A little intro, if you will...

I'm not going to pretend like this time of year isn't hard for me. I thought it would get better with time but you know what? This year is the hardest yet. You people who have expressed to me how upset you are that you have to call your mom, or go to her place for dinner, or find her a gift. Shame on you!

Most of my friends like my mom better than me. I'm not kidding. For those of you who met me after mom was gone and only get to experience her hauntings I hope that you know her at least a little because you know me.

But here is a little help:

*She is the perfect mixture of mom and best friend
*She took in anything, man or beast, that was hurting and tried everything she could to get rid of their owies.
*She sees beauty in ALL of God's creations, including southern Wyoming.
*She always made me listen to Chris Ledoux while driving through southern Wyoming. (especially western skies)
*She had a constant need for learning
*She had a thing for animal control guys.
*She loves her husband
*Nothing was too spicy for her
*She swore she would go inactive if the church ever banned chocolate
*She loves Chile Renos and when she made them she would guard them with her life, if you touched one you would probably get a hand bitten off.
*She believes there is a special place reserved in heaven for cowboys
*She is an amazing teacher
*She won't watch a movie unless something explodes or John Wayne is in it
*She believes without laughter, fun, and a little naughtiness life is barely worth living.
*She loves a good book and read to us every night
*She loves Home Depot and Builder's warehouse. If she says she'll be a few minutes count on a couple of hours and that she will carry around some kind of power tool for an extended period of time.
*She believed each of her children needed and deserved individual time and attention
*She wants every detail of every date I have ever been on.
*She loved anything that looked country that she could put on the porch. I started to wonder if we were going to reach a point where there wouldn't be room for us on the porch.
*She loves to sit on the porch and listen to the rain and thunder.