The Gal Herself
& Her Mom
Are Alike
My mother never worked after marrying her first serious boyfriend, my dad. She was very content as a homemaker and a mother. She loves gardening, drinks coffee by the gallon, doesn’t travel, hates going to the movies, and reads perhaps one book a year. So on the face of it, we have very little in common.
Yet as I grow older, I find more and more similarities between us. Nature? Nurture? Genetics? Who knows? But every time I find another commonality, it surprises me. And, since in addition to loving my mom I also like her, being alike doesn’t make me unhappy.
1. Talking on the phone. We’re both natural-born blabbers. Fortunately we have each other to blab to.
2. Blurting. We’re both very blunt. There’s no malice. We just think we’re stating the obvious, and we’re both surprised when we find this isn’t the case.
3. Cats. We’re both feline aficionados, and every detail of their furry lives fascinates us. We have been known to discuss hairballs and litter preferences ad nauseum.
4. Gift shopping all year around. If I see something in December that would be perfect for a friend’s June birthday, I pick it up in December. I might not think of it again, or it might not be available, come June. She’s the same way. In mid-July, one of our marathon phone calls was interrupted because she had to sign for my birthday gift, which had just arrived via UPS. My birthday is in November.
5. Willfulness. Our styles are very different. She’s more gracious and stealth (OK, manipulative), while instead of being passive-aggressive, I'm just aggressive-aggressive. But no matter how you slice it, generally we get our own way. We recognize this about one another, which is why we seldom clash. (As in, "She's just gonna do what she wants anyway, so what's the point?")
6. Bargain hunting. I learned my coupon clipping/comparison shopping skills from her. Whenever I give her a gift, she’s pleased and proud if I can tell her I got it on sale. I have taken to telling her, “They practically paid me to take it out of the store!”
7. Photo-album phobia. We both have stacks of pix tucked away here and there, not organized in any way. This one is weird, because both of my sisters are very into scrap booking. Somehow that talent escaped Mom and me.
8. We both order our eggs over easy. Note I said “order” because …
9. Neither of us cooks unless absolutely forced to.
10. We both prefer Thousand Island dressing.
11. JBKO. We both revere Jackie Kennedy. When the exhibit of her clothes arrived at The Field Museum in Chicago, I was thrilled to go with my mom on the opening day. It was her Mother’s Day present.
12. Neither of us wears hats. In any weather.
13. Our handwriting has become almost identical.
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1.Special K-Toni catalogs her impressive life skills
2. Nicole Austin is packing up and heading to San Fran
3. Malcolm has an exceptionally cool TT about an exceptionally cool (and timeless) movie star
4. yh tells us which movies she could watch and rewatch again and again
5. Nicholas offers an unconventional reading list, where all the books have numerals in their titles
6. impworks vents about cold calls (and who can blame him)
7. Chelle tells us all about a very important young man: her nephew, Jared
8. Behold the Tinkerbell Collection!
9. Thomma Lyn does a little self exploration
10. Jenny McB displays her brand loyalty
11. Lori answers the question: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
12. Buck Naked Politics takes us back to the bad old days of Iran-Contra
13. Works for Mom lets us know what her other half is doing while she's blogging
14. Susan gives us 13 reasons to stop by her blog, even on days that aren't Thursday!
15. No Nonsense Girl shares 13 reasons why she's nervous about her job interview -- stop by and voice your support!
16. Gattina shares her wisdom about men
17. Grace muses on life in 2007
18. Bermudabluez brightens our days with colorful Halloween crafts
19. Xakara is in love with 13 other wordly literary heroes
20. Mom not Mum has a musical TT from 1973
21. Harlekwin takes us on a tour of Crater Lake (and she even has a Crater Lake-appropriate banner)
22. Vixen gives us 13 very persuasive reasons why we must visit her 365 day project
23. Nancy researched and found 13 rather unfortunate, but real, names
24. Joy Is My Goal has a highly visual TT about hands
25. DoubleDeckerBusGuy has a year's worth of TT
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