Mom's American Citizenship...

As most of you know mom is not an American citizen. She is a legal resident of the U.S. and has been for over 30 years. She recently has decided to become a citizen. The process at every step 1. costs money. 2. is loooooong.  So when she told me she wanted to vote in the next election, for Obama, I sadly had to burst her bubble and told her that was not likely to happen.

She started to become interested in politics during the Clinton years and since then I thought I was teaching her the ways of the Democratic party. Well Liberal views anyhow and somehow this has turned her into a raging Republican hater. Maybe not hater, but massive disliker. I tried to temper this during the Bush years but somehow it just got worse.

Anyway hopefully mom will get to become a citizen in time to vote for someone she likes soon. I'm just afarid she'll start campaigning for someone and start some sort of broo ha ha. She doesn't take shit from anyone! And will back a cause to the teeth. Think that's why she's one of the union heads at her work. She likes to give'em hell if they do people wrong.

Pearl Jam? What's that?

This was a question posed by mom this weekend. I mentioned I liked Pearl Jam and she asks, "Pearl Jam? What's that?" So, jokingly/ sarcastically, I say it's a new type of jam for toast. For instance when mom asked years ago what's Dick's? and I said it was a male strip joint thinking she was kidding and actually knew.

Nope.

My mom has lived here for well over 30yrs. now and apparently at no point in this time, not even when I was going to high school during the whole "grunge" era, has she ever heard of Pearl Jam.

Really? Mom. Yes, really.  Granted it is a generational thing but I'm guessing some parents know of Pearl Jam. Some older folks had to have heard of them at some point. Then again my Canadian grandma calls Facebook Spacebook but at least she was in the general direction of knowing the name of a social network.

lol.

Giving walk by wisdom to anyone who doesn't ask for it. We told you so...

Mom was at work last week when she overheard a woman tell her teen son, in Spanish, to hurry up, your too slow and you'll never get a job here.

Mom said he looked to be about 17 or 18 and he was applying for a job at Macy's. Now mom hears this as she is going in the back to clock out. When she comes back the boy is still there but the mom is gone. So she decides to ask him if he needs any help. No. Then she tells him that she overheard what his mom said and told him that his mother loves him and that sometimes people say things they don't mean but trust her your mom loves you and sometimes people get frustrated. Finish your application, you'll get the interview dress nicely put a smile on be confident and you'll get the job.

At this point his mom comes back and my mom pulls her aside and says, (paraphrasing here)

 Senora, please be patient with your son. He is at least trying to get a job and whether or not he's slow he should always be encouraged to do his best and try for anything. Not everyone learns or moves at the same pace. I know you love your son but please don't discourage him from anything that may be good for him.


I love my mom.

I want my Mommy!

It is times like this that I realize how much I take picking up the phone and calling my Mom for granted. Since she is in the country of her people right now (Panama for those of you that don't know), I won't talk to her for the next two weeks unless she calls me. She doesn't carry a mobile phone and she bounces from one place to another so much while she's there, I wouldn't even know where to call.
I have wanted to call her for the past few days. I'M SICK! And... I WANT MY MOMMY! I call her every time I feel like my head is going to explode or I'm so stuffy I can't breathe out of my left nostril for days. She always tells me the same thing. "Jou need to dreenk a lot a water." She then gives me specific instructions on how to make what I like to call, "science project chicken soup." Why did I give her chicken concoction this name? Well, that is what it looks like. It is a simple brew really. All you do is boil a chicken with some garlic, celery, I think carrots and cilantro. Have you ever seen a boiled chicken? Tastes like chicken, but looks like a science project. To top it off, she will sometimes pour all the contents of her finished product in a mason jar. A chicken carcas floating in a glass jar. That is what gives it the look. She doesn't take the skin off (yuck), and the boiled cilantro looks like some sort of seaweed. It is a mess.

I have never made "science project chicken soup," but I appreciate the recipe everytime I call. I enjoy hearing my Mom console me, telling me not to drink "the milk" and asking me if Cody (my husband) is taking care of me. If I had my way and I was closer, I would just go to Mom's house and plant myself on her couch. She takes care of me the best.

So as I sit here; throat sore, bad cough, and waiting for the fever to break, I think about my Mommy and how even when I'm not sick, I hate it when she leaves the country for any period of time. I don't like that feeling I get knowing I won't be able to just pick up the phone and talk to her anytime I need her when I'm under the weather, need her great advice or call just to say hello. It may just be for two weeks, but it seems like a year.

I have learned even at my age, and I'm still so young, (ha, ha) their is still that little girl inside me that needs her mom. I always will. I'm so grateful to have her. Now everyone... go call your mom. Tell her you love her and appreciate all her wisdom.

And she's off!

This is just a short anecdotal story of mom. She’s been planning a trip back to Panama for about two weeks now but no matter how much “planning” goes into it, it always seems like nothing was really planned. Buying the ticket, finding her passport, making sure she has her immigration card and then packing her two suitcases is crazy. It’s always two suitcases and sometimes it’s a wonder they make it to Panama.

She packs one suitcase for herself and the other is gifts for the family. You know the normal gifts like clothes, jewelry, six Hickory Farm’s Beef Summer Sausages that were frozen and stuffed into the suitcase at the last minute as well as three Hickory Farm’s Fruit Cakes. Yes, mmmm….sausage and fruit cake, both products being remnants of the Christmas season. It’s March. At least the sausage has been frozen but I’m pretty sure the fruit cakes have been hanging out somewhere in her room. Then again it is fruit cake and I think even after the nuclear plume has settled and the world has been decimated the cockroaches and fruit cake will be left behind. But I digress…

In her craze to get everything packed and ready she pulls out her stash of airline luggage tags that she snags from the airport the previous year. Mom is, shall we say, not very mindful of what she reads on labels of any kind. As a kid I remember her coming home with what she thought was shampoo and conditioner when in fact it was just two different colored bottles of conditioner. This happened quite often.

So before I drive her to catch the shuttle she asked me to read the tags to make sure they were correct. The first line is easy- Name: yes! She got that right. Second line- e-mail address: Panama. Third line- Mailing address: here she put’s my aunts phone number in Panama and half of her home address.

Hopefully her luggage doesn’t get lost.

I'm going to tell you something!

My Mom always has something to say. She says it with an accent and even after almost 40 years of living in the United States, some people still can't understand her. And she is speaking English!! But after the English to English translation, the backwards speaking, and sometimes the Spanglish dialect that only she knows, she has made people laugh. She has made others weep, and she has shared her opinions and wisdom with everyone around her. Not everyone has enjoyed listening to her spout what she perceives to be right or wrong and some have chosen not to listen at all, but those are the ones that don't like to hear the truth. She loves to tell you the truth!
And now, we are here to tell you the ups and downs of Ida. You will want to hear her thoughts and opinions. She will tell you what she thinks if you ask, but be prepared! She's not going to hold back. I guarantee you will sometimes laugh so hard you will cry and sometimes you will sob until you are out of tears. You will always walk away with the truth and wisdom of a wonderful woman that wants to see the best for everyone. Oh, and here and there we will tell you stories, past and present about this little 5'2" Panamanian spitfire. She is a hoot! Here we go!