A Mothers Day Correlation

In case you missed it, Mothers’ Day was Sunday and I have a little different perspective on it than I did last year.  In my post last year, I mentioned my mother and wife, but failed to mention one more important mother in my life, my grandmother (my mother’s mother). She had a tremendous influence on me growing up, and was the only grandparent I ever really knew. Sadly she passed away just 3 days after Mother’s Day last year and is certainly missed this year.

I still miss my mother, and that will likely never change, but now her spirit is back with us in a different way. It’s a Jewish custom to name a newborn after a deceased family member, which is supposed to cause some sort of metaphysical connection between two people whose lives never crossed. I know that sounds like something from an episode of LOST, but trust me, it’s a thing.  

When the Littler Dude was born last fall, he received the same initials that my mother had and they will now be forever linked.  And so far, after 7 months, he is showing signs of sharing some similar traits with his namesake. Here are a few:

·        Lack of sleep: My mother was never a very sound sleeper. Neither is the Littler Dude. That was rough for her and now continues for us. 

·         Love of family: My mother’s favorite thing in the world was being around her family, especially her kids and grandkids, even if they were getting rowdy. The Littler Dude loves being held and often doesn’t like when Mrs. Dude or I put him down for a break. Even if he is immediately smushed like a pancake by his older brother, the Little Dude.

·         Laughter: My mother was a big sitcom fan, as am I, and would frequently watch late-night reruns of classic shows she’d loved the first 20 times she’d seen them. The Littler Dude cackles hysterically when his big brother sings and dances for him, even if it’s the same made-up-on-the-spot song and dance for the 50^th time that day.

·         Appetite: My mother always made unique food combos for herself, like cold chicken for breakfast (one of her faves). The Littler Dude has yet to taste a food he doesn’t like, including Gerber puree classics like Chicken & Apples or Sweet Potatoes, Apples and Raisins (bleh).

·         Toughness: My mother faced health issues almost since birth and battled cancer with ever fiber of her being. The Littler Dude gets repeatedly squashed, rolled and folded in half by his older brother. Neither one of them complains about the adversity they’ve faced.

We have a long way to go, but so far the Littler Dude is living up to his namesake’s legacy. And with another Mother’s Day now passed, I am thankful to be able to spend it with the amazing mother of my children. Her patience with all three Dudes (both big and small) that she lives with is inexplicable, unrivaled and beyond appreciated.  Happy Mothers’ Day, Mrs. Dude!

Happy Mothers Day from the Dude family to you and yours!!

I Cracked A Century

Today marks a special day around this Dude’s house.  What you are reading is my 100^th blog post. When I started doing this I never thought I’d hit 10 posts, let alone 100. In fact, I wrote 10 my very first month and thought that I’d exhausted my creativity. But somehow I’ve cranked out another 90 posts and if you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’ve read at least one of them. If not, I suggest you go back to the beginning and read each one in order. It will be almost as exhilarating as watching an old lady write a check for a gallon of milk at the supermarket, I can promise you that.

Thanks for your support, Wilt!

As you undoubtedly know from My Favorite Season: TV, I am a sitcom buff. If such a thing exists.  And if you watch sitcoms, you know they always hype the 100^th episode, because that helps them reach syndication and ensures that the producers’ grandkids’ college is paid for. The episode is rarely as exciting as the buildup, yet I’m utilizing the same teaser strategy for this post.

So while thinking of a topic for this post, I remembered that I’ve been honored by not 1, not 2, but 3 bloggers with awards lately. Since very few bloggers get paid, many give each other awards as recognition for amazing writing or to avoid chain letter curses.

I recently received awards from 2 ladies, who rock my world every week with their humor, thoughtfulness and, most importantly, passion for snark.

The awesome Zannah from Write, Rinse, Repeat gave me the Kreative Blogger Award. (And yes, it’s ironically misspelled like that.)  Zannah is a sweet Southerner who is very inspiring to me as a writer. Partially because she is like a younger, female Larry David who says the things everyone wants to say, but few ever do.  And she’s very tan.  

The amazing Sarcasm Goddess from For the Love of Writing presented me with the Very Inspirational Blogger Award. SG is a mystery wrapped in an enigma, coated in a layer of thick-cut bacon. She is a thought provoking writer about some serious stuff and also about how she hates playing kickball. She also loves bacon. A lot. Like most people like oxygen. I believe it is her edible muse.  

So those two ladies, and someone else that I can’t remember or find the link to, gave me awards recently. I guess they think I’m a good writer or something. These things usually come with stipulations.  They usually ask you to fill out some questions, list 10 random things about yourself and then select some other bloggers to receive the award to keep the chain letter ghosts from getting you.  So I’ll do just that.

The questions, directly from Write, Rinse Repeat are:

1)      What is your favorite song: Lately, The Weight by The Band. Though that could change in 5 minutes. It tells a great story in an eloquent way. And has a great chorus, too.

2)      What’s your favorite desert? Probably Mojave. But if the question is intended to ask about my favorite dessert, as most people answer it, I’d go with Banana Cream Pie.

3)      What do you do when you are upset? Depends on the cause. Usually, I honk my horn at the person who cut me off.

4)      Which is your favorite pet? Sort of a trick question, as I’ve only really ever had one.

5)      Which do you prefer, White or Whole Wheat? Whole Wheat is healthier, so I tend to lean in that direction. Not that I generally eat healthy otherwise.

6)      What is your your biggest fear?  That I’ll write a word twice in something tons of people will read, notice and laugh at me.

7)      What is your attitude mostly? Sarcastic. Duh.

Here’s the point where I’m supposed to list 10 random things about myself. Wouldn’t you know it that I just did that for a post not too long ago? Check ‘em out here!

11 Bloggers who I think deserve awards:

Zannah listed 7 bloggers and Sarcasm Goddess listed 15, so I’m going right in the middle with 11. They are amazing writers and good friends. Even though I’ve never met them in real life. Their writing inspires me to become a better writer. They make me laugh and I think one almost brought me to tears. Once. Check ‘em out:

Louise at Raising Ivy

Delilah at Confessions of a Semi-Domesticated Mama

Kim at Mama Mzungu

Oren at A Blogger and a Father

Adrienne at The Mommy Mess

Kimberly at Sperk*

Jen at Kvetch Mom

Joe at Living in Kellie’s World

Tracy at Scribblesaurus Me

Wendy at LMAO with Wendy (Liebman)

Michelle at The Journey

To the winners, here’s what you need to do now:

1)      Thank and Link back to the blog you awarded you (i.e. me)

2)      Answer the 7 questions above

3)      List 10 random facts about yourself

4)      Pick 11 bloggers to pass one of the 2 awards listed above to

5)      Buy me a new car (optional)

I could have listed 50 more, but here’s a sampling for you of some of my favorites. I hope you’ll check them out and tell them I said hello. They might even buy you a drink.

Thanks for checking out my first 100. Here’s to the next hundred (gasp)!