The nekkid drunken rooster that would never die....

Tomorrow is my birthday and Wed is my mom's birthday, so we decided this year to do something nice for just the two of us. We spent the morning on broadway, had breakfast at a local coffee shop and then strolled through the farmers market type set up that's going on downtown. We then hit a thrift mall and a beautiful antique store that's housed in a mansion built back in 1884. While we were driving around, my aunt called to see how our birthday celebration day was going and to wish me a happy birthday since they won't see me tomorrow. She recounted me being born and how happy my mom was, and how much trouble I gave her growing up. She did end with what a great person i've grown up to be and that i am a great mom (which is always appreciated after hearing a recount of the wild child i used to be). We were talking about how she was 5 mths pregnant with my cousin kimberly when i was born and how she had hated to tell my mom every time she got pregnant because she knew how much it hurt for my mom to not have a baby. She reminded me of the times I wouldn't leave her house because I was having fun playing with 'the gang' and would freak out as i was carried kicking and screaming in to the car. I told her that today that is called 'slow to transition'. She has always said that God gave me to my mom because anyone else would have killed me early on. I believe that's true. I am glad that abby's temperament has been greatly tempered by chris, but i am also glad that i am like abby so that i can appreciate and find humor in her a little more than maybe my mom did me. Mainly I think she thought next time she'd be more careful what she wished for. When pam got off the phone mom and i were talking about my temper(ment) as a child and how i would NEVER let things go and never back down, even in the face of total and complete rage from my dad. She said I always had to have the last word and was never scared of whatever punishment would come. She told me i always reminded her of the story of the rooster that would never die. I had never heard the story, so she told it to me like this.....

"When I was growing up, we had some neighbor boys who were really mean/rambunctious. They often told us of the time they took this rooster and got him really drunk by pouring beer into his mouth, then plucked all his feathers, then tossed him out in the woods behind their house to die. They said the next morning, sure enough, they heard 'cock-a-doodle-doooooo'. And wouldn't you know, but that old nekkid plucked rooster had sobered up, lived and come back to fight another day."

Mom said that I was a lot like the rooster. Do what you want to me, but I was always coming back for a fight. It was the funniest story i'd ever heard - and i can't believe it took 33 years for her to tell me.

Back to reflection...I can't believe my aunt had 3 kids in 2 1/2 years...she was 23. By the time she was my age she had 5 kids. When my mom was my age I was 11. Kimberly is my age and her kids are 12 and 9. Last weekend Kimberly and the girls were at mom and dad's and aunt pam was fussing at us because abby and anna were outside with out shoes on. We were like, "if their feet hurt bad enough, they'll come in for their shoes". Aunt pam said she was glad she was done raising kids and that she wasn't the momma. I looked at kimberly and said, "OH MY GOSH - those are OUR kids - who thought it was a good idea to let us be parents?!!? I still feel like a teenager sometimes, especially around kimberly because i remember all the mischief we used to get in to - nothing bad by most standards, but we were always up to something.

When I got home chris had roses and a HUGE mum for the outside. Mom and Dad are coming soon to get abby and chris and i are going on a date. Then tomorrow is my favorite meal - country fried steak and we are heading over to warm springs to walk around and enjoy the beautiful weather.

I love chris and i love my family. Even though abby thinks it's her birthday, i love her too:-)