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damkiannaNot by a long shot. Today was Mother's Day - obviously, of course, but bear with me - and one thing my mother is deeply into is plants. Of pretty much any and all kinds. One thing she'd really been wanting lately was a trellis, to put in a new part of the slope garden in the yard, so my sister and I spent maybe two hours making one.
It was that particular kind of fun disaster you get when you try something and it only half-works. We did end up with a decently trellis-shaped structure eventually, but only after a lot of grappling with tree branches and a saw and measuring tape and twine. There was a lot of giggling and getting hit with sticks, and very little in the way of actual, you know, structural integrity.
But my mother was pleased - not that she's a very difficult woman to please, but it was still sweet, and I do think that she genuinely appreciated it, even if it's pretty much the Frankenstein's monster of trellises (trellii?). She is a tiny grey-haired woman with glasses and a big smile and a kind of snorty laugh, who loves talking to people, cooking, growing things, and Talk Like a Pirate Day; she likes to go around saying "ARRRRR" randomly.
My mother hasn't had too many jobs, but they've covered a pretty wide range. She worked for a congressman in DC for a while - that's how she met my father, which is kind of adorable considering how politically active they both still are; it's one of those things you tell people, and they say, "Of course your parents met because they were working for the same congressman, I should've known." I think my dad was still married to his second wife at that point, but obviously that didn't last. (Not that there's anything scandalous to relate; my dad's just ended up divorcing twice before.)
After that, she worked for a very long time with the place where my dad still works: the American Wind Energy Association, still in DC. My sister was born there, and then the three of them moved up to Vermont. Their reasoning? It was a really beautiful state. :D And that was when my mom started working for the Montshire Museum of Science.
That's the part of her life that I obviously remember the best. My sister and I grew up walking down to the Montshire after school, to wait for her to get off work so that we could go home; we played hide-and-seek under her desk, played two-square in the office hallways, jumped out at my mother from behind things and made her shriek. My memories of the Montshire are almost all inextricably tied up with my mother, and they're one of my favorite parts of my childhood.
So much so, in fact, that when she decided she didn't want to work at the Montshire anymore, I was more upset than she was. I simply couldn't fathom her not working at the Montshire, because she had been as long as I could remember, which made it a fundamental truth of my existence, more than a job. But she gave it up, and worked for a year with the Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy; I worked with her all summer, and made her eat lunch with me as often as possible.
I'm lucky enough to have a really, really good relationship with my mother. I tackle her to the floor for long, extended hugs, and tickle her stomach to make her pay attention to me, and tease her, and joke around with her. She's my friend - friends with my friends, even. M calls the house sometimes and talks to my mother for at least five minutes before I ever get my hands on the phone.
I love her more than I can possibly say, and I am very grateful that she is my mother.
... It feels sort of stupid to follow that up with a little more chatter about TV, but I'm going to anyway. :D I didn't get sucked into any movies today, but I did end up watching some A:TLA with my sister after dinner; we watched ... let's see, I think it was The Waterbending Scroll and the episode right after that one - Jet, maybe? The first I really heard of Avatar was, somewhat amusingly, the finale, since the Zutaran ragefest managed to make Fandom_Wank. I love the world, and the overall storyline, but that isn't always enough to keep me going through the occasional bouts of painfully Y-HELO-I-AM-A-KID'S-SHOW writing. Still, it's pretty good, and right now I am quite possibly more pleased with it in a wide variety of ways than I am with Supernatural, so. Also, my sister's kind of in love with it, which means I have to keep watching it if I want her to leave me alone ever again. Very motivating.
It was that particular kind of fun disaster you get when you try something and it only half-works. We did end up with a decently trellis-shaped structure eventually, but only after a lot of grappling with tree branches and a saw and measuring tape and twine. There was a lot of giggling and getting hit with sticks, and very little in the way of actual, you know, structural integrity.
But my mother was pleased - not that she's a very difficult woman to please, but it was still sweet, and I do think that she genuinely appreciated it, even if it's pretty much the Frankenstein's monster of trellises (trellii?). She is a tiny grey-haired woman with glasses and a big smile and a kind of snorty laugh, who loves talking to people, cooking, growing things, and Talk Like a Pirate Day; she likes to go around saying "ARRRRR" randomly.
My mother hasn't had too many jobs, but they've covered a pretty wide range. She worked for a congressman in DC for a while - that's how she met my father, which is kind of adorable considering how politically active they both still are; it's one of those things you tell people, and they say, "Of course your parents met because they were working for the same congressman, I should've known." I think my dad was still married to his second wife at that point, but obviously that didn't last. (Not that there's anything scandalous to relate; my dad's just ended up divorcing twice before.)
After that, she worked for a very long time with the place where my dad still works: the American Wind Energy Association, still in DC. My sister was born there, and then the three of them moved up to Vermont. Their reasoning? It was a really beautiful state. :D And that was when my mom started working for the Montshire Museum of Science.
That's the part of her life that I obviously remember the best. My sister and I grew up walking down to the Montshire after school, to wait for her to get off work so that we could go home; we played hide-and-seek under her desk, played two-square in the office hallways, jumped out at my mother from behind things and made her shriek. My memories of the Montshire are almost all inextricably tied up with my mother, and they're one of my favorite parts of my childhood.
So much so, in fact, that when she decided she didn't want to work at the Montshire anymore, I was more upset than she was. I simply couldn't fathom her not working at the Montshire, because she had been as long as I could remember, which made it a fundamental truth of my existence, more than a job. But she gave it up, and worked for a year with the Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy; I worked with her all summer, and made her eat lunch with me as often as possible.
I'm lucky enough to have a really, really good relationship with my mother. I tackle her to the floor for long, extended hugs, and tickle her stomach to make her pay attention to me, and tease her, and joke around with her. She's my friend - friends with my friends, even. M calls the house sometimes and talks to my mother for at least five minutes before I ever get my hands on the phone.
I love her more than I can possibly say, and I am very grateful that she is my mother.
... It feels sort of stupid to follow that up with a little more chatter about TV, but I'm going to anyway. :D I didn't get sucked into any movies today, but I did end up watching some A:TLA with my sister after dinner; we watched ... let's see, I think it was The Waterbending Scroll and the episode right after that one - Jet, maybe? The first I really heard of Avatar was, somewhat amusingly, the finale, since the Zutaran ragefest managed to make Fandom_Wank. I love the world, and the overall storyline, but that isn't always enough to keep me going through the occasional bouts of painfully Y-HELO-I-AM-A-KID'S-SHOW writing. Still, it's pretty good, and right now I am quite possibly more pleased with it in a wide variety of ways than I am with Supernatural, so. Also, my sister's kind of in love with it, which means I have to keep watching it if I want her to leave me alone ever again. Very motivating.
