Happy Birthday, Mom!

***RANDOM: Let me just start by saying...I had some of that vietnamese chicken fried rice again and I think I might pass out.***

Sorry, mom. I know that was completely unrelated. My mother. She has been amazing my entire life. Well, it didn't always seem that way, but you know how parent's always say like "one day you'll appreciate me" or "you'll understand when you're older"? Well, I think I'm at that age now. It's funny how we always think we know what's best for ourselves especially when it contradicts our parents' wishes. What's even more uncanny is the way parents know the things we never want them to know. I wonder how that happens. Is it just instinct? Do all parents have it? Or is it kind of like when you're watching a little kid do something you clearly told them not to and they think they're slick trying to hide it, but to you it's the most obvious thing in the world? I won't know until I'm a parent. My parents can read me like one of those easy readers from grade school. And for the longest time that used to upset me. I don't like being read. So I withdrew. It was really bad after my best friend Abdul died. Somehow we got through it though. My mom...is a ninja. Haha literally. Especially at night. She has almost given me a heart attack on several occasions...usually when I'm brushing my teeth or dancing or a combo of the two (I either dance or pace while brushing my teeth...silly habbit). And then she'll say something like "why are you so scared in your own home?" like she'll get annoyed at ME for being so creeped out. And then when she TRIES to scare me it doesn't work as often. She's funny, playful, an amazing cook, just so many adjectives and yet using all of them won't even begin to do her justice. She is a dynamic and beautiful

(*cough* people say I look like her *cough*)

person. She's really wise too. I mean I just recently started listening to her advice and I gotta say, she's probably the best non certified shrink I've ever encountered. Here's a section from my comment on one of my facebook notes (about marriage):

"I also thank God for giving me such wise and understanding parents. I actually talked about this with my mom yesterday. She gave me the most simple yet mind blowing metaphor, involving the coffee table in the living room. She said, suppose when we bought the table, I took it out of the box and threw the box and instructions aside, trying to put the table together on my own. With literally no former knowledge of putting tables together. the table would continue to fall apart again and again no matter how many times I tried, unless I went to the manual and followed the direction. That's what we do as humans. We ignore the word of God (our instructions on how to survive in such a sinful world) and we try to do everything on our own. Then we're surprised when it doesn't work out."

 Profound, isn't it? Why didn't I think of that. The insight this woman has is amazing. I really hope I can be like her when I grow up. Mom, I love you, even though most of the time I only show it by being a pain in the butt. There is no one out there like you, and I'm blessed that God chose me to be your child.

***Ok I fail. I didn't post this on my mother's birthday. The reason is, I started this post in the morning, and I went home to try and find this one picture of my mom when she was young. She looks absolutely amazing and I wanted everyone to see. When I went home I searched all over for this picture. I even asked HER where she stashed the old pics (even though it was supposed to be a surprise...shows my desperation, but she didn't suspect a thing). I found the stash, but THAT picture was not among them...I was MAD!!! I think my dad took it and misplaced it. Grrr...but I'm posting it now. And I got her a card on the right day, so I only half fail.***