My mother has always been a kind of superwoman to me. She stayed home from the time I was about four until my brother (now 13) was school-age. As soon as she had three kids all gone during the day, she went back to school. She got a degree and is not an X-ray tech. (It took her longer than usual to get the degree since she was taking acre of us but she pulled it off!)

Afte about a year of having two incomes in the house we were able to buy a bigger house!! (We really needed it...while we all had our own rooms in the old house, it was TINY, and we were going to kill each other!)

Now she's working four days a week, still has three kids living at home, and she's taking the time to do things that *she* wants to do. We've got a system down where my siblings and I get most of the housework done, she cooks (because she loves to, and because nobody will eat what I cook!), and she's got plenty of time to enjoy herself! I know she's taking a Yoga class, and I believe she's enrolling in some continuing education classes soon.

I've always been amazed at how upbeat she is, how much *fun* she is (My "Mom is embarrassing!" stage was VERY short), and how strict she can be at the same time! I haven't decided what I'm going to do for her for Mother's day, but it'll be something fun. She's not a materialistic person, so if I bet her a *thing*, it's usually something funny (Like a Monty Python actuion figure), but She's told me that she really prefers just goin gout and hanging out, so last year Brian and I took our moms bowling together. We've got to think of something else this year, and I'm looking forward to it!