May

 

Photo credit: Dean who occasionally sends me a snapshot from a special moment with my favorite human. This one was titled "movie night."

April showers bring May flowers. These were clipped from my neighbor's overflowing plant with permission. I cannot love the vibrant color more. She gave me some to transplant three years ago and I finally got my first bloom this season. She says there is a lesson in patience here. She is not wrong because I was ready to mow them down and start over with something already in bloom.

Austin and I got to spend election day together while his mom worked. I attempted to keep up with his approximate 500+ word per minute monologue while we logged thousands of steps. He brought his camera along with his backup battery "because serious photographers always have a backup." Only one of us was serious because I did not carry a backup. At one point, he tried to trick me into thinking he'd stumbled upon a snake. It was hilarious when he realized he was actually standing right next to one and came flying out of the trees. We bravely returned together to gather photographic evidence he could not wait to share with Dean that evening. 

The body language in this one 💙

"Mimi, you also have good eyes because you saw the bunny after I found the snake. Did you know they both adapted to their environment because they are camouflaged to keep them safe." 

Austin, serious nature photographer 

The snake Austin accidentally found.

He was taking my picture as I took his 💙

That evening, I drove to Owensboro to meet Greg for a night. He had been traveling most weeks and I'd just worked my full weekend so we'd barely seen each other awake for several days. He had to get up and out the door early in the morning which freed me to sit in a coffee shop with a cup of tea and a book before exploring both the riverfront and a botanical garden. Owensboro should be proud of their downtown and parks departments. Both were impressive. It was a peaceful, relaxing day spent alone. 

Erin hosted Mother's Day for me, Lauren, my mom and my sister. She wanted a dessert bar and I offered charcuterie boards to help with preparation. I rather enjoy playing with food when given the time to be creative, so I was left wondering why it had been so long since I last worked on one. We had a lovely afternoon together, laughing, talking and grazing. Yes grazing. We ate for hours, one nibble at a time. But this was the holiday it was determined Evan is the favorite child because he has caused the least amount of stress. (For me and Greg, not necessarily Erin)

Theresa is a vegetarian so I kept one completely meat free. The other one was the men's favorite.

Mom asked if she had to sit up front since she started this mess. I'm glad Greg snapped a photo during the laughter in response.

Kate requested a steak dinner for her 21st birthday. Greg, of course, happily indulged her. However, once I bought her candles, he kept switching their order. Twelve is easier to swallow than twenty-one. But the girls joined us for cake, stories on the deck and banter. At one point, Makenna was interpreting scripture to support Erin's claim all women are called to be lesbians, "thall shall not be unequally yoked." 2 Corinthians 6:14. Poor Riley was certain blasphemy was happening and his strong Christian background was in need of defense, as was his gender. I was laughing too hard to reign it in. He should know what he's getting into around here by now anyway. Bless it.

Austin wrapped his baseball season just before Memorial Day weekend. They won the first tournament game and then had the following two postponed due to rain. Once they were finally back on the field, they lost pretty handily. Whereas he was obviously disappointed in the outcome, Lauren handled it brilliantly. She asked him if he played better this year than last year. He did. She asked him if he learned a lot this season. He did. She then asked him if the "Superbowl ring" his team won last year made him a better player last year. It didn't. He had some things to think about and she was absolutely right. He is a stronger player this year and was blessed with a second year of incredible coaches. We hope that trend continues. Baseball season is over. I have no idea what everyone will be doing two to three nights a week this summer. 😂

Ty rarely shares photos with me but if he does, it will be of one of the animals. They all love him and want to be invited into his room. In this moment, Oliver was hiding away from Obi.

We attended an open house at Prosser  where we met Ty's diesel mechanic instructor and toured the shop. It is an impressive set-up with four semis and all the tools we will eventually be purchasing. The teacher was fantastic, with positive energy and enough curiosity about the world to keep the class interesting. We think Ty is going to have a successful junior and senior year in the program. And thank goodness for that because his high school is a disaster. We recently learned he is losing not only another guidance counselor but also his building principal. The turnover at the high school has been unreal. We can't wait to be finished navigating the constantly fluctuating system.

However, despite cuts and loss of teaching roles throughout the district, Makenna has secured not only a role for next year but she is looping up to fourth grade with a lot of her favorite students. She will be team teaching with her work bestie and is very excited to announce she does not have to pack up her classroom for the summer because she gets to remain in the same space. Makenna is taking on math and Mandy will teach reading. Rumor has it I will also get to support their kiddos on my days off with reading intervention. I've missed it and am looking forward to helping. 

Makenna wrapped third grade. Austin completed second. Ty finished his sophomore year and none of them provided a final day of school picture. Ty was especially agitated by the suggestion. Someday he will swear I didn't love him as much as the others and submit lack of photos as evidence. But Makenna invited me to visit her class on the final day of school where I caught a silly string fight on video (the teachers, not the students 😂) and got to read a book about how much she will miss them this summer. This was an incredibly lucky group of kiddos. 

Rules? What rules? Obi is as bad as he is pretty. Also, he is not allowed on my counters. Obviously.

Greg, after a lengthy discussion about the dangers of AI, asked chat gpt to make Diesel into the warrior he believes he is. Ridiculous. Amusing but ridiculous.

Theresa and my mom drove to Louisville for the Bonsai festival where was wandered and admired gorgeous little trees for a bit. We caught up on life and appreciated the sunshine as one does after what Kate had declared, "rain for forty days and forty nights." We then laughed and commiserated over pasta for two hours. It was the most perfect kind of day; no agenda except time together. We have plans for a lavender festival at the end of June to keep up the momentum. 

Greg and I drove to Dayton this final weekend of May to celebrate his niece's high school graduation. We spent time catching up with extended family and chatted with people from our old church. We still recognized most even though it's been twenty years since we moved away. Both Dale and Carol had good days and we are all relieved they were able to manage being present for the afternoon. I asked Carol for a picture of her nails because every Wednesday, she chooses a new manicure and has given up on her neutral nails. I cannot love this more. She is far to sassy for the neutral nails, I assure you. After the party, we got to help Brad get some pieces of furniture moved from their home to their assisted living facility. Carol has been requesting her cedar chest for months and Dale is moving into his own room on a slightly different wing of memory care where he can have his own bed and recliner. We are hoping this gives him a little space and peace from the other residents who appear more needy than he is at the moment. All in all, this entire situation is tough but everyone is doing what they can to make peace with it.