MAY DAY! May Day!

Happy May Day!  

I did a little research and the Bankers of the world have turned this into a Monday Banking Holiday so now many cultures celebrate May Day on the first Monday in May.  According to my Google searching, May day is supposed to be May 1st - halfway through Spring and a balance to November 1st (All Saint's Day).  It is a totally pagan holiday made up to celebrate the end of dreary Winter and the beginning of Summer. Just so you know, in a weird freak of nature - it was 43F degrees this morning as I walked TSS to bus stop - Monday, it was 93F! - I think we are going to skip Spring and go straight to Summer!

I enjoyed reading through the ways different cultures celebrate May Day.  Of course, this is a Northern Hemisphere celebration as the seasons don't match up in the Southern hemisphere.

My favourite story that I found on May Day is this:

Facewashing in May Dew : 

Washing the face with May dew was yet another custom. There was a belief among the women in Great Britain and other parts of Europe those days that May Day dew has the power to restore beauty. This why in the Ozark Mountains, a cradle of American folklore, girls used to nurture a belief that having their faces washed with the early dawn dews on the May Day would help to be married to the man of her choice. - See more at: http://www.netglimse.com/holidays/may_day/traditions_and_customs_of_may_day.shtml#sthash.sG5RsIkm.dpuf

Interesting, Eh?

Anyway -  I don't care where you live in the world, May is the most hectic, stuffed month of the calendar year.  For me, May 1st is aptly named MAY DAY.  It is a call for help!!!! MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY!!!!

Everyone is trying to finish something up before Summer.  Gotta get plants in the ground.  Gotta lose the weight to fit in the bathing suit!  Gotta get the kids in their camps for the Summer. Kids have tons of end of the year projects.  The kids have outgrown all their warm weather clothes - gotta shop for them. All organisations throw their volunteer appreciation luncheons.  People are graduating.  People plan weddings.  There is Mother's Day, the Kentucky Derby, Cinco de Mayo, Memorial day and WittyGirl's B-day!  If you are an expat repatriating - this is usually the month you are preparing to move so all that falls on your plate, too!
Yesterday, I didn't post to the blog because I ACTUALLY did the Spring Cleaning that I've been putting off for forever!  The job grows exponentially!  You start cleaning one thing and notice something else needs to be cleaned!  I was on my feet all day yesterday! I did take a break at lunch with GG & MM, but that was it. The family got Breakfast for supper as I didn't have energy to serve anything else!

Wow! - I'm exhausted and it is only May 1st!

Actually, this MAY Day I am having a little celebration as this is the 1st time in 4 years that I'm not getting on a plane back to the States!  Every Summer for the last 4 years I have dreaded making the trip!  From the time I left my condo in Singapore till I reached the door of my parents house - 32 hours of my life would pass by - lost forever.
Did I mention that I am married to the FRUGAL Engineer and that we ALWAYS flew economy?  Did I mention that I am 5'8" - tall for a woman and way taller than what is the Asian norm?  Did I mention that I ALWAYS had to sit between WittyGirl and TechSavvySon to keep the peace? Did you know that they fought over who got to lay their head in my lap? Did you know that they wouldn't eat any food from the airlines?  Did I mention that I can't ever sleep on a plane?  Have I gotten any sympathy yet?  The only thing appealing about the plane trip was that I would catch up on all the movies I missed watching in the theatre!

My celebration rejoices in the fact that I won't have jet lag for the first few weeks of June and that I don't have to fly through the Moscow airport!!!!

This is a typical international flight for me & the kiddos. Notice we are at the BACK OF THE PLANE!!!!  This is not the flight back to the States as  first of all - I'm wearing a tank top and not yoga pants and hoodie (I am not the most beautiful traveler!). I'm not sitting in-between the kids and the Engineer must have taken the photo.  My guess is this is a flight to Thailand, but it is a pretty close representation.  Sympathy? Oh no, wait . . . I don't have to do that this year!

BUCKLE YOUR SEAT BELTS AND HAVE A HAPPY MAY DAY!

Don't forget to wash your face in the morning dew!