Saturday, May 9, 2009

Wishing your life away

Well, here it is Mother's Day already. Happy Day to all you wonderful mothers! You know sometimes I try to think up of cute sayings like in the Hallmark cards on the shelf, but nothing ever good comes to me. The heck with trying to write my own card! I have been thinking this past week about the maternal role models I have had in my life. First and most important it was my mom, then Maw Maw Minnie Belle (Maw Furr) and Maw Maw Kat.
My mom always told me "If you want something done you gotta do it yourself". Great. That is nice to know. For Mother's Day this year I wanted my bathroom spotless, you know the spotless where you can eat off the floors kind of clean. Well, I got it. Yep I did, I got home from ball game Friday night and cleaned it good. I wanted it done and I did it myself! Thanks mom! My mom is a worker. You know the ones, they never sit down. Always busy, gotta go, gotta go! Now what do you know-I am the same way. I can't stand to be idle. It makes me feel lazy. BUT...It has its good points! I am very efficient person because of this and I sleep like a baby at night! You know they say if you want something done, ask a busy person! But don't none of ya'll get any ideas-I charge by the hour!
My mom is also the kind of person that would give you the shirt off of her back (or her $100 flat iron) if you wanted it. She will not let her grandkids want for anything! I remember being in Sears as a young child and I think she was buying me school clothes and she had picked something up for herself, but when I pushed for 1 more thing, she looked at her item, thought for a second and put hers back and mine stayed in the buggy. Poor woman, she probably never got anything new and I was stylin' in my Pretty Plus sized wardrobe! I am not quite as bad because if I am lucky enough to find something that I like and it fits I'm gettin' it! I do get them something too, but that's just to justify me getting mine!
Well, I guess she is just about as good as it gets when it come to a mom. She got it honest though, and that's where Maw Furr comes in. Maw Furr was a mess! She died in April 2007, but there are so many things that she left behind. I remember saying I can't wait for summertime or I can't wait for Christmas and she would say, "You're wishing your life away." You know, now that I am older that makes sense. As adults what do we want to do with Monday-Thursday? Just sleep through it so we can get to the weekend? NO, we should not be wishing our life away! We should see each day as a chance to enjoy life. So what if we are at work, or cleaning, or trying to reason with a screaming child. It is hard to remember during these times that life is passing us by and we can't get a minute of it back. So today I pledge to try to pick my battles better and love every minute of it. Anybody else want to jump on with me? Maw Furr would be proud. She is also the lady that told me to never dry my bras in the dryer, "It will mess the 'lastic up in them." So you know what, my bras hang on my bathroom doorknob to dry. It makes sense to me! She was a wild old lady and I learned a lot from her too!
That leaves Maw Maw Kat. The most memorable thing about her was her grumpy ways. She gave my grandpa hell! He was so miserable because of her. She wasn't as bad towards me, but I saw how it was. I remember going to the kitchen to get a Little Debbie snack she said "Them thangs will make you fat." What do you know...they did! I don't now exactly what I learned from her because the time I spent with her I was young. I do remember going to their beach house in Holden Beach a lot as a child. I thought they were rich because they had a place at the beach (with a golf cart) and my grandpa was an electrician. I also thought the beach was 4 1/2 hours away, but then when I grew up I realized it is only 3- 3 1/2 hours away! Maw Maw Kat always wanted to give you something, whether it was money, clothes she couldn't wear, or knick knacks. She would sneak me money because she didn't want Paw Wetter to see that she had any to give. She was an incredible lady in her own way.
So, from these 3 wonderful women I learned this: Work like hell and enjoy every minute of it and beware of the Little Debbie's (they will make you fat)