Honor Your Mother on Mothers' Day.www.myaroma.scentsy.us

Mother's Day is May 13 this year.

What do you do to honor your mother on Mother's Day? First, you give her a great gift - maybe flowers, her favorite chocolate, something she wouldn't buy for herself. YOU know she deserves it, and you'd give her the world because she gave you life and kept you alive as you grew older. She kept you fed, bathed and clothed and kissed your booboos. A card just doesn't seem to cut it, and flowers -- well, that's become a routine, hasn't it? My mother, JoAnne, passed away in Winter of 1996, and I miss her, we all do. So I write this blog to honor her memory. My mother never liked to hear "what do you want for Mother's Day, Mom?". So it was always a challenge to be creative. So now that she's gone and I'm a mom, I understand where she was coming from. Though I wish I could honor her and bless her on Mother's Day in person, I can't; I can only dream, regret, and pass on this information to you, reader, and honor her in memoriam. If Mom were still alive, she wouldn't want to do anything but take the day off. While any mother knows that's not entirely possible, I would do what I could to make that happen. I would give her my time, (and the royal treatment.) Mom didn't eat breakfast, so no breakfast in bed. Nothing gave Mom more joy than seeing us next to her in church, worshiping. So then after escorting her to church, we would take her out to lunch wherever she wants (usually somewhere "not too expensive, I don't want you to make a big fuss") and then back home or maybe for a drive in the country (she loved that). Since she loved the smell of flowers, especially lilacs and lavender, she would have loved a Scentsy warmer (flameless candle because she didn't like the soot from regular candles) with French lavender wax. As she sits comfortably in her favorite chair, sipping the mint iced tea she so loved and enjoying the aroma of french lavender, I would rub her feet for at least an hour. After she falls asleep -- as she often did -- I would ("wash your hands" lol) and make dinner. One of her favorites (because it is cheap, extremely easy, and doesn't make a big mess), is Layered Casserole (recipe follows). After dinner we would have (to make) her go into the sunroom and relax and put her feet up. We (whoever else is around) clean the kitchen extra good for her and get my fondue warmer going. While she relaxes, we make a pot of coffee and a tray of pretzels, fresh strawberries, and mini marshmallows to dip in the Velata chocolate. Then we would all sit around and enjoy each other's company and the delicious fondue. Maybe I would give her the Velata pot too, and get myself another one

Care and Feeding of My Family

I have let my body go, gaining 60+ pounds over the past five years, and I ask myself, since my family will eat anything I put in front of them, why do I continue to feed them fried foods, fatty desserts, carbs, etc., unhealthful foods? Am I taking them down with my own sinking ship?

My dog has back problems; my cat has diabetes. The vet recommends special foods to keep them healthy and to limit treats so I follow her advice. I probably wouldn't get any exercise if the dog didn't need a walk! The family doctor -- doctors for years -- have recommend healthful diets for humans, especially humans with health problems such as diabetes and heart disease as we've experienced in our household.  Our doctor has advised diet and exercise changes, and we've not really been following as closely as we should if at all.

So I ask you, why do we take better care of our pets than ourselves? And since I'm responsible for the shopping, planning, and preparation of my family's meals, it's time I make some changes and take better care of the humans in our house.

There are so many resources out there; recipe sites, social sites (I belong to SparkPeople, it's free), health sites, etc., that there's really no excuse for procrastination. This week I posted a 4.4 lb weight loss - yahoo!http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=4701122

What's for Supper?

I gotta share this recipe with you because it's so easy and fast.  Getting in touch with the German side (we have an entire melting pot). I'll give you two recipes that you can make and serve usually within a half hour:

Sausage and Kraut (serves 6)
1 lb polish or smoked sausage
1 15 oz can or jar of bavarian style sauerkraut (more if you really like it)
(optional) about 6 cups Mashed potatoes (leftover, freshly made, or instant - whatever you prefer)

Slice crossways one polish sausage (or whatever smoked sausage you prefer). On medium heat, cook without oil until the pieces are dark brown, stir every once in awhile. Then dump the sauerkraut on top and cover. Reduce heat to low and heat until sauerkraut is hot. serve this over a 1 cup mound of mashed potatoes and garnish with a tablespoon or more of German onions on the side.

German Onions


1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 c. spicy brown mustard or yellow mustard
2 tsp sugar or a packet of truvia sweetener

Mix it up.  Save any leftovers in a jar in the fridge. I've used it a month later and it was even better. This stuff is good on Hot Dogs too.

Getting Started

Okay, this is all new to me, and I'm sure I'll make mistakes along the way - probably already have. So as I mentioned in my introduction I filled out somewhere on this site, my grandkids call me Memaw because my now 9 year old grandson started it. Memaw means grandma, according to Wikipedia. I just tell everybody it means "wise one". For some reason they think I deserve the title and sometimes I do, but then again, sometimes I just get lucky.
So by the grace of God, I live and breathe in the Southern US, am raising three of my 12 grandkids (No 12 born on Sunday the 15th), and somehow manage to find time for my Scentsy wickless candles business. Jan 28th we're setting up a booth at the Norge Elementary School, and I'm excited about it. I'm hoping to have a great launch, but it'll be fun nonetheless.
My husband and I also have just started Rock of Zion Global Ministries and are very busy starting the various ministries that that encompasses as well as the Christian University College and Christian University Academy.
So that's my life right now. I wonder how long these posts are available; it will be fun for my kids and grandkids to read after I'm gone.
Enough about me. I'd love to hear from you.