Venting & Gratitude

I'm a venter. I venture to say that I'm a world-class venter. I wish God had just installed a little steam valve on the top of my head; since He didn't, it all comes out my mouth.

Since this is the time of year when I tend to vent a lot about my mother-in-law (being BEACH season and all) it seems appropriate for me to take this opportunity to acknowledge the many things I sincerely like about her (hence the gratitude part of this post's title).

So - the top 10 best things about my mother-in-law, in no particular order:

1) She raised 3 wonderful kids - really - in this day & age it's no small feat to have reared 3 smart, kind, & intelligent productive members of society. And from what I can see, those 3 kids are continuing to raise just wonderful kids (well, yes, 3 of those 2nd generation kids would be mine, I know). I just spent a week with my nieces and nephews and I can truly say that they are really cool people, every one of them.

2) She's a wonderful cook - not only is she a wonderful cook, but she really cares that you enjoy the meal she's prepared - a perfectionist. When we used to come home from Australia, after not being home to the states for 2 years at a time, I was always very flattered by her menu for the week - she had obviously spent a lot of time on it and continued to spend a lot of time preparing delicious meals. I didn't always appreciate this at the time because I had missed various American foods for so long that I often gorged on certain other foods and ended up not being hungry for her meals which always disappointed her. I'm a lot older now and have much more appreciation for a home cooked meal than I once did.

3) She's a meticulous Christmas shopper - she elicits lists, shops very carefully over a period of weeks, and wraps beautifully. One of my favorite gifts ever from her was when she just gave me a big pile of books from the Half Price Bookstore - I knew it was hard for her to do because she was afraid she would choose the wrong ones, etc. - but I loved that she did it anyway! More recently, I had asked for a 20 inch gold chain suitable for hanging my various pendants on, and that's exactly what she found - perfect.

4) She's always up for games - seldom does a night go by that she's not willing to play games with whoever is up for it.

5) This goes with #4 - she makes me laugh hysterically when we play together - me, Jeff, her and my father-in-law. She doesn't mean to be funny, but she's so intense and competitive and it ends up making me laugh so hard sometimes. She would say she's the least competitive person she knows, but since she's the most competitive person I know I would say we must run in different circles.

6) She lets me tease her about her freezer, about her cream cheese, and about any number of other items which I would say she keeps around LONG after they should have found their way to the bottom of the disposal. She even gives as good as she gets in this area, so that's something we're able to laugh about.

7) She always remembers Easter - we invariably get cards, chocolate, jelly beans (once she learned I like cherry jelly beans). AND she was so gracious Good Friday 2003 when the entire family was gathered at our home here in Maryland - everyone a practicing Catholic except our immediate family - and we served HAMBURGERS - I was so embarrassed and she was so gracious and ate them. Whew....

8) When Ryan was hurt in an automobile accident in early March - they just started driving - they figured if everything turned out okay and they weren't needed they would just continue on to a previously planned vacation. It was very nice to see them in such a difficult time while Jeff was trying to get back from overseas.

9) She's visited us, more than once, everywhere we've lived - at considerable expense I might add since we're not always that close!

10) Hmm...number 10, seems like I should make this good...She says nice things about the way I sing. No one else says nice things about the way I sing. That's a good one to end on!