Easter Dinner

Such a beautiful day. Jim and I got back about a half hour ago from having Easter dinner at David and Karen's house, where there were 12 of us - Karen's parents from Florida, Joan and Ed; her sister Patty and brother-in-law Brian from Connecticut; their daughters Amanda (10) and Mary Beth (6); and our grandsons, Alex (12) and Chris (6). And of course the two of us. We had a really nice afternoon and evening, and for the first time the cousins had their own "kids table," which they thought was super. They joined hands with everyone to say Grace, then moved to their own table. They had a great time, with only a couple of mishaps - when Amanda fell off her chair, and when Chris suddenly started up the vacuum cleaner to take care of some mess he had made. We all thought it was quite grown up of Chris to start up the vacuum on his own, although if he thought he'd just sneak that by without us noticing, he forgot about the sound it would make.

The meal was delicious. Joan, Patty and Karen are all wonderful cooks, and we love having holiday meals with them. Not only is the food out of this world, but Karen's family are all such fun to be around. We sat around the table afterwards and talked, while the kids watched a movie. The cousins love spending time with each other, and that usually happens for a week once or twice a year. It's been fun over our past 5 years in Maryland watching them grow up.

I'm not looking forward to my radiation appointment tomorrow. My skin has started to peel like a bad sunburn, and I still have 12 more appointments to go. I've been putting Aquaphor ointment on it every day, as they recommend, but it's getting to that itchy phase. Wearing my seat belt today was painful - it rubs on the raw skin.

I'm having a hard time typing. I cut my little finger on my left hand, right on the knuckle, and it doesn't bend with a Band-Aid on it. It's sticking straight out and I keep hitting the wrong keys and having to correct my typing. Who knew such a little cut would have such a big impact on the keyboard!

PHOTO: A purple iris in our yard last year.