No Need for the Radio...

I love days with my mom.

A couple of weeks ago I decided that I would finally buy the new desk for the office that I've been telling my hubby I was going to get him (for at least 4 months now).  Right now he's using my Grama's old desk, but unfortunately it's a little too small to hold all of the stuff that needs to be held by a modern day person.  I love the desk and I'll continue to use it in the spare bedroom, but he really needed something bigger to hold his computer.

I found this computer on Home Decorators.

I love this store but it was only recently that I found out that they actually have locations that you can go to!  All this time I thought it was only an online outlet... so I had to check it out.  Unfortunately, our "local" store is an hour and twenty minutes away, but I had to go for it...  

My other buys from the online store turned out to be a lot smaller than I hoped for; sometimes you just fall in love with a look online and you forget to look at the measurements.  This has been my problem when I order things online without seeing them.

So, I asked my mom if she'd take the trip down with me (secretly, I knew she'd say yes, she just loves me) but traveling down to the store, we were hit by a tad bit of traffic—OK, lots of traffic!  It amazes me that people can't understand the concept of merging or how to get off on a their exit without slowing down to a measly 10 mph... it never fails that I get stuck behind the person who loves to tap their breaks too.  Fortunately, I brought my mom with me for the ride, otherwise I'm pretty sure I would have been screaming at the Garmin and screaming at every idiot driver next to me and in front of me.  Moms have a  great calming affect.  I've got her hooked on HGTV too, so I think she actually loved the idea of going to a home decorating store... now we both just can't get enough.

I love the fact that when my mom's in the car, I never need the radio on.  I can talk to her about everything and I always know that she's going to take everything I say to her to heart and she never judges me on my thoughts or my feelings... Isn't that exactly why mom's become our best friends?  A mom is just meant to be your bouncing board and your confidant for life.  And since we were stuck in traffic we were able to talk for a good while about everything and nothing.  Sigh.

So we finally get to the store, after constantly watching the GPS arrival time climb and climb and taking a few wrong turns.  We walked into the store (almost slipped in on the ice) like kids at a candy store.  It was glorious; mostly because I had to pee.  Then I was able to take in the furniture.  It was even more glorious.

We started looking around and I fell in love with an oversized chair that I won't be able to have.  

Sigh.  The one bad thing about having another half is having to consult with him about purchases!  Just kidding hubby—I swear!  But I do love this chair; it's one of those that you can curl up in the fetal position in—how fantastic for reading!

After looking around and enjoying the entire store, I started realizing that the piece I came for wasn't there!  Two hours of bumper to bumper traffic and I walked out of a fantastic store with nothing!  But I did order the piece for shipping to the store; that saves me $70 in shipping!  Thankfully, I found a desk with the exact same dimensions so I know how big the desk is, at least this time around I won't be shocked by a piece of furniture being too small; the size is just perfect.  I can't wait to see it in the office.  Hopefully it looks fantastic.  Either way, I had a great time talking with my mom; I love having her by my side.  Mom's really are the best gift that God ever gave us—that and the time he gives us to actually know our moms as a person and not as just "mom."  We might have hated every minute of the traffic jam of life we dealt with today, but I'm pretty sure we enjoyed every minute of it.  In a few weeks we'll get to enjoy decorating together too.  Thanks Mom!

Oh to be a Mom...

Now, I'm not a mom. Officially. But I am a great babysitter to a lot of customers at my job, so a lot of the time I feel like the mom of 20 or 30 drunk eight-year-olds. It's kind of crazy. I see these people more than I see my own family. I care about them, but then there are days that I can't stand the sight of them. Is that bad? So I can understand what it's like to be a mom. Sorta. Granted I'm not changing them, but I do clean up after them, feed them, scold them, and put them in their place a lot of the time. I'm pretty sure that this is God's way of showing me the ropes and helping me realize whether or not I'm prepared for motherhood.

His other way of preparing me? I've been blessed enough to be puppy mom. It's the closest thing I have to stay at home motherhood. She's beautiful. She's smart. She's perfectly imperfect. She takes right after her mom! Then there are the times when I want to just run away from her because she just won't listen! I'll go and soak in the bathtub just to have a moment to myself! (HaHa) Luckily with a pup I can put her in her little crate and leave to go workout or go shopping. I'm pretty sure I'd be arrested if I did that to a child. Luckily, I have my mom who is an amazing grandmother to her grandpuppy. When I have to go to work, she'll stop by to feed her and take her out, or she just comes by for some quality time with our little Luna. She loves her like a real grandchild. It's actually pretty damn cute to see. I can't wait to see her with her real life grandchild. Someday. Maybe. Still debating.

I love my pup and I love having her here to cuddle with and play with. I talk to her even though she has no idea what I'm saying. If I cry, she crawls up to me to kiss my face and cuddle up on my head. She knows when some thing is wrong. She's such a great addition. But I'm sure it doesn't compare to real motherhood.

I might never understand a mother's love, but I do know how much a daughter can love her mother. I witnessed it growing up when watching my grama with my mom, my aunt, and my uncle. I know how much I love mine.

I couldn't love the way I do without the love I experienced growing up as a child. I love my mother more and more each day. I respect her for how far she's come in life and how far she brought us. She is an amazing woman. I can only hope that if I'm blessed enough to be a mother one day, I'm just like her.

I understand a grandmother's love because I grew up with my grama helping us, watching us, and babying us when we needed it. She would do anything for us and proved it time and time again. She was a blessing that we wish was still here to share in the little moments of life. If you can measure love by how much a person is missed when they're gone, then she was loved enough to fill the oceans and the sky.

Mothers are amazing. They are a blessing. Hopefully we're smart enough to realize it when they're here and not when they're gone. I hope that if I have a child they love me as much as I love my mom and as much as she loved hers.

From the times when we make them want to scream, to the times when we make them cry, a mother's love is constant. It's something we all depend on. It's what we thrive on when we're children. What was the point of making pictures in class unless it brought a smile to mom's face and a tear to her eye when she put it up on the fridge? Moms make it all worthwhile.

So to my mom. Happy Mother's Day. You are the best friend a girl could ever have. You are a gift from Heaven and I was blessed to have you handpicked for me from God. I Love You.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I Love My Mom, BUT We're at War...

I've had a pretty great day off so far. I woke up, way too early, to go to my last pilates session and then I tried to lay on the couch. I tried to come home and cuddle with my hubby who I thought would still be sleeping, but he tricked me! He was already up. So I made him get back in bed so I could cuddle up next to him for a little bit. Yup, spoiled. Then I tried really hard to fall asleep on the couch while he got ready for work, but every bone in my body said, "it's nice out, go enjoy the weather, call mom, call mom, call mom..." So I listened to that little voice in my head. Why?! I don't know. I called my mom after hubby left for work and asked her if she wanted to go for a walk. She was more than willing (even though I later found out, she really wanted a couch day too...) I knew if I didn't call her, I would have laid here until I got up off the couch for my core strength training tonight. I know what you're thinking, "What's wrong with you? All this exercising, are you crazy?!" Well the short answer is, yes I'm crazy. But the longer and more boring answer is that I have to do this. If I don't continue these workouts and stick to a real schedule, then I'll start to get really lazy, and I'll start that slow climb back up the scale, which is something I really don't want to do. Ever again.

So why am I at war with mom? No, it's not because she helps to push me to go for walks. In fact we both push each other because neither of us like going at it alone. I love my walks with my mom. It's how we bond. It's when we talk about the past and our futures. I love our walks and she better be doing it with me until she's eighty! That's right mom, eighty! So why am I at war with her? I'm at war at her because of roosters... That's right, roosters. Lots and lots of roosters.

Explain you say? Sure.

It all started years back when my mom moved out of the house we grew up in. In this house, we had an orange kitchen. A very orange kitchen. My brother and I clearly remember that this orange kitchen also contained roosters. She's in denial. She swears that this kitchen, although orange, never had roosters. We know better. Or at least what may not have been true then, is true now. I, being a loving daughter, tried to help her with her love for roosters, so I bought her a rooster for some holiday. Sadly, I can't remember which holiday or what year this mess all started. She screamed in terror when she opened said rooster present and denied up and down that she ever owned or liked roosters! "But mommy," I said, "I'm just trying to help you with your love for roosters and help you remember that lovely orange kitchen!" (this conversation went something like that) And then she, in all her rage, (ha ha) said, "you little brats, I don't like roosters!" Ouch! My present was unloved and treated like a red-headed stepchild. My poor rooster present was pushed to the side. This meant war! I decided then and there that I, being the loving daughter that I am of course, would help my mom to remember the roosters and remember the orange kitchen! I would make it my goal to buy her a rooster for every possible holiday until she told me that she remembered all those lovely memories in our orange kitchen... But then the wrench was thrown into my little machine: mom decided that she, in her infinite wisdom, would now buy ME roosters for my new home. Ohhhh, evil mother, evil, evil mother! Again, War was declared. But, by both sides!

Here is my collection of rooster paraphernalia from my loving mother...

So, even though I love my mother, she likes to slip little rooster presents into my home when I'm not looking. The problem is, my brothers sometime join in her little venture. It used to be my brother and I against mom, but now I've been hearing through the grapevine that he likes to look for roosters to stash in MY home. Oh, how dare you brother, how dare you!? You are no longer safe.

My last rooster present was snuck into one of my kitchen drawers. Sadly, for my mother, her little surprise was ruined because I needed something in the drawer before she left! She laughed and laughed. I thought our battles were over. Oh, touche mother, touche!

We've tried to make peace. I've tried to say that I will no longer buy roosters for her. Granted, the quality of my rooster presents far exceed her store finds, and yet she still hides them and refuses to let them enjoy the spotlight in her new non-orange kitchen. A beautiful rooster cookie jar, a mother hen plate, one of those spoons to put your smaller spoons on, and a lovely alarm clock that actually cockadoodledos when it's time to get up! How great are these presents?! Oh, she just doesn't see quality gifts now does she! I'll have to photograph her amazing collection... One day she'll realize that she just can't win. After the rooster alarm clock, how could I ever be topped! Game on Mother. Game on.