My Annual Roller Coaster Ride

Nope, I haven't been to any amusement parks lately.  I simply turned the calendar to May.  And with that simple act, I was belted into a runaway car on the wild roller coaster that is my month of May each year.

Winding down the school year should be easy, anticlimactic, right?  But it's not.  May is more like everything that didn't get done in school so far, must absolutely be crammed into the last few weeks.  Projects, reports, field trips, field days, school plays, recognition nights. . . not to mention track and softball seasons and hounding the teens to get out there and turn in job applications for summer employment!

With three kids still at home, I'm often triple-booked four days out of seven each week.  Add to that the fact that May is start the garden time in Michigan. . .and that I try to grow as much of our yearly vegetable supply as possible.  Before anything can be planted, there is composted manure to haul and till into the soil. And that depends on the weather; so far the garden has been too wet to even think about driving the tractor into.  Until now.  This weekend looks like it just might be dry enough.

May is a work from sun up to sun down, then crash into bed and sleep like a log, to get up and do it all over again the next day month.

Add to the annual craziness of May:

•  DD2 getting confirmed on the first day of the month,
•  DD1 & DD2 needing costume creation/alterations for their schools' plays (apparently sewing skills are lacking in mothers these days--I have become locally famous for my rudimentary abilities and am hemming and mending for high school as well as coming up with a 'princesslike' dress out of two very non-princess like pieces for DD2.  And creating a Rapunzel braid, out of yarn, that is about 2 foot longer than DD2 is tall)
• DD2 graduating 8th grade, which means she leaves our church's school and needs to be enrolled in the local high school for the coming school year.  And choosing her classes for 9th grade and submitting that to the high school so she can be placed with all of her new classmates.
• DS2 graduating high school, so I must get his announcements/open house invitations printed and in the mail this month
• plans/reservations for DS2's open house need to be made and supplies purchased
• our homemade hog roaster hauled out of it's storage spot beside the barn, looked over, any needed repairs done and made ready for the roasting of the pig (currently living at Mother-in-Law's house) that will be the main dish at DS2's party
• keeping in contact with DS1 who has requested leave to come home for his brother's graduation and party, but so far has not gotten word back on if it has been granted
• DS2's grade point  makes him a likely candidate for valedictorian or salutatorian, meaning a ride in the local Memorial Day parade, but we won't know for sure until his last day of school which is the Friday before
• having 150 more bales of hay in the loft than I need, so hauling some to auction each non-rainy Saturday this month in an attempt to empty the barn before this year's first cutting comes in

PHEW!!  I'm exhausted just reading that list.  So if I go MIA for a few days, just know that I'm swamped right then, but I'll be back ASAP with stories to tell!  :0)