Special Visit

I'm making a special visit today to see my mom.
It's her 73rd birthday.
:)
I hope to take her out to Panera for lunch...
...she loves Panera (she's a cheap date!). :)
I have this great idea for a gift for my mom - other than a lunch. My mom has this new room in her house she just had built after my dad died. She wants to dedicate it to God, so she wants the words "Jesus is Lord" above the 10 foot patio doors.
This room is so cool!
It's mostly windows and a big patio door, so she can see the wildlife in her back yard.
Now, when I say wildlife, I mean wild life!
I'd love to get some of the pictures she's taken of that wildlife lately from her patio door.
She just took a picture with her little Shitzu "Bandit's" head in the foreground and a tree right outside the patio door. You can see, plain as day, two bear cubs scrambling up the tree RIGHT. OUTSIDE. THE. PATIO. DOOR! And the mother bear is on the other side of the tree!
My mom has a red metal bird feeder on the other side of the tree  on a post, and the bear has recently bent the bird feeder so it's bowed in order to feed from it. She has pictures of it sitting on its buns, like a teddy bear, with its front paws opening the feeder like a steel trap and chawing on the bird seed as if it were the most natural thing in the world! Instead of getting mad that the bear just ruined her feeder, my mom is thrilled to death! She keeps the feeder up as a badge of honor. "Look what the bear did, Pennie!" She excitedly tells me!
She also has a deer and it's triplet fawns that come to feed RIGHT OUTSIDE HER PATIO DOORS! If the windows weren't there, you could reach right out and touch them! And, they have become so accustomed to the dog barking, that if Bandit barks once or twice, they just look up as if to say, "Oh, you again?" and then go back to eating. It's a hoot!
My mom calls this her "Morning Show" or her "Evening Show." She grabs a cup of coffee or water and has positioned some comfy furniture and a table in front of the patio doors and the fireplace and she brings a book and just sits.
My mom spends her time watching these animals (they ARE pretty cool! My mom lives just 5 miles from the city!) and she takes the most amazing pictures of them - so it gives her some great things to do with her time. Plus, she has a next door neighbor couple who are in their early 60's who are equally enthralled with the wildlife, and they call each other when they see the animals go from one yard to the other's. And, she has another good couple of friends (the husband was my dad's best friend) who lives across the street who do the same. It helps to keep them in touch and watching out for each other. That makes ME feel good - because I AM an hour away...and it's nice to know they are constantly in touch, when I cannot be.
She spent the first 6 months after my dad died thinking about building this room. The next 6-8 months planning it, then building it. It's been built for about 4 months now. Man, she loves it! She's been talking about these words she'd love to get painted above the patio doors...and then I told her that she didn't have to get "Jesus is Lord" painted on...there were vinyl words she could get made to put up there above the patio doors. You've seen those, haven't you? I know there's home parties you can go to where you can order them - my friend Melissa has had a few - but she can't remember the name of them anymore, so I can't get ahold of a catalog. I found a website (link) and I'm going to let my mom pick the font and color of the words she wants, so I know she's getting exactly what she wants! Granted, she won't be getting it ON her birthday, but she'll be essentially picking it out on her birthday...and she'll be kind of shopping on her birthday (on-line shopping? That's something VERY NEW for her!) and getting a birthday lunch, too!
This weekend I'll be with co-workers to do some ministry writing work. We're holing ourselves up in a hotel to write and rewrite some study materials to get them ready to take to a copyright lawyer/editor to prepare for marketing. At first, I was bummed, because we're finally getting a warm, sunny weekend here but last weekend we had a REALLY hot, humid Sunday and this is only my second summer with M.S. and I experienced some really negative symptoms and I remembered that heat + M.S. = Very Bad. I fainted twice last Sunday and I think being in an air conditioned environment when it's going to be all hot and sunny will be okay. :)
And, frankly, the ministry co-workers I'll be with are also my friends - Cathy and Faith. I have NEVER had a bad time with either of them! They are two of my favorite people, so I fully expect to have a wonderful time! I feel so blessed to have the ministry team that I do. :)
Well, I'm off to see my mommy! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
*******
I'm NOT off to see my mommy.
My mom just called.
Don't worry.
Not bad news.
Here's what she said:
"It's supposed to be 91 degrees today, Pennie.
I'm worried about you.
Do you know what I want for my birthday?
I appreciate that you want to take me out for lunch, but your sister is coming up from Milwaukee and is taking me out for dinner.
What I want most for my birthday is for you to stop taking care of everyone else today.
And to for you to take care of YOU.
It's going to be really hot.
And you're getting too skinny.
Stay in the air conditioning and eat ice cream.
We can celebrate my birthday next week on a cooler day when you won't get sick.
I appreciate the thought, honey - I do. And I look forward to having lunch with you...next week. But you worry me. You push yourself. Especially when you are looking after everyone else. You have a busy weekend.
Take care of YOU, sweetheart.
That's what I want for my birthday."
You've got to love a selfless mom like that. I hope I can be half as good a mom as she is.
Happy Birthday, Mom.