1. No holiday here. Though it is now Purim and my awesome husband made awesome hamentaschen cookies for me. Here's the recipe link, and FYI he used the nondairy version. I ate 8 and in self defense gave away the rest to Jewish colleagues today.

2. On Saturday I'm taking my bike in for a checkup as the gear changing was slow last time I rode it. The weather is on the verge of gorgeous here. I'm hoping we get to a movie on Saturday night.

3. Sunday we are meeting a potential dog sitter -- our beloved current sitter seems to be splitting from her husband and isn't sure she'll keep up the dog care -- and I've got my usual float scheduled.

1. I'm a new user here and this is my first comment, so that's exciting!

2. This week Mr. Fig and I nabbed 4-day passes to Lollapalooza. This will be my 9th and his 8th year in a row attending. Radiohead is headlining which I'm pretty pumped for.

3. Sunday we're getting brunch with my family at a local bar/restaurant that does a killer brunch buffet. My mom is convinced that this is the first time we've ever gone out for Easter. I have a hard time believing that, but also can't think of any counterexample.

1. I took off Friday & Monday and we're going to visit family and attend my bff's son's 5th birthday party.

2. We still need to figure out something to do tomorrow with my mom as a belated birthday activity. The zoo is out thanks to the rain.

3. I straightened my hair tonight; I think this is the first time I've done it since kidlet was born. I rarely do it because it's so time consuming and I don't look like myself with it straight. Which is funny as I wore it straight via chemical means from ages 11 through 25. It's longer than I was expecting, which is good as I'm getting my hair stylist aunt to chop off a few inches.

4. Not making much progress on the bathroom. Still untiling the wall; it's slow going as I'm only finding myself able to do it on weekends. I hung up the mirrors in the meantime and I need to figure out if I'm going to do anything with the medicine cabinet hole behind them. My dad had to come back up to look at the sink because I had tiny leak. Turned out the valve he installed was bad. I'm so glad he had time to come up before leaving for a 5 week training class in FL.

Welcome Fig!

Hi Fig!

1. It's a school holiday, but I have to work so my daughter is at a day camp. Musical theater. So I will be hearing songs from who knows what all evening. Probably Annie.

2. I found a friend in my neighborhood to run with! So, we are running 2X per week at 6am. (the other two times a week I run are one evening and a long run on the weekend). I am so not a morning person, so it's been a bit of an adjustment.

3. No plans for the weekend, beyond trail running with some of my teammates. I have never been trail running before. Should be fun.

1. Trying to find the moxie to start clearing-out the clutter in my home, in preparation of maybe getting it on the market. It's a daunting situation.

2. Wife's father is in the hospital for myriad of reasons. So, any plans this weekend are in serious flux right now.

3. Easter?

1. My lower back has decided not to kill me this time so I seem to have dodged surgery this time. I was in some serious pain for a few months since the holidays and went through a serious of pain killers and anti-inflammatories but the pain just decided to mysterious go away for now.

2. Having fun with my photography class. This is the fourth one that I've taken and plan on applying for the certificate program which will give me something close to an associate's degree in photography. I just hope that the school stays open as they've been having serious financial issues lately.

3. Reservations for Easter brunch at a nice restaurant downtown on Sunday for Mrs. O and me.

1. Bathroom renovation supposed to start on Monday (maybe Tuesday).

2. Joined a gym temporarily to use the shower. Paid extra to join the fancy spa/gym at the hotel. Everything's decorated like a greek temple, including the showers, with orange-y tiles on the floor and pictures of trees and blue skies painted on the walls. I can sit in a steam room or sauna if I want (what's the difference, anyway?).

3. Trying not to let the necessary changes in my schedule and having strangers in my house stress me too much.

1. Fight with my mother last week. Not fun. The mother-daughter dynamic never seems to change.

2. Despite being dubious about most things Christian, I really like the Maundy Thursday service. Very symbolic, lots of good themes of suffering and redemption. Not so much the Good Friday service, which is just all depressing and can be anti-Semitic.

3. I actually like the cheap communion wine they use at the church. I bought a bottle of it last week (no, didn't drink it all at once). My palate is not sophisticated, oh well.

1. Well-needed 3-day weekend. I see lots of naps and DVRed TV in my near future. If I can manage to shower today, I may go up to see my mom Saturday.

2. Pretty sure I'm going to get a new car in the next month or so. Leaning towards a Nissan Sentra (I like the Mazda CX5, but it's another ten grand, and I doubt it would fit in my current garage spot-- I'm on the waiting list for something bigger). Trying to decide whether to lease or buy. I've never leased before, but there are some very inexpensive Sentra lease deals available, and I like the idea of always having a reliable, like-new car to drive. But I worry about the end cost of those inevitable little nicks and scratches, maybe a spilled coffee. My car's fifteen years old, though, so I think it's time (last week, the moonroof got stuck open -- yikes -- luckily, with a little advice from the internets, I was able to get it closed).

3. We just signed a two-year lease renewal for our current apartment. Expensive, but it's such a nice place, and it's good not to have to worry about moving for at least two more years. It's so nice dealing with a management company instead of some crazy landlord. No one walks into the apartment when I'm in the shower or tries to raise the rent fifteen percent at once. Reasonable 4% rent increase each year. Eats up most of my scheduled pay raises, but that's life.

4. I wore a heart monitor again for a week and, naturally, had long afib episodes before and after the monitor, but not during. Figures. Now my doctor won't believe me for sure. He was very nasty to me on my last visit because I hadn't lost any weight. Walked out of the examination room without even taking my blood pressure at first. Then prescribed an extra medication by mistake, which I didn't realize until I got home from the drugstore (luckily I knew not to take it). He's not wrong about the weight/exercise issue (I may be able to get rid of the afib if I can lose some weight), but I still deserve good medical treatment in the meantime. He said, "I see no progress, so good luck to you," and walked out. Called me back after they saw how upset I was at the desk. He even apologized in the written notes they gave me, which I appreciate, but I think I'll find a new doctor anyway. Who needs to feel judged and belittled by their doctor? There are plenty of other doctors out there.

Wow Pips. Heart monitor? That sounds scary. Be well!

1. I started smoking a pipe. Influenced by an old university friend. Very upper middle class anglophile guy.
Actually I smoked a pipe when I was a pretentious student. My then GF recently called it a 'fashion accoutrement'. A very astute observation. But nowadays I do smoke for real. I envision my upcoming mouth cancer and still light my pipe.
My father used to smoke piple before me and my brother arrived.
And I remember my opa smoking pipe. So old fashioned...

2. I'll be going to view a 2nd hand saxophone. I already have 3 saxophones (2 tenors and 1 soprano). So it's a bit ridiculous.
This time it won't be a French or German one from the 80s but an American one from the 1940s.

3. There's a birthday party for my 6 ft niece turning 17 on 2nd paasdag. I don't see her that often but she's really cool. She's got a sense of humour that's a bit sarcastic that I really like. And she enjoys physics and chemistry and math in school. Just like her opa and uncle.
I have no idea what teenage girls like.
I'll get her some classic old book. Like something by Evelyn Waugh from the 40s. And something recent like Elena Ferrante.

Hi Fig! I'm pretty new too :)

1. Today has been glorious here (in my part of the U.K.) too. It's a shame that apparently the rest of the four day weekend isn't going to be so nice, but that's life.

2. Dog dog dog. Tomorrow I'm taking him on a meet up walk with the rescue I'm adopting him from, then to the beach with a friend. And on Tuesday I'm hopefully signing the paperwork to make it all official and permanent!

3. I'm still finding work a bit frustrating, and I need to get back into the routine of cooking properly. Something to work on after the break.

(thanks, jouke-- it'll all work out, hopefully-- I'm on some meds that should help--)

My life is currently consumed by being sick, to the exclusion of everything else. I started feeling feverish on a plane flight Monday night and have been miserably sick with, I assume, some kind of killer flu since (now Saturday morning). I think I'm starting to feel a little better, fortunately. I pretty much never get sick so am not very good at it and can't even tell for sure that I am actually starting to pull through.

Hi! fig and ARobotNinja!
Hugs to Pips and dg.

I had off on Friday. It was a great day, repotted some plants and played with kitties and made a delish meal and sat outside to enjoy dining alfresco. There was enough breeze to keep the bugs away. And, best of all, when I went to bed, I wasn't hurting.... made me realize that it's been forever since I could say that. Usually, I flounce around forever just trying to get comfortable.

Today, I was at work at 6 am. Tomorrow will be 7 am, (I get to enjoy easter sunrise service at the church of retail,) but I wouldn't be in church anyway.

Hi everybody - thanks for the warm welcome!

1. My dad just had to call an ambulance for hemorrhoid pain. I didn't know they could get so painful! Waiting to hear if he's going to have surgery.

2. I would like to buy a bike for casual bike rides, but not sure what I should get. Beach cruiser? Any advice?

3. I need to figure out what to say to my three-year old son when he asks where Grandma is (my mom is deceased). So far I say something along the lines of, "She would really love to be here with us, but she can't." He has been satisfied with that so far, but eventually I will need to say more, and I was thinking of taking them to her grave on Mother's Day and have no clue how to explain that. I really don't want to explain death to him so young, and when I do I do not want there to be a religious component of the explanation. Advice welcome. I will probably post an AskMe about this at some point.

1. Hugs of welcome and wuffles of commiseration to one and all.

2. Easter means a short line at the donut shop. A dozen donuts and a couple of biscuits are a holiday celebration I can get behind.

3. It's rainy and cold, so I am just eating and reading today.

1. Slept in, missed church, it was OK because rest trumps church right now.
2. Sad not to be with my parents for Easter, but invited friends and made an ambitious menu, and it turned out well.
3. Bonus to early dinner: people leave by 6 or 7, leaving me and the Mr. to slothfully watch TV, drink wine and eat chips for dinner, and have a few quiet hours.