Last year, I spent my first Mother’s Day doing laundry, cleaning house, and fighting with my husband.  The day ended with my breaking down and crying on my husband’s shoulder in bed and telling him that all that I do around here, all that I give is completely unappreciated and unnoticed.  This is a common complaint from SAHMs.  Thankfully that complaint did not fall on deaf ears.  This year’s Mother’s Day was so wonderful that I am compelled to get on my computer and brag about it to the internet.  And Internet, I have every right to gloat!

Jessie woke up early with Lukas and let me sleep in.  Present #1.  Then he woke me up with a fantastic card from my favorite stationary store signed by himself and my son (Lukas’ signature was a bunch of squiggles, but precious all the same).  I was then instructed to come downstairs where breakfast was waiting for me.  On the table was a vase containing orange and yellow Gerber Daisies, possibly the happiest flower in the world.  I had a take-out breakfast of French toast, eggs, English muffins, and bacon as well as a Chai tea Latte and orange juice.  Obviously that isn’t the kind of breakfast that one can eat in bed.  I ate all of it, and then started regretting it 15 minutes later.  I need to stop with that “clean my plate” mentality.  I can thank my parents for that. 

I was then instructed to go take a nice long shower.  I was given a gift set of bath gel, lotion, and body splash from Bath and Body Works in my favorite scent of Warm Vanilla Sugar.  I took a nice long shower, took my time to getting around (a luxury I no longer get to indulge very often due to my beautiful son), and relaxed while Lukas napped.  Jessie then told me that I should put some jewelry on for the day.  After some hesitation, I went to my jewelry box, discovered a velvet box inside and found my next present:  a necklace containing a sapphire, Lukas’ birthstone. 

When Lukas woke up, we went to our favorite park and Jessie surprised me again with a picnic lunch.  We played outside as a family for an hour or two and then decided to spend the evening at home watching movies.  We did have dinner reservations, but there was just too much food already and there was no way I was going to be hungry.  The rest of the night was spent playing with Lukas and watching Wes Anderson movies.  It was perfect.  I am thankful that I was blessed with such a wonderful little family. 

I am ending my day on a low note.  This was kind of a shitty day as it was, but after reading a certain blog post on BlogHer, I was directed to a website that informed me that my shampoo, conditioner, face cream, deodorant, hair color and toothpaste all contain ingredients that are linked to cancer, neurotoxicity, and a bunch of other shit I’d really like to avoid.  No, really.  Most of the things that I use ranked no lower than a 4 on a scale of 10.  I’d like to lower that. 

I do think this place is ok with erring on the side of caution, which is why I’m not running down my street throwing shampoo at passing cars and screaming “THIS IS CANCER!”  I am a little uncomfortable with some of my everyday cosmetics being more than a 2 or so.  I would also like to avoid smooshing hazardous things all over my brand new baby boy. 

So what’s the score now, guys?  Plastic is turning out oceans into giant unflushed toilets, everything we use to clean oursleves and avoid stinking gives us cancer, our dependence on fossil fuels is still entirely too high, and with all of the scientific advances they still haven’t made zero calorie cupcakes. 

We have to really try to not get down on ourselves.  All of these problems seem so big and out of our reach.  What we all need to realize is that small changes make a difference as long as everybody does them.  Where the environment is concerned, any little thing done by 10 households really adds up.  As far as our health is concerned, just paying attention to what we are exposing ourselves to (food-wise or soap-wise) we are more likely to think twice before gorging on magic cancer cream. 

I am, however, still considering that hermit thing.  It almost seems sane sometimes.  Check out that database and see how toxic your favorite products are.

I love the show “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern” on the Travel Channel.  I try to catch the new episodes every Tuesday.  If you’ve never seen the show, it’s basically a guy who goes around the world and eats food that most people wouldn’t touch….even on a dare.  Sometimes it’s funny, but sometimes it’s cool to see what different cultures consider to be good eatin’.

Last night he was in Appalachia.  He visited West Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee.  Having lived in the Pacific Northwest for three years without visiting my birthplace, I had forgotten that Appalachian etiquette.  Out here, it’s like I’m in a totally different country.  Maybe it’s because of the size of this metropolitan area or the mish mash of such different cultures, but the mentality out here is so very ego-centric.  People out here have a very bad habit of thinking only of themselves and ignoring everybody else around them.  To be fair, I haven’t really gotten to know anybody out here really well, but I have been shown in several cases how painfully inconsiderate the people out here can be.  I’m talking inconsiderate on levels that I would never even think to be.  This is an inconsideration I would never have seen in Appalachia.  There’s a warmth missing here that I had taken for granted.  There’s an easy way of speaking that doesn’t exist out here that I have started to miss. 

I understand that lots of people really love it out here.  I also understand that my place of origin must seem terrifying to some.  Hey, I don’t blame them.  Andrew Zimmern went to some places that I, as a West Virginian would have avoided for fear of spotlighters, moonshiners, and redneck mutants (if they even exist).  He ate food that I was terrified to eat, even though it was forcefully shoved down my throat (such as squirrel.  My grandmother fried it like chicken and it tasted just awful.  I think that is a meat that would be better suited for braising).  But as I sat and watched the show last night and listening to the people talk and how they conversed, I realized how my life has been void of that kind of interaction.  I guess it is time to come home.  This place has never been home to me, no matter how hard I tried to assimilate.  I hate the weather, I despise the mentality, and the drivers out here scare the living shit out of me.  Home, yes.  It’s time.