Mother, May I?

I am really not cut out for this whole "titling posts" thing. This seemed like a better option than "It's Gonna Be May." Also, the thing I apparently forgot to ask Mother permission to do this month was . . . take pictures. Oops.

May started off in a fashion very similar to April's chaos. The first weekend alone included a track meet, a high tea, a birthday party, and a snowy day (but not, to Oscar's consternation, a snow day).

Since we moved here, my mom and I have made it a tradition to get tea for Mother's Day at a little local British shop. They have a great pastry chef, so we have gotten hooked on the tiny sandwiches, scones, and desserts. Oscar discovered that he loved milky tea when it comes with a side of cucumber sandwiches, so he's been accompanying us since the second year. This year we were joined by our new neighbors and had, as usual, a wonderful and very filling time.

The track season wrapped up with two final meets. Oscar had a few season highs– he won his heat in the 200m at one meet, and his 4x100 relay came in second in a tough heat at the other– and definitely saw improvement in most of his events. He continues to hate the triple jump, so he's hoping he can move over to long jump next year instead.

Starbase also wrapped up, and as much as I am not sad about not having any more driving duty, I am appreciative that Oscar gets cool opportunities like this. Definitely a perk of living in the Springs.

The end of the school year always feels a bit chaotic, but Oscar's school does its best to end on high notes– including the annual field trip for third, fourth, and fifth graders to a local hiking spot for a water gun fight. (The weather being temperamental came up again for this event, dropping back into the 50s. The kids got soaking wet anyway, because Colorado kids are impervious to cold.)

Other miscellaneous May highlights: Oscar and Jeremy had their second annual Star Wars at the Symphony night. They also had their self-defense belt test. And then we headed down to Texas for the last week of May to help Jeremy's dad with his move. We got there just in time for a series of storms, which helped keep the temperatures down, and we managed to squeeze in some fun family time around the move. For Oscar, that meant trampoline parks and bounce houses and playing chess with cousins.

We got back to town just in time to buy a new washer and dryer, as the old ones that came with the house decided to start behaving . . . unreliably. Adulthood is so full of fun.

Books:

• The Wilderness of Girls by Madeline Claire Franklin: It was a bit strange reading this on the tails of Girl Dinner, since the two books share a lot of themes but have very different sensibilities. The supernatural element comes to the fore here, but more important is the depth of the main character's loneliness and the joy she gains from becoming part of a family.
• Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right by Laura K. Field: I don't read a lot of political science, so much of the material here was new and completely eye-opening for me as someone who feels confounded by the right. Thoughtfully organized and clearly articulated work.
• Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell: This is the second Rowell book in a row that I learned about by discovering it at a Half-Price Books sale. Like all of her books, it is about love and longing and saying people's names to them way too frequently. The supporting characters are generally pretty great here, but Cherry herself is hobbled by weirdly graceless narrative ruminations about her weight.

Movies:

• The Devil Wears Prada 2: I like-not-love the original, which I have only seen a few times, but I was nonetheless very excited to revisit these characters, Stanley Tucci's Nigel and Emily Blunt's Emily in particular. The plot here is timely in terms of grappling with the state of print journalism and timeless in terms of confronting the cruel imbalances women face in their careers and personal lives.
• The Sheep Detectives: What a charmer. The plot bears very little resemblance to the novel it's adapting, but it retains a lot of the themes (being part of a flock, in particular). The voice casting is excellent. And if the resolution isn't completely satisfying, the humor often is.

TV Shows:

• Foundation: Somehow, we stumbled across this show, not realizing that it has already been on for three seasons. It takes a little while to pick up speed, especially because of the nonlinear storytelling, but the worldbuilding is generally interesting, and the cast is great. (Full disclosure, though: I will watch basically anything with Lee Pace for at least one episode.)
• Pop Culture Jeopardy: I really need to be on season 3 of this show.

Stitching updates: I finally finished the second of the stamped stitches for my aunt. This one is a Hogwarts snow globe, accompanied by a Golden Snitch and the Marauders' Map. I did not make any real headway on the temperature stitch, so it is going to have to be my only project in June.