Happy Friday the 13th!

I'm finally back online at home, nobody in my household is puking anymore (although now we've been invaded by chicken pox), spring break is over, it's sunny with temps in the 50's, and DSFX has returned to the top of my priority list. Things are actually looking up again lol!

Speaking of DSFX, I made a major mess out of the server switch... ai yai yai. At least now I know what I have to do though... too bad I wasted so many hours attempting things I didn't realize were impossible. I couldn't just follow directions. Oh no! I had to prove my way(s) wouldn't work. So I guess in that sense I accomplished something, right? LOL! I really look forward to being D-O-N-E with all the technical crap so I can get back to the business of designing digital goodies for y'all.

Which reminds me... there will be an April freebie kit - but I'm planning to put it in the store this time instead of on a free server. Once we're up and running smooth again I'll post here and on the website, and send an email announcement to subscribers - probably in about a week or so. I sincerely appreciate everyone's patience, and I promise it'll be worth the wait! :)

In other news.... I had an awesome Easter weekend - it was actually one of the most amazing Easters my family has ever celebrated. We had planned to go to my sister's house, but some of us weren't feeling 100% up to par, so we stayed home instead. My daughter had 4 of her close friends over (who all happened to be male...which is a whole 'nother post lol) - and it turns out none of them had any idea what Easter was about, because they're all Muslim immigrants/refugees. Now, I admit I have some very strong opinions regarding U.S. immigration/refugee policies - BUT - I also have an open mind and I love to learn about other cultures. So Easter weekend that's exactly what we did!

These boys (ages 16-18) shared stories about their own religious beliefs, customs, etc. - all of which was extremely interesting. They also told stories about growing up in their various home countries (Egypt, Kenya, Somalia, and Nigeria), which shocked and brought me and my own teenagers to tears. I won't repeat their stories here out of respect for their privacy... but I will say these kids have seen and felt more horrors and oppression than most of us could even fathom. We constantly see stories on the news about terror/poverty/etc. abroad, and like most of us I've become desensitized to all the media coverage. But to listen to these kids - KIDS! - share so many firsthand tragic experiences - not just occasionally but as a way of life(!!!!)... to see their physical battle scars with my very own eyes... wow... it was beyond mind-boggling, and it made me want to hug and love them forever. How they can be such happy-spirited, respectful, terrific human beings after all they've been through I'll probably never understand. It makes me feel like a total baby for ever whining about my own petty issues...sheesh. I truly didn't realize just how good I have it here in "the land of the free". Wow. Some of their "coming to America" culture-shock stories were freaking hilarious though.

Anyway, we in turn, shared our Easter beliefs and traditions with them, and that was an absolute blast. For the first time in 15+ years I didn't have to fill and hide a million eggs alone in the dead of night - I got to supervise instead lol!! You should have seen those boys' eyes shine as they learned about, and then got to play the role of "The Easter Bunny". Appearance-wise they kinda look like a bunch of gangsters, but they acted like a bunch of giddy 6 year olds! LOL! Watching them delight in filling those eggs, giggling like little girls as they sampled jelly beans and Peeps for the first time, whispering and creeping around the house hiding the eggs by flashlight... it was just too cool for words. And then they wouldn't go to sleep because they didn't want to miss out on watching Amaya and Joe hunt for them at the butt-crack of dawn! As each egg was discovered I don't know who got more excited, my 5 and 10 year old kiddos, or the teenage boys who hid them. ROFLMAO!! Seriously, you would've had to seen it to believe it!

Sunday we decided to skip the traditional ham dinner (because Muslims don't eat pork), and instead I baked a big old pan of taco dip which we munched on all day along with cheese, crackers, jello, candy, etc. We had 4 kinds of yummy pie to stuff ourselves with too LOL. It turned out to be quite the cultural event - totally unplanned but totally memorable! (I'll add pics to this post when I get around to downloading what's on my camera card. My haircut pics I mentioned a few posts back are still on there too lol.)

After everyone went home I did a bit of reflecting on our Easter experience. It was so out of "the norm" yet for some reason it felt more meaningful, and something has sorta been bugging me since then. Why do societies feel so threatened by differences in beliefs? I mean, wars have been fought and are continuing to be fought over religion. Why?! Although my family's beliefs are vastly different than those of our Easter guests, we all got along beautifully. They respect our beliefs, we respect theirs, simple as that. If kids can so easily accept and embrace such differences, why can't adults who run entire countries do the same? Why is peace such a hard concept to understand? It's not rocket science!

OK... off my soapbox and back to work now. I'll update again soon.
Have a great weekend!