Happy Birthday, Mom!

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday. In my opinion, she is the best mom in the world! Here are just a few examples:

• after working 3-11pm at the hospital (she's a retired nurse), she would get up in the middle of the night to get me a glass of water just because I 'needed' one.
• while working her shift, she would buy me a Three Musketeers Bar from the candy cart and not get mad at me for rummaging through her purse and eating it before breakfast
• when she was dead tired during the day and would try to catch a catnap on the couch, she would never get mad at me when I would crawl up into her lap, pry open her eyes and tell her to wake up...I'm so sorry, Mom!
  
• when I was in 4th grade, she would pull me from my bed, unlocking the death grip I had on my canopy bed, to try to get me to school. Some days it worked, some days it didn't. I hated 4th grade
• she would bribe me into going to school by promising to pick me up for lunch so that I could spend time with her before she left for pm shift at the hospital.
  
• when I was in 6th grade, she gave up her good paying job at the hospital and became our school nurse so that she could have the same schedule as we did (my dad happened to be one of her principals)....my sister, who was in kindergarten at the time, was her very first patient because she threw up in the middle of her kindy class. good times.
• when I was in 8th grade, she went back to college to get her BS in nursing...she drove 45 minutes one way to school with her best friend...and then she would lock herself in her room with a bag of Doritos and study. BUT, she always made time for the three of us kids and our dad
• she would cook us our favorite meals for our birthday dinners (even turkey for Sam in the dead of summer with no air conditioning!) She always made our birthdays special. We always got bakery cake from Frank's Bakery (those from my hometown know what I'm talkin' about....YUM)
• when I was a junior in high school, my mom graduated from West Liberty State College with her BS in nursing. She got her RN from Presby Hospital in Pittsburgh straight out of high school, but my dad encouraged her to go on for her BS and she did it!
• after junior prom, a few of us headed to Kennywood Amusement park in Pittsburgh. She got up early to fry a bunch of chicken and to pack our picnic lunch. As we were loading the car, she yelled, "Make sure each guy gets a breast!" Seriously, Mom! I don't think she'll ever live that moment down! hehe
• she was always there to wipe our tears, kiss our boo boos, put medicine on our cuts, give out plenty of hugs and kisses, and make us feel homey and secure.
• she is my best friend and I'm fortunate to have her in my life

Mommy, I love you. You are the best ever and you deserve the best life has to offer! You may be 70, but in my mind, you'll always be my mommy!
xoxoxoxo

Making Memories...and Friends

Wednesday of our girls' week was one of the best nights ever! Little did we know when we signed up for the Navy Pier excursion that we would make such wonderful memories!

We gathered in the lobby of our hotel on Wednesday evening and waited for the charter bus to arrive. As we were standing there, one of our Japanese language classmates (who happens to be from Shanghai, China) came over to chat with us. I started asking her some questions about her culture. I asked if she minded that I was asking her all of these questions. She smiled and assured me that she didn't mind. We stopped talking because they were making announcements and giving out cell phone numbers so that no one would be left behind in Chicago. Once the announcements were over, Celia turned to me and said, "Any questions?" then winked. That was hilarious! ;)

So, we get on the bus...my mom and sister sat together and I sat with Celia. We talked the entire way, sharing tidbits of information about our families, showing one another pictures of our boys (she has a 2 year old son), and clearing up misconceptions about our cultures. The ride to Navy Pier seemed to fly by! Once we got there, we walked around taking in the sites. There was a band playing in the Beer Garden, so we stood and listened for a minute before continuing to the end of the pier. After taking tons of pictures like the tourists that we were, we decided to find something to eat. We asked Celia what she wanted to try, and we all decided to walk up towards the restaurants and look at the menus that were posted to see what sounded good. We finally settled on Riva Cafe (there is an inside dining room upstairs with a separate menu that is very chi chi, but we ate outside.) Mom had a small salad with shrimp, Celia had clam chowder in a bread bowl, I had fish and chips, and Margie had a quesadilla. We sat and chatted for over an hour while enjoying each other's company and people watching. Celia taught us that in China, you told the waiter when you were ready to leave, he brought the check, and you left. She also said that they do not tip in China. When our waiter brought the check, she thought we had to leave and we assured her that he wasn't hurrying us out of the restaurant, he was just bringing the check for when we were ready to go.


Celia and I


Margie, Mom, Celia


Dawn, Mom, Margie



After dinner, we went to the giant ferris wheel to wait for the fireworks.


Giant ferris wheel at night


Waiting for the fireworks to start


Ooooohhhhh.....


Aaaaahhhhh....


Beautiful Chicago skyline at night

Once the fireworks were finished, we headed to the bus for the journey back to the hotel. We exchanged email addresses and started planning for next years' seminar, which will be in St. Louis. St. Louis is about 4 hours from my home, so I told Celia that if she is planning on coming, she should come a week early, fly to my house (well, not to MY HOUSE, but to O'Hare in Chicago) and stay with us. I told The Man and he was on board with that. :) She has also extended an invitation to our entire family to visit Shanghai. Now that would be quite an adventure!

Japanese 101

Last week my sister, who teaches middle school Spanish, had a conference in the suburbs of Chicago. She emailed me and asked me how far I am from the 'burbs. I told her that she was welcome to stay here, but she would spend far more time in traffic than she would in the actual conference. Then I said, "BUT I could come stay with you. haha" She called me and said, "SHUT UP! Would you really do that?" Hell yes I would! Then, it evolved into a girls' week because my mom was joining us. THEN, it evolved even farther because she asked if we wanted to take a 3 day Japanese class. That sounded like great fun. I only speak English, as does my mom, so....I was a bit apprehensive thinking I wouldn't learn a thing.

The entire conference was based on Blaine Ray's TPR Storytelling technique. You learn a language by listening to the instructor telling a story. At the end of the three mornings of our class, we were able to hear and read a story and translate it to English. I'm not kidding you! This was crazy. Here is a story that I wrote (it's very rudimentary, but it gets the point across.) I'll translate it after I tell it in Japanese. ;)

Dawn wa murasaki no doresu ga hoshii. Dawn wa pinku no doresu shika nai. Dawn wa naku. Dawn wa depaato ni ikitai. Dawn wa murasaki kawaii doresu o sagasu. Dawn wa murasaki kawaii doresu o miru. Dawn wa totemo ureshii desu.

and now in English:
Dawn wants a purple dress. Dawn only has a pink dress. Dawn cries. Dawn wants to go to department store. Dawn looks for a cute purple dress. Dawn sees a cute purple dress. Dawn is very happy. :)

The class was a lot fun. Our instructor was so sweet. She is Canadian, but lives in Japan with her Japanese husband and teaches English, I believe.

After class each day, we had lunch, then Mom and I went to our room to do our homework while Margie continued on to her seminar classes. We were totally amazing ourselves with our Japanese language skills. Are you impressed? ;)


Margie, Melinda (our instructor), me, Mom....having a blast!

Throwing the Diet out the Window...

My mom, sister, and I are in the Chicago 'burbs this week for some girl time. Margie teaches Spanish and is attending a TPR Storytelling seminar. My mom and I are along for the ride and are attending a Japanese class in the morning in the TPR Storytelling method. We are actually understanding the language! It's such fun.

Not only are we learning, we are EATING a lot! I don't usually eat dessert on a daily basis, so I'm getting a constant sugar buzz (which, if you know me...I mean REALLY know me, you know I'm naturally high on life, so I don't need sugar to get me going! lol)

On our first night, we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. OH MAMA! Mom had pasta with sun dried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil. Margie had fish tacos and I had baja chicken tacos. The tacos were served with black beans and rice. The black beans tasted just like the filling my brother makes for his black bean quesadillas. We were in HEAVEN! (Sam...it was like you were there too, because we were talking about you. Were your ears burning?)

I got a piece of Godiva cheesecake to go and ate some of it at the hotel. I couldn't finish it, but it was as close to heaven as a piece of cheesecake could get.

Last night, we decided to go to California Pizza Kitchen. Margie got a pizza with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. I got a pizza with roasted peppers, carmelized onions, mozzarella, parmesan, roasted artichoke hearts and salami. Mom got an Asian salad. Then, we split this:




mmmmm...I love Red Velvet Cake!

Stay tuned...soon I'll amaze you with my wild Japanese speaking skills!

Gearing Up!

I can't remember the last time my mom, sister and I spent time together, just the three of us. It was probably way back when....before kids, etc. That is a very long time ago, over 19 years! However, in two short days, we'll be together again, just the three of us. I'm so looking forward to that!

The Man is knee-deep at work, due to plant shut down time, so we don't have much time together right now. So, now is the perfect time for the three of us to be together to have female bonding time. We're heading up north so that my sister can attend a seminar, but during down time, we'll have dinner, go on excursions, and just chill. That's what summer is all about.

I may take my trusty laptop with me and blog from the road. That should be interesting! Maybe I can have my sister or mom guest blog. Good times. ;)

I do know this, I'm taking my camera and taking a ton of pictures to share and as always, I'm sure I'll have plenty to say.

AND, there is a surprise coming for someone at the end of the week. I'll share AFTER the surprise! ;)

Class reunion

So, the first 3 days of our vacation was our class reunion. We had a mixer Friday night, dinner dance on Saturday, and a picnic on Sunday. It was great to see old friends and to catch up with one another. You quickly learn, as soon as graduation is over, that the things in high school that seemed so HUGELY important, were really little things and they didn't matter after all. At 43, we're not all about the drama anymore, thank goodness! :)

The Man and I were good friends in high school, but we weren't high school sweethearts. However, we are among a few couples who married people from our class and are still together. December will make 24 years for us. He's my best friend...and for that I am so fortunate.

So, Friday night he stayed with his friend that he hadn't seen in years, and I went back to my mom's to go to bed. He got to my mom's a couple hours after I did and we both fell asleep. Sometime in my sleep, I must have bopped him in the eye with my anniversary ring. His eye was red and he could barely open it when we got up in the morning. I had no clue it was serious, but thankfully, my mother is a nurse, so she insisted we take him to the E.R. Um, yeah...I apparently gave him a corneal abrasion! Poor guy! The doctor told him that he would have to wear a patch for 24 hours and then use drops until he saw the opthomologist on Monday morning. Um, we wanted to LEAVE early Monday morning! The Man told the doctor that he had a class reunion that night and there was no way that he was wearing a patch. The doctor told him that his choice was to wear the patch, or possibly lose his sight. I informed The Man that he WOULD wear the patch, whether he liked it or not and that it would make for a good story at the reunion.

We took The Man to my mom's and he went back to bed. Mom and I went to get his prescription filled, went to Wally World to get sunglasses and some stick on eye patches. The patch they put on his eye was a honkin' round gauze thingamabob and they taped it across his face. No wonder he didn't want to be seen in that patch! He looked incredibly HOT in his suit and tie with his sunglasses (in my opinion.) Michael Corleone eat your heart out! ;)

Here are some random shots from the reunion....


Before the mixer...and before the eye incident


This is Cheryl, one of my dearest friends. We were texting before the reunion lamenting on our cleavage issues. ;)


The Man and me AFTER the eye incident. Notice the tie matches my dress? It's a Jerry Garcia purchased by moi. Purple is a good color for us. :)

I have other pictures from the reunion, but because of privacy issues, I won't post pictures of other people. I've talked about Cheryl on here before, so I know she won't mind me showing off one of my very best friends!

Anyway, I was teased a lot that night about beating the crap out of my husband. It was all in good fun, though. There is a reason my sweet husband refers to me as Grace. ;)

Lucky Girl

I received a care package in the mail on Friday from my lovely mom. When we were in Amish country in OH, we went a bit crazy in the fabric stores. I don't sew (much), but I fell in love with the material! She made these placemats for our table:



They are reversible. I wanted something funky and bright to go with my Fiestaware. I think they look great with my Fiesta vase...



She also sent a bunch of cloth napkins from the material that I chose from both the store and her stash.



Here are my favorites:





I'm a lucky girl indeed! Thanks, Mom!

My mom's therapy

My mom is many things...a wife, mother, sister, aunt, gumbunk, gaba, grandma, artist. When I was in my hometown for spring break, I took pictures of her sewing room and of some of her quilts. She has a tiny room, but has it packed full of machines, dress form, material, thread...everything a quilter needs to do her work.

She has always been very handy with a needle and thread. She used to make leisure suits for my dad, she made clothing for us when we were growing up, mended our torn clothing, hemmed The Man's pants (since I'm a disaster with a needle and really shouldn't handle one), made clothing for the grandchildren, etc.

She took up quilting when I was pregnant. She bought a panel for The Boy's crib and hand quilted it. That was her first attempt at quilting and I still have the quilt in my linen closet. I'm hoping to pass it down some day...not any time soon, though!

She told me once that quilting is much cheaper than therapy for her. Here is a look into her 'therapy' room.



This is her sewing corner. She was teaching a friend to piece together a quilt, so the quilt hanging on the wall is her friend's that she is making for one of her grandchildren. Mom has a tablecloth hanging on the wall with the flannel part up and she puts the quilt squares up there to see it before she sews it all together.



This is her dress form. I think it was The Boy who made her put a nightie on it because it was 'naked.' :)



This is her 'Wall of Fame'. The top pictures in the circles are her children (I'm the one with the fat head...third from the left). The pictures on the bottom are all of her grand babies. (The Boy is the one in the center.)



Her quilting machine is in the basement since it takes up a ton of room. She was showing me how it worked.



This is a wall quilt that she made for one of my nieces. She made two of them...they now hang in my nieces' bedrooms. :) They were so happy with the quilts.

Now for a sampling of her artwork:






This one I especially love. It's red work that she colored with crayons and heat setted before making it into a quilt. LOVE IT!



This last quilt isn't one that my mom made. This was made by the staff at my dad's school when he was ill. Each staff member made a square and then they had it quilted. Mom told me that one day, each of us kids will share 'custody' of this quilt. I told her that I may have to 'lose' the quilt while in my custody so that I can keep it. ;) Just kidding! Maybe!



Every bed in my house has a quilt made by my mom. Every wall has a quilt to remind me of her love. Right now I'm on the couch with one of her quilts over my legs...wrapped in her love.

To Mom, quilting is therapy. To me, her quilts are love.

The Amish and My Mom

My mom and I set out to spend the day in Holmes County, Ohio to spend quality time with the Amish folks there. We left bright and early so that we could eat breakfast, do lunch, and even have dinner while in "Amish Country." On the way, I called The Man to check in and to tell him good morning. I let him know our plans for the day and he mentioned that he needed some office furniture for his new office....a coat tree and a little table for magazines. Shopping is my specialty, so it shouldn't be a problem! ;)

We started off having breakfast at Boyd & Wurthmann restaurant, where the locals eat. It's fun sitting in there among the local crowd having coffee and just relaxing. From there, we ventured out to shop at Sol's. It's a huge arts and crafts mall...HUGE! We spent about 2 hours in Sol's. I found a solid oak coat tree for The Man's office, so I bought it and hauled it out to Mom's car. Luckily, one of her back seats went down, so it fit in the back! It was a close call!

My mom is an avid quilter (I will focus an entire blog post on that at a later date), so we spent a lot of our day looking at material. We drove near and far looking at all of the quilting/material shops, in all of the little towns in the area. I'm not a seamstress or a quilter, but I fell in love with all of the different material that these shops had to offer, plus it's fun to chat with the workers in the shop. We seem to have the same fascination with one another. We found some special material for The Man at a shop in Charm (I think...either Charm or Millersburg), so we started talking about a lap quilt she was going to make for him. After purchasing the material, we went to the Helping Hands Quilt Shop in Berlin to look at more material. In the downstairs part of the Helping Hands, she showed me a quilt that was similar to the one she wanted to make for him. There was a sweet Amish woman, making a pair of man's pants, working in there. We stood and chatted with her for awhile.

We then decided to forgo lunch and have a piece of pie instead. We went back to Boyd and Wurthmann for my favorite: graham cracker cream pie. It is the nectar of the gods. It's a vanilla cream pie (obviously) in a graham cracker crust. It's topped with whipped cream and graham cracker crumbs. After our 'lunch', we were still on the hunt for material and a small table for The Man's office. We were successful in finding even more material...the table, not so much. On the way out of Berlin, we stopped at a huge Christmas store to look around. Fun!

By dinnertime we were starving so we decided to eat at the Dutch Valley Restaurant in Sugarcreek. Oh Mama! It has a buffet of luscious Amish made food...broasted and fried chicken, ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes, dressing, noodles, green beans, corn, casseroles, rolls, a variety of desserts, plus a full salad bar. Heaven!

From there, we hit just about every furniture store in Sugarcreek. Imagine our surprise when we ran into my uncle and aunt in one of them! How hilarious! I heard this, "Hellooooo!" on my left and thought to myself, "That's a crazy way to welcome a customer!" I turned around and it was my aunt! I gave her a huge hug and turned around to see my uncle at the counter signing papers for new furniture. They showed us the bedroom furniture that they just purchased and I told them I was looking for a little table for The Man's office. My aunt suggested a different store that they just visited. So, after visiting with them for a while in the store, Mom and I took off down the road to the other furniture store.....where we found the PERFECT little table! :)

After we found the table, we decided to head back to my mom's house. It's a 2 hour drive and we were exhausted. We literally shopped until we dropped.

We spent the day talking, laughing, shopping, talking, and laughing some more. I'm so fortunate to have my mother in my life. She truly is one of my best friends! We share many of the same interests (including the love of all things Amish). She is very non-judgmental and really sees the good in all people. I strive to be more like her every day!

I love you, MOM!

Ramblings

• You know that spring is just about officially here when you awaken to a thunderstorm (and your huge Labrador climbs into your lap and tries to bury his head in your armpit)
• Spring break is a week away and I'm headed to OH to see The Boy and then to WV to see my mom.
• While I'm in OH, I'm visiting a friend who lives an hour from The Boy's school. Girl time!
• While in WV, I'm going to visit The Man's cousin (who happens to be one of my best friends) and hopefully some old high school pals.
  
• Mom and I are going to see the Amish in Holmes County, Ohio!
  
• The Man and I are going on an "adventure vacation" this summer....just get in the car and drive until half the money runs out, then turn around and drive home. ;)
• One of our stops (after our class reunion) is going to be Lancaster County in PA to....SEE THE AMISH!
• We desperately need a break from reality, so that little getaway will be a lifesaver.
• I've lost 15 pounds....so far.
• I went out for Mexican last night, so I'm not weighing myself any time soon!
• I love reality tv....Is there a 12 Step Program for people like me?
  

Have a great Thursday! Remember...Hair is Important! Oh, wait....This isn't Shear Genius. Sorry! ;)

I have the best mom!

I got a surprise in the mail today. I'd post a picture, but for some reason, Blogger won't let me upload my pictures right now. So, in another post, I'll show the pictures.

Back story: Growing up, we took many, many family vacations to the Happiest Place on Earth, otherwise known as Disney World. 'Back in the day' (late seventies), there was only one park to visit...The Magic Kingdom. My parents, brother, sister, and I were so excited when we visited after EPCOT opened. We went every year from '77 until The Man and I got married in '86, sometimes even twice a year. My dad was a big kid at heart. I don't know how my parents afforded such extravagant vacations, with him being a school principal and her being a school nurse, but they did and we went.

As an adult, The Man had no interest in going to The World. So, one year my mom and I took The Boy on his first visit. That was a magical visit. A few years later, The Boy, his cousin, my sister's family and I went to The World. That was also a very magical time. However, I still wanted The Man to share in the magic. This past spring break, Disney was running a special: buy four nights plus tickets, get three free. The Man actually suggested that we should go! Don't have to tell me twice! I got on the internet and booked our stay at Pop Century with the dining plan. The three of us had such a great time and made wonderful memories together.

Back to my gift in the mail: Mom knows my love for all things Disney. I'm a freak! She found some beautiful material in Amish country in Ohio during her last visit and made us a pair of pillow cases out of it. It's pink with black Mickeys on it. Just beautiful!

My mom is a very talented quilter, seamstress, needle worker, etc. She has talent and patience that I can only dream of having.

Mom, I love you!