Tomorrow’s is my mother’s birthday. Since I had all of 2 readers last year at this time, I’m going to re-post what I wrote after her birthday last January. Not much has changed. She’s still crazy, only now she’s 59. And I still love her craziness. She cooked her own dinner last year, but this year I’m cooking.

Don’t laugh! I am cooking three new recipes. We’ll see how it all turns out. My family gives me a hard time about the fact that all they ever let me bring to get-together’s is green bean casserole. I’m going to show them tomorrow night. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Here is my menu:
*Presto Pesto Chicken Pasta
*Olive Cheese Bread
*Salad (from a bag)
*Easy Heath Bar Dessert

My mother celebrated her 58th birthday in January. She did so by cooking her own birthday dinner. We had invited her to our house and I was going to provide dinner (remember I do not cook, so it probably would have been in the form of a square box via delivery). When she arrived wearing oven mitts I knew I was in trouble. Towards the end of the delightful dinner my mother announced she had a wonderful year, thanks to all of us.

Alright. You’re welcome.

There was more. After gushing about how we all made her year she handed us each a sealed envelope. Everyone got one, including our 4 year old son who can’t read. First reaction was “What the hell is this?” I mean come on, first you cook your own birthday dinner, then you hand us cards? I know we’ve always been a little on the dysfunctional side, but this is high-society creepy weird.

It was a thank you card - with those exact words on the front. Mine stated:

Emily,
Thank you so much for being a daughter I can be so proud of.
It has been another year in which I am in awe of the young lady you are.
Thank you for another great year.
Love, Mother

I don’t know if they make a medication for that kind of crazy, but isn’t she a beautiful crazy 58?

Some people make resolutions for the new year, but I’ve never been good at making promises to myself. This year our family has made some goals to move on with our lives.

Our biggest goal is to sell our home and buy a larger one. In some ways I am sad to move because this was our first house and we’ve created a lot of memories in this small brick space.

It was in our small outdated kitchen that I told Nate we were having a baby. It was in our living room that Ethan took his first steps and in our backyard that we’ve celebrated many of his birthdays. It was from this front porch that we’ve watched many storms roll in and out. It was this front yard that held a welcome home sign from the neighbors when I came home from the hospital. It was this sliding glass door that my mother came through to tell me we’d lost my grandmother and cousin. It was in this home where my husband and I learned exactly what love and sacrifice entail.

But as much as I love this house, it doesn’t love me back in the same way. Our laundry is in the basement and I don’t do stairs very well with an ankle that doesn’t bend quite as it should. I’ve fallen a few times, once resulting in an ER visit and subsequently a surgery on my elbow a year ago.

My biggest reason for wanting to move is a noise. (No, it’s not the old lady next door who runs her leaf blower every single time we have people over to grill out.)

We live about 2 blocks from one of the hospitals I frequent. Each day you can hear a helicopter coming in and out, hovering above our home. Maybe I’m more sensitive to the sound, but it brings feelings and emotions to a boil on certain days. All from the sound of the blades.

There were very few things that I remembered from the car accident, and the vivid memories I did have seem to intensify times ten. One distinct memory I recall is listening to the helicopter land in the field near me at the scene. I knew it was for me.

While my life hung in the unknown, my body was stuck in a vehicle. My mind traveled while I listened intently, wondering if what I was hearing would be the last sound. Turns out the last sound I remembered was of the helicopter taking off and ironically I hear that same noise every single day.

Every time I hear that same sound from the comfort of my safe home, it brings up a world of emotions that even three years later I am not fully equipped to handle.

It is just a daily reminder of where I once was, trapped in a car waiting to be airlifted to a place where my life would be examined by medical professionals, who probably never stopped to listen to the sound of a helicopter’s blades cutting through the air.

I was tagged by Perri to do give some random facts about myself. Seems simple enough, but in the midst of taking down Christmas and putting normal back up, I’ve been racking my mind for something interesting enough to post.

The rules: Link to the person that tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Share 7 random and/or odd facts about yourself on your blog. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

Random stuff:

*I had an anxiety attack over Christmas when I learned my in-laws got a golden retriever. My mind swirled around thoughts of them visiting and bringing 2 dogs along, including this rather large hair shedding one.

*When I leave a comment on a blog that requires “word verification” it takes me 2-3 tries to get it right. (I’m dyslexic and those things are seriously sticking it to me!)

*I have always wanted to order something off the Home Shopping Network, QVC or one of those commercials…but never have.

*My husband and I recently watched a DVD of our wedding that a family member brought us over the holidays. Looking back over the 7 years since we married was kind of tough. We laughed and I cried.

*People e-mail and call me Nicole, because they think it is really my name! Some even call me Fen. Those of you who don’t understand where Fenicle came from should go read this post.

*I am deathly afraid of bee’s and insects that sting. If you ever see me running around swatting at the air, just ignore me.

*I secretly wish I was physically able to be a roller girl. After watching a couple derbies, I started dreaming about skating.

Now I tag Canape, Jodifur, Jail Diet, Assertagirl, Suebob, Krista and Sam.