Great Aunt. Aren't you the sibling of your niece's mom or dad (that is, the baby's grandmother's/father's sister?)

Meteor showers are best viewed between midnight solar time (which is approximately 1:00am when daylight savings is in effect) and twilight. This is because the earth has turned toward the space through which its passing during these hours, so the meteors are, in a sense, hitting the atmosphere the way bugs hit the windshield on the highway.

This year, you'll have to contend with the full moon, which will wash out a lot of meteors. If you don't get far out from the city, the light pollution coupled with the moon will probably make for poor viewing.

Per the DOL's page on FMLA:

Covered employers must grant an eligible employee up to a total of 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for one or more of the following reasons:

* for the birth and care of the newborn child of the employee;
* for placement with the employee of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care;
* to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition; or
* to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.

So it sounds like the answer is yes. (Personally, I was able to take mine three months after my daughter was born - in other words, after my wife finished her leave.) One caveat - FMLA counts against ALL these possibilities, so if you took time off because your wife was put on bedrest prior to your child's birth, that time comes out of this 12 week allotment.

Check with your HR department - they'll know.

You just have to give yourself a good day and just weed and till, weed and till, and weed and till some more. But after a day, the job should be done. Of course, you'll still have to pull up weeds throughout the growing season, but that's just how people have done it forever. Nothing like organic gardening to let you appreciate why people wanted to invent herbicides and pesticides in the first place.

Replacement will not be worth it, especially if you have, as you say, really rich soil full of good critters. But 150 sq feet isn't a lot. I have a 500+ sq foot garden and I was able to get most of the weeds in one weekend.