41. Mom was the one who encouraged me to go out for swim team in middle school. It was way out of my comfort zone. I loved to swim, but joining a team was intimidating. I really didn't love it for a long time. Meets were terrifying. Practice took up my "me" time. In the end, I fell in love. I swam all through high school, and I wouldn't have done it if she didn't push me.
42. This memory is fresh, and I just shared it a few months ago. But,I'll never forget how mom reacts to emergency situations. Fire alarms going off at midnight at our condo in San Diego. Mom is screaming for everyone to get out because there's a FIRE! "I smell smoke!" (there was no smoke, by the way). She even suggested I just keep moving because I couldn't find Daniel. In reality she knew he was with my sister already, but who tells their daughter to leave their child behind!? Haha!
(Of course, I wasn't much better. I couldn't fine either kid at first, until I realized I was literally carrying James)
43. I love when I get to go to craft fairs with my mom. We always have fun sampling food along the way and buying cute things...mom usually buys a million Christmas ornaments. She wants me to go to the big one she and my aunt go to in Wisconsin sometime, but the way she describes it, I think I'd lose it being in that large of a crowd. We shall see.
44. Mom can be credited for my love of pumpkin patches. When they started getting popular and not just go pick a pumpkin, I thought it was so stupid. She got tickets to Bloomsbury Farm one year. I was in my early 20's. I scoffed. Mom and Kendra convinced me to go. I did my first corn maze ( because I was not doing that cliche before then). Now I LIVE for fall so I can go visit my favorite patches and try new ones too.
45. I credit mom for being the well behaved child I was. Sure, I got into trouble. Mostly for my sassy mouth and for fighting with my sister's, but I never did anything really bad. I was a people pleaser by nature, but mom put the fear of God into me. I was the first child. The guinea pig. I was not about to find out what terrifying punishment would be brought upon me by an angry Janet. My sisters (mostly Erica. lol), however, weren't as affected by the fear of God she tried to instill in them.
46. We bought our house a month before we actually moved in. My mom came to Taylorville with me one weekend and we camped in the empty house. She helped me clean and get everything ready. We sat in the living room in camping chairs with a single lamp. We camped on the floor in the bedroom. Actually...I think I got an airbed and her's deflated. Oops. It was a fun adventure though.
47. I loved seeing my mom become a grandma. Before I was even pregnant she bought a Pooh bear and book for her future grandchild. She was the first grandparent to hold him. They came the day after he was born (and she cooked Thanksgiving dinner at the house on Friday when we came home since we were in the hospital on Thanksgiving). And then, she got to be here a few days after James was born, and helped as I recovered from my c-section for a couple of weeks after.
48. She and my dad offered to let Daniel come stay with them for awhile when I was on partial bed rest with James. I had already be hospitalized twice. I couldn't "rest" with a not quite 3 year old. My options were to go to Iowa or send him to Iowa on his own. It was a hard decision because I'd never been away from him overnight. Mom and Kendra drove over to pick him up and he stayed almost 2 weeks. I cried so hard, but I got the relaxation I really needed, and my parents did a great job taking care of him!
49.A favorite memory was from a few years ago, when my sisters and I pulled off the ultimate Mother's Day surprise for mom. 5 months of planning without anyone spilling the beans, including my mom's boss who I let in on it so she could have time off. Her reaction was priceless when I pulled up and Erica popped up in the front seat!
50. Mom took care of both of my birds that I had when I was younger (Minnie Ann and Minnie Ann 2...because when the first died I wanted an identical bird) Our second bird was an escape artist. I can still remember mom chasing it around the house and having to gently use a broom to get her down from a picture that hung in the stairwell.
51. Most summer afternoons as kids, we could find mom lying out in the sun getting a tan while misting herself with a spray bottle and reading a romance novel. I sometimes joined, but never lasted long. I'd get too hot...hmm...apparently I've always been warm blooded.
52. For my 9th birthday, she planned a surprise party for me. Although, I figured it out, I didn't tell her because I didn't want to hurt her feelings. It was so fun though. She had fun games and we went on a "penny walk". Flip a coin at corners. Heads you go right. Tails you go left. Fun times.
53. One winter mom and I were driving down 16th Ave and she hit black ice. We spun right into a snowbank. She checked for damage and told me not to speak of it to dad, but I still remember him commenting about how there seemed to be water dripping from the front end later.
54. All the DQ trips. We loved getting to go in and sit at "our" booth and guess what color the next car would be in the drive thru. When I'd get picked up early from school for an appointment 9 times out of 10 mom's car would magically turn into DQ afterward.
55. No one besides mom and my sisters will understand this one. Said in one word: WhatAreYouGonnaDo?
56. I always got excited if she took E Ave because we were going to get to drive over the big hump in the road (which we later called the "whee"). If you went just the right speed, your stomach would drop a little. I don't know how else to explain it, but it was fun. It was a sad day when they repaved that road.
57. Mom was always a great backup when we didn't want to do something. "Mom...can I go to so and so's house? Say no" "No."
"Yeah, my mom says I can't come."
58. Every Christmas she made dozens of sugar cookies and would frost them and let us decorate them. The best part was when she'd give us a ball of raw cookie dough to eat. (who are we kidding. I always sneaked more out of the fridge...always a junk food addict)
59. My great aunt made us matching watermelon shirts for a family reunion one year. Mom would always make it so we all went out matching in them. I won't lie, I thought it was awesome.
60. Mom was the one who took care of Grandma after her stroke. She was the sister who was close by, and she spent hours at the hospital, looking for care centers, getting her out of a crappy care center and into an amazing one. Settling her into her assisted living. Taking care of selling the house. Dealing with insurance for grandma's meds. It was exhausting and took a toll, but she did it, and I think that was so incredible. I'm really proud of her.'
Here's to a million more memories!
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