Spring is Springing

This weekend I went to Geneva (again) with my friend Julie. I needed to buy end-of-the-year gifts for Lucy's teachers, and since I found the perfect gifts there last year I thought I'd try again. Fortunately, they had some very similar things as before. I was torn between fun summer ice cream dishes and fun summer cereal dishes (that's what I got last year). Julie, as a former teacher, liked both but voted for the cereal dishes. I would show a picture of them, but one of the great things about Little Traveler is their cute (free) gift wrapping.

After that, we headed to our favorite lunch spot. The day was gorgeous--Geneva is especially beautiful in the spring--and bittersweet for both of us. We are so used to going there with our moms. Our moms, Lois and Barbara, were friends first and introduced Julie and me when we were four years old. We call it "our arranged friendship" and say, "Fortunately, we actually like each other!" We've weathered high school together; visited each other at our colleges; shared an apartment; stood up in each other's weddings; had countless sleepovers, dinners, and lunches together--or just sat in the children's section of Borders, eating truffles. When we sit around and talk for hours, we call it "sit-n-frit," and when we move around and chat, we call it "walk-n-squawk."

In addition, our moms have been taking us to shop and have lunch in Geneva for years. (And Julie's dad says, "I don't believe in Purgatory, but if I did, it would be on Third Street in Geneva.")

A few weeks ago, Julie told me something else we have in common--her mom was just diagnosed with breast cancer. Her surgery is coming up soon. As soon as my mom found out, she was on the phone to her dear friend Barbara, listening and talking, walking through it with her, praying with and for her. And it was good for Julie and me to be able to sit-n-frit over lunch about our moms, our "SSMs" (small, Swiss mothers) as we call them, especially since Geneva will always remind me of both of them.

When I came back home, it seemed like spring had come practically overnight to our own yard. I had to go check out my lilac bushes that Darren and the girls got me for Mother's Day last year. The two purple ones look very healthy but don't have any blooms yet. Here is the white one though...



And here is our apple tree about ready to bloom, along with our new hummingbird feeder.



Our yard is covered with these, which the girls and I have been picking for bouquets around the house (see how hard this awful winter has been on our lawn)...



Our yard is also covered with these...



Indoors, I have a May basket from my neighbor and the makings for a fresh fruit salad...Speaking of May baskets, I had the girls bring one over to my mom on Friday. She was thrilled and said, "I've just been wishing all day that I could have gotten up really early, put together my baskets, and left one for Barbara on her front door like I always used to!"



And here's another little dandelion I found in the yard...



So May, my favorite month of the year, is finally here, and it's already filling up with teas and parties and graduations, including Lucy, who is graduating from kindergarten in less than three weeks.

I'm off to make my fruit salad now and maybe give a taste to Elaine, who just informed me that she is starving and needs a bowl of cereal even though she's had two cartons of yogurt and a handful of Wheat thins because, "You haven't given me any breakfast yet, Mom!"