Easter

We had a relaxing Easter Sunday here in Dusseldorf. It was the one day when the weather was nice.

The church service itself was not particularly invigorating or celebratory, but it's always moving to worship with people who come from all over the world. Although it's a British church, there are people from Africa, Indian, Malaysia and other parts of the world who attend. It was a communion Sunday and it irks Maddie that she doesn't get to take communion. She can only go up and receive a blessing. It's an open table, but not to children who haven't been confirmed. Kind of irks me too.

The US consulate general to Duesseldorf was in attendance with his wife and two of this three children, and I'm guessing he wasn't too happy when the prayers of the people included prayers for Iraq after five years of occupation. Guess the global view of that situation is a little different outside of America.

I am now back to being a meat eater. I'm not sure how much good giving up meat did me--spiritually or health wise. I did have moments in restaurants where I felt quite proud and righteous for forgoing my favorite meals there, but I think that may be missing the point. In theory, I would like to remain a vegetarian not for animal rights or health reasons, but in order to to have a smaller footprint on this planet. And I think I will try to eat veggie more often, but giving up meat entirely is just too inconvenient--particularly here in Germany. I think next year, Lent is going to have to be a money thing.

Easter Monday is a holiday here and we woke up to a winter wonderland. Snow covered the ground and continued to fall until about 9 a.m. We had our friends the Fosters over for brunch and ate so much that I wasn't hungry the rest of the day. I think the addition of meat back into my diet may have also had something to do with it.

On a literary note, Skip has completed all of the Harry Potter books, in German. He's been working through them for a little over a year. He'll have to find a new series.

Maddie is out of school the rest of this week as well. This is a child who needs to be in school. When she's out of her structure, she gets obsessed about what's coming up next and that's all she can think about. Skip and I have banned her from talking about her birthday party (in MAY!) and her upcoming trip to the movies with friends, because she's about to drive us crazy! We've told her it's fine to be excited and to think about it, but discussing it every hour has got to stop.

Shops are open again, so Maddie and I will be heading into Dusseldorf to buy an anniversary present for Skip. If Maddie can make it to Friday without spilling the beans, it will be a miracle!