Sunday, May 14, 2023

A Spectacular Mother's Day In All Regards


It has been the sweetest, most laid-back Mother's Day ever. I woke up to find those little rosebuds, picked from our bushes and that note from my husband although I will say that I am afraid to ask him about the "More than you will ever know" part. I'm sort of wondering if maybe that time he ran into Brooke Shields in the Bahamas and she sort of flirted with him, if she'd actually asked him to run away with her but out of his love for me (we were on a pre-honeymoon) he'd refused. 

Probably not. But you never know. 

Anyway, some things are probably best left unknown and I'm really glad he does love me. 

I figured out that Mother's Day was always SO stressful for me when my mother was alive and instead of thinking about my role as a mother to be celebrated, it was mostly about her. Not that she harangued me about it or anything but of course we always had to do something with her and for her and by the time she was getting older, my feelings about her had become so very complicated and Mother's Day was just the perfect day for all of that to come to the forefront. My fierce love and need for her as a child, our slow unraveling as life in our family because so untenable, the realization of the feelings I truly had for her when my children were born and got older which were even more conflicted and not pleasant in the least and made me feel so guilty...

All of this was a lot and after she died and I was relieved of that Day of Duty, I simply just relaxed and enjoyed myself in any way I wanted on Mother's Day and it all became so much easier. 

But Mother's Day IS complicated in so many ways. This morning, Hank, Rachel, May, Lily, Jessie, and I got into one of our long-running conversational text exchanges and when Jessie shared what her morning had been like, I thought it pretty much summed up Mother's Day.


And then May's comment cracked me up. 


Oh, I do love my children! 

I made Mr. Moon and me a lovely Sunday morning breakfast which I really enjoy doing and he cleaned up the kitchen. I watered some plants and did basically nothing for the entire day except to receive visitors in the form of Lily, Owen, Gibson, and Magnolia. They came bearing gifts! 
Okay. First of all, Lily made me the most beautiful cake I've ever seen. 



It's a lemon rosemary cake with fresh blueberry butter cream filling and lemon butter cream frosting. She candied and sugared the fruit, and every bit of color in it comes from the berries. As Hank said, it is a fairy tale cake and he is exactly correct. 


We all had to try a slice right then and there and it may well be the very best cake I've ever eaten. This is not a fluffy party cake, y'all. This is not a cake that you would make as cupcakes. It is way too serious of a cake for that. It is dense and moist and every molecule of it is perfection, the sort of perfection that makes your eyes roll back into your head. 

Sigh. I am in gourmet cake heaven. That was so precious of Lily and then, and THEN, she gave me this:


She did that drawing freehand and it goes so very perfectly in my laundry room which, as you know, is now one of my favorite, favorite rooms, filled as it is with love-made art and function. 

Oh, it's been a good day. 

And even this happened:


It took that cat three days to forgive her cat daddy for being gone for three days but she did. She's back where she belongs. 

And to top it all off, I am going to make delicious, trashy El Paso tacos for our supper. I am inappropriately excited about this. Last night I made a very fine Salad Nicoise and I think it's good to, you know- change it up now and then. One night extremely fresh and all healthy and shit salad with the freshest, tenderest green beans in the world, dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, wine vinegar, garlic, and fresh basil, and the next night ground beef seasoned with El Paso taco seasoning in a fried taco shell. 

Life is good. 

Love...Ms. Moon

P.S. As a lagniappe that thrilled me, I got a Happy Mother's Day text from the Beautiful Brenda. 


I think she was probably on her way to church. It makes my heart happy that she thought of me. 







 

32 comments:

  1. Sounds like a wonderful Mother's Day.

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  2. Wonderful mother's day and well deserved, because you are a wonderful mother.

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    1. I make no claims about being a wonderful mother. I am just like all of us mothers- trying to do the best we can, now and then and forever.

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  3. what a perfect day! Doesn't get better than that! And I have to say......that cake is an absolute wonder. How does she do it? Love and glass raised to you this Mothers Day evening!
    Susan M

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    1. and PS.....Brenda of the Mermaid Eyes! What a love she is!
      Susan M

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    2. Isn't that cake stunning? And so very, very delicious.
      Brenda is a sweetheart. I think she misses her mama.

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  4. A very sweet day indeed! Brenda is so gorgeous! I’m in awe of Lily’s cake. It’s amazing!
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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  5. Oh that cake!! Lily so obviously loves you so much- as I’m sure all your children do! I’m glad you had a great Mother’s Day - the day brings with so many different emotions.. I’m grateful I had a good mother. We never made a big deal about any holidays really, which is kind of a relief to everyone, I think! But I did treat myself to going to knit group today, followed by a trip to the nursery for a bunch of new plants for our garden!😍Hugs to you and your beautiful family! Xo, Rigmor

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    1. Knit group and going to the nursery for new plants sounds pretty perfect to me.
      I am glad you had a good mother. I think that makes a huge difference in our lives.

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  6. mermaid church must be lovely. As lovely as that prize winning cake, my god!

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  7. So much beauty and love in one post. A belated Happy Mother's Day Ms Moon!

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  8. 37paddington: your family is simply awesome, loving, funny, tender, talented. Those texts from your girls are the best! And Lily’s cake looks divine. Cracked up at the Brooke Shields story. Heaven knows we can all see why Brooke flirted, but that fine man has eyes only for the fine mama he married and it’s beautiful to witness.

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    1. You're so sweet! But honestly, I think if Brooke had asked him to run away with her, he might have. She was so beautiful. She still is, of course, but this was when she was quite young.
      My kids make me laugh all the time. And isn't that the best?

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  9. What a marvelous day you had! I'm glad.

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  10. Do you know which websites Maurice was investigating as she sat on Mr Moon's lap? Perhaps she was finding out about catamarans, catapults, caterpillars and catalogues. There are lots of words that begin with "cat". Lily's cake looks truly scrumptious. What a triumph!

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    1. I believe she was reading the newspaper with her man. But you could be right- he might have been dozing while she, with her clever paws, was searching for cat-related web sites.
      I wish I could share a piece of that cake with everyone!

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  11. Glad you enjoyed your Mother's Day and you were celebrated in many ways! We had a nice time here too and I saw or heard from all of my kids so that's great! We laugh a lot which is my favorite thing!

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    1. Me too, Ellen. Laughing is the very best!

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  12. It's eerie how similar our feelings for our mothers are even if for different reasons. I also wanted and needed a loving mother but what I got was a self centered woman who didn't really like small children. by the time I was 15 I could not call her mommy or even mom but forever after she was the formal 'mother'. anyway. I'm glad you were surrounded by your loving husband and children who so obviously love and dote on you.

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    1. Well, it would explain a lot that both our mothers were a bit, um, self-involved. I mean, we all are but there are limits.
      You and I have so much in common and I can see how our mothers contributed to that.

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  13. Brenda with the mermaid eyes! It sounds like you had a fabulous day. That cake does look amazing and it's evident that a lot of work went into it.

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    1. Yes! Brenda with the mermaid eyes!
      I can't imagine how much work that cake took.

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  14. Lily is so talented! I'm glad you had such a nice time.

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  15. That cake is a work of art, but the laundry card is perfect for the laundry room, the colours just fit right in. Looking back on my own years I can see the mistakes I made with my children, but with good intentions, I tried so hard to NOT be like my own "in-your-face" mother I went too far the opposite way. I should have hugged and played with them more. But I loved them and they love me.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.