May 12: April in review

May is almost half over and I’m finally, finally posting my summary of April 2013.

Special days I celebrated this month and how:

• Lots of friends and family members had birthdays, but there wasn’t any excessive celebrating.
• On April 1, which actually had nothing to do with the fact that it was April Fool’s Day, we toured the Queen Mary and the Princess Diana exhibit before flying home from our mostly-Disney vacation. The Diana thing was fascinating—lots of royal family history, handwritten items, gifts, and clothing Diana wore. They didn’t allow photography or I would’ve filled my memory card with pictures and showed ‘em to ya.
• Jack’s class celebrated Arbor Day with a tree planting near the school. It involved a lot of mud and eating of worms and I’m oh-so-glad I wasn’t a chaperone that day.

Books I read this month:

• I LOVED Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, by David Sedaris. BUT THEN! Then I also got to SEE him! Val and I went to the Portland stop on his current tour. His storytelling is nothing short of genius. I loves me those belly laughs.
• I re-started reading Falling Together, by Marisa de los Santos. I like her writing style, but I’m having a tough time not falling asleep whenever I start reading this book. It’s just not even a little bit entertaining to me. I’ll read another few chapters but if it’s still blah, I’ll give up.
• We had a Moms’ Book Exchange party as part of the reading incentive program we ran at school. I came home with a grocery bag full of new reading material! Such potential!

Movies and TV shows worth mentioning:

• Victor and I started re-watching the entire Arrested Development series so we can be prepared for the new Netflix episodes on May 26. That show has so much funny. So much.
• I feel like Smash has been trying to make me stop watching all season. I tell ya, casting Kathie Lee Gifford for a guest spot is on the right path to a boycott! I cannot abide that woman. The episode made me gag. No joke.
• It’s looking like several shows I’ve been watching this seasons may be cancelled. Keeping my fingers crossed, but just for some of the best ones…
• We rented Iron Man and Iron Man 2 because I thought the trailer for Iron Man 3 looked really good. I liked the first two movies, and hope to see the newest one soon.
• I thought Argo was very well done.
• This wasn’t a TV show, but we hosted Presto the Magician for a family night at the school in April. He was a huge hit, of course. My favorite part *might* have been when I asked him beforehand if he would come out to “The Final Countdown” and he totally knew what I meant! Bonus points if you know too.
  
• Also not a movie or TV show, Victor and I saw Rain, a Beatles tribute show. Very fun.

This month’s disappointments:

• More dental work. Pfffft.
• I’m seeing the light at the end of the PTO tunnel; my presidential term ends June 30. There’s a solid board in place for next year, and I know they’ll do an amazing job, and it almost bums me out because I won’t be working with them. I’ll get over it, I’m sure. It’ll be good to get my life back. Still, I get the sad face sometimes.
  
• Jack started football again. If you’ve been paying attention, you know how that makes me feel.
• I slipped and fell on the stairs, messed up my back, and felt like I was 90 for a few days. Another day my toe got stuck while putting on my pants and I fell over; landed hard on my knee. Injuries to 90-year-olds do not heal quickly. I’m very limp-y.
• A dear friend got a cancer diagnosis. Cancer sucks so much.
  

My accomplishments:

• Thanks to recent weekends of good weather, we started working in the front yard. So many weeds! It’s lovely to see the new blooms, the perennials coming back to life, and the color from newly-planted annuals, though, and Vic and I love working out there together. There’s one thing we disagree on, though: I love ground cover and he is wrong.
• Add something else to my “Things I Saw on Pinterest That I Actually Did” list! I painted our mantle and fireplace surround. I took a “before” picture but the “after” picture needs a little work before I’m ready to show it off. Y’know, the corralling of cords and cables, that prettying-up sort of thing.

Anything else:

This is a weird optical illusion. Follow the directions (I promise it’s not one of those images you stare at forever and then it screams at you).

1. Stare at the red dot on the girl’s nose for 30 seconds
2. Turn your eyes towards the wall/roof or somewhere else on a plain surface
3. Keep blinking your eyes quickly

 

And a chuckle:

Have a good (rest of) May!