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I get a little panicky about this time every year. May is looming on the very near horizon, and from May until mid-June, I don't think I sit down.

My three kids go to two different schools... so we have two different end-of-year schedules.

We have a preschool picnic and ceremony, two baseball end-of-season parties, the first grade production of The Wizard of Oz, testing for the orange belt in Kung Fu, and end-of-the-year cub scouts ceremony where a Tiger Cub becomes a Wolf Cub, two science fair projects to begin finish, a science fair to attend, an orchestra concert, a district-wide math competition, a book review that will be aired on the local radio station, an out-of-town surprise birthday party, a girl scout end-of-year dinner, a daddy-daughter girl scout dance, open house at the elementary school, a thank-you breakfast for volunteers at each school, a daddy-child ice cream social, two different teacher appreciation weeks, a weekend in Las Vegas, an enormous garage sale to raise money for breast cancer research, and a four days in Palm Springs at my little brother's wedding. All in the next seven weeks.

My husband, who works at a high school will also attend a dinner put on by the restaurant management class, the baseball team banquet, prom, graduation, grad night, and an awards ceremony.

Did I mention that my husband, myself, and my daughter have our birthdays three days in a row... all during the last week of school?

Although all of these things (or other things just like them) happen every year, I get through it all. Most of it is fun and adorable. It just means a lot of running around, leaving one thing early and arriving at the next one late.

I am already slipping into survival mode. I know I can't do all of these things and do them all well. I often wonder if I do any of them well... or even decently.

Dinner tonight, with only a few minutes to prepare it, was (leftover) ham sandwiches. It is probably a good thing that there was some asparagus in the fridge that needed to be eaten or thrown out in the next couple of days. At least that forced me to cook a vegetable.

I got this recipe from one of the other mothers while picking up our kids at school. I was mentioning that I needed something new to do with asparagus or the kids might tie me up and force it all up my nose. She came through with a recipe that was quick and simple, but really delicious.

Roasted asparagus with parmesan and garlic:

Wash and trim asparagus. Toss with olive oil. Lay it on a baking sheet, and sprinkle with a teaspoon or so of sugar. (I thought this was really weird, but now that I have tried it, I will never again do asparagus without the sugar. YUM!). Roast it in a 400 degree oven for about 6-8 minutes, until it is tender. Sprinkle on a pinch of garlic salt, and a couple of tablespoons of parmesan cheese.

Every. single. one. of my family members thought it was delicious!  I may just make it to July after all.