Another birthday hits and so far I haven't bit the dust. I had a pretty nice day. I worked for three hours and then about 11:30 am Bitchey, my BFF came over and we went shopping for a couple of hours and then had lunch at Sweet Tomatoes. I kind of miss the anticipation of birthdays from yesteryear....used to be excited the night before, wondering about presents...what kind of cake (German chocolate , of course!) and how many times I would get wished a happy birthday...oh and the singing of the song. Once you're past kidhood, that just doesn't happen. I wish it did. As you age, the day just isn't that special any more and yet you wish it was. No answer to that problem.
However, all three of my children called and wished me a happy birthday. Marza brought a gift and funny card, John & Karen brought a funny card and Allyson stopped by on her way home from work with a Hoops and YoYo card. All in all, I know I'm cared for and loved by at least a few people.
All in all, a good day and....it was sunny. Beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Mother's Day is coming up...
Next week it will be Mother's day. One of the greatest blessings I've been given in this life is my mother, Jackie Miller. Words will never be able to express my love and appreciation for her. Growing up, I remember her always singing while she worked... and with seven children it seems like she was always working. If we were grumpy or complaining, she would start singing "Love at Home" and have us join in...there were a lot of grumpy versions sung by us children. The lesson we learned was that you can have fun while working hard and its all in your attitude. Mom never spoke ill of anyone (my children cannot say that about me) ...I don't know how she did it but she always looked for the best in everyone. That is a rare gift and is a major reason why I love the movie, "Pollyanna".
I also remember her watching the "Jack LaLanne" show on black and white TV and we would get our chairs out and do the exercises along with Jack. I don't think we ever lost any weight, but we lived with hope! We didn't watch a lot of tv , as black and white tv was not that tempting, but whenever there was a Doris Day movie on, we watched it and Mom did too , usually while ironing. She rarely just sat down and watched tv...always doing at least one other task.
Another favorite memory was going to the day old bread store with mom...boy we would load up. That bread was so dry, us kids would make our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and then dunk them in our Kool Aid to make it go down. My favorite was green koolaid....it brightened as well as moisturized! The funny thing is, it tasted pretty good....another fav was fried Spam sandwiches...there is nothing finer than a fried Spam sandwich with a lot of mayo. Mom used to make the dryest sandwiches.because that's how she liked them..no mayo, salad dressing, maybe a little butter. I think that's why most of us kids like a lot of sauce on our sandwiches..I'm the worst. I would probably be underweight if Mom had made wet sandwiches!!!
When I was a teen, Mom took me shopping for a new dress for the youth dance. Of course I found two I liked and wanted both. She couldn't afford two dresses, but I remember her saying..."Oh, I wish I had a million dollars and could buy you everything you want". We went home with one dress, but not disappointment. I knew she was doing what she could do and how she wanted to do more. Sometimes its enough to know you're loved and even a teen can understand when that's all that can be spent.
Mom almost always wrote and directed our ward Roadshows at church. She would write an original show and original music. We almost always won! And funny thing, she doesn't know how to write music. She would work up the melodies and get someone to write it down as sheet music so it could be played. I think my favorite was "The Egg and I". We had a blast..in those days we would travel to put on the roadshow in two different buildings and they even had awards. So much fun and the whole stake would turn out for them. We thought we were good enough for Hollywood.
When I married and had kids, it struck me how much my mom loved my kids and my children understood that too. She has such a great sense of humor and an ability to talk to her grandchildren that each one felt like they were her favorite. I've finally decided that each grandchild is her favorite...when she's talking with or visiting them. My kids love to have a little one on one time with Grandma.
We have the best memories of Mom and Dad at Seaside. Every summer I would take the kids several times to stay for a few days and go to the beach. We'd go down to hidden beach and just play in the sand...Mom and Dad would go and we'd just visit and watch the kids have a great time, what a joy for all of us. Then we'd go home and she always had chocolate peanut clusters or some type of treat for us to eat.
Probably my favorite memory is getting Mom with an April Fools joke. Every year, I would bide my time , wait until she was busy doing two things at once and when she was ready to go somewhere, I would look out the window and go..." You can't go now, you have a flat tire!!" She fell for it for about 5 years in a row. Once she had me figured out, I let it go for a number of years. My best effort was when they lived in Seaside and I was married with small kids, I called her up on the phone, we were talking and I casually mentioned that she had a flat tire. Oh!! she exclaimed, dropped the phone and ran out to check. I was in Portland...she was in Seaside. That worked twice and then I had to give it up because she was on to me. A sad day in Zion.
There are so many more stories and memories, but I just want to tell my Mom that she is the greatest Mom of all times and no one had a better one than me. Mom...you are an example of how to live your life, how to draw closer to Christ and you are still..."Jackie Jean, the praying machine"...everyone calls you when they need some extra spiritual help. Thank you and I love you forever! Elaine
I also remember her watching the "Jack LaLanne" show on black and white TV and we would get our chairs out and do the exercises along with Jack. I don't think we ever lost any weight, but we lived with hope! We didn't watch a lot of tv , as black and white tv was not that tempting, but whenever there was a Doris Day movie on, we watched it and Mom did too , usually while ironing. She rarely just sat down and watched tv...always doing at least one other task.
Another favorite memory was going to the day old bread store with mom...boy we would load up. That bread was so dry, us kids would make our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and then dunk them in our Kool Aid to make it go down. My favorite was green koolaid....it brightened as well as moisturized! The funny thing is, it tasted pretty good....another fav was fried Spam sandwiches...there is nothing finer than a fried Spam sandwich with a lot of mayo. Mom used to make the dryest sandwiches.because that's how she liked them..no mayo, salad dressing, maybe a little butter. I think that's why most of us kids like a lot of sauce on our sandwiches..I'm the worst. I would probably be underweight if Mom had made wet sandwiches!!!
When I was a teen, Mom took me shopping for a new dress for the youth dance. Of course I found two I liked and wanted both. She couldn't afford two dresses, but I remember her saying..."Oh, I wish I had a million dollars and could buy you everything you want". We went home with one dress, but not disappointment. I knew she was doing what she could do and how she wanted to do more. Sometimes its enough to know you're loved and even a teen can understand when that's all that can be spent.
Mom almost always wrote and directed our ward Roadshows at church. She would write an original show and original music. We almost always won! And funny thing, she doesn't know how to write music. She would work up the melodies and get someone to write it down as sheet music so it could be played. I think my favorite was "The Egg and I". We had a blast..in those days we would travel to put on the roadshow in two different buildings and they even had awards. So much fun and the whole stake would turn out for them. We thought we were good enough for Hollywood.
When I married and had kids, it struck me how much my mom loved my kids and my children understood that too. She has such a great sense of humor and an ability to talk to her grandchildren that each one felt like they were her favorite. I've finally decided that each grandchild is her favorite...when she's talking with or visiting them. My kids love to have a little one on one time with Grandma.
We have the best memories of Mom and Dad at Seaside. Every summer I would take the kids several times to stay for a few days and go to the beach. We'd go down to hidden beach and just play in the sand...Mom and Dad would go and we'd just visit and watch the kids have a great time, what a joy for all of us. Then we'd go home and she always had chocolate peanut clusters or some type of treat for us to eat.
Probably my favorite memory is getting Mom with an April Fools joke. Every year, I would bide my time , wait until she was busy doing two things at once and when she was ready to go somewhere, I would look out the window and go..." You can't go now, you have a flat tire!!" She fell for it for about 5 years in a row. Once she had me figured out, I let it go for a number of years. My best effort was when they lived in Seaside and I was married with small kids, I called her up on the phone, we were talking and I casually mentioned that she had a flat tire. Oh!! she exclaimed, dropped the phone and ran out to check. I was in Portland...she was in Seaside. That worked twice and then I had to give it up because she was on to me. A sad day in Zion.
There are so many more stories and memories, but I just want to tell my Mom that she is the greatest Mom of all times and no one had a better one than me. Mom...you are an example of how to live your life, how to draw closer to Christ and you are still..."Jackie Jean, the praying machine"...everyone calls you when they need some extra spiritual help. Thank you and I love you forever! Elaine
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