Mama had a bad habit...of throwing things that frustrated her out the back door lol.  All kinds of things landed in the backyard at our house, from broken dustpans to toys.

Once, my mother had been nagging my dad to fix the oven door.  For some reason, the hinge was messed up and the oven door wouldn't close properly; it would 'catch' right at the last moment and leave about a one-inch crack open.  You could usually wiggle it around a bit and get it to close.  On this particular day, Mama was cooking a roast in the oven and when she opened the door to check on the meat, she couldn't get it to close.  No amount of 'wiggling' would work, and as I watched her from the kitchen table, the oven door came completely off in her hands.  So here she was, standing in the middle of the kitchen, holding a 350 degree oven door in her hands.  Mama never even blinked...she turned and walked out of the room (holding the oven door, mind you)...in a minute, I heard the back door open and BOOM, there went the oven door, right out into the backyard!

When she calmly re-entered the kitchen, I was laughing so hard that tears were running down my face.  She stopped and stared at me in that 'you better cut it out' mother look, you know the one I mean lol.  The more I tried to stop laughing, the funnier it got; a grown woman had just calmly thrown an oven door out into the backyard!  When the 'mama look' didn't work, she turned to me and icily stated, "I fail to see the humor in this, missy."  I ROLLED, I laughed so hard my stomach hurt and all I could do was helplessly wipe tears from my hysterical face. 

Mama got tickled at me laughing so hard, and then she started laughing, and then we both just lost it.  It is one of my fondest memories of my mom. :)

Who knew kitchen appliances could be so funny??

Mama said a job was just what you did from 8 to 5, or whatever the assigned hours are.  Mama said, "Jobs can be had."  That means you can always find some other job, but you must protect those things which are precious, things like your relationship with the Lord, your family, your reputation. 

I heard a very touching and hopefully life-changing statement lately.  Basically, the idea is that each of us is given five balls. One is rubber and four are glass. The rubber ball is work. If you drop it, it will always bounce back. The other four glass balls are family, friends, health and integrity. If you drop them, they are shattered. They won't bounce back and they are difficult to repair if broken-some people never get them back once they're lost.  This is kind of what Mama was saying, in her own way.

P.S.  I am blessed to have a husband who provides for his family.  I quit my 'public job' 8 years ago while expecting our second child, so that our son (6 yrs old at the time) and our future children would be able to be homeschooled.  A few years ago, during a troubled time in my husband's employment, I acquired my certificate in medical transcription and was able, through the grace of God, to find a wonderful employer who was willing to train me to work from home.  She even allowed me to bring my children to our training sessions, which were 4 hours a day for several months.  (Ain't God good??)  Now I work in the afternoons from home to help provide a little bit of cushion in case things go wrong with my husband's job, which is always a possibility with THEM.  (I will, however, show grace and not name the company :D ) 

But you know what?  Mama was right...jobs can be had.  It's all about priorities.  What are our priorities today?

Mama said NEVER eat fish and drink milk in the same meal.  Wonder how that works with clam chowder, oyster stew, etc?  She said her mama always said it would make you sick. :P

Mama had a list of things that must be cooked in cast iron pans...cornbread, pineapple upside down cakes and fried eggs to name a few.  Did you know that cooking in cast iron is healthier for you?  Of course, we've all heard the evils of cooking in aluminum and Teflon, but a doctor 'prescribed' every meal cooked in cast iron for my uncle, who had a serious problem with anemia.  Hmm, interesting!

Mama cooked every meal that she cooked on high heat.  My m-i-l always said that you should NEVER cook on high, it wasn't good for your stove or your pans.  (Wonder why they include a 'high' setting, if you shouldn't use it? lol)

Mama was known for pulling out the stuff from the backs of the cabinets to cook with lol...one time she commented on the green beans she had served for supper, "Mmm, aren't these beans good?"  (Hint:  When Mama commented on her own cooking, wait for the other shoe to drop lol, there was usually more to the story.)  Knowing this tidbit, we all sat making noncommittal grunts and hums.  Mama continued, "Yep, these were some that Grandma canned."  UM...Grandma, God rest her soul, had been gone for about 5 years at that point.  :O  Mama didn't believe in being wasteful LOL!

OK, Mama didn't do this, but it was her brother, so I'm including it anyway :P

My uncle was in charge of making the sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving, it's a family tradition to have the one that has melted marshmellows on top.  So the family sits down together, all having heaped the casserole on their plates as a family favorite.  After the first taste, everyone knew something wasn't right.  Seems that my uncle had run short on sweet potatoes, so he just substituted rutabagas in the recipe!  Rutabagas, sweet potatoes and ...marshmellows?  EWWWW! lol

Mama said she sure was glad the Lord knew what He was doing by giving babies to young folks.

Mama said that there's no such thing as a childhood expert...you don't know what to do with your first child and if you have a dozen, you don't know what to do with the 12th! 

When I was a little girl, a friend of Mama's came over to visit and was appalled by my mother's lack of concern as I sat my lil toddler self down and proceeded to pull each and every tissue out of a full Kleenex box.  When I was finished, Mama just took the tissues and stuffed them back in the box.  When questioned by her friend, Mama very wisely replied, "Well, if I went to the dime store and bought her a cheap toy and she broke it, I wouldn't get mad.  I'd just throw the toy away; after all, it only cost a little bit...just like that box of Kleenex.  She didn't break anything, the tissues are still usable, just a little crumpled."  I've always tried to remember that in raising my children.  Today's experts want to call that 'choosing your battles'...wasn't my mama smart to know that, years ago, before these so-called experts were even born??? LOL

I intend for this to be an ongoing entry, with additions as I remember them!

My mama was full of 'sayings', things her mama had taught her, etc.  Some are funny, some are absolutely true, and some were just mama!

OK, Mama said #1...

Mama said that a lady should never (and I do mean NEVER lol) wear a dress or skirt without the proper slip, and no, it didn't matter if you could actually see through the garment or not, a slip was a necessary item just like shoes.  She said it makes your clothes hang better and besides, it's just what a lady DOES.

Mama said a lady should never bend over, she should squat.  This was not for back health, mind you, it was because your skirt rides up when you bend over.  You should tuck your dress/skirt underneath you, and squat down, say to pick up something on the floor or to address a child's needs.

Mama said there was nothing good that a young lady could be doing by being out after 11 p.m.  Eventually, she changed this to midnight as I got older, lol, but you know what?  She was right :).  My mama was a character, I tell you, and she said she wanted the car tag number of every vehicle that I left the house in, so that she could call the State Patrol to come find me if I didn't get home by my curfew.  I don't know if she really would have, but the important thing was that I believed her at the time.  I think I was late ONE TIME in all my teenage years lolol.  She always said that I had it timed down to the millisecond.

OK, that's Mama said for today.  Tune in next time...