But the calendar says April!

I must say I was shocked to wake up this morning to snow on the ground again! What a cruel prank from mother nature! My tulips and other slowly emerging plants will wish they had stayed underground for another week! It appears that we are in for several days this week with temps in the low to mid 30's before more springlike temps return again. Oh well. This time of year we have much to do indoors so at least I'm not torn between responsibility of that and desire to be outside ;-)

Though we are not Jewish, we do observe Passover and the week following where we don't eat products with leavening in them (yeast, baking powder, baking soda) so I will be doing some extra baking today and tomorrow to prepare for this. It seems that each family member has their favorites that they look forward to so I have quite an array of items to make. Our week without leavening begins Wednesday night so I will be doing a lot of baking today. I work tomorrow morning for sure, and then since I'm a sub and never know when the phone will ring, I try to plan ahead and be flexible with my personal schedule. That means when I'm not working at school I better be making good use of the time I am at home!

Ethan is beginning to prepare for returning home for the summer. We were with him yesterday and when we dropped him back off at school he sent us home with his winter coats (though he may regret that today if it is snowing there!), all his curling paraphernalia since the season is over, and some other odds and ends. His classes end in 5 weeks and then he has a week of finals. That time has passed quickly.

We are beginning to think about summer and how to use the time. Ken wants to maybe take a hiking/camping trip this summer instead of the canoe trip. I may have a better chance of finding a Holiday Inn on this trip! Nothing definite has been planned yet. Then there is the issue of camps for the kids like which ones, where at, etc....I have to stain the deck this year and we need to finish some of the brick work. It's always invigorating to start a project, but why is it so hard to finish up the last of it? Ken needs to complete some work on his big Victorian house and then he is putting it up for sale/auction. Hopefully that will be by mid June.

Lastly for this post is the scholarship contest that Ethan has entered. It is a multiphase contest. He had to produce a 30 second video about why he needs money for college. It is a contest by popular vote. Everyone with an email address can vote for him once every 24 hours. This can be done until May 3. After that time, several of the top vote getters will go into the next round and then it has different voting rules. Ethan has been in the running for just over a week and as of last night he had pulled into first place!

Please visit:

http://tuition-tales.com/video-contest-entry-profile.asp?vid=B41D1741DACC427DB3EC704931E14AD9#

to view his video and vote for him! It is much harder to get scholarships for college once you are in college. So many are for high school seniors entering school, but not for those already there. Ethan does have a summer job lined up so that will help as well, but won't cover the whole cost of school next year or with the loans he's already got. Please feel free to forward information of the contest to all your family and friends who you think might be willing to help Ethan in this contest!