Mother's Day

Well, I wish I could report that my Mother's Day was wonderful. Full of unicorns and rainbows and butterflies and sunshine and SMILES.

It was not a bad day. I should start with choosing to frame it in that context. It was not a bad day.

But, much like Jennifer's day began, it was not the Mother's Day I dreamed of (even if I was feeling guilty for wishing to be away from my children). Nor was it the day I yearned for, ached for or needed.

But it met the minimal standards of "Mother's Day."

My FIL woke me with a phone call at 6:27.

I fixed my own breakfast - and the breakfasts for everyone else.

I showered and shaved my legs in peace and quiet. Only bothered once by Stinkerbell asking if she could a particular dress. ("not now")

We went to our church's cemetary (annual "decoration day"/homecoming/excuse to wash tombstones - yes they WASH tombstones - and put fake flowers on graves and hear a strange preacher and talk to people who you haven't seen since last year and can't remember their name, but they remember yours, so you just smile). It was cold and windy. It always is. I was cold.

We went to lunch with The Mighty Hunter's aunts and uncles at the local Ryan's steakhouse/buffet/fly-feast. Ryan's gives me explosive diarrhea.

While at lunch, The Mighty Hunter talked while I tried to feed the baby who was missing his naptime and not interested in anything except Sprite and macaroni. Thankfully, he didn't want the mashed potatoes or I may have slipped into a diabetic shock (I'm not diabetic, but am hypoglycemic and have fainted many times in my life over not eating at regular intervals.) When TMH was clearly finished with his meal, I asked him to handle Lucky while I fixed myself a plate.

"I thought you had eaten."

sure, a serving of mashed potatoes and a few bites of tough chicken.

I fixed myself a salad, only to be ambushed by Stinkerbell who was ready for dessert. After helping her fix her dessert, I managed to eat a little salad, while still holding the cup for Lucky.

We leave Ryan's (aka gut-bomb palace) and then spend a few hours with those same aunts and uncles and FIL and Fiance. There was a boiled cabbage smell in that house, which gave me a migraine.

When we left at 3:30, I took my Relpax and waited on the migraine relief it brings.

I cooked Taco Rings for my mom at her house. The Mighty Hunter, my brother and dad moved furniture back into their living room. Sometime after the meal and before the kitchen was completely clean, the power went off.

My dad decides to go see how far away from their house the outage seemed to be spread. With Lucky. In my mom's Honda Accord. In the front seat. Without a carseat. On the STATE HIGHWAY that is a main road. Without telling anyone. Without simply getting into the Pimped-out Mamamobile. That had the keys in the ignition. And the carseat all ready-to-go.

As I chased him down with my lights flashing, there were many questions that he needed to answer. The list can be summarized with these two: "What the hell were you thinking?" and "Have you lost your ever-loving mind?"

He was quite repentant (repentEnt?) No one was harmed. My innate trust of my dad's judgment was, however, affected negatively. I realize that I need to actually explain things and speak the obvious to him.

Cuz he's in his own darn world.

I'm just thankful nothing happened to them. He would have never forgiven himself.

Now, I must say that Stinkerbell gave me a wonderful gift. While I was on the toilet for the first time yesterday morning, she presented me with a sweet gift bag. Inside was one of those cards with a song ("You're simply the best"). There was also a small white box with a "diamond" necklace. She wanted very much to give me some kind of diamond jewelry. My mom helped her with the required sneaking and purchase.

The Mighty Hunter had given me my Mother's Day gift a few weeks ago. 2 pairs of sandals. Very pretty sandals.

I just didn't know they were my Mother's Day gift until Saturday.

Now, I have to clean up the messy kitchen, catch up on the laundry that I let pile high, restock the fridge with food that we (and the extended family) ate up and daydream about the nap I didn't get yesterday.



I feel compelled to say, I am very thankful for my mom. She is a wonderful person, mom and friend. She is an example for me to follow in most areas of my life. I pray that I can be as good a mom as she has been to me and my brother. I realize not everyone had a good mom. I was especially blessed. I have a GREAT mom.

I'm also feeling guilty for not saying that yesterday was wonderful. But, you know what. It wasn't. It was a pretty normal day for me. I got a wonderful gift. I spent time with family. Yet, I wasn't relieved of my motherly burden a single bit. And that keeps the guilt at bay.

Happy belated Mother's Day to all y'all.