Saturday, October 12, 2013

Happy birthday, Mom!

 
 
Today would have been my mom's 85th birthday!  Just like I did for daddy back on his birthday in March, I'll share a few things about her, things that made me love her!
 
1.  She was the most organized person I've ever met!  Yet, despite this, she once managed to lose a bunch of jewelry that she had hidden when we went on vacation.  She didn't find it until a couple of years later, stuffed in a hatbox!
 
2.  I never saw her inebriated or even tipsy, but she did love a cocktail--and it was rumored that in her younger days she could drink my dad's fraternity brothers under the table.
 
3.  She smoked from her college days until 1989, and hid it from her father.  She finally quit cold turkey after I got married, after several previous failed attempts to quit.
 
4.  Mom loved to talk, but even her friends said that she was hard to get to know.  When told that, she was completely mystified. 
 
5.  Raised a Catholic, she left the church when she got married because of she didn't believe in their stand on birth control. 
 
6.  She collected thimbles and amassed a collection of nearly 4000 of them!
 
7.  She had a soft spot for children and dogs--and both loved her.
 
8.  While she often read, I wouldn't have called her a "reader" like I am.  She only read when she had nothing else to do.
 
9.  Until I was in college, she was 6' tall and weighed 110 pounds.  She finally started to gain some weight when she quit smoking.
 
10.  She loved watching football!  One year I took her to a Cowboys game for her birthday (actually, at the time, the owners of the college where I work had a box, and they invited us to go to a game with them.  So, not only did she get to experience her first live professional football game, she also got the pleasure of sitting in a luxury box!)
 
11.  Mom was really good with numbers.  She always helped me with math and would have made a wonderful accountant.
 
12.  When she was in high school, she was in the Rainbow Girls, a masonic organization.  Despite the organization fighting her membership because she was Catholic, she rose to the position of Worthy Advisor (like the president).
 
13.  She didn't start quilting until after my dad passed away.  From 1989 until 2011, she made and quilted over 100 quilts, and won several state fair and quilting exhibition ribbons for her work!
 
14.  After my dad passed away, she began tutoring at my old elementary school.  She tutored there twice a week for 21 years.
 
15.  After I was born with so many physical problems, she refused to let me see any of them as a hindrance or even anything to be considered.  I grew up happily unaware that I was different than anyone else. 
 
Mom was such a big part of my life, especially after my divorce.  I miss her every day and will love her even after I'm gone.  Happy birthday, mom! 

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Somebody got his stitches out today


Juneau had surgery on top of his head while I was in Seattle in order to remove some little growths that he kept scratching and making bleed.  He got his stitches out today and is a happy boy!  His hair is slowly growing back, but you can still see the "reverse Mohawk" on top of his head.