of energetic, 11-month-old rhodesian ridgeback puppy, and am still sore. (it was one of my friends' two dogs. why, oh why, didn't i walk the wiener dog instead?)

- we went bowling on Good Friday and i reaffirmed that, while i am right-hand dominant in daily life, i am a left-handed bowler.

- i had a wonderful time baby-wrangling Little E so that E could take professional-quality pictures of her. thank God for tutus and sleeveless dresses that can be slipped onto a toddler while allowing her to keep one (alternating) hand on the fascinating remote control.

- we went to Eastern Market and emerged with quite an assortment of goods: pesto, beeswax, morel mushrooms, a flat of various herbs, two large bowls of potted salad greens, vanilla beans, five pounds of pork belly, and two pots, white and pink, of blooming hyacinths. Me: "how the heck are we going to carry these hyacinths?" E: "Magic."

- it was confirmed that the strawberries, peas and radishes came through last week's freeze just fine, but we lost the lettuce. oh well, we can plant that again.

- sweet italian sausage tortellini was tossed with pesto, topped with avocado, tomato, and grated cheese, and eaten with much enjoyment.

- five pounds of pork belly was coated in maple syrup and whiskey, smothered and rubbed with a mix of salt, brown sugar, garlic powder, and pepper, stuffed into ziploc bags, and put into the fridge. yep, we're attempting homemade bacon!

- we found a nipple on our pork belly, and i was...discombobulated? whopperjawed? of COURSE there was a nipple on it, because it was pork belly and that's where a pig's nipples ARE. i just...wasn't expecting it.

- my love affair with chia seeds was renewed after they powered me through a full afternoon of deep tissue massage and i wasn't hungry at all.

- Mom and i drove to Holly for Easter brunch with family. waffles, quiche, mimosas, and chocolate bunnies for all!

 Happy Easter!

(aren't you relieved that that wasn't a picture of a pig nipple?)