Tuesday and Wednesday, I had to drive out to Barstow to help with testing. It's that glorious time of year when the State of California makes the students sit down and regurgitate all of the information they (allegedly) learned throughout the year. Sadly, there is no penalty for blowing it off nor is there a reward for doing well all year. The scores are simply calculated and a report is sent home to each parent with their child's current ability. That's it - there is no real reason for the students to learn all year. Other states have this test reflect in the students' final report cards which I feel is awesome, but not California. By Thursday, I was trying to actually get some work done, but since my co-workers were not responding to my questions, it made it difficult to do.
Getting my walks in this week was difficult, but Ken and I managed to get a couple - the weather is once again cold and windy, so we're never sure when or what Mother Nature is going to do from day to day. I had to spend time getting used to a new computer. My other one had a keyboard problem - many of the letters were just coming off and not staying on, and Ken hated to watch me have to stop what I was doing to constantly fix it. The "T" and the "I" were the worst, but that computer had last almost 5 years. It sucked having to transfer everything over, and there are still a couple of programs that I haven't been able to move, but I'm still working on it.
Ken and I took a lunch date at Overland's Meat and Deli. We hadn't been there in a long time, and the pastrami sandwich with a Spaten was perfect!! I loved that when I was looking back at Ken that I saw a mirrored glass of his (least) favorite beer - Genessee Cream Ale. His grandfather loved it, and I have heard him and all of his Akron friends complain about it. Ken refers to it as Warm Moose Piss. So, I had to get a picture of him with the mirror.
We also managed to get in a drink and a cigar one evening when the weather was temperate. Ken and I really miss being able to do this nightly, and now that we finally restocked our humidors, we really want to try the new cigars we have.
This morning (Saturday), the girls actually played quietly and let Ken and me sleep. What a treasure that is! Laundry and dishes were done with minimal requests by the parental units, and the room was made tidy and prepared for Leena and Daniel to spend the night. The girls lost their minds waiting for Josh and Cyn to arrive.
Mandy managed to keep herself busy by helping Ken do some reloading. She was great at it, and she made 10 test rounds on the single stage press!
Ken said she helped with the measuring of the powder, checking the crimps, etc. While I was watching Mandy, I noticed a bunch of birds kept congregating at our mailbox. It was an awesome reminder of the Spring we're supposed to be having, so I had to take a picture!
I kept myself busy by getting the cake started. I wanted to be sure that I had as little to do on Easter Sunday as possible. It was a White Raspberry cake, and it was to be in three layers, so I used 3 cake pans. Unfortunately, only one of them was a Wilton pan, and you can see it when I tried to get the cakes out of the pan!
Next time I use those pans, I will have to remember to put parchment paper on the bottom. Ugh! I also did not expect the batter to rise, and I think the recipe was only to be 1 inch for each layer. Oh well.
Once Cyn and Josh were here, it was all pandemonium with the kids. They were so excited to see each other, as were we to see our friends. No matter how many times Ken and I planned to go to the South Bay, something always came up and got in the way.
After we had supper, it was time for the kids to decorate the eggs. Cyn and I both were taking pictures, so it worked out really well!
Ken and Josh happily let Cyn and I handle this mess while they talked and had a beer. How lucky are they to be men!
The eggs were finally done!
The kids were finally done and a total mess. They got tired of using the dipping tool, and simply used their fingers. Mandy's was the worst!
It took all 4 adults to help the Easter Bunny to get things going that night! The kids were too excited with each other and the holiday to sleep. We all managed to get things handled, and by 11 pm, it was finally quiet in the room.
The adults finally crashed at midnight, and we were sure it was only going to be a few hours before the children woke up with complete energy....
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