Life Lately May 2021

May is one of my favorite months because both C and I have birthdays and by the time mine rolls around, the end of the school year is in sight! While we did go to WDW at the beginning of the month for C's bday, the rest of the month was pretty quiet.

my favorite pic from this month bc
I was trying to take a selfie
with Ginny and you can see
just how annoyed she was

the Millenium Falcon rug
I bought C for his bday

here it is in our closet -
so perfect!

For us, spring always means the Stanley Cup playoffs. At the beginning of the month, I was so optimistic because both my real home team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and my American home team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, were looking very promising. Here we are on the last day of the month, and not only have the Penguins have been eliminated, but the Leafs are facing elimination tonight at the hands of their rivals, the Montreal Canadiens. The Leafs have not won a playoff series since 2004, so we'll see what the hockey gods have in store tonight!

We watched some really great shows – Ted Lasso (funny and heartwarming), Race to the Center of the Earth (a cool premise for an adventure/travel show), and the second season of For All Mankind (an alternative timeline of the Space Race). I highly recommend all three!

We also gave another show a go and it was a loud and resounding NO from both of us. Game of Thrones. So many friends had raved about it, so we finally decided to watch it. If I'm being honest, I knew from the first episode that this was not a winner for me. However, to give it a fair chance, we watched the first season – ten entire episodes – before abandoning it, but by the fifth or sixth episode, we were just forcing ourselves to watch it. The story was both too complicated and not at all interesting. The violence was appalling. The misogyny was disgusting. The characters were thoroughly unlikable. If after ten episodes I neither understand nor care about what is happening, I'm done. I just could not have been less interested in any of the characters or their storyline. The acting was pretty bad, but I don't blame the actors, because the writing was simply awful. More power to anyone who enjoys it, but I absolutely do not understand the hype. At least I now know that I was never missing out on anything by not watching it!

nope

I will, however, continue
to love this perfect cup

After giving up on GoT, we did a few puzzles this month. To be more accurate, C did 99% of the puzzles and I made the tiniest contribution possible on each of them!

I like to collect Disney mugs and I got two new ones this month that I absolutely love! The Disney Dogs mugs reads, "I'm a doge person" on the handle and features Lady, Tramp, Little Brother, Max, Peg, Bolt, Nana, Bruno, Pluto, Pongo, Winston, Perdita, Jock, Percy, Dodger, Trusty, Stella, and Copper! I don't think I need to comment on why I love the rainbow mug! 

also, I've become obsessed with
pineapple covered in Tajin seasoning

We booked a Disney Cruise for next year on the newest ship that begins sailing next summer, the Disney Wish. We've been on cruises on the other four DCL ships, so we are pretty excited to go on a new ship during its inaugural year! We now have two cruises booked in 2022 because we're going on the Disney Magic for spring break next year! We also bought tickets to Aladdin on Broadway and The Lion King on Broadway for later this year! It's so great that, at long last, things actually do seem to be returning to normal and having fun stuff to look forward to is a wonderful feeling.

The final thing worth mentioning is something I've known, without a doubt, for almost two years now: first grade teachers deserve to earn one million dollars per year. I recently subbed in a first grade classroom for a day because we were short staffed and it was the most exhausting day I've experienced in a very long time! Those little people need so much help, support, and assistance, and I was completely outnumbered! My hat is off to first grade teachers everywhere! I know every grade level has its share of challenges, but seriously, first grade teachers are miracle workers and magicians!

I had a very nice birthday and am so grateful for this particular trip around the sun...while it was beyond challenging and frustrating and exhausting, I spent more time with C and Ginny that was ever previously possible and I have loved every second of that!

my mom is the best

We are currently on a little weekend trip to finish out the month, which I will write about separately. Until then, here are the Ginny pics from the month!

Happy Tails to you!

Fan of Felines

While I am very much a "dog person," I also like cats, but since C, B2, and my dad are allergic, we won't ever be cat owners. However, we've had two cats hanging around the house over the past few weeks! At least that's what C has reported, as I've not seen these cats with my own eyes.

That is, until tonight, when one of them was sitting on the table on our deck!

I went outside and it was extremely friendly, so I played with it while C and Ginny stayed in the house. What a sweetheart! It does not have a collar, but is clearly someone's pet! When I came back in the house, it tried to follow me in, and I was reminded how agile and quick cats are!

I was texting with my BFFs about it and one of them is a cat mom. I asked if it was ok to give the cat some chicken, and when she told me I could, I took some of Ginny's chicken outside and the cat seemed to enjoy it. After hanging around on the deck for a little longer, the cat wandered off, but I hope it will come back to visit because I loved him/her!

My grandma had cats throughout my entire life and I have a ridiculous and rather embarrassing story about a cat and my grandma. The summer before ninth grade, I was at the mall with a friend and we went into a pet store - this was long ago and I had no idea how awful pet stores were and I'm sorry I didn't know better! - and they had kittens for sale. Ten dollars. I fell in love with one of them and had babysitting money with me and obviously I left the pet store with a kitten.

The problem was that as I mentioned B2 and my dad were allergic (this happened during my pre-C years!), and I kind of panicked on the way home, so I took the kitten to my grandma's house. I named her Georgie (I have no idea why), but my grandma ended up renaming her Gloria and my grandma kept and loved that cat for her entire life!

My grandma is an amazing woman and I love her with all my heart!

The best part of the story is that before my grandma renamed her, she took her to the vet for a checkup and when they asked for a name, my brothers, who happened to be with her, told the receptionist that the kitten's name was "Little Kool-Aid," so that was her name at the vet! I was mad at the time, but it is so ludicrous that I can't help but love this story now!

Happy Tails to you!