Fort's Cancer Sux!!

EASTER??? Are you joking?

As you can see....the midwest wasnt exactly blooming daffodills and the sunshiny Easters of of the past. It was cloudy, and ended up snowing a lot more than anyone had expected. As you can see, the view off my in-law's deck wasnt exactly Spring time Utopia. We were up there a month ago and it was so nice! My mother in law insisted it would snow once more....she said it always snows one more time after the crocus comes up. And she was right:

I also broke the law while I was at the lake....parked my saturn right in front of this sign. Thankfully, I was not ticketed. As most of you know, Johns parents are building in NC and moving sometime in the summer, so all the kids memorabilia has resurfaced with strict orders: "TAKE IT WITH YOU".....so the boxes were opened, and little Johnny McLaughlin, Boy Scout extrodinarre made a visit from the past....Im not sure if he really thought he could get this on, but he gave it the ol' College try:

below is a Korean Boy Scouts hat he traded for at the Jamboree....what ever the hell that is. He took the scarf and carefully spun it before he took his boy scout slide and snuggly pushed it up around his neck. Its just wrong, I know:
The highlights of Indian Lake are always the great spreads they put out.....Friday night, it was ribs, salad, broccoli & deviled eggs. Yum!
EASTER at the FORTENERS
As comfortable as I am at our family gatherings, Im always a little nervous for the new girlfriends my cousins bring to these events....People always use the term "Thrown to the wolves" when a new person is introduced to a tight knit clan, but I mean this when I say it....We certainly broke the mold.

For instance, while we were out in the front yard for "Easter Egg Hunt" (I use this term loosely as you will soon see) John commented on what he was observing - He pointed down the street, about five houses down, where a Norman Rockwell easter was taking place, a small family, grandparents, all looking like they just got back from church, two little girls in beautful lacy Easter dresses, excitedly trapseing around the front yard looking for easter eggs, while their loved ones looked on and took pictures. Another lovely Easter.

John then directed me to Uncle Mikes front yard, where my cousin Willie had taken his Capri-Sun and was entertaining the family with his "Mock Urination" bit:

So heres the deal, every Easter, all the aunts bring giant boxes of ziploc bags filled with Candy, Juice boxes, candy bars, plastic eggs filled with no more than ten cents each, and destroy someones front yard with the loot. Every now and then you get an actual "Gift", but for the most part, its turned into another opportunity for the family to throw things. At Christmas, its an over croweded room and a gauntlet of flying balls of wrapping paper and at Easter, its a front yard with all my younger cousins (mostly boys), showing off their pitching prowess by launching candy filled ziploc bags across the lawn. Sometimes they tell you its coming, sometimes they dont. This is what it looks like before the mayhem:
Ryan and Doug - Ryan was quite amused with his "Squeezeable" Sweet Tarts:
This is what I was talkign about the "gifts" all the Scrapbook Mountaineers found some cute Easter scrapbooking embellishments - SCORE!!!
And from my Aunt Jean: SCRAPBOOKING TAPE!! Thanks Jean, I love it.
John doesnt exactly get too involved with the "Hunt" if you want to call it that.
I took this picture when we first got there....they were showing Nick and Merediths wedding video...this is me giving the toast - Im posting it because I look thin - for once, the camera took OFF 20 pounds....go figure.

Awww.....nobody wants to sit with Jeanie!!!!

Oh yeah....our family is ruthless...younger cousin Chris found himself on the loosing end of an Atomic Wedgie courtesy of Ryan and Doug. It required a trip the bathroom to remove. Good job guys.
Question of the week:

Does anyone know anything about laying carpet?

Our upstairs bedrooms have AWFUL, dirty old worn carpet. I got curious and pulled some up in the blue room. The tack strips are down, and the padding is in good shape. Can I just pull the carpet and get a 10x12 remnant or a piece off those rolls at Home Depot and lay it myself? I want to do this on the cheap. (surprise surprise) and PS - the blue room will be blue no more. I dont like it anymore, and yes, I know its going to take seven coats of primer to fix it.

Let me know about that carpet.....Spanx! Happy Easter all!

PS!!! I need to make sure you ALL watch The Bachelor Tomorrow! I have volleyball at 9:30 so Im going to miss it. Will someone kindly send me a recap? I plan on posting Tuesday discussion boards about The Bachelor so lets all get involved! (Even though, at this point, I think the girls they choose get faker and faker, and also intentionally get hammered and start drama....its annoying, but what ELSE are we going to do? READ?!!?!?!!?!?)