Mom's Here!

Oh my God!  Vaiosina and I are in heaven!  My mom is here and we are loving it.  She's been watching Vaiosina while I've been at work and they're just having a grand old time getting to know each other again, which honestly didn't take too long.  We took my mom out to have Indian food tonight. It was her first time and she loved it.

 

Have I mentioned that I LOVE having her here?

 

My heart is literally overflowing with JOY!

 

On Friday, we leave for Poland.  My mom's going to get her Polish Pottery on!

Moms Know Best

I called my mom on the way home from work today because I saw that she had phoned me earlier, but I'd missed the call. She told me that she'd rented the movie, Brothers, from the Red Box and that she took it to work. Depending on how busy the store gets, she can find some time to watch movies and she watched this one today. I personally haven't watched it and it's a good thing because she said it's scary and living alone and having to sleep alone at night, I just can't. do. scary. movies.

As you probably know, this movie has to do with a pair of brothers, and one goes to war, and the other, is left to console his brother's grieving wife when they find out that he is missing in action and is eventually declared dead. In the process, the wife forms a relationship with the "alive" brother only to have the "supposedly missing/dead" other brother return from the war "un-missing/dead" to find that his brother and his wife are "together" (did you guys get all that?). I guess he becomes hysterical--a lot of this stemming from what he experienced in the war, which according to my mom, was a lot of murder. Both him committing murder and witnessing murder. I think he was in Iraq in the movie.

So my mom asks, "Is Malu okay? Have you heard from him lately?" And of course, I had. I let her know that he's doing fine. So she says, "I just want to make sure that he doesn't end up like the guy in the movie. Does he see a lot of killing over there?" And that, I'm not sure. He is in the kind of job that requires him to interact with a lot of the local populace, so it is possible. If he does, he wouldn't tell me anyway for fear that I would worry. And I would. "Maybe he should get a psychological eval when he gets back." And I assure her that all soldiers normally do when they return from a deployment. "I would hate for him to go crazy like that." And I just laughed it off.

Although I got a really good laugh because it just caught me by surprise, looking back, it is a very serious issue. Many Soldiers come back after experiencing traumatic events overseas and are never the same. Some are completely irrational and do act like the guy supposedly did in this movie. Situations like these are not easy to come to terms with, but if you are a family member of a Soldier in this predicament, there are people that can help--both you as a dependent and your Soldier! So if you need more information, just let me know.

So moms can be crazy funny sometimes, but they do know best. And my mama was just looking out for Malu and I, and our little baby to be. I love you, Mom! But Malu will still get a kick out of this when I tell him this story.

Happy Birthday Mom!

She'll probably kill me for revealing her age, but my mommy turned 53 today! Actually, October 18th is her first birthday. Can you believe that she really has two birthdays? No, really. Her other one is on the 25th. How, you ask? Well, when my great-grandfather brought my mom and her siblings (there were 7 of them) to the United States from the Philippines way back when, he mixed up all of their birthdays when he the signed their immigration papers. It's always a funny story to tell.

We originally made plans at PF Chang's for her birthday dinner. Halfway through today, mom suggested that we stay closer to home (because PF Chang's is a long ways from here) and go to Dragon King, which is literally three miles down the road from my place. We all agreed that it was a great idea and cancelled our PF Chang's reservation. We'd definitely get more for our money at Dragon King anyway, and I must admit that the food is so much better. And it was! My Auntie Shirley and Uncle Tony joined in on the fun and we all left completely satisfied!

I'm thinking now that I should have taken pictures of the dishes. I ordered an almond chicken dish and my brother ordered the "Happy Family" which is just a mixture of vegetables, beef, chicken and shrimp. Delicious! Here we are enjoying our dishes!

Uncle Tony was able to get a picture of the entire dinner crew. Would you believe that this is actually a small gathering for us? And then another picture of the Ioapo crew!

After dinner, we all came here (to my place) for dessert (as if we needed any--we were so full!). Whole Foods has a tantalizing chantilly cake topped with fresh fruit. Okay, can you say DEEEEEEEELICIOUS??? It looks so rich, but the frosting is actually very light. It's a white cake with more chantilly frosting between its two layers. I know I say lots of things are to die for, but this cake really is! If you have a Whole Foods store near you, I wholeheartedly suggest you go there and buy this cake. Sure, it's about $25 dollars, but you won't regret it! Mom also walked away with a few good gifts, so all in all it was a wonderful day despite a last minute change in plans!

Here's to another year mom and to many, many more! I've been truly blessed to have your love and support both as a mother and as a true friend. I love you!