A Little Bit Ironic...

I love baskets. Let me emphasize this properly...I really, really, REALLY love baskets! I collect baskets. I buy them at yard sales. I buy them at the Goodwill. I buy them on clearance. I probably have about six baskets in any given room of my house. My mom and grandma had a thing for baskets too...I inherited many baskets.
I like to give baby shower and birthday gifts in baskets rather than bags...who wouldn't rather get a gift in a basket?
So I find it a little bit ironic that on Easter, the one holiday that is categorically a "basket" holiday...I don't use baskets. Our Easter Bunny delivers his goodies in Easter BAGS! The reasoning? Easter baskets are not like normal baskets. Kids these days don't appreciate a good basket so they are drawn to the plastic, tacky baskets. Now don't get me wrong...I am not respector of baskets...but I have to draw the line somewhere. This is to say nothing of the $ involved in purchasing Easter baskets. You can easily spend $10-$15 on a single basket...and children (at least my children) might get a little disappointed if you put nothing in the basket. So since I know that our Easter baskets are not going to last, we do $.99 paper bags.
I hang my head in shame ever so slightly that I dismiss the basket on it's special day...but alas, Easter bags are where it's at in the Ramsey home!!!

April Fools Hall of Fame

In celebration of April Fool's I was reflecting on last year, when I was definitely fooled severely. So here is the breakdown of the scenario: Key players: -Jen -Bronwynn -Mike -Ryan Settings: Jen and Bronwynn are at Bronwynn's house. Mike is working and Ryan is at the dental clinic working with patients. Important back story: Jen is slated to be Ryan's dental board's patient in about 10 days. For those not familiar with dental school processes, this is a HUGE deal. It takes thousands of dollars for the students to take their boards, the patient must have very specific kinds of cavities, and if their patient doesn't show up...well, they lose their money and have to take it again later. Need less to say, finding a perfect patient who is reliable=majorly big deal. Part 1: Jen and Bronwynn decide it would be funny to prank Ryan and tell him that Jen can't be his boards patient because she's pregnant (she is not pregnant at this time). Knowing that neither of them can lie, they enlist the help of Mike. So they call Mike and ask him to call Ryan and tell Ryan the pregnancy story. Part 2: Jen talks to Mike about an hour later and their conversation goes something like this: Jen- "How did Ryan react to the pregnancy story?" Mike- "Oh you know Ryan, he was super nice about it. He just said it was awesome and congratulations and not to worry about boards, etc." Jen- "What did he say when you told him it was April fools?" Mike- "I didn't tell him." Jen- "What?" Mike- "He seemed so relaxed about it that I figured I'd let it ride for a little while." Jen- Freaks out, yells a little in a panicked way and expresses the importance of Mike telling Ryan it was a joke so that Ryan doesn't start looking for another patient. Mike agrees and says he will call Ryan. Bronwynn and Jen call Ryan...no answer. Mike calls Ryan...no answer but Mike leaves a message. Part 3: Jen goes home. Meanwhile, Ryan comes home and has the following conversation with Bronwynn: Bronwynn- "So did you get your phone call from Mike?" Ryan- "Oh yeah, about the baby?" Bronwynn- "No, the second one." Ryan- ..... Bronwynn- "It was an April fool's joke, Jen isn't pregnant." Ryan- "What?!?! She isn't pregnant? I didn't get a second phone call. I just paid someone $150 to take Jen's place!" Ryan continues to yell about how mad he is. Part 4: Bronwynn calls Jen and they have the following conversation: Bronwynn- "Jen, this is not an April fool's joke. Ryan didn't get Mike's message and he paid someone to take your place and he is super mad." Jen- "Why are you whispering?" Bronwynn- "I'm in the bathroom. Jen I have NEVER seen Ryan so upset. He's really ticked off at Mike for not telling him." Jen starts crying while Bronwynn continues to freak out in the bathroom. Then comes a knock on the bathroom door. Bronwynn opens and it's Ryan. Ryan: "APRIL FOOLS!!!!" The breakdown: Mike decided not to prank Ryan...he decided to turn the prank on us. So he and Ryan orchestrated the whole thing and Bronwynn and I ended up with 7 new grey hairs and 2 fewer years in our life expectancy.