Just like my mother.

     Earlier this week I posted a tidbit on facebook about how I am saying things that used to come out of my mother's mouth.  A good friend commented "mirror, mirror, on the wall, I am my mother after all".  That got me thinking about all the things in my life that have been influenced or came directly from being my mother's daughter.
     The first thing is that I am always cold.  Growing up I don't remember being so cold but I do remember making fun of my mother who was always hiding out in the bathtub.  (According to my dad she still complains of being cold in Mesquite, Nevada and can be found hiding in the tub when it's 80 degrees).  Now I am always freezing and have to wear socks and a sweater.  At night, my husband understands that it is his sole job in our marriage to be my bed warmer and to not scream when I put my cold feet on him.
     The second thing is my love of reading.  You can find me reading a book of some sort every time I get a break from my kids.  My mom was (and probably still is) a big romance book fan.  I remember her dragging us to every thrift shop in Kent to get the novels for 10 cents.  She even had a little notebook she carried in her purse to keep track of the numbers so she bought only ones she didn't have.  Once when us kids were younger, we were sitting around mom (who's favorite spot was next to our wood stove.  See #1 above) who was reading one of her novels as we were hanging out.  Mom got up and walked out of the room and my brother, Ric, switched the book.  I will never forget how my mother came back, picked up her book and sat down and just kept reading.  After about 10 minutes we couldn't stop laughing.  I am grateful that she read books, scriptures, and magazines in front of me so I could learn to love it too.
     The third thing is I am starting to understand the appeal of a "mu-mu" (spelling?).  Over the summer I bought a long, knit dress that has become my go to morning apparel.  I can always remember my mom getting home and ripping off her clothes and putting on her Hawaiian patterned mu mu.  At least she's been to Hawaii.  I don't have that excuse.
     Other similarities we share include:  Cheesecake, cream cheese on Ritz crackers, See's candies, hiding coke under the bed, feeling like a failure as a mother, and having given birth to 6 kids.
     I don't know how it happened because I swore it never would, but I am grateful to be like my mom.  She's a been a great, wonderful, and patient example of a woman.