My Mom's the one in front with the Big Gun

So, as many of you know, my mom’s been in town this last week and we’ve had some crazy fun times. It’s always fun traveling to a place that’s quite different from home, and when there’s family involved, there’s a sweet mix of familiarity and strangeness. Here are some of the fun things we’ve done in Virginia this week:

• Country Ham and Grits at local diner Pop’s – Mom’s first time with grits, and we found out that they’re not her favorite. Once a hash-brown girl, always a hash-brown girl, I guess.  George’s other son Matt, his wife Katherine, and their 7 month old baby Camden were in town and met us there. It’s so amazing to watch a baby grow up 2 months at a time – like one of those stop motion cameras filming flowers open or grass grow.
• Standing in my laundry room and watching the clothes go round and round in my new front-loader washer. First they go one way…. Then the other…. Then they get wet… I guess you can figure out the rest. It was fascinating for the first 15 minutes, anyway. They use less water, but take way longer – I think the water savings is greater than the extra electricity used, but I’m not sure.
• Dinner at my good friend Susie’s house with her mom, who is the same age as my mom. We were also fortunate to have Morgan and his friend, Dominic, join us as well. Susie made a yummy four-cheese pasta, I brought the bread, and my mom made some killer smoked salmon spread, which we ate for dessert.  The moms (all 4 of us) loved the boys’ contribution to the evening and a good time was had by all.
• We indulged my mom’s pruning fetish and let her have a go at the overgrown bushes in our front yard. She wielded that electric trimmer like a pro. When the bushes were a uniform size, I came around with the pruner snippers and cut out the dead stuff in the middle. Unfortunately, for some of those poor bushes, the entire middle was comprised of dead stuff.  I just couldn’t stop! Think bonsai and you can imagine how the front yard looks now. Artistic!
• Barkdust – we don’t call it mulch. It’s barkdust!!!!
• Mom’s birthday was Sunday, so we started early with dinner at the yacht club on Friday night. We were trying to set my mom up with a handsome sailing captain. There were a lot of older guys to choose from, but nothing blew our way. The setting was fun, the view was awesome, the company congenial, but don’t let me ever eat so much fried stuff again.

My mom’s 74 this week. Yet she’s a bush-trimmin’, barkdustin’, grits-eatin’ active gal. I love that she is willing to try just about anything. She can keep up with Morgan and I wherever we go and wherever we are, she looks fabulous. I can only hope and pray that when I reach my 74^th, I’ll be as active and open-minded. Happy Birthday, MOM!