Friend-Making Monday: Easter

::Favorite things about Easter::

 {Tell us about your Easter experience}

First of all, I hope you all had a blessed Easter with your family and friends -- if you celebrate the holiday.

Second, if you'd like to play along, click the button above to visit Amber's blog for the topic and to link up your post.

This Easter was the most unconventional Easter I have ever had. I knew going in that it was going to be different for a couple reasons: 1.) I'm living in my own house, so there would be no colored eggs and no Easter baskets (yes, my Mom still did that and hid the eggs for me and my sister, both in our twenties), and 2.) I had plans to have dinner with Jed's family instead of my own, then we were going to have dessert with my family.

Friday, Easter became a little more unconventional when my mother called me to tell me that my father is in the hospital again; he is rejecting the kidney again, and he has blood clots all over his kidney (my father had a transplant in August, and he was in the hospital in October for possible rejection as well -- read about it here, here and here). Needless to say, Easter was not going to be as simple as dinner with Jed's family then going to my aunt's for dessert with my family.

The day started by meeting Jed's parents, grandfather, aunt, uncle and cousin at the restaurant at noon for lunch/dinner. It was pretty good; the atmosphere was different with Jed's father also MIA with a bad cold. After lunch, we went home to take Morris for a walk before heading to my grandmother's house to say hello. We were only there for an hour before we had to leave to head into Boston to see my dad in the hospital. We spent about two hours with him, then we went to my aunt's for dessert with my mother and sister. I'm glad I missed dinner with my family because my sister said it was depressing, and my mother said it was awkward since so many people were missing: my grandmother died a year and a half ago, my cousin moved to Florida two years ago and didn't come home for Easter, two of my other cousins were celebrating elsewhere, and my dad was in the hospital.

Despite having to be in four places, it was wonderful to spend the day with all of the people I love, and I was grateful I was able to see everyone.

Other than Easter, it was a good weekend; the weather was ABSOLUTELY perfect: sunny and in the 70's! I spent Saturday afternoon outside staining/painting our outdoor wood table. I even got a sunburn! Yeah, that's both good and bad. Even better, the weather is supposed to stick around for at least most of the week, with rumors of 80 degrees on Wednesday! Spring has sprung in New England, people!