Easter weekend went well. We probably put less effort into it than usual, and the grandparents sent less stuff for the Easter baskets than usual, but the kids didn't notice any of that.

Friday afternoon there was a little gathering for parents at the daycare. Saturday morning I took the kids to Target to spend their Easter money from one set of grandparents. I also bought some sparkling cider there and stopped at the liquor store for some sparkling wine. We'll pop both bottles open Thursday evening to celebrating the sale of the condo; our downstairs neighbors are cooking for us that night too.

Saturday night we had a friend plus our downstairs neighbors for dinner; I made chili mac with various easy toppings and sides and it was a low-effort hit.

After our guests left, we opened the package from another set of grandparents and used that plus the plastic eggs the girls had collected at daycare. (I set up plausibility by telling the older girl that we could leave a note for the Easter Bunny to use the eggs we already had so there would be less waste; we also ended up leaving him some carrots and lettuce to snack on!)

I could only find one Easter basket from a previous year, so I just put little labeled goodie bags for both girls into the one basket. Our new cat is rather people-food-obsessed, so I "hid" it in a cabinet vs. leaving it out like I normally do. Then we hid all the plastic eggs we had, putting some pocket money into a few of them.

This morning the girls had a lot of fun hunting for eggs and also getting to eat candy before breakfast. NT had bought cross buns which we all had; that was never a tradition in my family but they're quite good.

Our downstairs neighbors coordinated Easter dinner and we just had to bring a few designated dishes. Altogether we had a vegan ham found at a Vietnamese grocery store, asparagus with vegan hollandaise, potato salad, carrot puree, biscuits, and pineapple upside-down cake.

So, cheap and pretty low-key Easter weekend, which with all the anticipation building in us was about all we wanted.

This should be a very big week; a lot of things will be squared away by the end of it.

- Hope to receive the payoff quote from the duplex mortgage Monday. If I don't I'll call them to get an estimated turnaround time.

- Once I have that, I can send all the info the broker needs to get the refi going. Hopefully then I'll also get exact details of when we close, which month's mortgage payment we'll be skipping, and what our new monthly payment will be.

- I need two more things before closing on the condo sale: a final amount for the cashier's check I'll be taking out to cover the loss, and a paid-in-full notice for the electrical work we got done. Hopefully those will both be coming Monday or Tuesday.

- Thursday morning we close on the condo! Hard to believe it's finally happening. Even with the hefty loss we're taking, it feels like a victory because other parts of our life can get moving soon.

- Sunday is the expiration date for the WV option. I'm not really expecting we'll get the money anymore, but as long as it's a possibility it's always going to be causing me to have to consider multiple future scenarios. I'll be glad to know one way or the other and only mildly disappointed if it doesn't happen.

- Depending on how all that plays out and when AS's outstanding freelance checks come in, we could soon start scheduling some small improvements on the duplex. Probably just outdoor stuff to start with, because AS is only expecting small amounts until late April/early May, when a couple of her bigger invoices should get paid. And we may not use all the money for just home improvements; there are plenty of other wants that all of us have put off for a long time, so we may also use it to loosen up our spending a little.

- I also need to spend the rest of April figuring out how to be a person who doesn't obsess over spreadsheets, scenarios and finances, and isn't glued to the computer every chance I get. I have a few ideas but I'm definitely going to have to be intentional about the change if I want it to be serious and significant. And I do!