Missin' My Mama

My mom was raised by conservative classy parents in the 1950s and 60s.

[she's the tall brunette in the back row]

Then she went to college and met my super liberal dad.

[yep. she was a hottie. nice work, pop!]

Then they graduated, married, moved to Milwaukee and met even more liberal folks through my dad's grad program at Marquette.

[gotta love my dad's 'stache]

Then they moved back to Seattle and my mom had kids who kicked up so many shenanigans that now nothing fazes her.

[wasn't my little brother the cutest baby?]

Now, at 60, she's pretty much the coolest person I know. She defaults to to prim, proper, and always appropriate, but she's not uptight. When the time is right, she will get out the blender, fill it with pina coladas, kick off her shoes, and dance around the living room with me to the soulful sounds of Aretha. She can talk to anyone. She's amazingly creative. She's laid back enough that I can tell her anything.... anything. I love that she lives 15 min away and I can pop in any old afternoon during the summer and she'll just be hanging out in the garden sipping iced tea and admiring her work.

So why the homage to my mother? She has been in NYC for two weeks taking classes at Columbia as part of her ongoing teacher training (she's a 2nd grade teacher). We're pretty close and I reeeeeeeally miss her. So, to tide me over until she's back, here are a few photos of us being goofy together:

[we used to cut our own christmas trees. i'm pretty sure i'm posing as a reindeer in this photo]


[the annual mother-daughter tea party, complete with tiaras, circa 2000]

[celebrating my bff's wedding a couple years go, doing a tipsy irish jig]

Hurry home, mom!!