Hurray! It's May!

Hurray! Hurray! The first of May!

Family mayhem starts today!

I'm a public school teacher in the United States. That means my "new year" starts around Labor Day at the beginning of September. My "year" ends the first week in June. May, by default, becomes Mayhem. Final grades for my students. Final exams and projects for my offspring. End-of-year field trips and parties for my students. End-of-year field trips for my offspring. Final progress reports for my students. Cumulative paperwork for my students. Spring concerts and recitals for the family musicians. Awards assemblies for the graduates. End-of-year paperwork for my job. Cleaning the classroom, preparing it for the summer school teacher, storing personal items, and cleaning my desk for good. Graduation(s) for my own! Moving the daughter home from her university-town apartment once and for all!

We've learned not to add to the calendar in May. We became wise from experience. And then -- we forgot.

Chuck hired a contractor to complete a major remodeling project on our home and scheduled him for (you guessed it) Mid-May.

In the midst of the Madness of May, we're preparing our master bedroom, upstairs bathroom, and second floor hallway for a near-complete gutting and replacement. We're emptying our closets. We're clearing the walls of all photos and memorabilia. We're.... we're trying to accomplish too much in too little time.

In an effort to maintain sanity (mine: who cares about the others? They can mind their own minds!), I'm prioritizing heavily. I'm making lists and checking them twice. I'm checking off items on the afore-mentioned lists and then taking a little extra time to empty a closet or a wall. I'm doing the family laundry and packing up a box of winter jackets while the washer fills with water. I'm multi-tasking. I'm accomplishing a great deal.

I'm drinking lots of coffee and I'm not sleeping very much.

When it's all done and we have a lovely new bathroom, walk-in closet, and second floor laundry, I'll be glad it's done and appreciate the hard work and time investment.  

And then I might just sleep through June.