What's my point?  I'm always excited when May comes around because I know "something" is going to happen that will have a huge impact on my life, and for which I will be grateful.  So, now that June has arrived, I can look back at May and inventory what happened last month.

The first weekend, a dear friend came to visit.  I prepared three multi-course meals, and was rewarded by comments like, "Even for you, these flavors are amazing!" and "I can't believe you've pulled together four completely unique courses after a full day of activity." After dealing with clients so much this spring, and not doing much cooking, it was nice to know that I hadn't lost my touch.

At the end of that same weekend, my friend and I drove to Madison, Wisconsin.  WHY?  To adopt a Maine Coon Cat, of course.  I already had Lugh, the 11.5 year old white Persian whose sister Luna died of renal failure last September, and I had Muscat, the 11 year old Ragdoll whose mistress relocated to Ireland. There was an odd dynamic between the two that only developed when Luna died, and I KNEW I needed to adopt a third to shift the power balance. I had admired Maine Coons for years (almost adopting a pair of brothers in 2000 when I was looking after the death of 18 year old Shala, the Wonder Kitty, but the shelter was run by a complete psycho whack job, and I ended up adopting Lugh and Luna instead), and discovered Carrick in Madison; he had a rough life, having been given by a husband to a wife, and then dealing with the husband's death, followed by the wife's alcoholism and neglect, and then the being shuffled from person to person in the family before being surrendered to the shelter.  When I met him, he cowered in my lap, but I could sense his magnificence.  He came home, and has all but situated himself as the alpha cat.  All three play, all three eat together, all three lounge under the dining room table together.

And speaking of dining room tables: the decor of Casa Beall shifted significantly in May when a friend gave me a mid-century modern dining room table, six chairs and a hutch, and I had to get them delivered, and get the old dining room table and hutch and chairs taken away.  I'm still working on that aspect of the decor and others, but many design solutions became clear in May.

Finally, I managed to complete and get uploaded THREE new columns at www.god-dess.com for Global Organic Designs Lifestyle Services, AND get the new newsletter sent out.  YAY!  Furthermore, I was able to write and submit a new Seasonal Living column to SoulfulLiving.com, which is now uploaded.  Double YAY!

All of this is making me feel optimistic about the future.  Oh, I just realized something you might be wondering about:  How do I know that May is always a significant month for me?  Well, it's because I do this sort of retrospective analysis of my life EVERY month, and it doesn't stop there.  No, I try to be mindful of everything I do, so I'm monitoring my hourly, daily, and weekly actions and activities as well, and even though the "most" significant things have happened in May, lots of equally significant events have occurred in months other than May.  I just pay attention, as I don't want to miss out on one single moment of living.  I hope you don't, either.
Be Happy! Be Well!
Bret