Happy Mother's Day!

My mother:

• looks 10 years younger than other women her age.
• went to Antartica this year with my dad.
• when asked by my sister what she wanted for Mother's day, said, ''help me with the rain garden" (translated: help me pile dirt into this hole in the backyard.) My sister was thrilled...not!
• Nicknames: Aunt Chirp; Ever Crabby Aunt Chirp (by my cousins on my mom's side.)
• Was a camp counselor, so taught us all the songs, including this one about a cannibal king with a big nose ring who fell in love with the dusting maid, and every night by the pale moonlight, it sounded like this to me-eee...
• Loves the outdoors. Loves her garden. Loves tomatoes. Is very environmentally conscious.
• Does not like (but secretly loves) my sister's rabbit. Love in this context is in the sense of taking care of something's welfare even when it pees on your carpet.
• Does not like adultery or sex on TV or in movies.
• Forbade me to watch soap operas as a girl.
• Would give me a toothbrush with dish soap if she heard me using "the Lord's name" in vain with my girlfriends on the phone
• People always say we look alike. We had the same haircut for awhile. People always mistake us for each other on the phone.
• Hospitality is in her blood. The party we had yesterday was not just for my sister, but for *my* master's degree 4 years ago and for my brother's B.A. last year. We had people we knew from Warsaw (Poland), Bonn (Germany), Hope College (my parent's friends and my brother's friend), neighbors from the street, people we knew from Brazil...
• Forever finds me a shirt or something at yard sales.
• Hates clutter. She used to pay me 50 cents a trash can when I was younger. "Get rid of it, get rid of it!"
• Always asks me if my dishes are clean when we talk on the phone.
• Is not one of those moms who most greeting cards are written for.
• Can be exceedingly silly.
• Is one of my favorite people in the world.