Spotlight On....My Mama

An Ode To You, Mom

You're the one who gave birth to me

I believe the time was six-oh-three

What a glorious evening that must have been for you,

I'm sure you and dad were tired of it just being you two

A greater daughter I'm sure there's never been,

When you look at me, you must think, "what a win!!"

I kid, I kid. After all, this post is dedicated to YOU,

So let's begin to describe all the things that are wonderful about Linda Sue!!!

Well, this blog post is throwing me for a loop.  Not because I can't think of anything wonderful or sweet to say about my mom, but because:

a) I can think of too many things

b) I'm not one for a whole lot of mush and sap, but when it comes to my mom, and how much I love her, and what all makes her wonderful, it's kind of hard to NOT incorporate some mush and sap.  

So let the challenge begin.  Goal: communicate just how wonderful my mom is, without going OVERBOARD on the mush and sap.

Best Three Things About My Mom:

1) Her Selflessness

    My mom, without a doubt, puts EVERYONE'S needs and wants ahead of her own. Always.  If her kids are happy, she's happy.  If they're not, she's not. And she'll go to great lengths to make sure that we all always are.  

2) Her Helpfulness

    If my mom is with me, she's helping me, in some capacity.  ESPECIALLY now that I have Gunnar.  Most of the time, not only does she help me with things, but she helps me without me having to ask, and sometimes without me even be able to articulate what it is that would be helpful.  She just knows.  

3) She's An Enthusiastic Listener

    This one may sound weird, but it drives me nuts when you tell a story to someone, and you WANT them to really get into the story you're telling...excited, upset, amused, whatever it is you want them to feel with you......and they just stay kind of.....blah.  Well, maybe it's just because she's my mom, and therefore more interested in my tales than most people, but she always is (or at least always SEEMS) like she really cares about what I'm saying.

4) She's Really Pretty

    Ok, so what if this is shallow??  This bodes well for my future, right?  Assuming I have her genes, that is??

Top Ten Random Great Things About Growing Up With Her As My Mom:

1) Back when big, curled, sprayed bangs were awesome, I had the BEST bangs of everyone I knew.  My mom was an absolute pro at it.

2) A lot of times, when I'd come home from school (high school OR college), she'd have some cool little "treat" laid out on my bed, that she'd gotten me while I'd been gone.  Magazines, candy of some sort, a new outfit, etc.  

3) When I was in the hospital after having had my scoliosis surgery, and feeling and looking like crap, she shaved my legs for me, washed and blow dried my hair, and did my makeup, so that even if I felt like crap, at least I didn't have to look like it, too.

4) She makes the best chicken and rice recipe of all time.  It is literally to this day probably my favorite thing to eat.

5) Sometimes when she baby-sits for Gunnar at our house, I'll come home and randomly find my furniture dusted, my refrigerator cleaned out, or my floor swept.

6) She and I are just typically always on the same wavelength

7) She loved Nason, even before I did.  He used to come over to our house all the time with a bunch of other guys from high school, and she started buying his favorite candy for him, and keeping it in a bowl in our kitchen.  Who knows? Had it not been for her, I may not have even ended up with Nason! 

8) She actually saved my life when I was little.  I almost choked to death on a vitamin, and she fished it out of my throat, seconds before I died (that sounds so dramatic, but I swear it's true)

9) She taught me a lot about maintaining a clean, tidy household.  Now, my house doesn't even hold a candle to hers, in terms of being clean and tidy.  Hers may as well be a model home, and well, mine is a toddler home.  But, I do think most of the time I do a pretty decent job of keeping it pretty nice, and I know it's something Nason really appreciates, so I'm thankful to her for instilling that in me.

10) She introduced me to The Donna Reed Show, The Patty Duke Show, Beach Blanket Bingo, and of course...my beloved All My Children.  

You know what?  I just thought of one more thing.  I know it was supposed to be a Top Ten List, but this is a big one. One that I really appreciate, AND one that I want to strive to duplicate now that I'm a mom, too:

11) A lot of kids, especially when they get to middle school age, and ESPECIALLY high school age, don't really want to hang out with their parents anymore.  But I ALWAYS loved hanging out with my mom, and my parents in general, because I think they both did a really great job of creating fun memories with me, my brother, and my sister.  I don't have memories of just laying around the house being bored.  I have memories of constantly doing fun thing, and being on the go..festivals, picnics, checking out some new cool attraction or restaurant, getting snow cones and strolling around campus at the University of Florida (when we still lived in Florida) ROLLERBLADING AS A FAMILY (how dorky is that?? I loved it though.), and many other fun things.  That is a nod to BOTH of my parents, but I definitely think my mom had a big part to play in that.   

Well, neither of the above lists really did any justice to my mom, but they at least scratch the surface.  How about we try this?

Mom, 

I love you SO VERY VERY MUCH.  You are truly the best mom a girl could ever have.  The primary reason I hope to have a daughter of my own some day, is so that her and I can have a relationship like mine and yours.  Thanks for being my biggest supporter and fan.  Thanks for being such a great example to me of what a lady should be.  Thanks for sacrificing so much for me over the years.  Thanks for showing me how to be strong, in difficult circumstances. Thanks for giving me such a happy childhood. Thanks for being such a great mimi to my Butterton. He loves you SO much. Thanks for fishing that vitamin out of my throat all those years ago, so that I could grow up to HAVE a Butterton.  You are my third favorite person in all the world, and the other two are boys :)

Happy Mother's Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spotlight On....My Mother In Law

Remember a while ago when I wrote this post about our friends the Looper's?  And I was all gung-ho about making that a regular feature on my blog (highlighting important people in our lives, and writing a post about them, that is?)  Well, I kind of dropped the ball on that.  I think maybe I must have had a lot more time on my hands back in February, when I promised that, than I do now.  However, I thought in honor of Mother's Day, I would write not just one, but TWO, "Spotlight On's"...one about my mother in law, one about my mom.  So.....let's start with my M.I.L.

Phyllis Hengst, "Ma" as I call her, has proven to be QUITE the awesome mother-in-law over the last 9 years of mine and Nason's marriage.  She is the mother-in-law that every girl wants.  She's also proven to be QUITE the awesome "grammy" over the last (almost) 3 years.  She is the grandmother that every kid wants.

Now, I will say,  it DID kind of take her a while to realize that I wasn't going anywhere.  She liked me just fine, I suppose, but she just wasn't a  huge fan of the whole "serious dating relationship while still in high school" thing.  She referred to me as Nason's "friend" literally until we were engaged, I'm pretty sure (Nason and I never could decide if we were amused or irritated by that).  However, a mom to a boy myself now, I have to say.....I get it.  Anyway, even back in those days, before she was 100% "Team Hayley", she was already kind of becoming like a second mom to me.  And now......she most CERTAINLY is like a second mom to me.  I seriously don't get, and can't even imagine, what it's like to have a mother-in-law that you either can't stand, or, at best, that you just politely tolerate.  Similarly to my own mom, my mother-in-law is TOTALLY one of my BEST friends.

So, what are some specific things that make her such a great mother-in-law?  Well, glad you asked, because I just happened to have composed a little list here.

1) She raised her son WELL.
    She (along with Nason's dad of course, but this "spotlight" isn't about him) taught Nason from an early age what it means to be a man.  She made SURE that he knew how to do things for himself.  She made sure that he understood the concept of, "if you want something, figure out a way to get it YOURSELF".  He learned how to EARN things, versus just being given a handout.  She made him garden with her when he was little, because "some day your wife may want to have pretty flowers in the yard, and you'll need to know how to do that for her" (well, ok, that one backfired.  She should have known it would when his six year old self apparently replied, "why couldn't she just plant her own flowers if she wants them?"  He seems to still operate under that mindset.  Ha ha).  I could go on and on, but bottom line: a son who is raised well, goes on to become a husband who leads his own family well, and for that, I am very grateful.

2) She constantly does thoughtful things for me
    Case in point: just this week alone, she volunteered, on her own accord, to come over and help me install knobs on all of our cabinets in our house, AND two day later, volunteered to not only go and get a zillion different plants/flowers/trees for our yard, but also help me plant them all.  I didn't even ask for those things!  Didn't even hint!  She just thought of it, offered it, and then gave up her own free time to come help me with it.  And these are not remarkable and isolated events...she does that kind of thing all the time!

3) She is so.incredibly.helpful with Gunnar
    It is really rare that we even have to ASK her if she can watch Gunnar for us, while we have a date night, etc.  She volunteers so often, that she beats us to it!  Also greatly appreciated: she has learned/observed/memorized all the various things he needs/uses/likes, and has made sure to stock her house with all of it, so that when we bring him over there, we pretty much don't have to pack anything.  It's so helpful, and it's so thoughtful, and we really really appreciate it.

4) She's fun!!!!
    She's a little bit crazy.  She really is.  Her and my mom refer to each other as "Pootie".  Long story, that I'm not going to go into here, but you have to have a little bit of crazy in you to willingly refer to yourself as "Pootie".  Have you ever read the book "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood"?  She'd make a good Ya-Ya.

We've talked about this before (her and I), and our first memory of each other is this:

I was 16, Nason and I were just friends at that point (as we would remain for the next 6 years in her mind..ha ha), and Nason brought me, and my little sister (who for some reason was tagging along with me that day) over to his house, because he'd left something at home that he needed.  We pulled up, and she was working out in the yard.

I thought: She's so cute!  She's got a ponytail, and this cute little baseball cap on her head, and she's covered in dirt, and she kind of looks like a little girl that been's outside playing.

She thought: I've never seen such tiny little shorts before, as what those two girls have on!  This looks like trouble!!!

So....Ma.....15 years later....I'm glad that you were able to get past the short shorts, and the "Hi Mrs. Hengst, it's Hayley again. I'm sorry to wake you up/call for the 50th time tonight/etc" phone calls, and love me anyway.  It's so great having you as a mother-in-law, and I am so very thankful for you!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Capitol 10K

This weekend was the Capitol 10K.  My mom and I ran it together, and can I just say...I am SO.PROUD.OF.HER.  She went from saying (not so long ago) "there's no way I could ever even run a mile", to running in three different 5K's with me, to this weekend, running a 10K.  And when I say "run", I do mean "run".  No little walking breaks here and there.  Just solid running, for a solid six miles.  Make that 6.2 miles.  Now, my mom is young...pretty much a spring chicken still...but she IS still my mom...which means we at least know she's not in her 30's, and she's not in her 40's.  So I think that makes it even that much more of an accomplishment.  Grandma my arse.  This "mimi" has still got it going on :)

Anyway, I'm a huge fan of the Capitol 10K, and will definitely be running in it again next year. Great route.  Great weather.  Great city.  

Here's a few pictures for your viewing pleasure...

 Nason and Gunnar, waiting to watch us cross the finish line

 My cute boy, pretending he's running in the race

We're almost done!!

 Dad is so proud of his woman :)

 All I can say is "gross" regarding my appearance here, but I couldn't NOT include an end-of-race pic of me and my mom

Gunnar and Uncle Josh

  

Musings...

This week...
Enock Box...had his first birthday party.  Not his first birthday, but his first PARTY.  Him and all his little best buds spent the morning at Zilker Park.  The highlight of the party was supposed to be the train, but turns out, it wasn't running that day.  Enock AND his mama were such good sports about it though, and fun was had by all.  Well, by most.  Pretty sure Gunnar didn't really have much fun...turns out poor little guy was sporting an ear infection, that was making him pretty miserable.  The evidence is in the pictures...just look at him tugging on that ear!

My sister...came to the party too, and it was so good to see her.  Turns out, for a single gal, who is rarely ever around kids, she's actually quite helpful, and somewhat of a natural with them.  Wish I'd snapped a picture of her and Gun, but I failed to do so.  

When you don't realize your kid is sick.....it sucks, and makes you feel like a bad mom!  Gunnar has been a NUTCASE..an absolute NUTCASE, I tell you.....for about two weeks now.  Just inexplicably crazy.  In hindsight, when Nason and I think back, he WAS tugging on his ear a lot during those two weeks, and even complaining of stuff being "too loud", but he had NO fever, and other than being a NUTCASE (have I said that word enough?) he didn't act sick at all, so we were totally shocked to find out he actually had a pretty bad ear infection.  So if you learn nothing else from my blog, learn that sometimes kids can have ear infections, even with no fever!

Our weekend....was FABULOUS!  We spent the weekend downtown at the Hilton, and celebrated our "Valentines Day" Friday night....Kenichi, Max's Wine Dive, and tattoos (more to come on that topic later).  Then on Saturday, we joined up with our best buds the Box's and the Hunt's, and attended the A Future and a Hope Adoption Conference (more to come on that later, too).  That night, we decided to unwind from the day at Moonshine, which we'd never been to before, and now LOVE.  

The Vow...wasn't QUITE as good as I expected it to be, but I'd still classify it as "Really Good", and gosh do I ever love Rachel McAdams.  I seriously think she is just the cutest girl ever, and I gravitate between loving her (because how could you not?) and hating her (because I'm super jealous of her cuteness).  Anyway, in my opinion, it's definitely a go-see, but VERY girly (wouldn't recommend bringing your husbands along, even if, like my husband, they tend to somewhat enjoy girl movies.  This one is just PURE girl). Also, it's no "Notebook", so don't go expecting that, either.  Oh, and Channing Tatum is no Ryan Gosling, so don't go expecting that, either ; )