What is everyone planning to do for Easter and Passover this weekend?

[smirkymonkey]

Visiting/Hosting family or friends, observing services, cooking up a storm, hibernating and avoiding everyone? (that would be me). Tell us your plans and if you have any interesting culinary traditions.

FYI, I am not hibernating out of bitterness, it's just that the closest family members aren't around, it's going to be pouring all weekend and I have to start purging items for my upcoming move in June, so it's a good weekend for it.

[guillaumeb]

1. Hosting family.

Good luck on your purging.

[smirkymonkey]

4. I hate moving, so the less I have to move, the better.

Besides, having too much "stuff" makes me nervous. They are taking up a collection for homeless shelters in my building between now and April 24th so it will all go to a good cause!

[guillaumeb]

12. Goodwill is another good option. eom

[msongs]

2. enjoying pre-xtian paganisms like eggs and bunny rabbit and the sunrise/sunset which

are of course the original death/resurrection without fear mongering threats of hell applied

[Siwsan]

3. If it would just stop raining, I'd be mowing the lawn

Instead I'm baking a ham, as a way of bribing my brother to come over and help me get all of the lawn equipment up and running.

I've been blowing off the holidays since 2015 but now that my niece is moving back to Michigan, I'm probably going to be pulled, kicking and screaming, back into the whole 'celebration' thing. Which, fortunately, now is pretty much limited to making big, sinful and delicious meals, drinking a variety of adult beverages, telling stores, and laughing. A lot.

[smirkymonkey]

6. Sounds like fun! Hope you and your family have a great time!

And there is nothing like getting free help with the spring chores!

[Sherman A1]

5. Probably a family pot luck

at the Rehab Center where the Mother In Law is currently located. I think we are doing potato salad and something else from what I understand.

[handmade34]

7. ...

car alignment Friday... dump run Saturday... if there is sun on Sunday, I will climb a mountain and watch it rise (forecast not good though)

[in2herbs]

8. Prepare and deliver food boxes to the homeless on the street. nt

[smirkymonkey]

21. That's a great idea!

Very kind of you.

[ProudLib72]

9. I wanted to go to a Seder. I thought I was going to a Seder

Then the person who was going to host it decided it was too much effort.


Well, do we blame her?

Now I won't get to sing "Mah Nishtanah haLayla haZe"...

[Danmel]

13. Are you near Long Island?

I'm making a seder. Made chopped liver, gefilte fish, eggs, chicken soup and brisket today. Making charoset, matzah balls, noodles and spinach kugel tomorrow.

[ProudLib72]

15. Nope. Boulder, CO, but thanks for invite!

I'm usually in charge of the charoset! That's something I can handle (actually, I am a good cook).

[Danmel]

20. I can come to Boulder

It's so pretty out there. Weed should be kosher for passover. Make those passover baked goods more palatable!😋

[Zoonart]

27. Good Pesach to you.

Wanted to be with the kids and grands,for Passover/Easter, but they are invited elsewhere. So, I will be at an Easter diner with my Bro in NJ.
One big blended family here.

[TexasBushwhacker]

10. I am also preparing for a move

But Sunday I will be having lunch with family at my 90 year old aunt's assisted living facility. It will be nice.

[smirkymonkey]

22. Where are you moving?

Is it a big move? Hope you have a nice Easter dinner w/ your family and your aunt!

[TexasBushwhacker]

34. Just in town

I'm giving up living alone to be another lady's housemate. I'm looking forward to it.

[happybird]

11. We have the same plans!

I'm moving at the end of May and have an enormous amount of stuff to sort into Dump, Donate, or Pack piles. Ugh.

DH is a junk hoarder and terrible at both sorting and letting go of stuff. I'm hoping to get two rooms knocked out this weekend. Heck, I'd be thrilled with one. My goal is to offload 60% (or more) of all the junk, stuff, and useless crap.

[samnsara]

14. checking out the 420 sales then working on my garden....

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. Eat chocolate creme eggs, probably.

[Harker]

17. Working

As the only Buddhist on the payroll, I took one for my friends.

It also frees up my wife to fully enjoy some sort of Germanic meatfest with her sisters.

[csziggy]

18. Doing my physical therapy, walking as much as possible (part of PT), and just hanging out

If my husband will help me, I will finish sorting my clothes. A lot of stuff no longer fits, and some of my old stuff fits again. And I need to figure out if I have the right clothes to take to Britain with me!

[smirkymonkey]

24. Sounds good! When are you going to Britain and where are you going?

Keep up the PT! It makes such a difference.

[csziggy]

25. My husband and I will be leaving the US in July, arriving in Scotland in early August

We're taking the Queen Elizabeth across the Atlantic stopping in New York, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Iceland and getting off early at Greenock (Port Glasgow). Then we'll spend nearly a month driving around Scotland and Northern England, arriving in Sussex in September for a ten day needlework tour that lasts ten days, ending in London where we will spend six days visiting museums.

Then we're off through the middle part of England to Wales. We'll probably spend two weeks in Wales, several days in Aberyswyth and in the village where my greatgrandfather was born. Then down to southwestern England, Cornwall and the counties in between. At the end of October we get on a Royal Caribbean ship that is relocating to the Caribbean for the winter, visit St. Maartin, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, and Haiti returning to Ft. Lauderdale in early November.

The only part of Britain we won't visit is Northern Ireland - and if we don't have enough to do in Wales, we might go there, too.

Mostly we'll be hiking, bird watching, and visiting archeological sites, and just being sightseers. We tend to not do cities, so we have not planned much other than museums in London.

[Polly Hennessey]

30. What a great trip.

My father’s side is from Lincolnshire and my mother’s side from Cornwall. My husband’s relatives are from Southern Ireland. Quiet Easter 🐣 for us in NoCal. I am getting over a cold.

[csziggy]

35. My grandmother's side has a line from Lincolnshire

Sleaford, outside of Boston.

It was my grandmother's grandmother and we have a letter from her brother with a note from her father that was written in 1832. The poor woman was left a widow with six young children. She had written home for help (maybe to return to England) and was told to prepare for Heaven with a lot of religious garbage.

[smirkymonkey]

31. That sounds like a dream trip!

I hope you share your adventures with us while you are there! Northern Ireland was interesting, but not a huge loss if you miss it. The best part was seeing the Giant's Causeway and doing some hiking along the magnificent shoreline. Went on an interesting tour about "The Troubles" in Derry and to see some stunning old castle ruins on the eastern shore. I didn't find Belfast much to write home about, but since you don't like cities much anyway, I wouldn't bother.

I wish I was you! I would love the opportunity to take that much time to travel through the British Isles - or anywhere! Can't wait to hear about your trip! Have a wonderful time!

[csziggy]

33. We're calling it our "Trip of a Lifetime!"

After I had my aortic valve replaced and a cancerous kidney removed, I wanted to make this trip. Then a group offered the needlework tour this year with a designer I have followed for thirty years, so we committed to it.

We are planning to go to the Orkneys - lots of bird watching and neat archeology. My husband talked about going to the Shetlands, but the Orkneys are closer and more interesting.

We also had planned to do some genealogy research, but Scotland and England have most of their parish records online. Between those and the Quaker records we have both families back into the 1600s so there is not much reason to hang around in libraries.

[jberryhill]

38. Are you on one of those medications that makes you travel abroad?

I always wanted to get whatever disease was treated by that pill that makes you decide to go to Australia.

Or the one that makes you take your grandchild to Italy. But without the kid.

Although I don't want the one that makes you go kayaking.

What pisses me off is that after heart surgery, I got onto a medication and finally saw the commercial for it. The only thing you do on this one is make a smoothie in the kitchen of your minimalist-themed sterile home.

[tazkcmo]

42. Funny stuff.

Thanks for the laughs!

[csziggy]

43. LOL! I've always wanted to go to Britain

And it was on my bucket list for years. When I had my aortic valve replaced (with a 10% chance I wouldn't survive) and on the way to that they found the cancer on my kidney, I decided to definitely begin planning this trip, maybe in 2020 or 2021. Then the group I am in announced the 2019 tour with the designer I had followed so I moved the trip up.

Meanwhile I showed up with an unstable vertebrae and got that fused three weeks ago today. I pushed to get that done so I would have time to heal and get back to walking before we leave.

The funny thing is that right now I am not taking my blood pressure medication. I had a syncope and passed out from extremely low blood pressure while in the hospital. The only thing the doctors could figure out is that maybe I no longer need to tak that medication since I've lost 65 pounds since my valve replacement. They took my off while in the hospital but told me to take it at home. Since I don't want another syncope I haven't taken it and my blood pressure has been great.

When makes me go to Britain is to mark something off my bucket list!

[MissB]

19. Easter egg and beer hunt

The best annual tradition ever.

[redwitch]

26. Beer hunt! I love that idea!

Already have the eggs ready to go but I am totally adding beer!

[mainer]

23. Game of Thrones dinner!

We're having a "night's watch" meal, then we're gathering in front of the TV.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

28. Going out to brunch today with a friend.

[stopbush]

29. NOT going to fucking church, that's for sure.

Family brunch, and that’s it. Watching baseball and Ari Melber on Sunday night.

[smirkymonkey]

32. *snort*

[jberryhill]

36. Gambling

A number of years ago, I began gambling at Caesar's in Atlantic City in memory of the Roman soldiers who cast lots for Jesus' clothes on Good Friday.

That's something of a trek, but I at least manage to remember to buy a lottery ticket. Today, I'm off to the harness track to make a few bets.

I'm not a regular gambler, but it's just become a thing for me to remember to make a bet on something on Good Friday.

One of these days, I'd like to have an Easter fundraiser of some kind, where I dress up as a Roman soldier or emperor, have a table of donated clothing items with numbers on them, and people can pay $5 to roll the dice and see what they get, and donate the proceeds to the Dana Farber Cancer Center.

Because, no matter what your job, you should always try to at least make it fun:

[2naSalit]

40. Good point!

I have to run some errands today, perhaps I should drive out to the truck stop and get a couple lottery tickets!

I like your used clothing "roll" fundraising idea. In the tiny burg where I live there's a thrift store run by volunteers and all proceeds go to a scholarship and aid for families in crisis. It's a good community thing... probably how I end up having to purge due to my shopping there in order to contribute. I end up re-donating some of the things over in the next county where they have a similar set up.

[2naSalit]

37. That's funny...

I'm doing exactly the same thing! I am in the midst of sorting through my storage closet and wardrobe, apparently I tend to collect things so a regular purge is needed. And the friends nearest are 100 miles away and busy, family are a thousand of miles away and Ican't afford to go there.

Happy purging!

[jberryhill]

39. See... look above your post

We should work out a deal.

[smirkymonkey]

41. It seems to be a traditional thing to do in the spring.

I have so many clothes and other items that I never wear or use. I am sure they would be of more benefit to someone else and I would feel my burden is lightened. Some of the clothes have never been worn.

I am one of those people who tends to wear my "favorites" over and over again, so I need to let the other things go and give them to people who would really appreciate them and get some use out of them.

Happy purging to you as well!