Blog: Food + Family + Fone Calls + Fapresents= Fantastic Famother's Day.

Been trying to come up with a real blog title... Unfortunately, after spending an unspecified amount of time (because I would be embarrassed to admit how long I spent thinking about it instead of doing anything that was most likely more important) the best I could come up with was 'Blaarrrgghh', which is pretty much just a manifestation of my frustration with not having any ideas.

... It does kind of sound like an ogre trying to say 'blog' though...

I think I like it. For now.

Moving on. This post comes to you in ONE part.

Part One: Mother's Day. Mother's Day was great, mostly because I have the best mom in the world, but also because all of my siblings that are currently residing in this country were able to come spend the day. Here are some highlights:

Highlight #1: Cole and Chris made dinner. We had the BEST grilled chicken, cheese tortellini, caesar salad, and garlic bread EVER. Not only did it taste great, it was nice for mom and my sisters to have a break from the kitchen on their special day.

Highlight #2: Presents. This year, my siblings and I got my mom something I knew she wanted to have:

Her very own copy of the 1998 Eighth Edition of Mosby's GenRx: The Complete Reference for Generic and Brand Drugs/! ... Now, I know what you're thinking ("Um...what would ANYONE want with a stupid old drug book?!) Come on, guys, Don't judge a book by it's cover. It's what's inside that counts:

We knew she wanted Season five of Bones, but I figured that just wrapping it would be boring, and I didn't want her to be able to look at the size and shape of the package and know it was a DVD, so after a quick trip to the local DI to find the biggest and most obscure book they had, 2 dollars, and a box knife, I was able to turn a somewhat boring gift into a pretty good laugh. It was priceless to see the look on her face as she tried to figure out if it was some sort of joke without offending any of us or admitting she didn't get it.

And what's a good present without a good card? (Before I show you the card I ended up with, let me just take a moment to acknowledge the complete lack of good greeting cards these days... and by 'good' I mean cards that aren't mushy, cheesy, touchy-feely, and/or rhyming. I looked in more than one place and only found TWO acceptable mother's day cards. And those two were nearly 5 bucks each. Ridiculous. So, naturally I opted to make my own...)

-Front-

-inside-

... That's seriously the cheapest ass I've ever seen. It doesn't get much better than 75% off. Ok, I admit that I didn't come up with that on my own. I borrowed the idea from one of the two acceptable cards I found in the store... but my card was a billion times better... and it didn't cost me anything.

Highlight #3 and #4: Missionary Phone Calls. Talking to the Elders Kenner is always something I look forward to on Mother's Day and Christmas. This time, it was even more exciting than usual. With Nathan, it was because it was the last phone call we get with him before he comes HOME!! I can't even believe it's already been nearly 2 years and I can't wait to see him again (even though he refuses to be reminded of how soon his time in Africa will be up) I miss him so much! He may not be counting the days... but I sure am!

For Daniel, it was because of this:

Not only did we get to TALK to him, we were able to SEE him!!! I'd never really used Skype before, but I am definitely a fan. Dan was able to see how much Lucas and Kyle have grown, as well as his newest nephew, Jack. I was able to watch him nearly pee his trousers with laughter when I showed him my brilliant mother's day card and when I reminded him of a heated argument over whether or not a certain someone was able to bench-press an elephant:

But most importantly, we were able to make faces at each other. Seriously... I didn't have much to say, but we spent a good amount of time pulling faces... Proof?