It seems that May has lasted at least three months, but it's only been 30 days since my last post.

The good news is that this month has brought incredible amounts of rain to South Florida. While I hate driving in downpours, I know it's what's best, as we've been in a drought condition for quite some time now. Of course, with all the rain comes the flurry of flowers from the tree under which I park my car at work. Because they fall on a wet car, they tend to dry up and stick to it. I'd take the car to the car wash, but I'm trying to save money for my upcoming trip while planning for my imminent pay cut. (We had six months' notice. It didn't make it better.)

This month, I was able to discover a couple of things for the first time. I started off with "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," a three-act online musical that, when watched all together, is wonderful. I had seen the first act one day late last year, but wasn't really into it. I guess I just had to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate it. (Plus, it has Neil Patrick Harris, who I loved as Doogie Howser, M.D., currently adore as Barney Stinson on "How I Met Your Mother," and am looking forward to seeing as the host of this year's Tony Awards. Is there anything he can't do? No? I didn't think so.

And last weekend, I plopped on the couch and zipped through the 20 episodes of "Lipstick Jungle," which I never watched when it was on TV, mainly because it was on at 10 p.m., which was past my bedtime at that point. Boy, was that series a treat! I was so much fun to watch, and had Andrew McCarthy, to boot! (I've loved him ever since "St. Elmo's Fire.")

Speaking of series that were canceled before their time should have been up, I was able to watch the final episodes of "Pushing Daisies" online before ABC decided to broadcast them on consecutive Saturday nights at 10 p.m. I'm so glad series creator Bryan Fuller was able to tack on a bit to the unintended final episode that gave viewers a sneak peek at how they all lived happily ever after. Poor guy can't seem to get a break: His first two shows, "Dead Like Me" and "Wonderfalls," didn't last long, either. I may have to check them out someday. He's also a producer on "Heroes," but that's not really my thing.

This month, I also bid adieu to "Scrubs," which finished its eighth season (and first on ABC) with an hour-long episode that surely felt like a series finale to me. However, ABC decided that, since it owns the show and can only benefit from its continued airings, it would renew the show for another season. While many people cheered this, noting that "Scrubs" in any form is still better than no "Scrubs" at all, I decided that the way it ended on May 6 was the way I wanted to remember it. Creator Bill Lawrence explained in of his excellent My Scrubs Ramblings posts why the finale was still a finale and how he would continue the series -- which has signed Zach Braff for six episodes -- as if it were a spin-off. I don't know how I feel about that, but I have all summer to make up my mind. Right now, I'm leaning toward letting the eight seasons stand as the series.

Sadly, this month also saw the passing of a longtime family friend. His wife died nearly 18 years ago, when his daughter and I were starting our senior year of high school. I hate that she's now lost both parents at a relatively young age, but am content to know that he is no longer suffering.
With death comes birth, so, while no babies that I care about were actually born this month, I am happy to report that the sneak preview of the pilot for FOX's new hour-long dramedy "Glee" exceeded my expectations. With a cast led by Broadway stars Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele, this is definitely something I will be tuning into in the fall. The folks at FOX decided to preview it following the last "American Idol" performance show of the season, hoping to keep most of the audience. It didn't keep about half, but it did gain me. I doubt FOX realizes how important that is. Anyway, I found it to be a fun little show that made me smile, mostly due to the awesome soundtrack (which included "On My Own" from "Les Miserables") that creator Ryan Murphy promises will be available via compilation CDs once the show gets going in the fall. Which brings me to the one con about this: I am all excited for this show, and it won't officially start for four more months. What happened to starting new series year-round? I think this would be a great summer show. And I will be bummed if, come fall, it doesn't get great ratings and is canceled before Kristin Chenoweth's guest appearance.

And finally, I decided this month to take advantage of my company's generous vacation time benefit and go on a two-week European vacation with my parents and sister. We'll be flying to Copenhagen, from where we'll depart on a 12-night Scandinavia & Russia cruise on the Azamara Journey. I've never taken an Azamara cruise, but the ships are smaller (700 people) and every cabin has butler service. Yes, I'm really looking forward to it! We'll get to see not only Copenhagen, but Warnemunde, Germany; Helsinki, Finland; St. Petersburg, Russia; Tallin, Estonia; and Stockholm, Sweden. I'm sure I'll have plenty to say and pictures to share in next month's update. Right now, I have to figure out what to pack.

Also, next week is my birthday. I'll be 35. I'm not averse to celebrating this milestone, but it doesn't feel real to me yet. Again, I'm sure I'll have more to say after it passes. So, I'll be back in a month!