Happy Mother's Day!

Dedicated to Mom and to all the wonderful moms out there!





I thought today would be "the hardest day" but really the days last week leading up to the weekend proved to be much harder. I felt "the crazy" creeping up on me many times, usually at odd and unexpected moments. It resembled, well, it was like those times when you just want to reach out and slap the other person, for no particular reason, but mostly because they didn't "get it" about just about anything. Or they were being ridulously difficult. Or, they didn't have as good of a solution as you. Could have been anything, but that's not very nice, now. Sorry, to whomever I may have entertained the idea of slapping silly. Just appreciate the fact that I gave up hitting other people when I was a teenager.




Not a day goes by when I am not reminded of my Mother. And yes, she was often in my thoughts before she died. The difference is that I used to be able to call her up and talk for short times or much longer, and plan visits in person. The difference is when a mother passes, it shifts the paradigms for others in sometimes healthy and sometimes dysfunctional ways.




No matter, I feel I can still talk to her, and I often do, which is something I appreciate knowing about and participating in. I remember when she called me the first time I was an "official" mother myself and got to celebrate my own Mother's Day (in 2004) how excited she was for us when we got our baby in the fall. How she held and cuddled him in her arms when he was only 6 months old. How we now ask her each night when our soon-to-be 5-yr older says his prayers, for her to watch over him. How sometimes I just want to laugh or cry when he now asks questions about her, depending on my state of mind and the type of question(s) he asks.




So, here was my mother's day, today. Got up early, to the sound of my text messaging going off by a friend sending wishes at 7:30 AM. Called a few friends before the guys started to wake up, including Grandma in Indiana. Called Grandma in Down County last night, since I figured she probably had plans and would either not be home or would have company at the farm today, and had also called one of my sisters yesterday. Of my 9 siblings from down county, I heard from 3, one yesterday, one by text messaging today, and one called. I will admit that while I sent messages to all but one of my 4 sisters (well, that one does not want anyone, or at least me, to contact her, making it hard to "leave messages") and also a sister-in-law, it was disappointing to only hear back from 2 of them. One hasn't called for YEARS, but yet she will send a random text message. Nothing today, won't answer a direct question or comment on her text msg on her phone, but will sporadically send odd messages at other times. I don't understand.... BUT, I "get it" that I will leave well enough alone and not stray where I am not welcome, regardless of the logic or reasonings behind the actions or reactions. I just cannot allow myself to spend any time worrying about the "funnies" of other people, I will not let it irritate me or drive me nuts.

Here's the Mother's Day card and poem that Christopher made for me at school, I love it!

Digressing over.... Mike fixed us all breakfast, including grits with scrambled eggs and cheese, green chile, and apple struedel that he had to let rise overnight and bake this morning. It was very nice, indeed! Then, we went outside with two big plastic trash bags and filled them up with weeds and leaves from about 80% of our rocked-in yard. For those who don't know, we don't cut grass out here in Albuquerque, we pick weeds. Best to do it with gloves! (1) because the cactus droppings have LOTS of microscopic needles, and (2) some of the weeds that blew in, including the tumbleweeds, have prickly parts that will cut you or puncture you. No fun. The two gigantic tumbleweeds that had blown into our yard in one of the last wind storms temporarily ended up over the fence and into the neighbor's yard. I'm sure they won't notice, since they don't do any yard work, and probably never go in the back yard (and we just need to pull them out again anyway). Usually, we take any tumbleweeds and throw them over the back fence, because the wind will carry them back out in the direction from whence they first came to us.

Our front hedge bushes. They have grown in the past 10 years, just slowly.

Did showers and headed to a friend's house about 25 minutes away, the extended family here that we fondly refer to as our "New Mexico Family". These folks are good people, will do anything, and are just really nice and honest people. They are from the area, and have taught us much about the southwest culture over the years. We do a lot of family events with them, which includes the mom and dad, Angie & Leo, and all their three girls and their families: Lee, Alice & Luisa. It was mellow and calming to spend the afternoon with them, no pressure, no expectations. The kids played on the trampoline outside (complete with safety net) and played "alien ship" where they used their squirt guns to spray water on any aliens who tried to steal their trampoline spaceship. I had returned a barely used container of "sugaring" solution to Lee, who does massage, facials, and body sugaring. So, she did everyone's eyebrows and whatever other body parts that we wanted sugared. She even fixed the unibrow on a couple of the guys.




Back home, time to get the little guy ready for bed.


This is when "something happened" -- maybe someone has a theory?




I was in the kitchen fixing a sausage burrito for Chris, he was in the small bathroom TCB (taking care of business), Mike was in the other end of the house. Then I heard a rather loud double-thud sound, and it sounded like it was done on the hallway wall, perhaps the front door. Which was odd, because people at the front door usually ring. Well, next thing I knew, here comes Chris half clothed, all concerned, calling "Papa, Papa?" as he looked for me. I asked him if he knocked the wall, and he said no, Papa did it. Well, I looked into the bedroom and saw the light under the little room door, so he wasn't roaming about. Then I checked outside to see if someone had come to the front door. There was no one outside, no one around the side of the house or walking down the street. So, I checked where Mike was again, and he was still on the other end of the house, and when I asked him, didn't even hear the knocking/thuds.




Perhaps it was Mom, making her presence known? Perhaps it was a bird that hit the front window, but it was a double thud this time, not something I've heard heard here before (unexplained, anyway), and the last time we heard a loud noice, it was one really loud single thud when the bird hit the front windows and then immediately fell down, stunned.




Hmmmm.... very peculiar.




So, I checked all the rooms, the garage, outside again. Of course, if there was something, Maya would have either eaten it or let us know we had company.




So, maybe it really was Mom, on Mother's Day, coming to visit. If so, then I thank you, Mom, with all my heart.