EXCLUSIVE!! The softer side of Adri

For those who are just tuning in, I have decided on a theme for my blogspot--Top Ten Lists. (For a lengthy explanation as to why, please refer to last week's post). Of course, the topic for this week seems obvious--Mothers. And for once, I am not going to try to put a twisted twist on my lists; instead I will offer a heartfelt list about my own mother. So here it goes....

Top 10 things I love about my Mom

#10 Her "Onionhead." Although many things have changed about my mom over the years--taste buds, size, sense of humor--one thing has remained constant--her hairstyle. For those unfamiliar with the Polynesian culture, the "onionhead" is the signature do of all islanders both young and old. I think the description is fairly self explanatory so I won't go into any depth about it. However, I would like to say that as a teenager I BEGGED my mom to get rid of the onionhead look and opt for something more trendy, but now I realize this is just a part of my mom and I would rather have a mom "underly"-obsessive about her look than overly-obsessive.

How many onionheads can you count in this picture?

#9 Her incredible strength--and not just physical but emotional, mental, and spiritual strength as well. My mom is the toughest woman I know. She once single-handedly broke up an inner-city fight where two teenage boys (they were really the size of huge men) were fighting and there was a crowd of about 100 cheering the fight on. She kills cockroaches with her bare hands (ahhh!!! I am still not this tough!) which she told me was a skill she picked up living in Hawaii. She could write a Master's Thesis from start to finish in one night and pull off an A+. Lastly, she goes to the temple faithfully every month (even though it is 4 hrs. one way, she is a single parent of 5 kids left at home, relatively poor, and works 40 hours a week at night). My mom exemplifies the term "Super Woman" and I could only hope to be half as tough as her.

Think this is scary?! Well not for my mom!

#8 Her sense of humor. My mom creates the best names for people. Perhaps, I shouldn't name any examples, but let's just say it's all done in good fun. Besides, it is hilarious...I think even her victims would have to give in on the humor.

#7 Her cooking. My mom is the best cook...period. She can make anything out of anything. Her talent reminds me of Iron Chef where the cooks can make the craziest foods out of a single main ingredient. The best part about my mom is that she can make the best food FAST. Growing up with 8 kids there was little time to fuss over cooking. So my mom would skip looking at a recipe, skip using measuring tools, and just throw a dozen ingredients together and 20 minutes later...Umm, ummm, good!

"Hi-Ya!"

#6 Her temper. I know this may seem like an odd choice, but really my mom is hilarious when she is mad...actually I think they are one in the same!

#5 Her beauty. I really think my mom is gorgeous--she has beautiful skin, hair, teeth, no wrinkles AND it's ALL natural baby! For all the stress and hard work my mom has been through, she looks great. I know she doesn't think so because she is too humble, but the truth is she looks fab (especially for someone turning 52...sorry mom, please forgive me for telling your age!). I wish I had a picture to show her off, but the funny thing is, I can't find a picture of her! Once I started thinking about it, I realized my mom stopped allowing herself to be in photos after about the age of 40...oh well, one of these days I will catch her!

#4 Her artistic ability. Although my mom has never really been trained in painting (she took one community college class for fun last summer), she is such a great artist. I love her artwork because it is realistic yet it conveys such emotion. Recently, my mom painted little scenes she remembered as a child in New Zealand--scenes by the sea, picking berries with her "mum," and the general landscape of Aotearoa; these were sooo beautiful...simple, but beautiful. It's funny how nostalgic looking at someone else's past is...I have never been to New Zealand but I really felt the power of my mom's memories through her artwork...I felt like I had once known its blue, grey sea and its emerald-green hillsides. Anyways, before I get too sappy, moving on...

#3 Her caricature sketches. I separate this one from #4 because mom's caricature sketches are like in a class all their own. All I can say is it's amazing how interesting church meetings become when you sit next to mom and hand her a pen and paper...oh the possibilities!

Not mom's drawing...hers are better. But something like this may appear out of mom's hand under one of the following labels: "Mormon Tab Tenor," "LDS Single Males over 40," or "Buff the Tuff (of hair that is)"

#2 Her thriftiness. My mom is so resourceful. She has made Christmas decorations out of spray-painted weeds (which they looked fantastic!), she uses Aldi's boxes for cake stands (for those who know about the Aldi's store you know what I am talking about...for those who don't, you are missing out on some great grocery shopping!), and she has found a number of odd uses for socks (inside joke for the fam here...sorry but it's too embarrassing to truthfully reveal!).

#1 Her answer for everything. You know I think the most important part of motherhood isn't necessarily the DOING but the KNOWING HOW TO DO. I love that I can ask my mom anything and she always has an answer (whether she is right...I don't know), but there is something so comforting about this. I love that I can randomly ask my mom: "How do I make Samoan pancakes cook all the way through?" or "What topic can I write about for a "definition" argument?" or "Mom, why is life so unfair?!"

Thank you mom for always supporting me. For praying for me. For loving me unconditionally. For setting the best example a daughter could ask for. Happy Mother's Day and I LOVE YOU!

Since this is Mother's Day I also want to recognize the three other moms I have--one step mom, one mother in-law, and one step-mom-in-law. Here are the things I love about each of them:

Julie--I love your attention to detail like when you make root beer floats or create a vegetable platter...you make family "get-to-togethers" fun, cozy, and nostalgic! I also love your never ending kindness...I have yet to hear you truly speak ill of someone...thank you for that example.

Patty--I love your cornbread...I have yet to make it like you! I also love your generosity and your always forgiving nature...I have the most sensitive and forgiving husband and I thank you for that.

JoAnn--I love your stews and Thanksgiving dinners--AWESOME! I also love the sincerity in which you offer your love and support. I am so happy to be a part of a family with you.

--A

Introducing the Late Show with Adri

After much contemplation, I have decided my blog needs a theme. I have spent the last few weeks curiouly exploring others' blogspots and I have seen quite the share of cutesy templates, idealized titles, and an overall committment to conveying a single theme. Needless to say, I feel left out. The feeling reminds me of something out of grade school where all of the other kids have jumped onto to some new playground trend, and I am the naive little kid who is meanwhile content with playing on the monkey bars. I realize I have reached a point in my life where I want to be a part of the larger group (at least to a small extent) instead of always trying to be against it.

Playground trend of my day...anyone remember POGS?

For those who aren't familiar with the antics of Adri, I am a weird person. I have an insane addiction for onions and garlic (I know...poor Justin!). I wear flip flops in the snow (I might add that this winter I chopped wood in flip flops in the snow). I refuse to take medications unless I am on my deathbed. And lastly, I am cheap--I refuse to buy anything new that I can get for 1/10 of the price at the thrift store...clothes, cooking pans, and art that teeters between cool retro and grandma's attic junk (come to think of it, one of my favorite pastimes as a teenager was "dumpster diving" with Mom through the ritzy neighborhoods of Mission Parkway in KCMO...ahh memories...). Anyways, like I was saying, I am a weird person.




So why would I feel the need to conform to convention and have a theme for my blog? The answer is simple. Growing older has made me more insecure about my individuality--which looking back I think I the reason I strived for individualism in my past was more out of lack of self confidence than because of it. Don't get me wrong, this won't be another Adriane self-pity session. But I do realize that I was very shy growing up (although my family will probably attest to me being otherwise) and I think I learned to channel that shyness into self differentiation. For example, when I was about 16 I went to a New Year's dance in Mesa with Brooke, Lindsey, and Sheena (I can't remember if Michelle and Shannon were there too?). While most 16 year olds were probably wearing the latest trends, I chose to wear a black body suit, jeans, high heels, and bright red lava lava with noticeable frays on the edges. Or, another example--when I was 18 I went through a stage of wearing sun dresses with Wellington boots (you know the kind you wear for irrigation?!). All I can say is, "What was I thinking?!!" Anyways, I hoped I have proved my point that I was trying to make like 500 words ago--which is I am anti-convention.

But after growing up, getting married, and taking on crazy new responsibilities, I have learned that not all conventional things are bad. Indeed, I remember Bucky telling me that after I got married, became a house mouse, and had a few kids (especially girls), I would like the color pink. At the time she told me this I was about 16 and I thought she was crazy, because from the age of about 13, I have really detested pink. But guess what, I have to say I actually like pink now--at least the dusty, rosy version of it. Who would of thought?! I guess I should have take my cue from Bucky's experience because she was once considered weird too and (I am guessing) she also prized herself on being un-conventional (I love you sis!).

Okay, okay, so where is all of this going? To quote my favorite teacher from community college, Doug Washer, "BUT I DIGRESS!" (Yes, I have a great weakness for digressing.) So, this is it. I have decided to conform to convention and choose a theme for my blog. If you have endured thus far into my blog, you are probably thinking, "Yeah, you said that in the first sentence!" But for reals, this is a major thing for me--it's like confessing my sins (that is, the sins of anti-conventionalism) to the Catholic priest for the first time...which first-time confessions are always long, emotional, and unclear...so please bear with me.


While the decision to have a theme for my blog seemed clear enough to me, the decision for what kind of theme has been less clear...until Friday that is. This past Friday I was reading over other people's blogs and then I returned to my own to see if there were any new comments to read. As I was looking over the past few entries, I realized I love making lists! Perhaps it is the inner multi-tasker in me, but lists really are the best way that I can convey what I am thinking into a somewhat logical format. So I have decided that the theme for my blog is the "Top 10___(fill in the blank)." Much like David Letterman's top 10 list, I am intending to use this blog as a forum for the most random, most Adri-like lists. This said, I have two disclaimers: 1) the lists may not always be 10 items--for example, lists about great food are bound to be over 10 items and lists about great celebrities are bound to be less, and 2) since this is the only blog I have committed myself to up-keeping, I still have to reserve some space for personal news. So, now that I have disclosed the theme for my blog, here is the first list:

Top 10 Reasons To Have A Theme For Your Blog

#10 Themes are a great remedy against "writers' block." Although many people mistakenly think that complete artistic freedom results in the best, truest writing (or music, or art, or just about anything), the truth is creativity, in any form, thrives from having some boundaries. Minimal as these boundaries may be, they are still necessary--for proof, refer to last week's blog about my struggle with my directionless college assignments.

#9 Themes make you appear smart without necessarily being so. Saying this, I realize I am admitting to this statement. So yes, themes give people (including myself) the appearance of organization, efficiency, and talent. I realize some people actually posses these qualities genuinely, but for the rest of us, themes are a great way to "fake it 'til we make it."


#8 Themes make you appear sophisticated without necessarily being so. This one follows the definition outlined in #9, but perhaps, more so. Having a theme is another way of saying, "You're cool!" Which sophistication and coolness, more so than smarts, is a subjective quality and consequently all about appearances.


#7 Themes are potentially lucrative. This claim is building off of the the previous two claims. A theme that people "buy into" as being smart and sophisticated, has the potential to turn into something bigger and better such as an editorial column in some bigtime newspaper, a TV show, or even a better blog. Which we all know, greater publicity=more money.

#6 Themes are memorable. This could also be phrased, "Themes encourage more publicity." For the benefits of more publicity see #7.

#5 Themed blogs invite other "cool" things such as themed templates, background music (which I am un-decided about), and perhaps a themed alias for myself such as "Lola." It's funny that creating one theme actually results in the creation in more themes (or perhaps sub-themes?).

#4 The use of themes help justify the costs of an education. Okay, so the whole "theme thing" is actually one of the many things you gained through your English classes that you thought would be useless to you after graduation. But reality check, the use of themes is beneficial in real life. For further explanation see #9, #8, and #7, especially.

#3 Themes reassure people in tough times. With all of the present uncertainty in society--the economy, warfare, Miley Cyrus's future--people need things they can depend on. Themed blogs offer just that. As a dependable source of entertainment, blogging consumers know that every time they "tune into" a themed blog they are getting exactly what they expect...I am not sure the same can be said for poor Miley.

#2 Sticking to a themed blog is a great form of exercise. Although I may refute some of the reasoning in #10 (themes are easier to stick to), sticking to a theme is hard work. True most of this work is mental, but some of it is physical. The fidgeting in the computer chair, the constant straightening of one's overly hunched back, and the walking back and forth to the fridge to get more ice cream so as to maintain one's optimum intellectual composure. It seems that the physical activities required to stick to a blogging theme is reason enough to become a "themogger."


#1 Themes are trendy. Okay, this ties into the whole useless conversation I had previously. Themes are a great way to be a part of the greater group--the trendy group, but ALSO maintaining some personal individuality. Thus, I am choosing to have a theme because I haven't resolved my childhood issues of shyness and un-popularity, but the composition of my theme (lists) is a way I can channel my individuality into greater things. In this way, I am giving in to convention so I can be more of an individual (if that makes any sense?!). Anyways, bottom line is: themes are a great way to have the best of both the conventional and un-conventional worlds.

--A