Holy Holidays, Batman. It's almost Peaster.

Tonight is the start of Passover and Easter is on Sunday. Thank you Mom-101 for introducing me to the word, Peaster. Her description of Passover with her family is a hoot. My family tradition is to celebrate Easter. When I was growing up, we awoke on Easter Sunday to baskets of goodies and an Easter egg hunt. Good thing, too, or we wouldn't have the classic family story of the Easter egg hunt at the Oregon coast one year. We spent hours decorating two dozen hard-boiled eggs. Then the Easter Bunny hid them outside while we slept. If ANY of you are from Oregon, you'll guess where this is going. In Oregon there are giant slugs the size of hot dogs with Martian antennae. They love eggs. Who knew? They didn't eat them but they sure as hell slimed them. Then of course my gross brothers started putting salt on the slugs and well, Mom threw up, my little sister cried and Dad and I had a terrific laugh. Good times. These days, being your basic godless heathen, I still enjoy Easter for the jelly beans and stuffed bunnies. I feel a little guilty celebrating a holiday that I don't feel religiously attached to but I love the lack of religious tradition in my family. The result is that I had a grandmother who was a Christian Scientist, I have a cousin who is a Buddhist monk, there's the odd Christian or two in the mix, and as I have such a large extended family, there are most likely Jews and Muslims and Scientologists hanging around the family clan too. Girlie attended a Jewish preschool for a couple of years. Hubby was the President of his church youth group as a kid. It's a splendid mix. It wasn't all peace and harmony growing up in my household but the end result is that we're a very tolerant lot full of strong individual personalities. And for those of you who still think that I need saving, here's a short list of why I'm a good person even though I'm an atheist. 1. I never blog about my inlaws even though they are highly bloggable. 2. I give a lot of money to charity, when I have it. 3. I love my husband and daughter and never beat them. Or my pets. (Okay, inlaws, that's a joke. It doesn't mean that I am suppressing a desire to beat them. Sheesh, now I have to erase number 1.) 4. I like most everybody. I'm a bleeding-heart liberal whose best friend in town is a staunch conservative. Ah, tolerance. 5. I eat my fruits and vegetables. 6. I love my life. See? I don't need fixing. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Peaster!