Go-With-The-Flow Saturday #2

Today was my mom's 70th birthday. I was up early for two reasons: 1 - Dogs and 2 - Needed to prep for my mom's birthday.

I started out by making some breakfast. I finally tried the Fluffy Japanese Waffles! I found a recipe that didn't require the Cake Flour, because we were just out of luck there. Plus it was consuming my ability to even make the waffles if I didn't let go of the fact that we didn't have Cake Flour. But I did finally make them once I had the help of my husband (cooking in my mom's kitchen can be stressful for me). While mine were hampered by inaccurate measurements, due to the lack of tsp/TBSP measuring spoons, they were still delicious and I could totally repeat these. Soft and delicious. It almost felt like a crumpet.

After everyone finally came downstairs and ate, it was time to get ready for the parade. So I backed our car up to the end of the driveway. My daughter put some pillows in the trunk and plugged in my mom's fan so that she'd stay cool. It was already hot and horribly humid out. I attached some balloons and the poster I made. I thought my mom could watch from the car and relax, but as I would come to learn that was not how this was supposed to go.

Sadly, I was so consumed with hoping the parade went alright, I didn't film or photograph it. That will bother me for quite some time. I just was so scared of people being mad at me! I don't even know why! It was the weirdest thing. But it was for my mom and she has what she needs. Her doorbell camera filmed most of it anyway. haha!

She had about 9 cars and a walk-up. Our neighbors ended up hopping into their cars and joining. That was quite hilarious! My mom was just so tickled that it happened. But she's 70!!! You have to celebrate and I just couldn't get over that this would probably be her last birthday.

Sidenote: The person who made a stick about it being at 10AM brought it up when they pulled it. At least it was meant in a nice way "You're the only one I'd get out of bed this early for." AWE!

After the parade was over and my mom had her happy times with friends, we had some visitors. As we visited my mom was opening up cards and our friend said, "nuh-MASS-tay what's that?" The word was Namaste, but it came out as nuh-MASS-tay... like... you nasty.

And from here on out our word is nuh-MASS-tay! So when we went out swimming later we were like "this water is so nuh-MASS-tay!" hahaha! I love it so much. We'll see how long it lasts.

Once brownies and popcorn were shared and gossip was had, another one of my mom's friends showed up. He's crazy Steve. We love him to bits, but he's so crazy nerdy. He's a lawyer. Anyways! My husband made a joke "No one expects Steve!"

And how they do it over and over again and that's how Steve talks... forever. Love love love. I mean, sure, it gets irritating, but we love him and he knows it. It also makes us think of the BBC animal commercial. Wait until the end to see why.

And then there was peace in the realm until we had to discuss dinner. I didn't want it to be another "last minute" dinner thing and I wasn't sure where my mom's hunger was... I didn't want her to get to the whole "I need to eat THIS SECOND" point before we ordered food. So after her boyfriend, Bob, arrived, we ordered from El Beso in Greenfield. I'm going to tell you, though, it's a bigger chore organizing meals with her than it is at my house. I mean seriously people... pick a food and eat it. Sorry I didn't feel like wings and that ruined the whole thing and sorry I didn't want to go out and COVID myself.

We picked up mexican for dinner, which is always delicious, but I also went to Kopp's and got my mom the Butter Pecan Custard of the Day and got my daughter the S'mores Sundae of the Month! That sundae was much larger than we anticipated!

After eating all this amazing food and celebrating my mom's birthday, my husband and I decided to go for a swim with our daughter. This was the first time I'd hit the water this summer. Lake water, sure, but it felt really good. I live on a large river, but I was kind of conditioned to not swim in the area behind our house, but my daughter has been doing it for the last two summers, so I keep saying I'm going to do it. I told her at 11AM to say "MOM! SWIM! NOW!" but she never does it. I hope to someday get out there I just hate my neighbors and I hate my body, so it's a really stressful situation for me.

Did I mention Bob got her roses? Yep.

The night wrapped up well enough. Bob stayed really late working on my mom's new cell phone and my husband fell asleep early. I lounged with my daughter, dozing, and then finally went downstairs. The Green Mile was on and my mom had a few things to say about that. But it was a good birthday. She said she had fun. She said she enjoyed it. I hope so.