I had it all planned. I had an easter egg hunt and dinner all planned out. It was just waiting for the kids to show up to pull it all together. I had even managed to follow the same theme as my dinner party and include a brand new recipe.
The ham was in the oven and the house smelled wonderful as I waited for the family to arrive. A little ahead of schedule, the doorbell rang and my holiday began. The girls looked pretty excited. Their brother - not so much. Perhaps he is getting too old for an egg hunt, I thought.
After everyone was settled, the hunt was on. It was fun. This year I was determined that the mistakes of the past would not reappear - where I was finding hidden eggs days, weeks, even months later. I had the right count and was pretty sure I made sufficient note as to where they were all hidden. By the end of the hunt when the eggs were all counted, we were once again short three. Hmm, not sure what happened and as much as I surreptitiously scoured the house, I could not for the life of me find them. Oh well, at least it was an equal amount and everyone had the same.
Xavier took part in the hunt but you could tell that his heart just wasn't in it. He had played lacross earlier in the day and had taken a bit of a hit to his tummy which he said was a little sore.
Well, a good dinner should help that. We sat down to a nice family dinner of ham, scalloped potatoes, salad, corn and the aforementioned new dish - green bean casserole. I should clarify, we sat down to everything but the green beans. They took a while longer. The potatoes were a hit and I was asked for the recipe by the ex-husband who had joined us. Not a speck of those potatoes were left. I had to think quickly...what would be a recipe for scalloped potatoes?
While my brain was busy trying to cover for the fact that I had used a box of ready made potatoes (add milk, butter, water, empty dried potatoes and dried cheese mixture, stir and bake for 35min), we noticed Xavier really didn't look that good and he asked to lay down. I took him down to my bedroom and turned on a movie and tucked him in. While there, I quickly scanned a recipe I could pass off as my own.
The green beans were finally done and I brought them to the table. Hmm, something did not look right. They looked like a bunch of green sticks floating in a pool of grey goop. Not sure what happened here but suddenly everyone was politely full. Rae asked her dad (when she thought I couldn't hear her) "if I say I am full so I don't have to eat the beans, can I still have dessert?" Fine - no one wants the beans, I should probably at least taste them myself and see if I can figure out what I did wrong. I did not get to the point of swallowing. That is how bad they were. Still cannot figure out where I went sideways with this dish - mushroom soup, milk, soy sauce, french fried onion rings. YUCK!!!!!
Well, dinner could still be salvaged by dessert - blueberry pie and ice cream. No one finished their pie (its still sitting in my fridge). It was disgusting. This time I did admit I did not bake it. The ice cream was good though.
I took Xavier a dish of ice cream - surely that would make him feel better. He came upstairs and cuddled me on the couch while admitting that most likely he would feel better if he could just puke. OH MY GOD!!! I poisoned my grandson. It was only a matter of time but I really figured it would be an adult first.
As time passed, nothing seemed to make him feel better. As tears gently rolled down his beautiful face, he said it really hurt - even to the touch. Needless to say, this was very much out of the ordinary for him. Perhaps he got hit harder than we thought during the earlier game? Time to take him off to Children's hospital which is thankfully, very close to my house.
With their brother gone, the girls and I settled in to watch Shrek - 1, 2 & 3. Rae asked that since Xavier wasn't here to eat his easter candy, maybe he would want them to share it for him so it wouldn't go to waste. Very nice of her to be so considerate.
Well, as it turned out, the wee man had one very angry appendix and it was removed Sunday afternoon. The girls stayed with me one night and then we went and spent the second night at their home so I could also look after the dogs.
We pulled in to the drive way at about 9pm on Sunday night. I was hauling all of their stuff out of the car while trying to keep their dogs at bay so they wouldn't run away. I suddenly heard it - the click. The click that comes with an electronic door lock. Standing beside my car was wee little Lexi telling me not to worry, she had my overnight bag and had locked my car door. While I certainly appreciate the help and the initiative, I felt the lead in my heart as I looked through the window to view my blackberry, my purse and my car keys all still inside.
Not sure what bothered me more - the fact that my purse would be outside in the car in plain view of any would be thieves or the fact that I no longer had my blackberry with me. A bead of sweat started to form on my upper lip.
We made it through the night. Xavier was being released and sent home on Monday. Amazing - the surgery is so simple now. I would get a second set of keys and be on my way to work where I would come up with an excuse to my boss as to why I did not make the 9am conference call or answer any of the other calls to my phone that morning. I would explain I was there - I was standing outside the car, listening to my phone ring trying to calculate the cost of breaking my window to release the precious piece of technology only to discover, it s easier to ask forgiveness than come up with $500 for a new drivers side window.
So, that was my holiday weekend. None of it was my fault. Ok, the beans might have been my fault - but nothing else was. I did not poison my grandson.
Off to Alberta next week. Will keep ya'll posted.
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