In my next life I want to be the Easter Bunny. Or maybe I already was in a previous life. Hmmm.

I just love Easter time. I love the Spring weather (ordinarily anyway), the smell of the air, the excitement of the birds chirping and getting settled in.  All of nature starts to wake up - trees, flowers, and grass all come to life. The sunshine is inspiring and the colors are vibrant. Just a happy time, and welcome relief from Michigan's brutal winters.

The reason I think I'm some kind of kin to the Easter Bunny is because I get crazy over Easter traditions. I enjoy coloring eggs more than my kids do. I love hiding eggs and treasures for the Easter egg hunt. And I love to build Easter baskets most of all. I obsess over the contents and the presentation. As I browse the aisles and websites for Easter basket goodies, and stumble upon things that remind me of different people, I feel compelled to send Easter gifts to everyone I know. Not just in a "Aw, wouldn't my niece love that?" way. But in a "step away from the Easter cookie decorating basket" way. 

Regardless of my past or future relationship to the Easter Bunny, I need to accept that currently, I am not the Bunny, and nip my Easter shopping compulsion before it even starts this year :) Is thee a holiday or occasion for which you cannot resist over spending? 

One of my favorite movies is 27 Dresses and I watch it over and over. Have you seen it? It stars Katherine Hegel as a woman who has built her entire life around being the world's best bridesmaid and making sure that every bride she encounters enjoys her special day. At first it seems ridiculous that she would have saved all 27 of the bridesmaid dresses she has collected so far, but then I realized, I probably still have all of mine! No, the issue is not the number of dresses, really, it's that at some point in her obligations of WEARING all those dresses, her focus may have become about only being the perfect bridesmail and never a bride herself. Hmmm. Wonder what color her 28th dress will be....? Rend it and find out!

Seriously. Why is it every girl's dream to have a  big wedding? I got stressed out simply planning a trip to Vegas to elope. Long before I was offended by shows like BRIDEZILLA and MY BIG FAT FABULOUS WEDDING, I was of the belief that a wedding was a personal, private thing. Shortly after the Vegas ceremony we RENEWED our vows before a preacher and our friends, but the small ceremony was more true to my beliefs. Moving on from private vs. public ceremony, though, the stress and commercialism of weddings has gotten out of control.

Reality tv shows like those above continue to highlight the opposite the personal aspect of a union, as well as overshadow the romance and commitment with materialistic excessiveness. It is natural to want your special day to be "perfect" but girls today are being programmed to focus more on big diamonds, expensive dresses, elaborate wedding invitations, exotic food, and seating charts, rather than on the groom and building a life together. I know I am in the minority, but it just seems silly to me to spend so much money on decorations and disposable stuff, when money could be better spent on a downpayment and your future together.

And don't even get me started on celebrity indulgences and weddings that could feed entire impoverished countries. I just don't understand the value set behind this kind of thinking. Do you?

When I bought my house in 1997 the biggest problem I had in my life was that I hated my garage door openers. They just didn't work to my satisfaction. I had to be too close, had to push the button just right... even after a battery change and experimenting with different ways to push the buttons with different pressure and at different angles... they frustrated me. 

How the world has changed in 14 years.

The garage door opener is probably the only thing that isn't on my nerves now. The house is too small. It's starting to need maintenance. Big maintenance. 

I didn't have children then which is certainly the biggest reason why I didn't have anything to complain about THEN and plenty to choose from now.

Trouble at work, trouble at home, and trouble in marriage. 

Then if I dare look outside my bubble into the big world - What a mess! Locally, we just realized that our new governor in Michigan is Lex Luthor and plans on taxing the seniors & poor folks - giving the money to the big businesses as part of his plan to bankrupt select cities and abolish them.  Unions are being broken, extremist fools are protesting military funerals, and Japan is in crisis. They're only the latest country experiencing devastation though, far from the only.

So I go back into my bubble and enjoy the one constant that's been at my side all these years. My garage door opener.. I KNOW it isn't going to work until I get close and that I have to push it from a certain angle and hold for a certain amount of time. I know this and I take comfort in it. 

We find what we need to get us through in the most unexpected places, don't we?