Since it's almost mother's day...

...how about a post about my mom?

I'm trying to figure out what to do today. My mother wants me to come over so I can see her cleaning progress. She's been cleaning kitchen cupboards and getting rid of old (reeeeally old) stuff she doesn't use. And since she has a general dislike for throwing things which might be useful at some point, guess who has recently acquired a few boxes of reeeeeally old stuff (i.e. food coloring, spices, jello, etc. from the 1980's)........ME! LOL - I love you mom, I know you are just thinking of me and trying to give me anything I could use. It's still funny though.

I remember going through her pantry a while back, maybe I was helping her clean shelves to make room for other stuff, and I found food that literally expired 20 years ago. I mean, really. There were cans that my dad bought, stuff my mother would never cook with. My dad has been gone for 8 years now.

It's always fun to help her sort through closets. You never know what you're going to find. Like her stash of old medical supplies from when she worked in the hospital. She hasn't worked for 17 years or so. And so we like to tease her about the kind of stuff she still has. A staple remover? Really? I mean, the woman is practically ready for surgery.....just in case!

As a kid, I was always amazed that everyone, even strangers, were able to tell what my mom did for a living. I'd get a paper cut and 5 minutes later my whole arm would be in a cast. So I'd be somewhere and some random person would feel sorry for me and say, "oh, did you break your arm, honey?".... and I'd say, "No, I got a paper cut." .... to which they'd reply "Mom's a nurse, huh?"....

Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a tad. But there was always a need to protect even the littlest of boo-boos in the best way possible.

Mom is a big saver. A little bit of a hoarder (I see where my Eden gets it). But not like those hoarders you see on tv. In addition to her love for saving, she has a love for organizing. So while she might have tons of crap she really doesn't need yet can't bring herself to throw, she also has incredible organizational skills so that she is able to keep a neat and tidy house. Although it has been a while since she's had any energy for cleaning and organizing, I think it might be coming back to her considering all the recent cupboard purging that's been going on. I'm happy that she is feeling energized and that her back is finally allowing her to do things she wants to do.

Over the last two weeks it had been her laundry room that she was organizing. She'd call me and tell me that she found 13 extension cords and 3 powerstrips and don't I need that sort of thing? Then I would tell her, no, I actually own like 20 extension cords myself and really think that I have an over abundance the way it is. So she would say, but are you sure you couldn't use 13 more?? She's constantly trying to give me things that she doesn't want or need anymore. One time, she brought over one of her old toilet plungers and stuck it in our downstairs bathroom because we only had one and it was in our master bathroom upstairs. So she thought we needed one downstairs too. My husband was like, "She brought over her old poopie plunger and stuck it in our bathroom?????" I would think after all these years, nothing she did would surprise him anymore ;)

So mom, if you happen to read this, I'm sorry for teasing you. You know how much we like to give you grief. But you take it so well! Anyone else would just get pissy.  I love you and all your quirky little hoarding and purging ways. You have a very giving soul and love so much to help out your children. I am very lucky to have you for a mom. You can give me your 20 year old jell-o any day =)