9 is a really hard year.. 2 part blog post.. Part 1
My mother.
I wish everyone in the world knew my mom and had her cell phone number. I'm sure she's glad this is not the case.
I rely on my mom for an embarrassing amount of things. To be honest, I don't think these are the typical "mom" things- though what's a typical mom? And who cares? Sure, I call her for recipes- but more often I call her to figure out how to convert grams into tablespoons or liquid measurements into solid measurements for recipes I'm working on.
I call her to confirm whether I'm getting a good price on a lb of chicken at the grocery store.
I call her to figure out if I should be concerned that while my stove is lit, the kitchen is beginning to smell like it's filling with gas.
I absolutely call her if anything breaks. 7 out of 10 times she has an idea of way to try to fix it... before I have to pay to replace it or hire someone to fix it.
I call her when I'm so sad I have no idea what to do.
I call her to figure out how she budgeted X amount of money to feed 8 people-- and why I spend that same amount of money to just feed myself...... (and how to budget better).
I DON'T call her to talk about mascara brands, clothes or hair straightening- but I DO call her to see if my hair straightener is safe to use if it seems to be shorting a circuit every time I turn it on. And I call to see which makeup brands and detergent brands might make my skin react.....because somehow she knows.
I call her (or just grew up seeing) what IS worth buying generic and what is NOT worth buying generic.
I call her to check consumer reports if I'm buying a car or any electronic......
I absolutely call about what I can and can't plug in to outlets in foreign countries.
I call her when I have an interesting dream to see if she had ideas about what it meant.
I call for book recommendations, and thoughts on the fiscal pros and cons of grad school.
I call(ed) her recently while building a coffee table....six times...to make sure I wasn't building it wrong. Granted, to my knowledge, she's never built a coffee table, but she answered every question like a pro.
I call her when that word I'm trying to think of is on the tip of my tongue and I just can't figure out what it is.. and she lists off synonyms of my description until we figure out the word.
I call her to figure out how to get my car out of the snow.
I call when I'm sick to figure out which over the counter medications I can and can't combine safely... though she's not a doctor, and my brother is. She still generally get's called first.
She might be the only one in the world with degrees in Electrical Engineering AND Marriage and Family Counseling. Do any of those skills cross over?
She's kind of like Google, but better.
She offers advice when I ask, but almost never burdens me with "advice" (lecturing...) I didn't ask for.
When we were kids, my dad told us that my mom had read every book in the English language. She hasn't, and that took us a while to figure out. But she may as well have.
What the hell does this have to do with 9 being a hard year? It has to do with advice she gave me when I was 9- great and difficult advice. Read part 2 if you completely understand why you should listen to every piece of advice she ever gives. :)
I wish everyone in the world knew my mom and had her cell phone number. I'm sure she's glad this is not the case.
I rely on my mom for an embarrassing amount of things. To be honest, I don't think these are the typical "mom" things- though what's a typical mom? And who cares? Sure, I call her for recipes- but more often I call her to figure out how to convert grams into tablespoons or liquid measurements into solid measurements for recipes I'm working on.
I call her to confirm whether I'm getting a good price on a lb of chicken at the grocery store.
I call her to figure out if I should be concerned that while my stove is lit, the kitchen is beginning to smell like it's filling with gas.
I absolutely call her if anything breaks. 7 out of 10 times she has an idea of way to try to fix it... before I have to pay to replace it or hire someone to fix it.
I call her when I'm so sad I have no idea what to do.
I call her to figure out how she budgeted X amount of money to feed 8 people-- and why I spend that same amount of money to just feed myself...... (and how to budget better).
I DON'T call her to talk about mascara brands, clothes or hair straightening- but I DO call her to see if my hair straightener is safe to use if it seems to be shorting a circuit every time I turn it on. And I call to see which makeup brands and detergent brands might make my skin react.....because somehow she knows.
I call her (or just grew up seeing) what IS worth buying generic and what is NOT worth buying generic.
I call her to check consumer reports if I'm buying a car or any electronic......
I absolutely call about what I can and can't plug in to outlets in foreign countries.
I call her when I have an interesting dream to see if she had ideas about what it meant.
I call for book recommendations, and thoughts on the fiscal pros and cons of grad school.
I call(ed) her recently while building a coffee table....six times...to make sure I wasn't building it wrong. Granted, to my knowledge, she's never built a coffee table, but she answered every question like a pro.
I call her when that word I'm trying to think of is on the tip of my tongue and I just can't figure out what it is.. and she lists off synonyms of my description until we figure out the word.
I call her to figure out how to get my car out of the snow.
I call when I'm sick to figure out which over the counter medications I can and can't combine safely... though she's not a doctor, and my brother is. She still generally get's called first.
She might be the only one in the world with degrees in Electrical Engineering AND Marriage and Family Counseling. Do any of those skills cross over?
She's kind of like Google, but better.
She offers advice when I ask, but almost never burdens me with "advice" (lecturing...) I didn't ask for.
When we were kids, my dad told us that my mom had read every book in the English language. She hasn't, and that took us a while to figure out. But she may as well have.
What the hell does this have to do with 9 being a hard year? It has to do with advice she gave me when I was 9- great and difficult advice. Read part 2 if you completely understand why you should listen to every piece of advice she ever gives. :)
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