Happy Mother's Day!

I'd just like to take this opportunity to send a big old shout out to alllll the moms!

So many of my friends and clients have become mothers this year... and more have babies on the way. One dear friend is even expecting triplets! The fun is just beginning.

Before all this, though, there was MY mom.

The best, prettiest, coolest, sweetest mom ever. She never failed to foster my creativity and certainly never thought anything was "too silly". I remember when my best friend and I liked to crawl around the house on our hands and knees, wearing kitty ears and tails, meowing and purring. Mom humored us by feeding us nachos on the floor in my bedroom closet, because that's where the kitty house was. She always made me home-made cakes and decorated them with sprinkles on my birthday (not just at my birthday "party"-- ON my birthday-- because that day was special too, and warranted celebration).

Time and time again, she made me foil crowns and bracelets so I could REALLY be WonderWoman in my sweet costume-bathing suit with my zip-up boots. She brought my grandma along and cried tears of "mom joy" when we'd sing Christms carols in elementary school. She brought me home "surprises" (pieces of candy from a shop near her work that were QUITE the treasure, because they weren't the kind of candy you could find at the grocery store). She always had 50 cents when the ice cream man came driving around. Upon return from any sort of celebration, she greeted us with pieces of fancy cakes and cookies wrapped in a colorful napkin.

When she won money at Bingo, she always let me help her spend some of it... even if it was on something horrid like a white satin "Derrick Dolls" jacket (in my defense, it was 1981 and the Oilers were pretty cool). She never got mad, no matter how many times I "borrowed" her makeup or clothes.

She gave up her summer weekends (and let's face it, lots of weeknights) to accompany me to softball practices, games, and tournaments for all those years I played competitively... She always had a $20 bill handy when I was leaving the house to go back to my dorm in college; and looking back, she always made every one of my friends feel welcome in our home, like one of the family.

From the start, she accepted my (step)children unconditionally as part of the family, never looking back or asking questions. They are her grandchildren, no clarification is necessary.

I guess sometimes growing up, you don't realize how lucky you are to be part of such a wonderful family; but once you have a family of your own, you finally realize how hard it must have been for her to make life so sweet for you.

Thanks, Mom. I love you :)

Here are some throwback shots of me and my mom, taken by my always-handy-with-a-camera dad-- and of course a gratuitous shot of the WonderWoman bathing suit, complete with one handcrafted foil crown (check it out, she even put a jewel on it for me!)