A Mother's Day Post Mortem

My day began at 6:16 a.m. Kelsey, my nineteen year old, snuck into my room to check on me, then left the house. When she got back about an hour later, all the little kids had been into my room and up on my bed to wish me a Happy Mother's Day. That, and to beg me to let them watch cartoons in my room. I declined. Kesley shooed them out, closed me up in my room, and told me to go back to sleep. As if.

A little later, she returned, bearing fresh coffee, eggs, a magazine, a huge bouquet of flowers from the Pike Place Market, AND a little bag of these awesome mini-doughnuts fresh out of the doughnut maker at the Market. Yumm. A nice hug and kiss, then out the door to round up the kids.

Kesley took over all the mommy duties for the day. Woot! At one point, Andrew came in (I was still in bed, reading), and I referred him back to Kelsey for answers to his many questions. He asked, "Aren't you in charge anymore?" I told him that for today, Kelsey was, not me. Loved it. One of the many difficult things about being a single parent is being the one and only "go to" person in the house. Every single question about every single issue has to come to you. A friend once said to me, "I bet sometimes you feel like saying, 'Who's mom? My name is Misty'". Yes, it gets like that. More lately than it used to.

But yesterday was sweet.

One really special thing I realized, was that out of the nine people in the house (eight young adults and children plus me), only one (Kelsey) was celebrating with her biological mother. And, out of those nine people, only three had one mother. The rest of us had at least two: a bio mom and either an adoptive mom or a foster mom.

Crazy, but true. And it made for a very special day. I got to receive the mommy love from all these kids. Pretty awesome. And I feel very blessed and honored to be able to stand in for the moms whose child I had on loan. Only God knows where we will all be next Mother's Day. Life moves quickly, and change is the norm.

But for me, this one was perfect. Thank you, Kelsey, Kristen, and Elesha. I love you all.

What a Tremendous Mother's Day

Hey, I have to tell you all what a super-duper Mother's Day weekend I had. It started Friday night in downtown Seattle celebrating my friend's twenty year anniversary. Tom and Stephanie came to Christ later in life, and "found" each other. They have a yours, mine, and ours family, with grandchildren now.

Tom and Steph were one of the first couples I met as a new believer. They welcomed me and my wacko family with open arms, and haven't been able to get rid of us, yet!

The party was at the New Orleans in Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle. Terrific music and authentic food. We sat up in the balcony where we had an excellent view of the couples dancing on the cozy floor to some awesome blues. That was a great start to three days of celebrating... me!

Well, I'm not the only one who got to celebrate, I guess.

Saturday, we had our annual Women's Brunch at church. Our Pastor pretty much single-handedly planned the meal, shopped, prepped, cooked, and served fifty-six women. He did have three of our older teens and two of the men to help serve and clean up. But really, Pastor David did almost all of it.

And it was delicious! I invited a friend from the foster care system, and took my three daughters with me. Everyone felt pampered and ministered to. Following that, five of us went out and cruised the garage sales. I found a great rice-cooker for $4. Super!

Sunday was, of course, the Day. My eighteen year old bought, cooked, and served me breakfast in bed. I've never had breakfast in bed (well, on a few hospital trips...but that certainly doesn't count!). She took care of getting all the kids ready for church, and did it all with a smile. Wow.

Then, coffee with the Pastor's wife, church, and finally a trip downtown with my oldest son, Kris. He took me to a sweet indoor mall, Pacific Place for dinner at Todai (a Japanese buffet). Then he took me to a movie (Iron Man, and I do recommend it!), and THEN we went to the Cheesecake factory and Starbucks for (duh) cheesecake to go, and coffee. Make mine a triple short breve latte, please!

Wow. I tell you, that is enough celebrating to keep me happy for at least a few years. Or until October. That's when my birthday is!