Yo' Mama

The kids waited in the car while I picked up the new glasses that are supposed to help me see at night while driving.

I got in the car and put them on.

"Look at your Mama."

I grinned cheesily.

My great big son looked at me.

"Isn't she cute?" I prompted.

"She's even cuter than MOST Mamas," he answered.

That boy is going to break some hearts, I tell ya.

Master & Grasshopper

Do you remember this show? Please, God, let there be somebody reading who's at least somewhere close to as old as I am. I used to watch it as a kid whenever I came out of the boonies and into the city to visit family.

I grew up in a series of small towns. Small towns that didn't have much for television because they couldn't get cable in because they were also remote. Besides that, "back then" was quite a few decades ago. "Back then" we mainly had very few Canadian content shows and the news.

So here's where I begin to make sense. Don't worry. That's the way my brain works. I tell a big long story before I get to the actual big long story that I want to tell. Sometimes I tell TWO big long stories before I get to the actual big long story.

Ma is Queen of the Buck Shoppers. (Aha. See there? There's another big long story that needs to be told before you get the full meaning behind this post!) It is her hobby and her passion. Queen of the Buck Shoppers -- that's my pet name for Ma when's she's practicing her hobby.

She comes by it honestly. Most of her family, her sisters and mother, were or are frugal people. One of her sisters lives here in the city, while Ma lives about 4 1/2 hr drive from here. Lately, Ma has made a point of spending some time with this aunt, Auntie Em.

You see, Auntie Em is a master shopper. She gets incredible deals. She very often gets piles of things for free. She only shops at places that have a scanning policy that states that if the scanned price is higher than the advertised price, the item is free. She somehow has recognized a pattern so that she can pretty accurately predict which things advertised on sale will not scan correctly. She then takes her item and her receipt to the customer service counter and they give her her money back. Once she's found their mistakes, she goes back repeatedly, getting multiples of the item for free.

The reason Ma wants to spend time with Auntie Em is so she can study under the Master. And it is these times when I call Ma, Grasshopper.

Ma doesn't drive in the city. Auntie Em doesn't drive in the city unless she's been taken there, taken notes on how to get there and always takes the exact same route. They ask me to take them on these Zen shopping outings. I agree. But only if I can drop them off and leave. Then I wait for the call to pick them up again. They can be in a store for hours and hours. I detest shopping so I can't stomach it.

I have to make sure that my trunk is empty for the pick up because...

Well, here is a slideshow of some deals Master has found. Usually I have my camera with me but this time I had to use the cell phone.

Master patiently teaches and Grasshopper eagerly absorbs the lessons during these enlightened shopping trips.

I prefer to stay home. I figure I save about $50 by going nowhere. Ha!

A Legacy

One fall day, my car was in the shop, waiting and hoping to jump in line for an automotive doctor to check it out.

That morning my daughter and I walked to her school. This is a rare occurrence since there's always the thought that we may not arrive in time, between my difficult morning rising and her slow walking.

But that day, we got up, got ready and strode out into the nearly dark morning.

The air was crisp and fresh. There was a bit of cold breeze that nipped our noses and ear tips. Leaves swirled over the ground around us. The yellow, red and brown leaves still clinging for their last moments to tree branches whispered and chattered to one another. Birds twittered and chirped startlingly loudly in the cedar trees. Warm kitchen lights in nearly every home urged us along our way.

We had struck out much earlier than usual so there were a lot fewer vehicles than we're used to seeing on the way to school. In each of those vehicles were people beginning their days, dropping their children off at school and daycare, heading off to work or the grocery store or other errands.

As we walked, we passed a few other people, walking to or waiting for the bus, two little girls argued cheerfully about whether this person or that person had won some sort of something...either an item or a contest. The little cool-girl words they were practicing made me smile to myself.

Soon, we arrived at school and on the edge of the school grounds, I stopped and wrapped my arms around my girl and we hugged for nearly an entire minute. This morning, I didn't want to let her go and the thought crossed my mind how strange that seemed to be since I am FAR from a morning person.

As I held her snug in my arms, I said to her, as I do every morning when I drop her off, "Be good. Work hard. Learn lots. Play nice. I love you." She replied, "Okay, Mom. Love you too," and we held on for another few moments.

As I walked home, it struck me that I'm so wise! My instructions to my daughter every morning could be the instructions for a successful life, couldn't they? I thought some more and I realized, these were things taught to me over time by my Chinese gramma who passed away some years ago, modeled to me by her actions.

Be good...stay out of trouble, involve yourself with the right crowds, give of yourself and your means, help others, do what's right.

Work hard...nothing will be handed to you if you want success, don't be lazy, have some ambition

Learn lots...always keep your mind open to learning something new and trying something new, always try to better yourself, read books, experience things

Play nice...accept others, enjoy life, appreciate everything, use your manners, give others the leeway to have a bad day

I love you...make sure that the people who matter in your life know it, know that your mom loves and values you, expect to be treated with different forms of love in all your relationships, accept no less

What a legacy my gramma left me to pass on to my kids and maybe even other special, significant people in my life.

Thank you, gramma! You made an incredible impact on my life.

Play nice, people.