AND THEN THERE'S JUDY

My mom, Judy, is a different story all together. She has artistic talents that blow my mind at times. And a drive to do things on her own that I can't really comprehend.

Trying to organize her talents into a chronological telling, such as I did for Mema, was so daunting that I have decided it is best to just share a list:

• My elementary school would make a huge sheet cake for the last day of the month and cut it up for each child who had a birthday that month. When my brother went there she was recruited to decorate these cakes because she had some experience in a bakery. I distinctly remember being so proud that my mom was picked to do this. Her cakes were so pretty that the kids would stop by the cafeteria before school to see them. One year her October cake looked like a painting of a haunted house scene. That image is burned into my memory forever.
• She was very good with a needle and thread. Although we didn't have a lot of money for fancy clothes she made me some of the most beautiful dresses by hand. 
• When I was 5 I desperately wanted a Strawberry Shortcake bedroom. Since the budget was tight she had to get creative. She bought a SS coloring book and painted in each character. She then cute each one out and pasted them around the top of my walls then used two kinds of ribbon to define this "wallpaper" boarder. She also sewed a patchwork quilt complete with a large center square featuring a hand painted SS scene. 
• Anytime, to this day, we are at a craft fair or hobby shop and she see something cute, but too pricey she is determined to go home and make it herself. She never tries to find directions on how to do it. She just figures it out on her own. 
• She has sewn multiple American Girl doll outfits for my girls, including "fur" coats.
• She hand painted a "wall paper" boarder on my first child's nursery walls. 
• Everyone in my family recruited her to make their wedding cake. When my brother was married she did the wedding cake, groom's cake, the silk flower arrangements, and make the wedding dress (which was incredibly gorgeous and completely custom).

Yeah, I kind of liked pink!

 Then there was her cooking. Growing up we always had home cooked meals and hers were very good. I can't say that they would be contest winning, but even people outside of our family loved meals she made. Lasagna is a favorite even though it is not made in the traditional Italian way (cottage cheese instead of ricotta) and my dad would drool over her chicken and dumplings. Everything was probably loaded in fat, this was Southern cooking, after all, but that just makes it better! And her baking was as amazing as her cake decorating. I have never tasted frosting as good as the kind she made.

As for cleaning, she was adequate. Our home was never as spotless as Mema's but the kitchen and bathrooms were clean and things were always vacuumed.  She was never a fan of dusting, but with that many knicknacks around the house who can blame her.

Organization was not her forte, though. When young kids are at home it's hard to be organized, but to this day I can rarely find things around her house. She knows where they are, of course, and if she has used it in the last week it's likely on the kitchen counter or living room end table.

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to insult my mother, not at all. I just want it to be clear that she is no Martha Stewart. She cuts corners, uses the most cost effective ways to do things, and usually makes quite a mess while she is creating. The point is, usually the most creative people are the messiest.