HBD Annie B!

via lelove
and she does just that

It's my sweet momma's birthday today. Yes, here in the south, we say momma, not mom- even when we're past the stage of diapers and paci's. She's as warm as she is beautiful and as happy as she is kind. So in honor of her special day, I'd like to tell you why she's awesome. This is in no particular order.

1. She's always happy. Annoyingly so.
2. She's always smiling. Probably due to that always being happy thing.
3. She doesn't believe in the standard/proper wine pour. She fills her wine glass to the top. I, obviously, don't argue with her about this. This is also why when we're drinking wine, a bottle will disappear after one glass a piece.
4. She doesn't know how to be angry. Exhibit A: once when I was in high school, she had a really bad day and instead of yelling, cursing, or taking it out on her loved ones like a normal adult, she took a trash bag and flipped it (you know, the way you do when you're trying to open it before you put it into the trash can) with all of her might until she broke out into a sweat. After witnessing such a thing and trying not to laugh, I asked, "do you feel better?" "Yes. Yes I do." Callie, our dog, on the other hand hid under the table for three hours.
5. She never gave up on love and actually found her Prince Charming. As happy as I am for her, this basically dooms me to a life of hopeless romanticism. Thanks for that.
6. I firmly believe (and will until the day that I die) that there were numerous guys in high school who only dated me in hopes to come over to our house and hang out with my mom. She was the unofficial MILF of my high school. You can only imagine the complex I developed.
7. She snorts when she gets really tickled and laughs extra hard. My grandmother does it. My great grandmother does it. I'm sure that I will do it, too. Hopefully, it'll be as cute as it is when she does it and I won't sound like my favorite pop-belly Babe with bad allergies.
8. She's humble to a fault and has no idea how unbelievable she is.
9. She raised me as a single mom. And I wouldn't say that I was the easiest teenager to deal with. Hormones, stubborn to a fault, and a rebel in disguise. Yeah, easy isn't exactly the word for it.
10. When I was 15 or 16, she went through cooking stages; and by stages I mean that she cooked each thing at least four to six times until she got the result she was looking for.  First, it was bbq'd chicken which we ate every weekend for two months; then it was crab cakes for four days in a row; and finally, it was cobbler that she made with every fruit imaginable even though I told her countless times that I don't eat cooked fruit but she insisted that, "I'd just love it!" For the record, I can no longer eat bbq chicken, crab cakes, or even stomach the smell of cobbler.
11. When she gets really excited about something, she does this little thing with her hands which, when other people see her, they probably think she's suffering from some sort of mental condition. But to me and the people that recognize it and know what it means, it's the most adorable thing in the entire world. As I sit here and write about it now, I can't help but smile and laugh out loud and the image of her doing it.
12. She is the definition of sincere and genuine. Everything she does, she does it because she wants to. There is nothing fake about her.
13. Anytime I think about anything that my mom does, I can't help but smile and laugh. She's my person. Not only am I who I am because of her, my life is constantly made better because she's in it and she's my mom. I'm a very lucky girl.

Happy Birthday Ace! Love you more than anything in the world.