Mom Loved...

I really struggled trying to decide what I wanted to post for Mothers’ Day. I wanted to do a tribute to my mom, but then my own Mothers’ Day was amazing, so I had to write about that…anyway, end of story is that I think I’ll write about moms all week if that’s OK with you. 

My mom was an amazing woman who raised 8 kids on a teacher’s salary. She never worked for money when we were kids, but she did all sorts of things to help the family get by. She raised chickens and sold/traded eggs. When we had milk cows she sold and traded milk and cream. She made her own cheese, cottage cheese, butter, ice cream…you get the idea. 

She was an amazing seamstress! She made wedding dresses for several of my sisters and as she got older she loved sewing Barbie clothes for the grandkids. 

Barbie's by mom, Bossy's by me.

Mom had long brown hair that she could sit on. She usually wore it on top of her head, but one of my favorite memories was watching her wash it in the rainwater that poured off the roof during a warm summer rain. She swore that rainwater would make her hair the softest it had ever been. I don’t know about that, but her hair was always nice to touch. 

She loved books! She read everywhere, but her favorite place was the bathroom and her favorite bookmark was a clean piece of toilet paper. She never could read just one book at a time…there were usually at least half a dozen Harlequin romance novels piled on top of the diaper pail. The diaper pail wasn’t used for diapers, but it was a handy little table in the bathroom. When she got older and the kids were all in school she became a part-time librarian. Then she was actually paid to hang out at our small-town library and read. 

Cuddling with Gym Rat at the library.

Mom loved animals of all kinds, but most especially she enjoyed cats. We had lots of cats when we were growing up but Dad would never allow them in the house. Mom’s soft heart let us sneak them in sometimes on particularly cold nights or when the kittens were really small. She loved the ones with long hair and she would sit on the porch and stroke one while she watched us play in the yard. 

At my wedding.

Mom also loved sports. As far as I know, she never really played a sport, but she watched as many as she could. It didn’t matter if it were a pickup football game or a game of hopscotch, she loved to be part of the competition. She always came to my softball games and yelled the loudest from the stands. When my brothers were playing tennis in high school, she was their biggest fan. When all of her kids were grown and gone she started watching professional sports. She was addicted to professional tennis for a while and then she became an avid Jazz fan. Andrei Kirilenko was her favorite player, but she didn’t mind yelling at Karl Malone or John Stockton either. She really should have been a coach. 

**Editor's Note- I remember Grandma loved Andre Agassi.  When I was at college I would go visit and she was often watching Agassi slam the tennis ball back across the court.  It seemed fitting that he retired in 2006, the year Grandma died. It was like he knew his biggest fan wasn't yelling instructions at the television anymore.

Mom loved a good video game (she probably would have loved blogging too!). This was a habit she took up after I was married and out of the house, but I’ve heard tons of stories. Her favorite was Dr. Mario and she would get so excited she would literally jump up and down. One night she was racking up the points so well she topped her high score and the numbers kept climbing. She got so into the game that she jumped up, knocked the other controller into the off button on the game and everything went dead. She was not happy. 

Mom loved Cup-o-Gold candy bars, Almond Joys, chow mein (even the stuff out of a can!) and Thai food. She made the most amazing banana bread! (I’ll have to share that recipe with you on Thursday.) She loved pizza and chocolate chip ice cream, green beans and fresh tomatoes. 

But mostly Mom loved us. She would do anything for us from changing our diapers, patching our cuts, and wiping our tears to watching our babies, reading them stories, and wiping their tears. She loved us through her fight with diabetes and her daily dialysis. She worried only about us even as she lay at death’s door. It’s been five years and we still miss you. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.

Food for Thought: Navajo Tacos and Snow Scones

Clipart borrowed from Living Our Dream Life

 As my Mormon friends know, last weekend was General Conference weekend. That means what my kids call "church on TV," but it also means that the guys over age 12 all attend a special meeting at 6:00 on Saturday night at the church.  Several years ago, it was suggested that to encourage the younger boys to want to attend a meeting on Saturday night, that we plan a special treat afterwards. The first couple of years we made homemade donuts. The kids loved that because it was the only time of the year we made them. But they were difficult and my sweetie has Type 2 Diabetes so we started looking for a recipe he didn’t like so much.

Then we started making scones since the Gym Rat loves a good scone with cinnamon and sugar. But one day the Dog Walker decided he wanted ice cream for his after-meeting treat. This didn’t sit so well with the Gym Rat, so we decided to make both, scones and ice cream sundaes for dessert. That’s when my Dog Walker devised his brilliant beyond brilliant recipe for what he calls Snow Scones.

Now we make chili on Friday and then we make tons of scones and have Navajo Tacos and Snow Scones for Saturday. Unfortunately, my sweetie makes the chili and I haven’t convinced him to part with his recipe yet (that’s because he makes it a little differently every time!) but for now here are the recipes for our version of Navajo Tacos and Dog Walker’s soon-to-be-world-famous Snow Scones.


Navajo Tacos

frozen roll dough (like Rhodes)
cooking oil
prepared chili
lettuce
grated cheese
tomatoes
corn
olives
sour cream

Thaw out the roll dough by placing it on cookie sheets and covering with plastic wrap. Make sure you use some cooking spray on the sheets and wrap so they don’t stick to the dough. When the dough is completely thawed but not yet begun to rise, heat your cooking oil. You can do this in a frying pan but it must be at least an inch deep. We use a deep fryer, but either way will work.

Pic from Mitchell Butte Diner

Pull the dough flat with your fingers, trying not to rip it. It needs to be about ¼" thick. Then drop it in the hot oil. When the edges start to brown, flip it over. When it is a beautiful brown color, pull it out and let it drain on paper towels.

Cover that nice hot scone with warm chili, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, sliced olives and corn. (My sweetie says to pass on the corn, but we like it.)


Snow Scones

frozen roll dough
cooking oil
vanilla ice cream
chocolate syrup
strawberry jam
nuts – other sundae toppings

Follow the above instructions for making your scones. Then build yourself a sundae on the top of the scone. For the kids I tear the scones up just to make them easier to eat, but if you want pretty, do it like the one in the picture. Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day! Or should I say Happy Single Awareness Day?! That’s what the Drama Queen calls it. One of those days when you are the only one not getting a flower at the middle school or the only one not getting a smootch from your sweetie in the main hall of your high school. Or maybe you’re the only one not going to the Sweethearts Dance or the only one who has a blind date to the Institute Dance. (Hey, Teach, was he in an accident or was he blind at birth?) Seriously though, Valentine’s Day can be hard even if you have someone. 

Our church has a custom called the Adult’s Sweetheart Dance (not to be confused with the Youth Sweetheart Dance). Both are held at the church on the weekend before Valentine’s Day. Paying attention to the posters is critical! You would be in real trouble if you showed up at the wrong one. We have spent many happy hours at these dances, some nights just sitting and talking; taking a break from the kids, and sometimes dancing until our feet hurt. Often we show up near the opening song and stay clear through until the last slow dance. 

So this year we made our annual appearance, danced only two dances (the band was not my favorite), ate an éclair, drove back home to pick up Baby Doll, and then went out to dinner. We were trying to remember if we had ever missed one of these church dances since we moved to this area and we are pretty sure the answer is "no." Although it’s hard to say for sure since they are all pretty much the same. Except for the one in 1997. I had my knee surgery in the fall and I was still not completely healed. We spent most of that one sitting against the wall and just listening to the music. 

It was just before Valentine’s Day in 2001 that my sweetie was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. We had to skip the eclairs that year and only help ourselves to the carrot sticks and fruit. Then there was 2005. Scout was born the end of November so she was still really small. We took her with and she danced most of the night between us. 

One year they really threw us a curve! There were no eclairs, just ice cream and sundae toppings! Another year somebody got the bright idea that they were having a dance so they needed to take dance pictures. They accosted people at the front door and before they could say anything, they were thrust onto a couch, coached to smile, and their panic-stricken looks were immortalized for all time. Last year they actually put card games out on the tables so those with two left feet would feel like they could participate in some of the activities. 

 They always set up tables so couples can sit around and visit and eat goodies and just think about dancing when a slow song comes on. And this year they added something else…they put huge candy bowls on each table and filled them with conversation hearts, chocolates, chocolate covered pretzels, and gummy bears. We were supposed to get a little cello bag and fill it with stuff from each bowl. It was really just a ploy to get us to talk to people at each table, but we were smarter than that. 

We waited until they played a slow song. Most of the couples got up to dance and that left the tables empty. We quickly visited each candy bowl and scooped up a ton of goodies for our babysitters at home. Then we took our bags out into the hall and stuffed them into the pockets of my jacket. We headed back into the gym, once again giving the photographer the slip, and finished out the last part of the song. We stopped at the refreshment table for another éclair (stocked by my own Prima Donna), and ducked out the door. 

It wasn’t moonlight and roses, but the candy put all the little ones in a sugar-dazed stupor so we were able to spend the last tiny bit of the evening alone in our room. Well, if you call "alone" Curly in the little racecar bed and Baby Doll asleep in the crib…I’d call that a Valentine’s Day success.

Gym Rat

I have four amazingly smart and cool sons! But today I want to tell you a little bit about my oldest son. We call him the Gym Rat because he spends about two hours a day in the gym every day but Sundays. He works a full time job carrying huge buckets of paint as a deliveryman for a local paint store. He also goes to school part time and has recently changed his focus to Physical Therapy. He is intensely interested in the body and how it works. I think there are two reasons for this.

First of all, about the time he hit 8^th grade he became unhappy about his size. (Before that he was fine with it because he was playing the line on a pee-wee football team and bigger was better.) At 21 he was 6' 6" and well over 300 pounds. He worried about high blood pressure and diabetes, so he decided it was time to do something about it. He started watching what he ate. He was the kind of guy who hated vegetables and lived off cold cereal, bread, pasta, and Doritoes. He also started working out, and instead of working for Blockbuster, he got the job at the paint store. It didn’t take long for the extra weight to morph into extra muscle.

www.rawfoodlife.com

As he became stronger and more fit he decided he might want to change his diet. First he added fruit and when that didn’t kill him, he introduced a few vegetables. He still doesn’t like them much, but he tolerates some of them. (Once we hid a pea in his sandwich and he found it! Another time we fed him eggplant lasagna and he ate it until we told him what it was. And he was pretty grownup when one day he was eating potato soup, found a tiny piece of onion in it and actually THREW it at me across the dinner table! It was a good thing he was done eating because he spent the rest of the evening in his room thinking about it.)  Today he told me he eats broccoli every day! He also eats peppers on a regular basis.  Changing his diet also meant learning to cook. That is an adventure he enjoys very much.  He and a close friend have their own little business called "Warriors Fitness." They are hoping to eventually open their own gym.

The second reason the Gym Rat is interested in how bodies work is that he has a friend who is a paraplegic. He was injured in an accident shortly after they both graduated high school. He has no mobility in his lower body and limited in his upper body. This friend craved independence and the Gym Rat helped him to find it. They moved into an apartment together at school, and my son helped him with that transition. He put him to bed at night, drove him around (until his friend got a special van), carried him where he needed to go, and even assisted with other not-so-pleasant tasks. I have never in my life been that nice to anyone.

When someone needs to move a piano or a house, the Gym Rat is the first and last name on the list. When some pretty little girl has a broken heart, she seeks out the Gym Rat for comfort and cuddles. His broad shoulders carry many burdens for others willingly and often. His little brothers and sisters are so excited to see him. "Do a trick!" they squeal as his lifts them upside down and around his neck, setting them gently on their feet just so they can reach up for another one. He never walks into the house without seeking me out and giving me a hug first thing. I always used to say that I found the best man when I got married, but my son is even better. He is kind, even-tempered and unpretentious. He will be a bit annoyed about all the fuss over him, but he will roll with it just like he always does. I so admire my son and his willingness to serve and take care of others and improve his own life at the same time. Now if he would just find a nice girl and get married…Happy 24^th birthday Big One! Love you. Mom

Pain and Triumph

I have fat genes and I have fat jeans! Unfortunately for me, thunder thighs seem to run in my family. I’ve been on dozens of diets, but losing weight is definitely one of the hardest things I’ve never managed to do.

When I was pregnant with number 4 I was borderline gestational diabetes. I was unhappy and unhealthy. The scales tipped past the 300 mark and my baby was born at 10 lbs 1 ½ oz. She was beautiful and healthy, but she looked like she was 3 months old rather than a newborn. I managed to drop back below that ugly number, but then I got pregnant again. Number 5 was 9 lbs 2 oz. This trend just couldn’t continue.

It was about that time that we started building a new house in a new neighborhood. I was excited to learn that church sports included volleyball. My sweetie agreed to join me on the co-ed team. I loved to play, but my weight made it difficult for me to move quickly around the court. I tried my best, but one Thursday night I moved toward the ball, heard a small "pop," and that was it. I couldn’t stand up! My knee was totally gone.

My hubby got to me first. He and a neighbor pulled me upright but I had no control over that leg and nearly collapsed. They moved me to the sidelines and then eventually to our car. I had torn my ACL and the only way to repair it was surgery. It was 1995 and the surgical techniques were not as advanced as they are now. I was forced to choose between a cadaver and my own hamstring for the repair. Since I was not excited about the thoughts of someone’s dead body part in me, I chose my hamstring. That was my first mistake!

It is still painful… No one mentioned that it would be a year before I would be able to have mobility without pain. That I would have to wear a brace for months…that crutches were difficult when you had a two-year-old crying and wanting to be picked up. As lousy as the recovery proved to be, one good thing happened…I lost weight! Lots of weight! Over 40 pounds!

It was just too hard to drag myself to the kitchen to get food during the day and I had to rely on someone else to take care of me at night. I managed to keep that weight off and it has made all the difference in how good I feel and how much exercise I can do. The knee still aches when the weather changes, and I have lovely scars that run up the front of my leg, but as far as diets go, it was the one that worked the best.