Thursday 04/24/14 At Moms

Dinner with my mom is always a joy. She cooks divinely, is always a font of wisdom, and usually of humor.

There are always staples at a dinner with mom... rice (no Asian culture goes without), papaya salad (Som Tum), spiciest item on the menu, Chicken Salad (Larb Gai), a meat (tonight was grill fried chicken), and vegetables.

Dinner At Mom's

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Xavier and his mom on the boys' 16th birthday. He failed his first attempt on the driving test but will retake it in a month or so. My sister can't wait till he's driving so she no longer has to.

The best times, though, are when my niece, nephew, and sister come over as well and we can spend it together. We talk, we laugh, we catch up with each others' lives, we enjoy one anothers' company... and in our own way, we celebrate one another... this small, pretty, close-knit family of ours.

Aren't they wonderful?

Morgan and I traded selfies so we could use them as identifiers on our phones.

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We discussed Cliven Bundy, equal pay for equal work, political correctness, migrant workers / illegal aliens, and religion. Nephew is an an atheist, btw... I'm proud, but I did warn him against tearing those down that were religious.... not all people with religion practice it equally, so no dumping on all for one persons' hypocrisy.

Group of Women Airforce Service Pilots and B-17 Flying Fortress (image in the public domain.)

Cloven Bundy by DonkeyHotey on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

The largest (or rather heated) discussion was that of equal pay. We spent nearly 20 minutes trying to clarify that we weren't talking about the physicality between men and women (a whole other topic) but that men and women who actually do the same job should be paid equally.

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As I was leaving for the night and saying good-bye to my mum, I was a little disappointed that since most of the time was spent with the family, I was unable to tease out something for a funny post from my mom. She said, "It's okay, Ohma. I'll say something funny next week." Then I remembered her reaction to a photo that my friend, Sam, had posted to her Facebook feed. It's of a puppy she rescued called Mr. Twix. Upon seeing this adorable dog, my mom, who claims to hate all 4 of her own animals, squealed in glee and clapped her hands in seal-like joy. She wants to meet Mr. Twix, although she does "hate" him and his ridiculously long lashes. I think the ear to ear grin she had on her face betrayed the "hate".

Mr. Twix, rescued by Sam. Visit her website to get to know the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll Dogs. www.samantharatcliffe.com

O.M.G. Those Lashes!!!