What's Making Me Happy: May 16

For Mother's Day on Sunday, my family made me a delicious brunch: sausage, bacon, and berries topped with whipped cream. My husband made some mimosas for us adults, too, a yummy and rare treat. After that had a little time to digest, we went on a 6-mile hike, returning to the house just before a pretty big dust storm hit the town. Although it was a bit windy, it was still a lovely outing. The family hike is underappreciated: I can't think of a better way to get sustained quality time with each family member. The hike was long enough that each of us got to walk and talk with everyone else, and there were no distractions. Plus, we all got a good workout, as the elevation gain on this hike is about 1500 feet. My son got an especially good workout, as he kept doing parkour off the big boulders that are scattered throughout that canyon.

A bouquet from our garden: yellow Spanish broom and red rose

This is the last full week of school for my kids — I know, crazy, right? School ends here in May and begins in early August. The last few weeks of school are totally nuts, of course, and I think we're all ready for summer. But my daughter got a quick break from school twice this week when she left to go perform a concerto with a full professional orchestra. Her clarinet teacher nominated her for this honor, and watching her play was one of the most exciting, proud moments of my mom-life. I'm not allowed to share footage of the performance but I can share someone else's performance of the piece, in case anyone's interested in hearing how technically difficult it is:

After a brief and wacky snow storm on Monday, our weather should be returning to seasonably warm this weekend. I'm looking forward to that, as I'm pretty tired of wearing wooly sweaters around the house and shivering over my space heater. We have an evaporative cooler, and once those are turned on the heat is shut down for the season: you can't switch back and forth. I know I'll be melting in a few more weeks and wishing for cooler temps, but seriously. Snow in the middle of May?

Finally, things from around the internet to make you smile:

This boy's cat saved him from a dog attack. Who needs Lassie when you have Superhero Ninja Kitty?

A massive dose of a measles vaccine put this woman's cancer into remission. I hope this therapy ends up being consistent and more widely useful.

Check out this political debate, which actually happened and is not an SNL skit.

If you've ever enjoyed watching your cat bat at water drizzling from a sink or entertained your dog with a garden hose, you'll appreciate this.

Another cat (what, cats on the internet? Never!), this one a kitten who seems to see the bassline emanating from a subwoofer.

Happy Friday, everyone!