springdellgirl

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my mom's birthday...I won't divulge her age but I will list a "random" (wink wink) number of things that my brother and sisters, our spouses and our kids love about our mom. (Mom...make sure that you have the speakers on so you can hear the music on my blog!!)

That would be...

Stacey's....AND Kristin,Kelley, Kirkland and Jordin's mom has got it goin' on!! :)

There are so many things we love about our mom but here are just a few of them:

-She is the oldest of five very different siblings.













-Her real name is Vicki but she changed it to Victoria because she felt it was more professional. This bugs the heck out of my grandma who has been known to mutter: "I don't know what was wrong with the name Vicki!!"











-Two of her granddaughters are named after her: Reilly Victoria and River Victoria (what can I say... Stacey and John aren't very original!! They informed me that "family names" are fair game. What can you do?)



-My kids call her "Grandma Vic".



-She is the world's most fantastic mother!! I am totally in awe of her.



-She is the "Alpha Grandma" aka the "favorite".



-She is gorgeous!! She has the most amazing cheekbones I have ever seen. When I was growing up I used to love to have her come to my school so I could introduce her to my friends. I thought she was the most beautiful, smart and stylish mom anyone one could ever have. I was so proud to be her daughter. Even now I love to introduce her to people. She came to church a few weeks ago for the primary rehearsal to hear my kids do their parts and when she breezed on in I was blown away by how beautiful and amazing she is and couldn't wait to introduce her to people.









-She is smart. Amazingly...fantastically...brillant.



-She is one of the most generous people I know. She gives and gives and gives. One of my earliest memories is of her taking a Christmas box of food and toys to a family in need and ringing the door bell, picking me up, and running to the car.



-She grew up in a small town in Northern Idaho. She has since moved back to that town to "give back" to the little community that gave her so much growing up. I love that about her.



-She was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" in high school. She did!!



-She was a contestant in the "Miss (insert the name of her town) Pageant". She came in second to a girl that my mom and her friends later found out had false teeth...she is still bitter!! ;)



-She played in the band in high school and loved it. She played the baritone and sousaphone before she became the drum majorette. (How I wish I could get my hands on that picture!!)



-She attended BYU on scholarship and got a Nursing Degree.



-She was a BYU rebel.



-She and her best friend, Kathy, used to go on road trips to California in Kathy's VW bug and would hang out with the hippies on Haight-Ashbury in the 60's.



-She nearly got kicked out of BYU her Senior year. She had a religion professor who she couldn't stand and thought he was a chauvinist pig. So to tick him off she showed up for her final in a long trench coat. When her professor handed out her final she took off her coat and she was sitting there in a yellow bikini!! (This was BEYOND DARING even in my day at BYU...when knee length shorts were finally allowed...heaven help you if they were above your knees...In my mom's day they couldn't even wear pants...they had to wear skirts!!). Due to her fabulous grades and her otherwise stellar reputation she was able to graduate...barely!












-She went on to get her Masters Degree in Nursing Administration from the University of Utah. She did this while married, working full-time, with four kids and one on the way. Unbelievable!!



-It's a good thing she went into hospital administration because even with a nursing degree she failed to "diagnose"the broken bones of me and my siblings. She felt an ace bandage could cure anything!!



-She is truly a pioneer in Women's Health. She forged ahead things like "Women's Hospitals", "Women's Health Centers", Birthing Rooms etc. She is well-known in the health care world.



-She has slammed through many glass ceilings and rocked the "old boys club" of the health care industry.



-For years she has been brought in to "clean up" and "fix" struggling health care systems. She is tough but fair. She is beloved by her employees but heaven help you if you aren't doing your job. She earned the nickname "Barracuda B*@$!" after having to get rid of some lazy Texas "Good Ol' Boys" in Houston. My siblings and I are insanely proud of that nickname!!









-She is a raging liberal Democrat. She has her "Utah Democrat" (isn't that an oxymoron) hat on display in her house even though she no longer lives in Utah.



-She utterly loathes and despises George W. Bush who she derisively refers to as "Dub-ya".



-She "threatens" to burn her bra at the drop of a hat over political/women's issues. Kelley said that my mom actually did burn her bra in the 60's on the steps of the Salt Lake Capital Building but I've never hear that story so...who knows? Care to clarify Mom? :)



-She is an amazing artist and creative genius. She sews, quilts, paints, crafts and decorates.





-She is a fabulous cook and hostess. Her dinner parties are spectacular and my parents Halloween Parties and New Years Eve Parties were LEGENDARY!!



-She did not teach any of her daughters to sew or to cook. When we complain about this she claims we never had any "interest" in either one. Hmmm...suspicious. But I do get it now. I practically need to be medicated doing a craft with my kids...it's hard to be a perfectionist!! ;)



-She is an early riser and is BUSY BUSY BUSY all day long. She thrives on it. She likes to declare "I have never been bored a day in my life!!"



-She is musical. She plays the tuba, baritone, sousaphone, piano and guitar. One of her fondest dreams is to learn to play the flute. She even bought herself a beautiful antique flute that Kelley hocked in high school for some "quick" cash!! My mom is still bitter!! (Kelley also hocked my electric keyboard while I was away at college...think of the musical GENIUS I could've been if I still had that electric keyboard!! )







-She is strong emotionally. She has been through some extremely difficult trials and experiences and yet she remains an unfailing optimist.



-She is strong physically. If you need someone to help you move call my mom. She is extremely strong. When I do help her move furniture and heavy things it usually goes something like this:



Me: Hey mom...let me help you with that.



Mom: Ok thanks.



Hefting...heaving...lifting



Mom: Kristin!! Are you even LIFTING your end??



Me: I'm trying! But it's REALLY heavy!



Mom: Oh just let go and I'll do it myself!!



(This is usually a good idea as I suffer from a rare yet serious disease called "Laughter Weakness Syndrome". It can be extremely dangerous and debilitating. There are only two known "sufferers"...me and Kelley. Laughter = complete muscle failure = dropped furniture = mom nearly killed by large furniture pieces crashing down stairs and careening down moving van ramps.



-She often moves furniture by herself...see above...this has caused her to actually be trapped in a stairwell for quite awhile wedged between a wall and a large armoire. The good news was that she had her cell-phone. The bad news was that none of her adoring children were answering. The good news was that she was finally rescued by her brother Steve. The bad news was that she was extremely pissed off!!



-She is the QUEEN of flip-flops and has passed this on to all of her daughters. I have fond memories of a pair of blue flip-flops with rainbow trim that my mom wore all through the 70's.









-Once at the lake while chopping wood my mom cut her toe in half with an axe...see above...she calmly hobbled over to where my dad was and told him that she thought she "might" need to go to the hospital.



-She is often attacked by animals. This causes her children no end of amusement. She has been butted by a goat at a public farm while trying to protect her grandchild from a crazy goat. Luckily her son-in-law, John, came to her rescue while her two daughters collapsed on the ground laughing until they were crying!!



-She has been attacked by a gigantic parrot. My mom loves parrots. We have had three growing up. "Maxwell Alexander Ferdinand the Bird" now resides in Kansas City with my dad. We were a "foster family" to "Willie" who belonged to a friend of my mom's who was getting out of an abusive marriage and my mom had "Kiwi" for many years. Back to my story...once my mom was at a pet store in Kansas City and was holding a huge red macaw when it started chewing on her necklace and then her earrings and then was pecking heck out of her!! She had to be rescued by the store manager.



-She was once kicked by a crazy horse and hospitalized for a week. This was not funny but extremely scary.



-She loves to play the world's DULLEST game...Scrabble!! She gets crazy maniacal glee from kicking her children's butts!!



-She hates Jello and cold cereal. I would've starved to death in college without these two food items.



-She eats revolting things like mayo and butter on a turkey sandwich or worse on a spam sandwich...GAG!!



-Spam and liver and onions were commonly on the menu at our house growing up. I hate both!!



-She has the face of an angel and swears like a sailor.



-She likes to wink. She frequently winks at her children and grandchildren when in a large group. We LOVE this!!





-When I was growing up she was frequently stopped in stores and on the street and asked if she was a TV News Anchor.





-She is extremely stylish. She has incredible taste. My sisters and I eagerly take any cast-offs be it jewelry, clothing, furniture, or decorative items...and thus our business of "Sisters Creed" was born. The Sister's Creed is "reuse, revitalize, revamp".




-She has taught all her children to appreciate the simple pleasures in life.



-She has an "interesting" way of pronouncing "pleasures". She says "play-zures". Kelley and I have made bets on who could get her to say "play-zures" first!! It is surprisingly easy!! :)



-She is a workaholic and her children have had to have an intervention to tell her to not work so hard. She is still extremely annoyed that we did that.



-She raised 5 very opinionated children...she regrets it!! She told us this year that we are no longer allowed to "comment" on her life. Um...good luck with that!!



-She was a strict parent. I was once grounded for 4 months (no going anywhere, no tv, no telephone, no nothing) because our nanny asked me to babysit Kirk and Jordi and I snottily said "Isn't that what YOU'RE paid to do!!" I KNOW!! I was such a brat!! That kind of attitude was not tolerated at my house!!





-Her biggest pet peeve is people who sleep in. She HATES that!!



-She doesn't take herself seriously. She loves to laugh and has a great sense of humor. She allows her children to tease her mercilessly.






-She is always up for an adventure. She has taught all her children to view life this way.





-She is a blast to travel with, shop with, and hang out with...we are SO LUCKY!!



-She loves the lake and bought herself a gorgeous bright red ski boat that she cruises around in.






-I don't think she has ever seen a movie all the way though in her life. She falls asleep within minutes of the opening credits.



-She calls her children a lot but never leaves a message. Hmmm... this is puzzling to us.



-She is full of energy and is always on the go. If she didn't have a cell-phone we would never be able to get a hold of her!!



Here's one extra: She is the most supportive, giving, loving, caring, accepting, forgiving, amazing, generous, talented and kind person in the world. My siblings and I hope to be just like her. Thanks for all you have done for us...and continue to do for us. I didn't compile this list all on my own...it was a "group" effort.










MOM...WE LOVE YOU LIKE CRAZY!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! HERE'S TO MANY MANY MORE!!



My mom's grandchildren who can talk had this to say about why they love "Grandma Vic":



Reilly: " I love absolutely everything about her--I just LOVE HER!!"



Kameron: "I love Grandma Vic's kindness".



Ailey: "I love that she reads books to me and loves me all the time".



Dane: "I love Grandma's big red boat!!"