A MOTHER OF A HODGEPODGE!

     This Sunday is Mother's Day. It is entirely appropriate and proper to honor those special ladies who put up with all our crap and love us anyway. Our friend Joyce, a very fine mother in her own right, has come up with another set of questions in keeping with the Mother's Day theme. 

1. Share something you appreciate (or something you appreciated as you were growing up) about your mother.
      My mother always encouraged me to do my best in school. She also had beautiful, long, wavy, hair which I inherited and which my daughter also inherited.

2.  A quote most commonly ascribed to Plato reads "Necessity is the mother of invention." When did this last play out in your own experience?
     My granddaughters visited Granny and me last week. The older girl convinced Granny that they needed to build a "Fairy House." Of course, the Fairy House needed a table and so it fell to me to construct one. A piece of cardboard, some scotch tape and a few tooth picks for legs, my granddaughter had a table for her Fairy House. She was very pleased! It made my day to see such a pathetic looking little table light up such a beautiful little face!

3. Share one of the earliest memories you have from childhood.
     I was blessed to have grown up with my maternal grandmother who lived with us in the same house. She was a devout saintly woman. I remember seeing her sitting in a rocking chair. She would rock gently as she peeled potatoes, mended some clothes, or did some other mundane and routine task. She also sang softly as she worked. I really loved my grandmother and being the youngest of three children, I was her favorite. My grandmother had great taste in grandchildren. (Insert tongue in cheek here!)

4. When did you last 'hit the mother lode'? What was it?
     My beloved SWMBO wants to construct a patio of sorts in the front of the house so that on warm summer evenings we can sit on Adirondack Chairs, sip iced tea and watch the cars drive past our house. To level the ground, I had to move some loam from a pile about 100 feet away, near the driveway. As I dug into the loam pile I struck the mother lode of worms. There were lots of them. I'll need to remember that should I ever go fishing this year.

5. What is/was your favorite dish mom made? Do you make that dish for your family/friends now that you're all grown up?
     One of my favorite dishes was Chinese Pie. Some people know it better as Shepherd's Pie. It's made with ground hamburg, corn and mashed potatoes. We still serve it today!

6. Mother May I? was at one time a popular children's game. It required no equipment or parts to play. What was your favorite childhood game where you could just turn up and play-no gear needed?
     There were two that were very popular in the neighborhood where I grew up. One was "Tag." The other was "Hide and Seek." We used to play them for hours.

7. Which TV mom (past or present) is your favorite, and why?
     Jill Taylor from "Home Improvement." She had to deal with three rambunctious growing boys and an idiot for a husband. She handled it all with grace and humor.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
      This is one of my favorite times of the year. The NHL is in the midst of it's Stanley Cup Play Off Season. It's a time when I watch hockey teams I otherwise would not watch. There is something different about playoff hockey than that of the regular season games.
     My beloved Boston Bruins are currently engaged in a best-of-seven-games series with the evil empire of the NHL, AKA the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens lead the series two games to one. My favorite professional hockey team is the Boston Bruins...and whoever is playing against the Montreal Canadiens! The Canadiens are the New York Yankee's of the National Hockey League!
     So please join me in saying "GO BRUINS!"