There’s just something special about the mama

I’ve been thinking a lot lately, well in the past year really, about the special relationship between mothers and daughters. There’s just not anything quite like it.

I think of the key moments in my life and my mom has been such an integral part of them. She’s always there supporting me and helping me. She believes in me, even sometimes when I can’t believe in myself. And by golly, she thinks I’m wonderful. But then again, she’s my mother so she’s required to think I’m wonderful.

There are just times when I want to reach out to my mom because I want or need her support. For example the other night when my picture fell and broke in the middle of the night and scared me half to death, who was the first person I wanted to call? My mom. But since I didn’t want to scare her half to death, I waited until a reasonable hour to do so. I wanted the sympathy that I knew she would give me, and of course she did.

I’m thinking about this for several reasons. The first is because of my dear Miss Ashley and her awesome mommy. It breaks my heart to think that my wonderful sister can no longer has that relationship because her daughter passed away. Now every time that I hear one of my friends who has children talk about their daughter, or even people who are older, it makes me think about that and hope they appreciate such a special relationship.

Along the same lines, I have several friends who no longer have their moms, and they have to struggle along without them. I can’t even imagine what a difficult trial that would be or what a huge hole it would leave in your life. It makes my heart hurt even thinking about it. So, to those friends (and some of you may read my blog), please know my heart goes out to you in a way I can’t even understand.

I dedicate this post to a very special person in my life whom I love with all my heart and appreciate more than words can even express: my mother. This is an old picture, but it shows exactly who my mom is (and yes we don’t look anything alike) and how happy she makes me. I know it’s still a few weeks until Mother’s Day, but I’ve been thinking about it lately which is why I’m writing about it now.

Scared the sleep right out of me!

I just had one of the scariest experiences, and I really, really want to call someone but since it’s the middle of the night, I don’t think that’s such a great idea. Late night phone calls are never a good thing, and anyone I’d want to call doesn’t deserve to be woken up, especially since it’s not life threatening or anything.

I’ve been sick for the past couple of days and, shock of all shocks, I actually went to bed early last night because I was so tired and am trying hard to get better. I was having a weird dream anyway when I heard this huge crash in my bedroom, complete with the sound of breaking glass.

What in the world was that?!

About six months ago the light fixture in the laundry room took a flying leap from the ceiling and broke everywhere, so I thought it could’ve been the one in my room this time. Instead, I saw that my huge picture frame (I think it has 21 picture openings) had fallen off the wall and broken everywhere.

It’s always distressing to be startled awake like that, but it was worse to see this picture frame that means so much to me broken. I’d already dragged myself out of bed so I set to work picking up the pieces of the frame, particularly the glass. I don’t want to haul it out to the trash in the middle of the night so right now it’s downstairs waiting to be taken out when I leave for work in the morning.

Honestly, I think a big part of the reason this happened is because my last place had a problem with mold that I was unaware of until I moved. I discovered this frame was bowed from the moisture it was exposed to in my basement and have been concerned about that, but it’s been fine . . . until now.

But now I’m awake and am not sure I can get back to sleep. And I kind of feel like crying, which I think is relief as much as anything else. I’m kind of glad my cousin isn’t here right now because I’m certain this would’ve woken her up too, even though part of me wishes she were so I didn’t have to deal all by myself. Oh well. Now I can’t decide if I should vacuum right now or if I should wait until tomorrow. I’m leaning towards waiting though because I really don’t want to wake my neighbors up, in case that loud noise didn’t wake them already.

Here’s to hoping I can get at least a little more sleep.

A little modesty please!

The other day I was out shopping with my friend, and I was disheartened by what I saw.

Immodest clothing everywhere I looked!

From tiny little (dare I say booty?) shorts to half shirts to sheer tops, I saw a lot of clothing that would leave little to the imagination if you wore it.

Yes, I know this isn’t a new problem, so why should it bother me now? I suppose it’s because I’ve come to appreciate a lot in the last year just how much your clothing says about you. I was told once that you don’t dress for the job you have but the one you want. Of course it doesn’t always work, but I’ve discovered people really do notice what you wear. I’ve tried to live this idea, and I must admit that I have a very nice wardrobe of tasteful clothing.

I know that layering is still all the rage, so not all of the clothing I saw is designed to be worn on its own, but even so I know that a lot of it will be. And it makes me sad. I can just picture some teenager trying to be cool and fit in by putting some of these clothes on her body, and it wouldn’t make her look like a person who should be respected. More like a person who’s cheap or easy, and who wants to be known for that?

No matter what age you are, you should always be mindful of the impression your clothing gives people because it always will whether you intend it or not. Just a couple weeks ago I saw this teenage girl on TRAX who was wearing these tiny little shorts that covered little of her legs and a halter top that left her entire back exposed. I’m sure she did it for the attention because if I as another female couldn’t help noticing, I know that this girl’s male friends probably couldn’t either.

I suppose my point in this post is that I think in this world we live in, a little modesty can go a long way. I wish more clothiers would provide us with a few more options for modest clothing.