Happy Mothers Day to all of YOU!

I myself, am not a mom.  Never really wanted to be a mom.  Unless you count the dog.  To him, I'm Mom.
But MY mom - and my mother in law?  Different stories.  Both raised 4 kids.  My mom as a stay at home mother that didn't drive, my mother in law raised 4 BOYS (5 if you count the almost daily babysitting of their cousin), and did most of that on her own while their dad worked long hours at GM.  I think ALL of us - my brothers and my husbands brothers (we have no sisters between us), turned out pretty well.  It was hard to not spend every Mother's Day with my mom once she moved to Florida.  Thank goodness for phones, Facebook and emails.  And we've pretty much tried to spend as many as we can with my mother in law - but, at almost 80 years old - we can't keep a good woman down!  Off she goes again, on another spur of the moment road trip, friends in tow.  She still does what she can (mows and tends her own lawn, climbs ladders, etc), as often as she can, and we don't deter her from any of it.  We are thankful she is still ABLE to do so many things at her age, and still remember doing them! 
My mom's a bit younger than my mother in law, and still has my dad to help her with things.  But she still manages to remember every birthday, every event, every important thing in the family.  And not just in the immediate kid/grandkid/greatgrandkid family.  My mom is the ROCK for everyone - all my aunts, uncles, cousins on both sides of the family.  If she can't be here for them, she's calling them, emailing them, keeping in touch with them as often as possible.  FAMILY is what my Mom is all about.  It's what keeps her ticking.
And she's finally be home to tick for summer in just 3 weeks.  I can hardly wait.  We spend a lot of time together, although not sure what we'll be doing together this year.  Over the last 4 years, she was my part time FREE summer labor at the bead shop - helping with tagging, inventory, stuff that needed to be done.
Now that I don't actually have a shop, and seem to have a handle on my little space in the bookstore, there probably won't be much for her to do in that regard.  But I'm sure we'll find something.  Maybe a few road trips, gas prices be damned, maybe just some river trail walks - but we'll have mother/daughter time, no doubt. 
And I also feel fortunate that I adore my mother in law.  I know that many women can't say that about the mother of the man they love.  And even better, my mom and she get along, too - so we do mother/mother/daughter things together often too.  Truly some of the best times of my life!
So Happy Mothers Day MOMS!  You are ALL the best!
TTFN