Happy Easter, people. Easter is my second favorite holiday, after Thanksgiving. I love the sense of hope, of resurrection, Easter brings. I also think of WZRD on Easter, as I covered the Saturday night/Sunday morning show a few years running and stumbled out of the studio into the gritty NEIU parking lot just as the sun rose. Good times.

So what have I done today? I slept late, 6:00AM, and may have slept longer but N slid next to me and we chatted before moving downstairs for cartoons. S was up a few minutes. M and T showed no signs of life so I threw on my running gear and knocked out four miles in the bright morning sun. Everyone was up when I returned so I watched as the boys searched out eggs (the plastic kind, filled with candy) and discovered the video games in their baskets. After a while I am not a necessary component of that activity so I showered and ate breakfast. Later I spent a loud hour at Alterra’s (was the guy working there trying to piss me off by dragging stools across the floor?) writing a To The Lighthouse review (posting tomorrow) and answering email. After a quick lunch N and I played soccer in the back field. He does pretty well, really, but he grew bored after about fifteen minutes and went inside. I can’t play soccer by myself, sadly, so I snuck upstairs, folded laundry, and read Big Machine until M said everyone was going out to play with the neighborhood kids. Since the house was empty I lifted weights in front of Bourdain’s latest Viet Nam episode and swallowed the protein/yogurt concoction that follows weights. S and I watched the Cavs choke to the Celtics as the rain started and, well, here I am.

This has been the best spring break ever. Most of my activities have been local; except trips to Cedarburg and West Bend because of M’s van’s repairs I haven’t ventured more than five miles from the house. I’m ok with that; I’ve done time at the library and various nearby coffee shops. I’m due back at work this week Wednesday. Tomorrow I drop M and the boys at the airport mid-afternoon. I’ll probably stop at the office on the way home and get a couple hours of prep done before returning home to the dogs. Tuesday is wide open except for a dentist appointment. Wednesday morning I teach, but just for an hour, and Wednesday night I fly to Louisville. There’s apparently a cool cathedral near the hotel but other than that I get the feeling this will be one of those quick trips during which I spend my evenings watching cable in a sterile but comfortable hotel room.

I’ll miss the kids tomorrow night. Have a good rest of Easter. Christ is risen, if that’s your thing. If it’s not, spring’s here, and we can always, always start anew.

P.S. I tried Lunestra a couple nights ago. Goddamn I love sleeping pills.