Let's go crazy!

My mother-in-law celebrated a birthday this past weekend, and I wanted to introduce her to you by way of a Top Ten List (a la Dave Letterman).  She’s an absolute riot and I really have come to appreciate her over the years.  That's her above showing off her milky white complexion.

Top Ten Reasons my Mother-in-Law (aka Grandma) is awesome:

10)   She taught high school English, Journalism and French, mainly to seniors.  For several Christmas seasons running, she’d dress all in green, string herself in lights and randomly plug herself in while lecturing.  I’d have loved to learn from her.

9)      Also during those teaching years, she’d dress in costumes appropriate to the topic.  She wore a long white nightdress for Lady Macbeth, for instance.  After a appearing as various literary characters, her principal was quick to ban her from teaching the Wife of Bath because he wasn't quite sure what that costume would entail!

8)      When confronted with a religious zealot (which are apparently great in number where she lives), she quotes from the Book of Hezekiah.  And said zealots tend to nod and agree with her wholeheartedly.

7)      I truly appreciate her foresight in teaching my husband and his younger brother to cook.  She accomplished this by listing FFY as a menu item several times a week.  This stands for Fend For Yourself, and the boys soon tired of frozen meals.  They learned to make sauces, season meats, cook vegetables, and plan entire meals.  I am eternally grateful!! (I should point out that Grandma suffered from horrible migraines and FFY nights existed so that she could retire for the evening during migraine attacks.  That and she really hated to cook or mix more than 3 ingredients.)

6)      The first Christmas that Mr. Neoclassic and I were dating, she gave me a set of tiny frames, each with a picture of him from years gone by.  There were shots of a toddler playing house, a young boy with his first fish catch, an older pre-teen in band uniform, a driving teenager, and a more recent shot of the two of us.  My mother says she knew then that “he was the one” because no mother gives away pictures of her child unless she knows they are staying close!

5)      Shortly before our wedding, my husband’s aunts hosted a bridal shower for me.  My mother-in-law gifted me with a small framed picture of herself.  She just knew I’d want to keep it on my night table for inspiration.

4)      Starting when her boys left for college, she began signing all correspondence to them with YSM.  This stands for Your Sainted Mother!

3)      My mother-in-law is a fantastic fisherman (err woman?) and really loves to be out on her boat.  During a fishing trip to South Louisiana, she caught a huge red fish.  She made sure to get a picture of her holding up her catch – then she had the shot made into wallet sized pictures.  She mailed them to everyone she knew, pointing out not only her prized catch, but her husband sea sick in the background!

2)      After Mr. Neoclassic’s college graduation, he left for OCS in Rhode Island.  Several weeks had passed with little communication when she learned he’d earned a three day weekend.  She called me and offered to buy my plane ticket to Rhode Island, stating that she was pretty sure he wasn't interested in seeing his Mama.

1)    She listens to Prince (the early years) and Elvis.  I don’t hold the Elvis part against her, though.  But Prince?  That’s hysterical.  And now you understand the post title!

Happy Birthday Grandma - we love you!