happy birthday, mama!

in an attempt to wish my mama a happy birthday, i wanted to share with you some of the reasons my mama is so special:

1. she is not shy about expressing herself. seriously. if my mom is mad at you, you will know about it. she is not passive aggressive. I've seen her throw salads, tell off the cable man, slam doors, not to mention the stories she tells about herself in her "younger days". on the same note, she also tells me how much she loves me, how proud she is of me, and how perfect I am (yes, she really thinks this) oh, about six or seven times before we get off of Skype. and hugs, she is not scared of hugging you to death.

2. growing up, she was always fond of games. my momma and me played many games all the time together. cribbage. scrabble. gin rummy. she was the only one who liked games as much as me.

3. the woman can cook. we might not have been the richest family in bogue, but you would never have guessed it by the quality and flavor of the foods we ate. she is the reason I shrivel my nose when I hear what other people grew up eating.

4. she is a tough lady. monday - friday my mom was always up before dawn. getting ready for work, getting us ready for school. sometimes she worked on the weekends. most of the time she held at least 2 jobs at any given time. she is what my dad would call a "tough broad".

5. clean freak. the house was vacuumed every day. dusted once a week. a load of laundry was ran every day. everyone showered once a day (it didn't matter if you "didn't do anything" that day). to this day, i can't relax after dinner until the dishes are done. she might have given me a complex.

6. one time when a boy broke up with me, she bought me a magazine/book totally devoted to prince william.

7. when i moved in with aaron after 5 years of dating, she asked me how i would keep my virginity. bless her heart.

happy birthday, mom!