Mother's Day Morning

The first course of my Mother's Day breakfast in bed was leftover Asian Noodle Salad brought to me by my well-meaning and oh-so-proud five-year-old Halle.

It was delicious...three days ago...for dinner.  Did I mention the dressing was made with lots of fresh garlic? 

When Lyla woke up I scooped her up in her favorite blanket and brought her to our bed.  She grinned, held her arms out wide and declared, "Happy Halloween!"  

She curled up beside me for the next twenty minutes, periodically asking when it was time for candy.

After the others woke up, I was showered with homemade gifts, bagels and cream cheese, and a mostly raw orange roll.  Yummmmmmm.

There were two hours left before we needed to head out the door to church so I dove back under the covers and into my three new books.  Wes had let me pick them out the day before as my Mother's Day gift.  Truth be told, he asked me to pick out one book.  But as I sat there in that leather chair at the front of Deseret Book, my brow wrinkled, trying to choose which two books to leave behind, Wes snatched up all three and met me at the counter. I am spoiled.

Nestled in my bed, deeply engaged in the first of the three books, I heard water running in the kitchen, plates clanging as they were being stacked on top of each other, and the sound of the dishwasher door closing.  Wes cleaned the kitchen.

Happy Mother's Day to me!

Avoiding Writing and Eating like a Hobbit

Quote of the Day:  Read the poem The Tao of Touch by Marge Piercy on The Writer's Almanac.  This poem was used there on May 5.  It spoke to me.

In order to avoid working on my next play, I caught up on blogs.  I actually zeroed out my Reader on Saturday morning!

I awoke to a loud thud. At first, I thought the twins were up and already going outside.  The door to the garage closes with a thud and rattles the house.  I got up, checked, and saw that they were still snoring in bed.  Hmm. I walked downstairs and didn't see anything out of order.  I heard the thud again.  Was that thunder?  No. It's cloudy, but not raining.  Then, I realized it was the sound of war manuevers at Camp Ripley, which isn't as far away as I think.  The entrance to the camp is about 20 miles south of here, but the land within the camp comes up to the Crow Wing River, very near my house.  It sounds like canon fire, (from what I've heard on tv shows) so I wonder, Why are they shooting off canons?  Are they just playing war games and Civil War re-enactments?  Probably not.

My imagination enjoyed playing with the sound, though.  Maybe it's trolls walking nearby, or using my roof as a percussion instrument.  And, speaking of Trolls, the boys and I decided that Saturday would be "Eat like a Hobbit" Day.  We enjoyed breakfast together - toast, cereal, an orange, coffee.  Then, we had a second breakfast - scones.  For Elevensies, I had a banana.  They had toast.  I thought I'd better take a walk after that, since luncheon was coming up.  And, for tea time, we had Oreo cookies and milk out on the deck.

Despite my best efforts - long walk, laundry, cleaning my room, and all that eating, I did manage to type a few more scenes in my play.  I'm now up to page 12!

The setting is the kitchen.

The main focal point is the kitchen table.

The characters are a family, trying to connect the past to the present, understand each other, and be whole.

I have a present day table setting, and one from the past.  This is the first time I've used flashback in a script.  I like it.  This story is a drama, filled with emotion.  I also included 10 year old twin boys, which lends to high energy and humor.

For Mom's Day, the boys got me great gifts - movies, a candle, and smelly bath gel, and they took me bowling.  They did great.  I am one lucky Mama.

I hope you all had a great weekend.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  What would be on your menu for "Eat like a Hobbit" Day?  How did you celebrate Mother's Day, or enjoy the weekend?

Happy Mom's Day

Quote of the Day:  You never really get to know someone unless you sit down together at the table and share a meal. - from my mom, Jane Siberg Aalgaard.  Inspiring words for me as I begin work on my next play, Kitchen Table Confessions.

I think my mom has a similar pose with each of her six children.  This is the picture in the front of my baby book.  I'm number 4 in the family.  The caption under the photo reads:  Momie is clowning to get me to wake up and smile!  And, I've been smiling ever since.  I'm known for my smile.  It's big and ready to greet you.

I've noticed that people are posting photos of their moms on facebook and writing up blog posts about Mother's Day this week.  I'll gladly jump on that bandwagon.  One Mother's Day, a few years back, I think my twins were infants, we were at my oldest brother Nathan's house to celebrate the day.  Mom was talking about a friend, or someone, who had been honored by her kids.  She said, "It made me wonder how you'll remember me."  Nathan said, "You are a healer of body and spirit."  I thought that was so beautiful.  I wonder if either of them remember that. 

Mom went to school to be a nurse.  She talks about her nursing school days often, and with affection.  At the time, the nursing students lived together, worked together, studied together, walked the snowy trek to classes together.  She said they became very close.  It was a chance for her to experience sisterhood.  When one of them got engaged, they'd throw the bride-to-be in the bathtub.

Mom was the nurse living in our little farming community of Good Hope.  She was called with nursing questions, I know.  She was called upon to be there for neighbors, I'm sure.  She's a good listener and cares about the people in her community and knows how to connect.

Mom loves her gardens and her Bible studies and good music.  She's the one who encouraged me with piano.  When I was a speech coach, one of my students recited the poem Thanking My Mother For Piano Lessons by Diane Wikoski.  I don't know if I ever thanked Mom officially, but I'll do it now.  Thank you, Mom, for piano lessons and encouragment, love and affirmations!  Have a Happy Mother's Day, planting flowers and watching them bloom.  I've often said that I am a unique flower in the weed patch of life.

I wonder what my sons will remember about me.

Journaling Prompt:  Write about your mom. What did she encourage in you?  Do you know her story, where she grew up, what she wanted to be?

Mother's Day with Four Boys

Quote of the Day:  The best thing about you is you kiss me at night. - from one of my son's Mother Day gifts.

We went to see Iron Man 2.  It was loud and full of car crashes, explosions, and metal on metal.  The boys loved it.  I like Pepper Potts.  She's both strong and beautiful.

Other things I've been up to...I cleaned out the garage and sent some things to the church's garage sale, making room for boys to have some guy space and play cards.

I also cleaned my room, hadn't dusted since Christmas, even organized this closet!

Purging, sorting, organizing, cooking, cleaning, lending my voice to a church service...what else...

Went to a terrific 6th grade band concert.  I LOVE band concerts.  That's my boy and his trumpet.

My twin sons are in separate 4th grade classrooms, but they did the same projects for Mother's Day.  They made a cute clay wall hanging with a little space for a tiny flower and filled out this card (writing prompts in bold, their responses in italics):

Eric's card:

You are special to me because you like to spend time with me.

I love the way you always love me.

I really like when we go to Mount Carmel (family camp).

Thank you for giving birth to me.

Charlie's card:

You are special to me because your really nice.

I love the way you always cook food for me.

I really like it when we have turkey gravy day at school  (I eat school lunch with them that day).

Thank you for giving birth to me.

They wrote out their cards independently.  It was just one of those twin coincidences that they wrote the same response to the last prompt.

I feel loved, and I thank God for my four healthy, happy sons, and for each day they are in my life.

Journaling Prompt:  What did you do on Mother's Day?  Write about your mom.  Write about your kids, if you have kids, or write about mothering other people in your life.

(This is my one and only post this week.  May is full!  I'll be reading your wonderful blogs when I can steal a bit of time.  Write on!  Thanks for visiting my little space in the world.)