This is it. The official sign that the rest of the year is going to zoom by. I can’t tell you what happened to the first 21 days of this month. They seemed to fly away while I was sleeping.

Last weekend was Birthday Weekend. Because The Hub’s birthday is a day before mine, we usually combine them and celebrate. For days. We opted out of going out and leaving Max with a babysitter (he’s got issues there these days) and instead ate and drank ourselves into comas. Twice.

The celebration continues all week long for me. I’m a fan of the prolonged birthday celebration. Went shopping with one friend Monday and took off work completely (something I’m still recovering from, work-wise). Then yesterday I got to hang out with another friend who was taking a mental health day. And this Sunday, I’m having brunch with all my girlfriends. Yay me.

We went to Max’s school carnival. And we’re doing soccer every week. There just doesn’t seem to be any time to do the fun things like the Boo Parade or Halloween at SeaWorld. Where does the time go?

I know the rest of the year will be the same flurry of activity. I’m looking forward to it, and not, at the same time.

PS After talking about it for years, I am dressing up as Wonder Woman at my Halloween party. GO me. No, no pics will be posted!!

Photo: Flickr user somebox. Creative Commons 2.0.

To celebrate Mother’s Day, which I will be spending flying back from a visit to my mother in law in Mississippi, I want to share some things I’ve learned from my own mother.

I know everything, so I was shocked when I started seeking my mom’s advice about raising Max. But she’s raised three kids, so she’s a bit more of an expert in that area than me. Whenever I call with something that’s going wrong with him, she reminds me that he’s just a kid, and that he’s been through a lot of changes in the last few years, and that he’ll be fine. I so need to hear that.

After my dad died, she was at a loss as to what to do with herself. When you’ve shared the greater part of your life with someone, who are you afterward? But she’s shown fierce independence at carving out a new life, filling it with volunteering, friends, music and food. I love learning from her that it’s okay to morph into a new kind of butterfly.

Something else I’ve learned from my mom is how rewarding giving can be. She gives and gives (’til there’s nothing left), and she’s known for always helping people. I’m not quite there yet, but I’m finding ways to give.

We’ve really gotten closer over the years, and I cherish our relationship as mother and daughter. I love you Mom! Happy Mother’s Day and birthday!

I get asked about this a lot. Max goes to year ’round school, which means he has a short summer (about 5 weeks) and longer Spring Breaks and Christmas Breaks (a month each). At first I was unnerved, since we’d just moved here, and he was in school all of a week or 2 before his month-long Spring Break commenced.

But now I really like it, because we can travel when others don’t, and we don’t have to travel when everyone does in the summer (and it’s too hot). That’s how we were able to go to Paris for a month.

Max is wrapping up his Spring Break now. We’ve done so many things this year:

• Aquarium
• Disneyland
• Play with friends
• Museum of Man
• Homework
• Crafts

In fact, I feel like we haven’t had enough time!

Anyway, that’s the scoop on year ’round school. I really love the school he goes to, The Language Academy. But that’s another post.