Happy Mother's Day

I don't have any real plans for today; I have to go to work @ 2pm. What I really want to do is go for a hike. Next week, for sure.

Happy Mother's Day to my mom! And to all my friends who are moms: Grace, Debb, Barb, Carol, Jen, Sandy, Amber, Laurie, Chrystal, Deonne, Geri, Pauline, Tracy, Kim, Amanda, Jenifer, (forgive me if I've left anyone off of the list; you know you're included too!) Happy Mother's Day to all my friends' moms! Happy Mother's Day to G's mom Lori! Of course Happy Mother's Day to Nikki's grandma (B's mom) Sally!

I wanted to post about a particularly fond memory I have of my childhood with my mom. Quite a few come to mind just now so I'll have to think on it & narrow it down for ya. I mean, there are so many snippets of my life I could post.

Like, the kindergarten (?) birthday party my mom threw for me. Invited all of my classmates. These were b4 birthday parties were held "somewhere else" like Chucky Cheese's or the bowling alley. Naturally, the party was at our house. We lived in a side-by-side duplex, three bedrooms and bathroom up. a living room, dining room, kitchen down. a cellar & an attic. patio on the front & porch on the back. Hmm, was there a front door too, 'cause the patio door was on the side, like. This may be two different events, come to think of it, and my mind has melded it into one over time. The party I'm thinking of, though, had a (then) "Indian" theme (now it would be "native american" and it probably wouldn't be p.c. to have that theme at all, being as I'm about as white bread as can be typically possible). My mom had decorated with construction paper decorations. Construction paper head bands & feathers for all the guests. She had constructed this life size character out of, I don't know, construction paper or butcher paper or something & he was placed on the outside of the window in the back of the house beside the porch. My mom had recorded on a reel-to-reel some lines from Disney's Peter Pan -specifically the lines "How! Me Big Chief...." I don't remember all the words. She played this as each guest walked by. Then my mom answered the door as the "squaw" referred to in the recording. And you know, I don't remember a whole lot else about that party. But the effort that my mom put into that birthday still remains with me. It must have been b4 my sister was born.

This party was pretty typical of birthdays at our house. As an adult, I've always felt that my mom had raised the bar for children's birthday parties & I've always thought that I would like to live up to that standard. Like if I have a party somewhere else w/ someone else doing the entertaining then I'm falling short. I really like the idea of having birthday parties w/ traditional party games, etc. Thanks mom!

The other memories are not so big. Things like, fresh-out-of-the-oven homemade baked bread served with "real" hot chocolate (the kind made w/ hershey's baking chocolate instead of a packet). Or grilled swiss cheese sandwiches for lunch. (Thanks, mom, for instilling in me a fondness for "exotic" cheeses). Or a tea party I had with my friend Vickie. Doing crafty things like felt art & "embroidery". Or teaching me to sew by hand & some on the machine in 2nd grade. Or teaching me to crochet potholders. There are also the memories of my mom & her friends (my friends' moms) being our brownie troop leaders. Or my mom & her friends playing "Skat" for pennies. I remember my mom knitted me this orange & white stripey long-sleeve sweater. I think it was mostly garter stitch. I wish I still had it. Or the bell bottom pants I so badly wanted with the plaid cuffs ala Bay City Rollers & my mom made me a pair! And I can't forget the tradition my mom has @ xmas time of baking 30 or so stollen to give away (a few to keep). Or the stories about her childhood in Germany. Or the summer my mom took me & my sibs (11, 8, & 4) to Germany & Switzerland. Or my mom took me to my first concert "in the city" -John Mellancamp -with my friend Chrissy & Chrissy's mom. These are just the things that come to mind right now. I could go on & on as the memories string along out of the creases in my brain.

There are alot of good memories in my life. Thanks mom!