This week was uncharacteristically hot and sunny for May. With all the hot weather, I didn’t make it out for lunchtime walks as often as last week because I’m a complete wimp when it comes to heat. Still, on my one midday walk during the week, I managed to discover a park that I drive by every day to get to work, but had somehow never noticed. It looked like a lovely, shady spot to sit outside and eat lunch, and with only a 10 minute walk from the office, totally doable! For the weekend, I had a May Alpine Trails Book Club outing to keep me busy. After the success of last years’ trail work party with Washington Trails Association, our May event was another round of volunteering, this time on Little Mountain in Mt Vernon. Checking the forecast throughout the week, I’d been worried that the heat would make for a tough day, but happily the day was cooler than forecast and a wonderful time was had by all! After our day of hard work, we stopped in Mt Vernon for a well earned beer at Skagit River Brewery before heading home. Since Sunday was Mother’s Day, I joined my mom and sister for an afternoon in Snohomish, mostly so that I could finally visit Retreat - a plant shop that my mom, sister, and several friends have all raved about. It definitely lived up to the hype, and I came home with several new plant babies, including one for my desk at work! My lovely weekend was rounded out with a celebration of my niece’s 4th birthday, including several rounds of Guess Who - one of my gifts for the birthday girl.