81 Years

Happy Birthday Mom!! 

Friday afternoon, my big sister & her hubby and a couple of the girls were able to come up to Maine (from Massachusetts) to celebrate my mom's 81st birthday!  Last year didn't quite work out for everyone, so it was kind of a happy-birthday-here's-a-card type of birthday.... which isn't how you would want to celebrate an 80th birthday!! 

My mother was kind of concerned about feeding everyone, but the awesome cook of the family (Cathy) was ready to make some dynamite lasagna!!  (And dynamite it was!)  I really wasn't much of a help.  I only bought the ingredients.  Yes, I hang my head in shame. 

Off to Union we drove to enjoy the food and company.  My other sister Beth drove up from Portland and we were all together again.  :) 

It had been awhile since we had a "formal" supper together.  With my Italian family, it's very different from my mother-in-law's traditional Martha Stewart family suppers.  At my mother-in-law's house.  All plates are set with forks, knives, spoons, etc on a cloth table-cloth.  All food is set neatly in pretty serving dishes.  My brother-in-law (my sister-in-law's husband) is the cutter of poultry, beef, turkey or whatever the main course is.  Plates/dishes are politely passed around with many a "please" and "thank you".  No one eats until the last person has their food placed in front of them.  As I said, Martha Stewart.

As I said, it had been a long time since we have all eaten a special meal together.  That being the case - I was kind of shell-shocked to see food being eaten in different places, no formal ceremony.  I LOVED it!!  I MISSED it!!  I was back to normalcy!!  Well, the normalcy I've always known anyway!!  My sister just recently sent out an email forward titled, "Growing up Italian" sitting around the table I was personally doing/seeing things from the list!!  One was eating the lasagna with a fork in one hand and bread in the other hand.  Another thing was eating salad as dessert.  When I realized the things we were doing, I had to point it out.  Yes, we had a great chuckle over it!!

Another thing that was hysterical:  My mother always preaches against the dangers of Sweet & Low or any other sweetener for that matter.  To quote her: "Eeets not good...dere's too mach haspertaim!  Eet makesa you seek"  While scouring the cabinets for candles to put on her cake, what should Cathy happen upon?  ARTIFICIAL SWEETNER!  We had So MUCH fun teasing her about it!!  I pointed at her and shouted:  "UNCLEAN!  UNCLEAN!!" It was awesome!

I have been fighting a cold, so I was feeling yucky.  I was having a tough enough talking, so when it came time to sing the traditional anthem, I just had a couple of squeaks come out!! Oh well...I can't always be perfect.  (hahahahaha!)

All in all, it was such a fun day and we had a really great time together.  :)

I love my mamma.