Mema vs. the Move Out

Welp. As with all of life, change happens. A friend of mine has asked me to be her roommate. I will be moving out of Mema's as of Sunday. I find this to be bittersweet. I love my Mema, dearly. But I know this will be good for her and I. She wants her house back, and I am not one to overstay my welcome. She has been (and will continue to be) my rock and my foundation. I have cried on her shoulder, been held in her arms and laughed till I hurt. She is amazing and I can't wait to see what this new adventure has in store.

There will still be plenty of more stories to tell, but for now this chapter is closed. I will be renaming the blog to include other life stories and adventures.

“When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.” 
― Paulo Coelho


UPDATE: Changing the title of the blog is a big pain.. so... I'm keeping it... in hopes to one day put all of this in a book for my Mema. 

UPDATE #2: I did get a new blog 'Life is Calling... Now' ... so Mema will be updated only periodically.  Here's to new adventures!! And to giving up social media to an extent.

Mema vs The Garden

I started a canister garden on the front patio for the summer. Basic things such as tomatoes, squash, cucumber, spinach, lettuce and okra. Weeelll... the conversations with mema over said garden have been as follows...

2 Months ago...
Me: I'm thinking about doing a patio garden...
Mema: You're not digging in the ground and I'm not doing anything with it..
Me: I know, I know

1 Month ago...
Mema (ecstatic like a little kid): have you seen your plants???
Me: No, not yet why?
Mema: You have plants!!!!
Me (I walk outside to the 'garden' and see a speck of green in one pot): Um... ok...
Mema: See right there...
Me: Uh...
Mema: Right THERE (points to little green speck in one pot)

The last few weeks...
As I come in from day after day of hellish work cause this is our busy season...
Mema: Guess what... You have a tomato.
Me: Really?
Mema: Yep it's small but its there..
Which she proceeds to remind me for the next 2 days... lol

Another day... same hellish time of the year...
Mema: You now have 5 TOMATOES!! And spinach, and lettuce... I got some of the lettuce from out there for dinner tonight.
Me: ok..
Mema: oh and I watered them cause the looked droopy...
Me: Ok..
Later on that evening I walk outside and the lettuce looks like she punched the center of the plants... Oh Mema...

2 days ago ...
Me: Hey, I think I need you to water the plants while I'm on vacation.
Mema: Well I figured that much. They wont water themselves.
Me: Well they could if the Almighty decides to water them... but I want a contingency plan just in case He's busy.
Mema (laughing): Yes I'll do it.

Now, unfortunately it looks like the storms from last week have drowned a few of the plants... so on to round 2.. who knows Mema may turn out to be a gardener after all...

Mema vs. Yoga

So my Mema tries so hard to 'keep up with the times'...

Most of our conversations are random...

And this conversation is Reason #892 why I love my 81 yr old Mema...

Mema: I'm going to get up at 6am in the morning so I can be out of the shower and your way
Me: Ok
Mema: So I can be ready in time for the contractor to get here.
Me: I need to get up early and start walking in the mornings.
Mema: Are you still doing that thing at your work?
Me: Yep, It's tomorrow
Mema: Not the music thing but the yogurt thing?
Me: Yep, it's tomorrow.
Mema: Wait.. it's not yogurt, that's what you eat ... what's that thing you're doing?
Me: Yoga. Mema, it's yoga.

Mema is awesome.

Mema vs. Valentines Day

SO. Mema... Like I said before is a baker for a hobby. She is amazing. She makes TONS of things I love... my most favorite is what's called a Candy Cake.. candybars chopped up in the cream cheese icing and the cake. And she makes actual candy at Christmas... my favorite is these Millionares that are nuts, carmel & canned milk coated in chocolate.

All this to say... Mema CAN bake...

So it was Valentines Day (A day which I loathe and despise). I had brought Mema home a dozen roses because, hey, she's 81 and deserves them. She decides she wants to 'experiment' and make a cake.

I come in and find her working hard with a small 'brick- looking' cake on a dinner plate. It's light brown and looks ... interesting.

Me: So, what kind of cake is it?
Mema: An experiment... a surprise.
Me: K, so what's in it? Flavor?
Mema: Um, you'll see.
Me: So what is in it, then? Cinnamon, sugar?
Mema: You know... I dont know... (passes a chuckle)
Me: OK. (confused... I see the bowl of white icing)... what kind of icing is this?
Mema: Um, I'm not sure..
Me: Ok now you're scaring me...
Mema: You can taste it..
Me: (tastes the icing) Um, tastes like an egg white frosting
Mema: ok.

So she proceeds to decorate the cake... after it sets for about 10 mins she calls me back into the kitchen.

Mema: Ok time to cut the cake
Me: you mean the mysterious ingredient thing in front of us.
Mema: (laughing) Well then you get to cut it...

She hands me the knife and I proceed to try and cut the cake... TRY being the key word. It was a brick... Thick all the way through. At one point it even crumbled apart instead of cutting. Mema is laughing the ENTIRE time...

Me: What the heck is THIS??
Mema: It's a diabetic cake mix and icing.
Me: Ok... (I poke the 'cake' and take a small bite... chew for a while)
Mema: How is it?
Me: It's .... well... um... it's interesting.
Mema: (takes a bite... makes a face) ... Yeah it's interesting alright... It's eatable... I was cleaning out the middle room (her baking supply storage) and found a whole case of this cake mix from when I first became a diabetic (like 10 years ago)
Me: MEMA... when you FIRST became a diabetic?? How long ago was that??
Mema: Oh it's been a few years... I'm not sure really..
Me: Ohhh Mema... That is so not cool...
Mema: I think the case has gone bad
Me: You think?!

At least it looked pretty.... Happy Post Valentine's Day....

Mema vs Futbol (aka Soccer)

So. Those who know me, know that even though I am a girl I love to follow and watch a variety of sports. Hockey, basketball, baseball, football and soccer just to name a few. When the Olympics come on I will set my alarm so that I can watch my favorite sports live and suffer the consequences later..

Well along this vein, Mema, does not watch sports of any kind. Throughout the Olympics I was explaining that a 'skeleton' race is not one between dead people and that there is a difference between 'ice dancing' and 'figure skating'.

So this brings me to soccer. Yesterday I was out sick with a stomach bug. Mema and I were in the living room resting when the Chelsey vs Tottingham game came on. Now, I'm an Arsenal fan, so I could really care less about this game but I thought 'hey, it's on why not' ... (yes that's right guys, a straight girl that doesn't mind watching sports just because they're on).

Well Mema comes in and says...

Mema: what sport is this?
Me: Futbol in the UK & Europe, Soccer in the US.
Mema: oh ok. So I'm guessing the ones in white are on one team and the ones in blue are on another
Me: Yes

To which I proceed to explain the game (which had been scoreless up to this point with about 40 mins left to go) in great detail. Explaining about the goalies and scoring and which way was what.

To her reply: Well that's nice dear but I'm watching my show at 4p (Game doesnt end till 430).

Game continues... just as she's about to turn it Chelsey scores.. I get happy.. Mema turns it... I get up to go watch the rest in the back...

Mema: You're leaving
Me: yeah I'm gonna go watch it in the back since it's getting good now that someone scored
Mema: Oh they scored?
Me: yes Mema
Mema: Well I dont see how you could tell with them just running back and forth on a field
Me: (palm to forehead - I explained it all for what... ) They put the ball in the box looking net.
Mema: Well why didnt you just say that to begin with...

Oh Mema...
 

Introduction to Mema....

My Mema... for those not familiar with Southern US names... a 'mema' is otherwise known as a 'grandmother', a 'nana', a 'oma', a 'gigi'... basically the female patriarch of a family and I love her. Through out my life she has been my rock, mentor, comedian and voice of reason. She has been there through my childhood, my parents divorce in my early 20's, my college graduations (both of them) in my late 20's and now I come home to help her (but don't tell her that... we're still telling her my bathroom is getting remodeled...) She is a independent, opinionated, mature, pleasant, God-fearing, church going, daily soap opera watching, penny pinching, wonderful woman.

She is a 10 year cancer survivor. Now, when I say cancer 'survivor' she rocked that shit like Rocky did the Russian. The doctors ended up having to take out her pancreas, gallbladder, and parts of her small instestine, large instestine, liver and stomach... and she still survived. She didnt just survive ... she LIVES. Makes the most of each day. Never mets a stranger and has lived in the same house with my Papa (God rest his soul) since I can remember. My Papa died 3 years ago but that didnt stop her... she may not be as fast as she used to be or as strong, but she's just as subborn and determined. She bakes for a hobby... breads, cakes, candy. Which are all wonderful and where I get my love for food, cooking and family.

I should have started the blog when I first moved in, but I was reluctant. It's been about 5 months now ... and I've decided with family stretched far and wide, this may be a good thing. I dont know how many posts I'll do or how often. All I know is that we've shared a lot of laughs... from her telling me the entire story line to every Christmas movie on the Hallmark Channel to (today) explaining (in detail with hand motions) how to kill a fresh chicken by wringing its neck... (yeah I told ya, she's special).

So now with out further adieu... Adventures with Mema.