When Mother's Day Takes a Wrong Turn

Mother's Day is certainly a good day for family gatherings and visiting, sharing, laughing... Our family has been known to do this on Mother's Day and other special days as well, and we look forward to these times, especially when we can all be together. Except when that special day takes a wrong turn. Which Mother's Day did for us this year.

Most of you might remember that Mother lived with me for 4 months last year, and we got her right back to her independent state, and she was able to go back home, which is what she wanted to do. In the last month, and particularly the last few weeks, her health decided to decline and on Wednesday, May 9, 2018 she was called home. We celebrated her life yesterday and got smacked in the face with Mother's Day today.

Not exactly the way we wanted to spend Mother's Day weekend. Not even close.

Instead of focusing on the sad side I want to share the upside of the weekend, because there were upsides and because that's the way she would have wanted this post to go.

The upsides of saying goodbye on Mother's Day weekend:

1. The reminiscing. And did we ever reminisce.  For hours. Talk about something being therapeutic goodness but that's exactly what all our reminiscing did for us. It didn't matter if a tale someone told was one we'd heard one thousand times before we laughed like it was the first time. We remembered and shared and laughed til we cried tears of joy/sorrow if you know what I mean. Mostly joyful tears because we got to be her family. 
2. Family members reunited. How does it happen sometimes that family members become estranged? I don't know, life happens and BAM. Yes, it's sad it takes something like this to bring folks around but instead of focusing on the why we chose to focus on the joy of the reconnecting. And now those who have drifted away are back in the fold. 
3. Visiting with extended family. Have I mentioned that Mother's side of the family is rather large? I've written about our family reunions in the past but a family funeral is almost like a family reunion because everyone who can come, comes and we talk and share tales and laugh like crazy people and we surround one another the kind of love I would hate to have lived my life without. Mother LOVED that extended family and they LOVED her. So do we. Family is better than anything. Even when they're crazy. Which we are but we like it that way.
4. You realize it's not the day but the times that make life special and dear and you are extremely grateful for the time you were allowed to have with your mother and even though she's gone she instilled life lessons to get you through in good times and bad. 

It's a short list because even when you choose to focus on the positives you still had to deal with saying goodbye to your Mother on Mother's Day weekend and it is not pleasant. 

I did love having everyone together. You feel you can survive anything when all your babies and their babies are with you at the same time.

And you know your mother would love watching the youngest member of the family get a drum lesson from his Uncle DrummerBoy--

And become a Wild Feathers fan ---

And get dressed up for the farewell---

And she most definitely would have enjoyed our laughter because tears are to be shed for only a moment and laughter every day. 

Farewell, Mimi, we will carry your legacy of standing tall and strong, of putting family first, of loving to our fullest, of being fiercely supportive of one another, of fighting against social injustices, of finding a reason to laugh in every situation, of that strong work ethic, of putting others ahead of ourselves, of not noticing the color of a person's skin, of being loyal and trustworthy, of always learning something new, of always finding the good in others proudly forward:

Mother (left) and Aunt Betty

Mother and me

John Prine Rocked Charleston Last Night

Last night, I enjoyed my Mother's Day gift from NashvilleDaughter. In May, this very thoughtful child gave me two tickets to see John Prine. John Freaking Prine, Y'all. I've been a fan of his for over 3 decades. DECADES. And have never seen him in concert.

Well, now I have and it was FABULOUS! He sang several of my favorites. I mean, I love all of his music but I do have favorites. And he sang several of them. Like this one:

And he danced off stage which was so awesome! I do have a video of this but Blogger is not being nice right now. 

I was among my people. 

The crowd was wonderful too and Y'all know I am not a fan of crowds. But I was among 'my people' so... We weren't the youngest people there but we weren't the oldest. These were people with whom you could start up a conversation and enjoy it. Strangers who share a love of all things Prine. There were familiar faces there, as well. Two of them being two of my favorite people in the world. 

The North Charleston PAC was the perfect venue!

The venue was lovely. I've been there several times- the North Charleston Performing Arts Center- and I was delighted to see they have kept the place quite nice. Except for the seats. Those things are so uncomfortable. Seriously, the hard wooden pews at the Ryman in Nashville are more comfortable than these seats. Did it matter? Not once John Prine took the stage!

Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys was the show opener.

The band who opened was good. Very talented. But I didn't know any of their songs and I was there for John Prine. It's Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys and the music was good. He was funny and there really was no denying the talent so I will pull them up on Spotify and listen just to be fair (several of their songs were quite appealing) but not knowing them or their songs had me becoming bored and a little impatient. Once John Prine took the stage, it was all worth it!

We knew that Prine had had some serious health issues but no one could tell it last night. Either he has doctors who work miracles or great resolve (or a combination) but he showed everyone that he's still going strong!

If you love John Prine and he comes to a venue near you, GO. Go and enjoy. You will not be sorry!

Please visit my Etsy shop, CoasterDoodles

and feel free to FAVORITE the shop
or buy something! 😁💓

There's something new at CoasterDoodles!

Mother's Day Brunch

What happens when one of your daughters grows up and buys a house? She hosts some of the family gatherings!

She makes us really delicious food.

And has a beautiful, smart, funny, amazing baby.

And a wonderful/wacky husband.

She never minds us coming to her house no matter how nuts we are because she's used to it.

She arranged everything including having Great Mimi picked up and brought over for Mother's Day brunch because no family gathering is complete without the generations coming together.

Speaking of the generations... I saw the cutest teepee online and thought it would be adorable for Baby M. Until I looked at the price. YIKES! So, I asked Mother (Great Mimi) if she would make one. She did.

I'm convinced it's a gazillion times better than the ones at the store FOR A FRACTION OF THE COST.

And then there's the whole, ours was made with love thing.

One of the best things about this Mother's Day? Watching my daughter be a most amazing mommy. 

Oh, the dogs had a good time, too. 

Just because I can because I'm Grandma---

What did y'all do this weekend?

Please visit my Etsy shop, CoasterDoodles
and feel free to FAVORITE the shop
or buy something! :)

What's the Secret to Getting It All Done?

I wonder how the moms who write, have online stores (or some other form of work from home or work outside the home) get any work done at all. Do they not sleep? Are they actually super humans? Do they simply never tire? Are their SOs so involved with the family it's like the moms have 24/7 hired help? Do they have actual hired help? Do they take their coffee intravenously? What. Is. The. Secret?

I'm not the same age I was when the lovelies were little but I'm not ancient, yet. So, why does it seem close to impossible to take care of Baby M five days/week, run an Etsy shop, and do everything around the house no one else will do? What is the dang secret?

It doesn't help that grandchildren are so cute. 

I interact with Baby M the whole time she's with me unless she scoots off to the side and entertains herself- which she enjoys doing but it doesn't last long enough for me to get anything done because she's so cute I have to watch her play by herself. It's not that I mind her having time to herself it's just she's still little and can get into things in a matter of a fraction of a fraction of a second. And the cuteness factor. And I'm not as fast these days. But still...

I prefer advice that is truly helpful.

Someone suggested putting your work on the dining table so your kids feel a part of it or something like that. Perfect for me since my dining table is my work table and Baby M certainly feels a part of it as she reaches for the keys on the computer or wants to hold the paint brushes and pens. And that woman is a published author? Wow. Great advice. Anyway...

I don't remember how I did it when the lovelies were little but I did. I always had the energy to spend my day with them and the night with cleaning the house AND I got to sleep! These days, I can give up the house cleaning or the sleep. It's crazy.

This year, I'm shouting out to the working moms.

So, Mother's Day weekend is here and I'm shouting out to the moms who have full-time jobs inside or outside the home and still manage to do EVERYTHING else because no one else is going to do it. I have nothing but total respect and admiration, ladies!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms who can do it all!

And live to tell it. 

This post is linked to Five Minute Friday where we write for five minutes about the prompt without stopping. Well, mine went on after the timer stopped and I didn't want to lose my train of thought but I don't remember where I was when the timer beeped. So this is probably about 10 minutes.

The prompt this week is MOM.

Please visit my Etsy shop, CoasterDoodles
and feel free to FAVORITE the shop
or buy something! :)

Space Shower and Mother's Day

We enjoyed a lovely time at a couple's shower for the soon to be mommy and daddy over this Mother's Day weekend. I have to say, it was a perfect way to celebrate Mother's Day. I really tried to keep the number of photos down this time. :)

Birdie, big sis Breezy, and SIL

Everyone painted a space themed masterpiece for the nursery. Which will be..interesting. Ha! Not all of us are talented in this way. 

Daddy to be with his sweet niece. 

Crazy DoodleBug. 

The opening of the gifts. 

We're kind of a book family. 

And then there's the whole Clemson and  baby Chuck's thing. 

Like I said...LOL

Mother's Day just keeps getting better and better around here.

Chainsaw On A Stick

Yep. You read that right. There is such a thing as a chainsaw on a pole. And I got one for Mother's Day.

Some of you may remember the fact that I am having fifty fits/day over the limbs in the oaks that NEED to be taken down. You may also remember that getting the father of the lovelies to do anything around the house is, virutally, impossible. I've been told that, if I want them cut, I should go out there and cut them.

Right. A couple of issues.

First, I've never cut limbs.

Second, I'm terrified of chainsaws.

I'm one of those people who avoids all things that I foresee as causing harm. And pain. I'm not a fan of pain. Never have been.

But then, while watching my addiction channel (HGTV), I saw Chip Gaines (Fixer Upper is my absolute favorite) trimming tree limbs with a chainsaw that was attached to a pole. WHAT?! I had NO IDEA they made chainsaws like that.

So I wanted one. My thought process is this: if that chainsaw is far enough away from my face, I won't chop my head off. AND, I can get those dead limbs down and have some stress relief. Worth it.

And so, friends, my second Mother's Day gift was one of these:

I took to the front yard Monday evening to give it a test drive. It. Was. AWESOME.

It's empowering to be a chainsaw usin', limb removal mama taking on a job that she no longer has to wait on someone to get around to it. If this keeps up, I can easily purge myself of a living thing or two as well as the junk in the house. Just sayin'.

All this power and the limb removal is fantastic but, there's an even better use that I never even thought of when dreaming of owning a chainsaw on a stick.

It may very well make an extremely effective neighbor repellant tool. WHAT?! Yes indeed. Remember those sisters of Satan across the street and the drunks on one side? Well, they had better watch out now. I will not only be sitting on my front porch in my new rocker, but I'll also be enjoying running people off who try to steal my porch sittin' time.

I'm serious about my porch. I've written about it and, now that's it finally cleared off, I plan to do some major rocking out there. In peace.

Do I recommend getting a chainsaw on a stick? Hell to the Y.E.S.

Did y'all know about these?

Happy Mother's Day!

Snoopy

We're under one week in the wedding countdown! Only two days of work this week and then- Let's Get This Party Started! 

Hugs and love to y'all!

The Graduation

It came. And it went.

And the littlest bit is a college graduate!

The pre-graduation festivities included a recognition ceremony followed by a reception.

With favorite professors---

And besties--- the young lady on the left, Jesse, and DoodleBug have been together since they were two years old. They've gone all the way through school together and both graduated with degrees in Early Childhood Education. And Jesse? During those early, preschool years, she battled cancer.

Just look at her now!

And grandparents---

The day of started with some standing in line.

Followed by some more standing in line---

Followed by a little more standing in line---

Until we finally arrived at the entrance to the Cistern---

The standing in line took about 35 minutes and, when we got inside and secured seats, there was slightly less than an hour before the pomp and circumstance was to begin.

So, I looked around. And, because it's Charleston, I saw hats---

Bermuda shorts and bow ties---

Seersucker suits--though I've never seen a woman in Charleston wear one...she must be a lawyer. Or just not from around here.

And blue jeans---she's probably not from around here either.

Here's DoodleBug's banner---

And DoodleBug entering the Cistern--the girls wear white dresses and carry red roses. The guys wear tuxes with white jackets and red rose boutineers. This is a tradition passed down from YEARS ago. As is walking across the Cistern. No one dare walks across until graduation.

The Cistern was originally military barracks that were made into rooms for the college soon after it's founding. The Cistern Yard was fenced in about 40-50 years after it's founding and remains the core of the campus to this day.

And, to graduating seniors, it's like stepping on sacred ground.

And graduating---

WooHoo!

Afterwards, we took pictures. Shocker, right?

Two sisters couldn't be with us this weekend (you know, jobs and all that) but Birdie and almost-son-in-law were there. Being silly. As usual.

Happy Mother's Day to ME!

Friends since high school---

 Friends through college--

Some of you might remember DoodleBug's friend who took her own life nearly two years ago. You can read about it HERE.

Her parents had a plaque made in her memory and her friends asked that it be placed in front of her favorite tree on campus---

A few of those closest to her wanted a picture there. On this most special day. That would have included her.

And no. They weren't sad, really. It was more bittersweet.

They just wanted to make her a part of it the best way they knew how.

I love those kids.

Of course, no special day is complete without family humor--- and DoodleBug stepped up to the plate--

And that was our day downtown. In the Holy City---

Happy Mother's Day, y'all!