Things My Mother Taught Me...

On this Mother’s Day, I would like to share some fantastic things my Mother taught me…

To see things from a positive perspective

My Mom was an optimist…

She always made you feel like things would work out… no matter what!

She had a knack for helping you see the bright side of things…

TEENAGE ME: ‘Mom! My boyfriend dumped me! (boo-hoo… Sniffle, sniffle)

MOM: ‘Don’t worry! He wasn't good enough for you anyways! NOW you are free for all of the other cute guys to ask out!’

See what I mean?

Miracle Worker!

To LAUGH

My Mom could laugh at herself…

She taught me that it’s all right to not be perfect and when you’ve totally messed up, it’s okay to find the humor in the situation and have a laugh… even at your own expense.

I put this to practice almost daily…
Which means that I mess up ALL the time, therefore I laugh A LOT!
(which I hear is very good for your health!)

To LOVE

Mom gave us love unconditionally, always…

I know that’s how a mother’s love is supposed to be, but have also seen that in real life, many kids don’t have that.
I’ve seen parents trying to relive their broken dreams by attempting to fix their own disappointments through their children, which sadly, usually spells misery for the one it’s inflicted upon.

I think that Mom loved us even more because of our shortcomings and encouraged
us to be ourselves… the best ourselves we could be…

To LIVE

Sadly, out of all the wonderful things that Mom gave to me, the one that drives me the most is the one that she didn’t realize she was teaching me…
To live life to the fullest.
Mom became seriously ill when she was still young… in her early sixties…
She fought her losing battle to cancer with guts and grace.

Throughout her illness, she told me over and over again that she was too young for this to be the end…

With those words, I realized just how precious life is…

We never know how many more days we have…

What she bestowed on me was the ability to LIVE today just because it’s here and so am I…

So good, bad or ugly, bring it on! (well…hopefully not so much of the bad or ugly, please)

Each day brings new reasons to practice my motto; Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much!

I miss her so!

Especially on Mother’s Day…

But, oh boy! What a legacy she left behind!

We all carry around pieces of her that she gave to us so selflessly from the moment we came into her life…

Thanks for everything Mom!

We Love You!!

XO!

Birds of a feather...

We were over at Ferry and Tays a couple of weekends ago...

When I heard an unfamiliar squawking...

They all just rolled their eyes...
I ran to get my camera...
Come out, come out, wherever you are...

Ready or not!
Here I come!




One of the wonderful surprises that I
so enjoy about living where I do!
When is the last time YOU had a peacock wandering around in your yard?




He didn't appreciate me acting the paparazzi and following him
around the yard...
Clearly, he wasn't trying to impress me either...
This I know, because he never once fanned his tail out for me...

After listening to several of these glorious creatures make noise all afternoon, I understood why everyone had rolled their eyes at my excitement earlier...
For such beautiful birds, they sound horrible...
They don't have a 'song'
They sound more like one of the contestants on American Idol who come to the auditions all decked out and flashy and expect to make it because they are the 'whole package'...
Or NOT...
Because the minute they open their mouths,
you forget how great they look...
You just want them to stop... immediately!
(if not sooner!)

My sister put it well when she said, "I guess it just goes to show that no matter how beautiful you are, it's what comes out of your mouth that matters!"

I think all of the Idol rejects didn't get that memo....
(nor did the peacocks!)