I remember last year scrambling out the door on the Friday before Easter, the task of getting the kids' basket goodies still ahead of me. Because we were leaving town the next morning to head to Connecticut for the holiday, this was my window for getting it done.

Where could I go that would be on the way home, open at 9 p.m. and have enough left at this point to fill two Easter baskets? My boss, who also was still at the office and has been in my harried shoes, suggested swinging into CVS — surely I could get a few meaningful trinkets, a couple of chocolate bunnies and some jelly beans there. And while things were picked over, I scored enough to make only the one stop so I could get home to pack.

It's not that I don't want to plan ahead and get things earlier, especially for Easter. As a Christian, this is a really special celebration. While Christmas is obviously special, too, the events of this day are what we center our beliefs on. I have wonderful childhood memories of outdoor sunrise services in our fresh-from-the-store Easter dresses, one of the few new items of clothing I remember getting. I get goosebumps every time we sing "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" during an Easter service, and my mother and I exhange a knowing look and a smile.

So planning for Easter is not so much a matter of procrastination as it is that I'm constantly in the mode of crisis time management. This year, however, I am a whole day ahead of schedule. I went to Wal-Mart last night, and all the goodies are stowed away in the trunk, ready for their pilgrimage to my sister's house in Connecticut tomorrow.

OK, I just realized it's warming up rather quickly outside, and my planning could backfire if I don't go save the bunnies from melting into unrecognizable chocolate blobs in the trunk. Happy Easter everyone!