Easter Break

That's the excuse I'm giving for no column last week, other than my parenting column, whom many of you know as "Old School Dad".
Yeah, and I know what you're thinking...c'mon Ken, what are you, in high school?  I wish.  Things were a little more simple then.
As opposed to today?  You bet.
You know today is Easter.  We celebrate the obvious in the Christian world, but I also celebrate the end of my Lenten obligation of giving up all sweets for the past 40 days.
And I have reaped some benefits.  While I won't get on a scale to confirm this, I'm sure I've lost a few pounds because of it.  While going outside to work in the yard with my wife, my pants sagged right as where my butt began.  And they're not designed that way either, to the younger generation.
I knew it was bad when I went across the road to fetch the mail and someone in a passing car blew the horn and shouted "Hey, Kool Moe Dee!"
After that little episode, I went off to the store to pick up a few last-minute items for Easter.
As I walked to the front door I saw the sign "We're Open! Easter Sunday 8am to 7pm".
Is nothing sacred?
Just seeing that made me nostalgic for Pennsylvania's now-defunct "Blue Law", which meant stores closing their doors altogether or having very limited hours on Sunday.
Open on holidays?  Forget it! 
After the Blue Laws were relaxed, I welcomed the newfound convenience, but it wouldn't be until years later when I would see the ramifications it has on today's society.
Convenience breeds the mentality "I want what I want when I want it", and in the name of the Almighty Dollar, you get it.  Most of the time.
And woe to the ones who say you have to wait.
Now that gas prices are making the oil embargoes of 1973 and 1979 seem like a Girl Scout picnic, I've found myself planning my trips ahead of time to save gas.
Do I really need to run here or there?  Can it wait until the following day, when I can swing by on my way to or from work?
I think more and more people are finally being made aware of this.  More families are going down to one car, downsizing their SUV in favor of compact models, and planning family vacations either closer to home or eliminating them completely.
Living in rural western Pennsylvania, I don't really have the luxury of giving up my four-wheel-drive pickup.  What I can do is eliminate unnecessary trips or plan them out ahead of time to make the most of my gas.
While I'm doing this, I'm also showing my daughter that we can't always get what we want.  It costs a lot to live in this world, but we can make the most of our resources by showing how prudent we can be with what we have.
Yet we still benefit.
Put away the credit card. 
And the Sunday Shopper mentality.
Spend that Sunday with your family.  As I do with mine each Sunday.
And let's put the "Son" back in "Sunday".

NEXT WEEK:   Whatever