apparently there is a holiday happening this weekend

The other day at school, I ran into a fellow classmate in the hall, and she started making small talk with me. It was fine until she asked if I had plans for a big family dinner today. The question went over like a lead balloon. I paused way too long, though not on purpose. I didn't mean to make her uncomfortable; but I had paused and was wondering, "Why would I have a family dinner? What's going on? Is she mistaking me for another student she had a conversation with earlier about something else? Does she think I'm Jewish?"

Eventually I answered, slowly, "For what?" She replied, carefully, "Er, for the . . . holiday?" I said, "Oh! Oh, no. I'm on my own this weekend." Which is true; my daughter's paternal grandmother and uncle are in town for Easter and I won't get her back until Monday after school.

It was awkward. I'm so out of touch with religious holidays that, even when the grandmother's visit was planned, I thought, "Well, that's kind of a weird time and a short stay; nobody's even on spring break that week."

But happy Easter, Passover, and various pagan-informed fertility and renewal holidays to all my dear readers. I'm off to do some grocery shopping and get some schoolwork done.