To My Mom

If you've read my blog before, you've probably seen some posts about my dad and the influence he has had in my life. But, of course, Dad was only half the equation while I was growing up.

I've mentioned my mom in a few posts, but without further ado, here's some additional thoughts and comments about my mom.

• The last time I was home for Thanksgiving there were 40 people at my Mom's house for lunch. I'm only related to 12 of them.
  
• My Mom once dressed up as a werewolf for my childhood Halloween party.
• My Mom and her friend spent hours creating handmade outfits for my sister's Barbie dolls. My sister found the box before Christmas.
• Mom made me a Ultraman costume out of paper-mache when I was a kid.
• She kept me out of school one day just to take me fishing.
• Likes to listen to Willie Nelson, Freddie Fender, and Metallica.
  
• Still likes to hear me play Greensleeves on the trumpet.
• Has her concealed handgun permit.
  
• She's an award winning cook.
• She has a HUGE Santa Claus collection that takes over the house every year at Christmas.
• She loves her family (and friends that she treats like family).
• Everyone is welcome in her house. My mother has never met a stranger, and really taught me how to love people.

I could go on and on, but for now I'm just going to say Happy Mother's Day Mom!!

Bon Appetit

My mom is a great cook (BTW, so are my wife, my in-laws, and most of my family in general). In fact she's a CHAMPION cook. That's right. She's won c0mpetitions. I'm very proud of her. So, I thought I'd write a quick note and brag on her.

The picture attached to this post is one of the walls of her bedroom with SOME of her plaques, ribbons, and trophies.

Way to go, Mom!! You rock! Now...what's for dinner?

A Good Day

One day, when I was about 10 (I think), I woke up early in the morning. My dad left for work very early, and I could always tell that I was up too early if he was still there. That morning, I found dad and mom at the kitchen counter eating breakfast.

I stumbled in and sat down. I'm sure I started helping myself to whatever was on the table. Mom stepped out of the room for a few minutes and then came back. She told me to put on some old clothes.

When I asked her why, she responded by saying that I wasn't going to school that day. She had just phoned my best friend's mom and gotten her okay for my mom to take both of us to the reservoir fishing for the day. I stood there with my mouth open for a few minutes, then ran to my room and got dressed.

Why did she do that? When you are ten and your mom says you can skip school and go fishing, you don't ask questions (and I still haven't), so I don't know particularly. However, even though I don't remember the details (how many fish we caught (if any), how long we were there, etc.), I remember the fact that she did this. It was awesome. She was the coolest mom in the world (and still is). That simple act of her spending the day with me definitely made me feel loved.

FYI, it was the only time I ever skipped to school to go fishing, but I'll always have that as one of my favorite memories.

It was a good day.