I love my mom. I love her so much that we talk everyday – and she lives in Hong Kong. We giggle and laugh and other times we are so alike we want to kill each other. She’s a cross between Joan Crawford and Joan Collins with some Devil Wears Prada sprinkled on.  She and I live VERY differently.

She has a driver – I drive a Ford

She has to have her sheets ironed – I am lucky if they make it out of the dryer.

She is thin and gorgeous and in her 70’s but looks 50. I look 70 and I am 46.

She loves city living and has a VERY full social calendar. I answer to goats and dogs.

She works out with a trainer. I work out with a loaf of bread.

She wear slippers and a nightgown. I wear sweats and a t-shirt.

My mom is special, gorgeous, a little high maintenance and incredibly smart. She has taught me everything I know abut business, relationships, faith and to never ever accept no.

When I told her I wanted to live in the country she freaked. The country? You mean like out of the City? Yes I told her. At first she was shocked but I think she understood that with some personal health issues – I have lupus that a more relaxed living would be the best for my health. She listened as we bought a ramshackle house and went into construction. She saw pictures of the progress as we lived in the rental house. She face-timed my dogs and Charlie is her absolute favorite. While she would never move to the country she loved it for me. When we got goats she really thought I had lost my mind. When we lost power she thought the “novelty” might have worn off. When I told her about the dead lady – she said “what do you expect up there?”.

So when she agreed to come and spend a few weeks with us over the summer I was overjoyed and a little scared shitless. I made sure her room was perfect, had the rolling rack ready to go, bought every gluten free cookies, biscuit, muffin. I made sure we had peppermint team. Dogs were all groomed and goats got their chin hair snipped!

Let me sum up her trip in one sentence. She came, she fell in love, she swam in the pool, she fell in love with the goats, she picked up dog poop and she was the best mom and grandma ever! I loved seeing her so happy and calm and serene. While I know this will never be the “life for her” – she knew it was the life for me. She was beaming with pride at what we had created here – between the remodel of the house, the flowers and fruit trees. We went antiquing. We ate out. We ate in our PJ’s in bed. We loved being with each other. I didn’t want her to leave.

I especially didn’t think she would be back so soon but Thanksgiving at Goat Hill Manor is on the calendar!

I love you mommy.