The Mother of All Mother's Days

It's the eve of Mother's Day. And since part of this quest depends on special relationships, I thought it would be fun to write about one of my most special relationships-- my mom. 

Now I should preface this by saying my mom usually gives me grief when I write about her. But, after 39 years, she's pretty much accepted that I'm going to :). She's a very good sport. 

I'll start at the very beginning, well technically her very beginning. She was the only child of two amazing people. While my grandfather passed before my parents married, my Nanny (grandmother) and mom certainly kept him alive through photos and stories. And he must have been amazing because he captured my Nanny's heart. And she was by far the most awesome person ever. She taught me the significance of white roses and red roses on Mother's Day, why it was important to keep my drink away from the edge of the table at dinner (I'd still knock it over every time), how to unconditionally love people and how to take care of everyone in your path. I miss her every day and will certainly drink a coke and have a whatchamacallit in her honor on Sunday. 

So with all this awesomeness, my mom was created. I can't speak to time before I was born, but she has cracked me up on more than one occasion with stories of small town antics, friends taking flight from her balcony, and how she was lucky enough to find my sweet dad at her doorstep one evening (literally). 

I was a difficult birth. It's a long story. But, it created a bond between my mom and I early on. My Nanny was the more naturally maternal of the two and was a key figure in our lives early on, but I always wanted "momma."  My sister and I are only 13 months apart, so we were a handful. I realize now that I'm a grown up how much work children are. I look back on the pictures now and we are all dressed and mom and nanny look so put together and I think, "holy cow, how did they do it?"  

My sister and I joke each other about which traits we get from our parents. We both share their qualities, but it's a safe bet that I got more Martha Jane DNA and Bonnie got more William T DNA. I think it's why I "get" my mom. We don't always agree on things, but I usually get why she feels the way she does. 

I could tell so many stories about our life, but instead, I've picked my top four descriptions of mom to celebrate her today:

1. She has two children by birth, and 200,000+ by education. My mom taught for decades and she can look at a random grown up in a store and call them by name because she taught them 20 years ago. She knows their mom's name and every sibling they had even if she didn't teach that sibling. It happens all the time. Kinda like walking around with the Pope because they always want to hug her and tell her their life story. I usually just say hello and wander away at at socially acceptable time so they can catch up. 
2. She likes decor. Her house always has something interesting popping up. Need to find a realistic battery powered candle-- done. How about tassels for your lampshade or armoire--done. Need pillows of all shapes and sizes-- done. I joke her about it all the time, but truthfully she picks out lovely things. And when I can get her to Akron, she comes through for me. I looked for eight months for an area rug in the living room. She's in town 24 hours and I get a text at work with a photo of the perfect rug. She nailed it. She's like the decor whisperer. We don't always like the same things, but when given the mission, she can usually find something I like. 
3. She loves her friends. And she has a ton of them. She has more friends on Facebook than I do. I admire how she stays in touch with them and I know how she loves getting together with them. We share that love of people.
4. She loves me. Lord, she puts up with me rambling every night on the phone. She remembers who I talk about and what I talk about. She asks me about stuff that I never thought she'd remember. And even though I know she would like to still have me living upstairs at home, she's let me do my thing and have my own adventures. That's the ultimate love. 

There's more I could say, but I better stop here. Thanks for indulging me on my Mom moment. I won't get to be with her this year for Mother's Day, but hopefully she will enjoy this and know how much I truly love her. I'm a lucky girl. Happy Mother's Day Mom!

13 is a surprisingly good number!

Wow, I have really slacked in April.  But the month had some unexpected curveballs so I’m going to cut myself a little slack.  I did however accomplish the following things off my goal list:

• Practice listening to my voice.  This was a great habit to adopt.  I’ve had a lot of people weighing in on different things in my life and I made the very conscious effort to reflect on what I wanted and my opinion.  Upcoming blog post on that.
• Contribute pre-determined amount to savings account
• Volunteer in the community and bring friends.  Wrapped up my year as an Akron Reads tutor.  My student was precious and I convinced a few friends to come when we were short volunteers.  Such a highlight of my week all year!

I’m moving gluten-free and yoga to May and June.  I’ll explain why in a second.

I’m sure you are you now wondering why title of this post is about the number 13. Well, I made an interesting discovery this morning.  I thought I should step on a scale.  It was my first time in three months.  I haven’t gotten on the scale because (as I’ve said many times) this is not a project to lose weight.  I didn’t want that hanging over me.  I just want to get healthy habits in place for my next 40 years.

The inevitable happened.  Exercising, cutting soda amount and adopting healthier eating habits has taken off just over 13 pounds.  That was a delightful surprise.  However, I’m going to stay off it for another three months. It’s nice to know that my body is responding, but it’s not a goal and it can become an obsession so the scale will have to gather dust for a while again.

And, I’m certain that some of this is due to a massive eating change I had to make a week ago.  For about a month I've had the worst heartburn.  Like killer.  So I went to my doctor and got my treatment options.  Part of it includes dietary triggers.  Get a load of this list:

• Foods high in fat
• Sugar
• Chocolate
• Peppermint and other mint flavorings
• Onions and garlic
• Citrus foods and juices
• Tomato-based foods
• Spicy foods
• Caffeine drinks
• Soda/carbonated drinks (how glad am I that I was down to one coke a day?-- now I'm none)
• Alcohol

So basically it’s everything that is enjoyable in life.  However, when your throat and chest hurt—you are willing to limit anything you can.  After five days, I feel better, but my throat has some healing to do.

My doctor also asked that I get a stress test just to rule out anything else. I did it yesterday.  After paying for that, I see more than ever why it’s important that I have healthy habits in the future.  It’s expensive to be unhealthy!  So, while it wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience, I have even more resolve to stay dedicated to a healthier and happier lifestyle.  Hopefully it will ward off pricey visits for a while!

And, I'm trying to hold off on the gluten-free challenge until my stomach levels out.  But I discovered this epic aisle in the grocery store stocked with gluten-free items.  I'll try a few things in May, but will try to do the real GF challenge later.  Yoga is on my list now for May. I discovered that they do a yoga class every Tuesday for lunch at my company.  Happy.