The month of birthdays

For some unknown reason, the Young family has a habit of having birthdays in May - actually, the later 3 weeks of May. (I suppose when you have six children, it's pretty easy to get a birthday cluster.) Birthdays in the Young family mean that everyone gathers at the Youngs' house at least for dinner, and if it's a child who is having the birthday, there is a party (sometimes on another day) as well. And, interspersed is also Mother's Day, which is, in the Young family tradition, the day that the children spend all day doing things for Mom Young. The Birthday Month officially started on Thursday, my father-in-law's birthday; tomorrow (three days later) is Mother's Day; next week (three days after Mother's day) is my sister-in-law's birthday (the second youngest) - and she is also having a party two days after her birthday; the next week (seven days after her birthday) is my brother-in-law's birthday (the very youngest); then three days later my mom's birthday (but she doesn't live close); and the next day is another brother-in-law's birthday (the 3rd oldest). (And if that wasn't enough, a week later is my other sister-in-law's graduation party.)

May in Portland is also (often) the beginning of begin able to be outside and do yardwork in pleasant weather, go hiking, soak up the sunshine, and generally do lots of fun things with friends because it's not raining out (at least too much) anymore. Upon this sudden break of beautiful weather, I am finding that I really want to do all the lovely outdoors things that are just not fun when it's chilly and raining. However, I am also finding that, on average, every three days I need to drive to my in-laws' house to do some sort of celebrating, and I need to either have gone shopping or done some other preparation beforehand. I have to say it's frustrating, because I really love and enjoy my family, and I want to honor them and celebrate each of their lives on their birthdays (and Mother's Day), but I also am itching to be outside! And I think even if the Birthday Month was January or February (when it can be truly dreary here), I would be a wee bit weary of all the celebrating by the time it was over! Ah, well! I am truly thankful to have so many wonderful people to be celebrating about.

Today Chad and I spent mostly working in our yard. We've been weeding and putting down bark for several weekends now. It's great to be outside, but I do feel like this project is taking a while! Our lot is incrediby tiny (0.09 acres, I think - better measured in square feet), and our "yard" has no grass - all bushes and flowers and other pretty plants. (The only grass we have is the 1-foot-wide strip between the sidewalk and the road.) It has been fun to see what flowers popped up in the spring and what kinds of blooms the different plants have. Now I just need to learn what to do to keep them all alive!