Our Own Peter Cottontail – Meet the “Easter Barry” . . .

As promised, I made the trek to the store on Thursday to see what Barry’s newest costume looked like.  He never disappoints . . .

If you look very closely, you’ll notice writing on one of the eggs in Barry’s basket.  Karen wanted to know why she didn’t get her name on an egg until she realized why identification was necessary . . .

Probably a good idea to provide a warning label on the egg loaded with dog biscuits!

Barry brought an extra set of ears along so others could get into the act . . .

But he didn’t bring an extra one of these . . .

If you would prefer that your Easter Basket be loaded with something to color your eggs (not really – just sticking with the theme), you might be interested in this – Ranger and Tim Holtz announced three new Metallic Distress Paints on Thursday.

Unlike many new offerings, there won’t be much of a wait – we’ll have them on Tuesday!  That brings us to 27 Distress Paint colors now – if you haven’t experienced them yet, you can still get the complete set of 27 and save 20% off the MSRP.

Here’s the video from Tim Holtz announcing the new colors:

Have a great weekend!

The “Easter Bunny” Is Coming . . .

The "Easter Bunny" is coming to Marco's!  Stop by the store on Thursday, March 28 (I haven't heard specific times, but I suspect that between 10:00 & 2:00 will work nicely) and you can get a picture with our resident chameleon.  In previous incarnations, he has looked like these fellows ...

I will stop by to take pictures for those of you who can’t attend – I can only imagine what I will find.

Installation Error . . .

With thanks to Robin Arnold, who forwarded this to me after my earlier grumblings about the weather . . .

The Calendar Says This Is Spring . . .

Back at work today after a “Jekyll and Hyde” weekend – at least from a weather perspective.  There is one constant about living in Ohio – if you don’t like the weather today, it will be different tomorrow.  And if your weather weasels are anything like ours, it’s amazing that they get paid good money to have absolutely no idea what it’s going to do tomorrow.

This was my view on Friday from 1:00 p.m. until midnight, and Sunday from noon until 5:00 p.m. – six NCAA tournament games at the University of Dayton Arena.  After the games yesterday, this site has now hosted 101 NCAA games – more than any other venue in the country (the next closest had 83 and it no longer exists).  We were lucky – parked close to the door so we could leave our winter coats in the car (yes, we’re still using them).  Friday it was in the mid-30s and Sunday there was a Winter Storm Warning all day and night (the weasels were guaranteeing 5” - 9” of snow).  So we were very pleased to have the early games on the schedule so we could get home before the storm hit.

But in-between game days, it was 55 degrees on Saturday and the sun was shining – when I got home from work, the crocuses were very happy.

And that really nasty Winter Storm?  Well the truck isn’t happy and would much rather be in a warmer climate (and so would I), but we only got 2” and the roads were never an issue this morning.  Looks like we might actually make it to 50 degrees by Easter – but last year at this time it was in the 80s and I was wearing shorts to work.  Global warming?  I don’t think so . . .

Greetings from Tucson . . .

I have so many stories to tell, and Blake and I have only been here two days.  One of the best is how we got here in the first place – we escaped Ohio in the middle of a snowstorm that cancelled flights all of the Midwest.  But all of those will wait until next week – I do a little computer work when I can fit it in (like this) while I’m here, but I want to use each minute with Mom and Dad wisely!

Until then, I will share two images with you . . .

Mom looks great – she is perky and has a spring in her step.  And now when we walk around the park where they live, it’s all I can do to keep up with her.  She is a completely different person from the Mom I saw in December when she was home for her PET Scan.  The news that she remains cancer-free has obviously taken a weight off her shoulders.

And this is Blake, Dad and me on top of Picacho Peak (about 60 miles north of Tucson).  We flew into Phoenix this time because the fares were about $240 cheaper, so we stopped here for a “warmup hike” on the way to Tucson (you can see I-10 on the left side of the picture).  Think 90 minutes climbing steep slopes and using cables to pull ourselves up much of the way.  Yesterday, we did a 16.2 mile roundtrip to Rincon Peak – we can see it in the distance from just outside my parents’ place.  But from here, you can’t see the foot-deep snow we hiked through for the last mile or so to the peak.

As I said, the stories and pictures can wait until next week . . .