Tea Parties, Easter, Improv and Pizza

Vivian and I enjoyed a pretty fun and busy Easter weekend together. It all started on Thursday, when I was able to kick off my three-day weekend by visiting the Tea Party Express as it rolled through Omaha. It was something like a Woodstock for disgruntled conservatives, and I was able to join a few thousand fellow Omahans who came to participate in the rally at Lake Zorinsky park. There were so many people that the police had to close the gates. A number of people got on stage to give speeches and sing a couple songs, which included a Hispanic rapper from Waco named Polatik. I kept my eyes open for members of the Ku Klux Klan, who people had been whispering lurked in the crowd somewhere, ready to yell out "the n-word" and spit on people they disagreed with. Much to my surprise, the crowd was quite civil, even to the three or four counter-protesters who decided to sit near the back.

It was actually a fun event, and I even got the chance to stand on stage toward the end and attempt to sing God Bless America in front of the crowd with Lloyd Marcus (above on the right) and Diana Nagy, thoroughly embarrassing myself when I realized that I didn't know the words to the second verse. Lloyd gave me props for trying.

I had Good Friday off and was able to have breakfast with Vivian at Panera before she went to work. That evening, we attended a Good Friday service at Calvary Christian Church in Bellevue. We joined our friends at JNO a little later, which included the return of veteran Shoveler Jillian to our dancing crew. Sadly, she was in town because her grandmother had recently passed away, but it was nice to have her back for a dance and some Improv & Pizza (more on that later).

On Saturday, Vivian and I prepared for a big Easter Dinner, and we also did an unexpected amount of yard work. With Donna's help, we trimmed away a good deal of tall grass and other lawn debris from the yard, and I swept up the garage and helped rake things up a bit. The weather was just perfect for it, and being able to take of our very own lawn for the first time help cement a sense of ownership to our house.

On Sunday, Vivian and I were among the few who got up at the crack of dawn to attend the sunrise service at Christ Community Church. There were so few people that we were able to park right up front and didn't have to fight crowds to get inside as we usually do. That afternoon, we had Vivian's parents over for Easter Dinner together. Jack brought ham with a pineapple glaze, and Vivian provided pistachio fluff, green bean casserole, poppy seed biscuits, crab and artichoke dip, and fruit salad. I made my deviled eggs, which turn out differently just about every time I make them. I used honey mustard, white vinegar, dill weed, and garlic powder this time, which seemed to be a decent combination. After stuffing ourselves silly, Donna treated Vivian and me to an Easter Egg hunt outside, which was fun. We found all but one plastic egg, which managed to escape with two Lindor truffles inside (and then turned up with them melted a few days later).

We worked off a little of our meal playing with our new toy — a combination foosball coffee table that is currently living in our basement. It's smaller than your typical foosball table, but seems to work great, and should give our guests something to do downstairs instead of watching TV (or doing laundry).

On the following Tuesday, we had a long overdue reunion for the Order of the Shovel. Since Vivian and I still had possession of the small plastic digging instrument (dubbed by Sarah Little as "Valerie Bruce"), we made an event for dinner and a show in Benson, courtesy of the Pizza Shoppe and 88 Improv. Vivian and I somehow managed to devour a king-sized Round Table while watching three guys make up an improbably hilarious tale of a plot for world domination spawned in a retirement home foiled by a couple wandering priests and a hotel clerk who wants to be a ballet dancer. Now that's comedy.