New to First Look

[bmbrennan]

Everyman,

Are you a creature of comfort?  If this answer is yes, your moral dilemma is solved-buy the gift and your comfort level remains as it is now, don't buy the gift and your comfort level geometrically diminishes(the greater her anger level the lower your comfort level). 

HAPPY SHOPPING!

[Everyman]

Gee. How romantic -- a lawnmower and grass plugs!

But just to show you that you're not alone, one year for mother's day one of the very young children, with their father's help, gave their mother a new mop. But they helped pick it out because it was a bright red and they liked bright red!

Ah, we husband/fathers are romantic devils, aren't we?

---

dhaupt wrote:
Everyman,
My husband believes that Mother's Day is for the kids to give gifts and he helped them when they were young, however some of them were a new lawnmower and grass plugs so he's not inventive by any stretch of the imagination. But today now that the chicks have all left the nest he lets it up to them, but from him I do get a card and a scratch off from the lottery and since they're my vice and I enjoy them that's all I need from him. Besides he's been the love of my life and supporting my endeavors for thirty years what more could a woman ask for.

---

[KathyS]

I wonder what the nicest-[meant the most] Mother's day present someone has received?  Or something your mother, or wife, thought was the best?

[IBIS]

My husband courted me by delivering 2 cords of wood for my small NYC apartment that had no fireplace.

When our daughter was two, she presented me with a brand new-state-of-the-art snow blower; when she was five, she gave me a fire-engine red lawn mover with a cushy seat.

When she was 8-years old, she presented me with a cutting-edge chainsaw... so that I could shingle our dilapidated garage.

Mother's Day is such a fine, appreciation day!

IBIS

[KathyS]

---

IBIS wrote:

My husband courted me by delivering 2 cords of wood for my small NYC apartment that had no fireplace.

When our daughter was two, she presented me with a brand new-state-of-the-art snow blower; when she was five, she gave me a fire-engine red lawn mover with a cushy seat.

When she was 8-years old, she presented me with a cutting-edge chainsaw... so that I could shingle our dilapidated garage.

Mother's Day is such a fine, appreciation day!

IBIS

---

IBIS, this just reminded me of some of the gifts my kids have given me.  Did you use these gifts, yourself?  Or were they your husband's gifts to himself?   Did you shingle your garage!?

I usually got things like drills, saws, electric sanders, mainly because I do work with woods, and I've appreciated these things more than anything.  Flowers and perfumes, and candy is always nice, but I tend to lean towards the useful.  I guess I'm a practical kind of person.  I always hear/see someone getting breakfast in bed, on Mother's Day, but that never happened...darn!  I hate going out to dinner for Mother's Day, the busiest day of the year for restaurants!  Waiting in a line is not my idea of having fun.   I do love to cook, or BBQ, so that was always something I wanted, and invited my mother and dad, and my in-laws over for dinner.  I'll probably have my kids and grandkids over for a BBQ by the pool...providing the weather warms up!  I haven't seen the sun, in the last two days! 

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Kathy S.

[kmensing]

One year my husband came home with a new back hoe.....looks at me, smiles & says "happy mothers day".  I laughed & told him, that indeed it was a "pretty shade of traffic paint yellow", unless I could fill the bucket with black dirt & plant flowers in it---he'd better try again.  He also takes himself bear hunting every year for my birthday.....last winter I received a loader for my anniversary......you see where this is going.....

kmensing

---

Everyman wrote:
Gee. How romantic -- a lawnmower and grass plugs!

But just to show you that you're not alone, one year for mother's day one of the very young children, with their father's help, gave their mother a new mop. But they helped pick it out because it was a bright red and they liked bright red!

Ah, we husband/fathers are romantic devils, aren't we?

---

dhaupt wrote:
Everyman,
My husband believes that Mother's Day is for the kids to give gifts and he helped them when they were young, however some of them were a new lawnmower and grass plugs so he's not inventive by any stretch of the imagination. But today now that the chicks have all left the nest he lets it up to them, but from him I do get a card and a scratch off from the lottery and since they're my vice and I enjoy them that's all I need from him. Besides he's been the love of my life and supporting my endeavors for thirty years what more could a woman ask for.

---

---

[kmensing]

I swear our husbands must be long lost twins separated at birth!

Last year, after stating I would really love one of those garden carts that look like wagons, my husband came home with this 200 pound monster of a cart, smiles at me & says "it can haul up to 1500 lbs--it can literally haul a deer out of the woods, or a small bear!!!!".  He's grinning from ear to ear, just so proud......"just look at these tires" he says.  I can barely pull the thing on flat ground, never mind trying to get it up a hill (did I mention my whole yard is hills???).  And when have I ever been out in the flower beds & suddenly desired to haul a deer?  or bear?  So long story short......the cart sits off to the side & I still use my kids rusted out, 10 year old, little red wagon.

kmensing

---

IBIS wrote:

My husband courted me by delivering 2 cords of wood for my small NYC apartment that had no fireplace.

When our daughter was two, she presented me with a brand new-state-of-the-art snow blower; when she was five, she gave me a fire-engine red lawn mover with a cushy seat.

When she was 8-years old, she presented me with a cutting-edge chainsaw... so that I could shingle our dilapidated garage.

Mother's Day is such a fine, appreciation day!

IBIS

---

[IBIS]

---

kmensing wrote:

I swear our husbands must be long lost twins separated at birth!

Last year, after stating I would really love one of those garden carts that look like wagons, my husband came home with this 200 pound monster of a cart, smiles at me & says "it can haul up to 1500 lbs--it can literally haul a deer out of the woods, or a small bear!!!!".  He's grinning from ear to ear, just so proud......"just look at these tires" he says.  I can barely pull the thing on flat ground, never mind trying to get it up a hill (did I mention my whole yard is hills???).  And when have I ever been out in the flower beds & suddenly desired to haul a deer?  or bear?  So long story short......the cart sits off to the side & I still use my kids rusted out, 10 year old, little red wagon.

kmensing

---

That's a great story; I think our husbands are brothers under the skin...

....the snow-blower, the lawn mower, the chain saw, the circular saw, the  metal detector, the studs finder... all these gifts are from our daughter. Although she's now 23, she'll smile winningly and say,

"Happy Mother's Day. Dad and I had the greatest time shopping for you!"

My husband is proud of the fact that HE picked out the colorful fire-engine red lawnmower (and the cushy seat!). He thought I would love the color and the seat!

IBIS

[IBIS]

---

KathyS wrote:

IBIS, this just reminded me of some of the gifts my kids have given me.  Did you use these gifts, yourself?  Or were they your husband's gifts to himself?   Did you shingle your garage!?

I usually got things like drills, saws, electric sanders, mainly because I do work with woods, and I've appreciated these things more than anything.  Flowers and perfumes, and candy is always nice, but I tend to lean towards the useful.  I guess I'm a practical kind of person.  I always hear/see someone getting breakfast in bed, on Mother's Day, but that never happened...darn!  I hate going out to dinner for Mother's Day, the busiest day of the year for restaurants!  Waiting in a line is not my idea of having fun.   I do love to cook, or BBQ, so that was always something I wanted, and invited my mother and dad, and my in-laws over for dinner.  I'll probably have my kids and grandkids over for a BBQ by the pool...providing the weather warms up!  I haven't seen the sun, in the last two days! 

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Kathy S.

---

Kathy, unlike you, I'm not practical at all. As a professional violinist, I have to be very careful with my hands.

I would never think of cutting shingles on the circular saw....

He singlehandedly used the circular saw to cut the shingles and shingled the garage... with me supervising.

I had to rush him to the emergency room one Sunday morning because he accidently sawed his thumb off.

These gifts are really my husband's way of wishing that our daughter WOULD give him these gifts for Father's Day.

Kathy, I also wish you a marvelous, relaxing Mother's Day with your family.

IBIS

[Maria_H]

Kmensing and IBIS,

You both gave me a great laugh to start my day!

Maria

---

IBIS wrote:

---

kmensing wrote:

I swear our husbands must be long lost twins separated at birth!

Last year, after stating I would really love one of those garden carts that look like wagons, my husband came home with this 200 pound monster of a cart, smiles at me & says "it can haul up to 1500 lbs--it can literally haul a deer out of the woods, or a small bear!!!!". He's grinning from ear to ear, just so proud......"just look at these tires" he says. I can barely pull the thing on flat ground, never mind trying to get it up a hill (did I mention my whole yard is hills???). And when have I ever been out in the flower beds & suddenly desired to haul a deer? or bear? So long story short......the cart sits off to the side & I still use my kids rusted out, 10 year old, little red wagon.

kmensing

---

That's a great story; I think our husbands are brothers under the skin...

....the snow-blower, the lawn mower, the chain saw, the circular saw, the metal detector, the studs finder... all these gifts are from our daughter. Although she's now 23, she'll smile winningly and say,

"Happy Mother's Day. Dad and I had the greatest time shopping for you!"

My husband is proud of the fact that HE picked out the colorful fire-engine red lawnmower (and the cushy seat!). He thought I would love the color and the seat!

IBIS

---

[KathyS]

These comments have brought me tears of laughter!  Except for IBIS's husband cutting off his thumb! Gads, I don't even want to think about that!  

Kathy S.

Maria_H wrote:
Kmensing and IBIS,

You both gave me a great laugh to start my day!

Maria

---

IBIS wrote:

---

kmensing wrote:

I swear our husbands must be long lost twins separated at birth!

Last year, after stating I would really love one of those garden carts that look like wagons, my husband came home with this 200 pound monster of a cart, smiles at me & says "it can haul up to 1500 lbs--it can literally haul a deer out of the woods, or a small bear!!!!". He's grinning from ear to ear, just so proud......"just look at these tires" he says. I can barely pull the thing on flat ground, never mind trying to get it up a hill (did I mention my whole yard is hills???). And when have I ever been out in the flower beds & suddenly desired to haul a deer? or bear? So long story short......the cart sits off to the side & I still use my kids rusted out, 10 year old, little red wagon.

kmensing

---

That's a great story; I think our husbands are brothers under the skin...

....the snow-blower, the lawn mower, the chain saw, the circular saw, the metal detector, the studs finder... all these gifts are from our daughter. Although she's now 23, she'll smile winningly and say,

"Happy Mother's Day. Dad and I had the greatest time shopping for you!"

My husband is proud of the fact that HE picked out the colorful fire-engine red lawnmower (and the cushy seat!). He thought I would love the color and the seat!

IBIS

---

---

[Luvstoread]

Did anyone get their book yet??

[fordmg]

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Luvstoread wrote:

Did anyone get their book yet??

---

I don't think they have mailed them out yet.  There will be a notice on the board when the books are shipped.

MG

[jamisha12]

Ha that's funny i though Mother's Day was for mother's to get gifts for being the best.

[BookWoman718]

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IBIS wrote:

I see Mothers' Day as symbolism of all the various sorts of nurturing that, like a rainbow, arcs over the human condition. Many of us see that rainbow, others do not.

Mothers are not purely biological identities... one's wife does a lot of mothering as well... as do grandmothers, sisters.... it's the symbolism, not the actual person.

Of course, don't send mother's day cards to  women who never gave biological birth... I can see the eyebrows raising and the eyes rolling.

IBIS

---

One of my stepdaughters chose not to have kids and is happier about her choice the older she gets.   She loves being the aunt who can just leave the noise and chaos behind and go home with her husband, out running, or cook a gourment meal without anyone saying 'yuck'.  When I send Mother's Day cards to her sisters, my own daughter and daughter-in-law, I always find a funny one for her that wishes her a happy Mother's Day enjoying whatever she likes to do best, and I add a humorous comment of my own that plays up her carefree lifestyle.   Think how smart she's been to follow her own stars:  she'll never get a lawn mower to celebrate the day, and her lucky husband (who also didn't want kids, of course) never has to wonder if he should buy her a gift!  Of course she'll have a wonderful day! :-)

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[Everyman]

Most Mother's Day present here was three generations of mothers. Starting from the bottom up, two infant boys, two mothers (sisters), their mother, my wife (grandma to the babies), and her mother (great grandma to the babies.) Spent the day together, which was better than all the many presents put together.

And since we all ate both breakfast and dinner together, I got to wash two huge loads of dishes (no non-human dishwashers in our houses) while my two sons-in-law dried and we all agreed that Mother's Day is a good thing, but it's also a good thing that it only comes once a year!

[KathyS]

E-man, I hope Father's day will bring you much love and joy, as I'm sure you've given your family.

K.

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Everyman wrote:
Most Mother's Day present here was three generations of mothers. Starting from the bottom up, two infant boys, two mothers (sisters), their mother, my wife (grandma to the babies), and her mother (great grandma to the babies.) Spent the day together, which was better than all the many presents put together.

And since we all ate both breakfast and dinner together, I got to wash two huge loads of dishes (no non-human dishwashers in our houses) while my two sons-in-law dried and we all agreed that Mother's Day is a good thing, but it's also a good thing that it only comes once a year!

---

[HannibalCat]

Way to go! Sounds like a wonderful day. Hope your hands recover enough to hold a book!

Take care.

[bookhunter]

Hello fellow readers!  I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of Songs for the Missing.  Spring activities (mainly a graduating senior!) have kept me from checking in often with you all.  But June is beach time.  Book time.  Can't wait!

But I just have to ask:  Has anyone read The Fig Eater by Jody Shields?  I have searched around for some discussion about it and have found none.  It really had some interesting aspects to it, and, for me, a lot of unanswered questions.  I guess the review calling it a book of "intellectual heft" should have warned me!

I liked the way the story was told, and the juxtapositions of opposites, and the setting, and the history, etc.  But I want to ask some questions of folks who have read it. 

Let me know if you have!

Ann, bookhunter (who is apparently either too repressed or not repressed enough to "get" this book!)

[Nitestar]

hi:  Just got my book today!!!!!!!!!!