May is here!!

Every Thursday morning that I am in town, I arise early and meet some of my friends for breakfast before we begin our duties of the day. For many years we have called ourselves "The Loser Housewives" a name that my daughter, Gretchen and her friend Heather gave us. Some of us are still working, some are retired, or as in my case, retired, returned to work, re-retired, etc. etc. Whatever the case, we really enjoy these minutes (which sometimes turn into hours) of time spent together. All that is said as a seque into my coming home from breakfast today and finding this lovely "May basket" on my doorstep. I know that the neighborhood elves were busy. What a delightful way to start a day and a month! Happy May Day to all of you.

One of my blogging buddies, Cheryl, posted a great list of all the fun things coming in May. Stephanie had a great post about World Day of Prayer. I decided to take a page from their blogs and write about all the fun things that the month of May will bring into my life.

I'll start with World Day of Prayer. Our church has a 24 hour prayer vigil on this day. My turn to pray was at 11 A.M. I took that time to pray for our national, state and local officials, the candidates for president, the people voting, the super delegates and everyone else involved. I prayed, too, for our economy, the violence in our country and the lack of respect we seem to have in the world.
It was really good to have that time to really concentrate on our country and the problems facing us in these days.

I love May and always have. Although Jim has planted our peas already, May is always the month when we start planning and planting our vegetable garden. This year, we are particularly excited about the garden as Jim had foot surgery last year and wasn't able to plant a garden. With food and gas prices so high, we also plan to buy a small freezer this year and "put some things by" as my Grandma used to say.

Of course, May always brings the flower gardens too. I always add a plant or two to my perreniel garden this time of year. In the next two weekends, the public market will have special flower days. We love to go to the market and browse and buy. Of course, we also have coffee and a pastry while we're there.

Then there are college graduations. Meghan and Casey will be receiving their bachelor's degrees this weekend. In three weeks, Jodie will be graduating from the University of Iowa with her PHd. We are so proud of these friends and their accomplishments.

Mothers' Day is a little difficult for me. With my mother gone, and my girls far away, I try to downplay this holiday some. I think Jim will go to see his Mom by himself this time and I plan to have a "Me" weekend, shopping, indulging myself in good food and wine, reading and relaxing on my porch. Doesn't that sound like a good Mother's Day?

Cheryl mentioned Cinco de Mayo on May 5. We just happen to be going out for bar-b-cue with friends this weekend. I definitely plan on at least one Margarita. YUM!!

Memorial Day is one of my favorite holidays. To me it marks the beginning of Summer. I know, I know summer is officially a long way off, but Memorial Day just feels like summer. We always have our first picnic food after the Memorial Day parade. We invite our friends Bruce and Shelly and plan our week in the mountains. I look forward to that every year.

Probably the best part of May will be the last weekend when we go to Holland, MI for Meghan and Casey's wedding. Jim and I have known Meghan since she was born, we watched her grow from a cute little girl to a lovely woman. Her wedding will be a joyful occasion for us. AND our children will be there to celebrate with us. Brian and Gretchen will be flying in from Las Vegas and Paige will drive up from Chicago. It is so seldom that we are all together. This will certainly be an occasion for great celebration.

Those are the highlights I am looking forward to. Along the way will be the wonderful surprises and blessings hiding in each day waiting to bring us joy and happiness.

Have a Happy May.
May the hippos be with you.