(43-302) The Best Mother In Law EVER

I think I've mentioned before that my husband, Luis is one of six children; and the only one in his family who speaks fluent English.  Now when I say that he's the only one who speaks fluent English, what I mean is that he has a brother who speaks English (though not fluently) and one younger, sister who understands some English but doesn't speak it; and that's it.  His mom and dad don't speak one word of English, nor do his older brother, older sister or younger sister.  With that being said, you can probably imagine that there is a bit of a communication barrier when my kids and I visit, as we don't speak fluent Spanish.  Nonetheless, we all manage to convey love, respect and appreciation for each other.

I have never met a more faithful woman than my mother in law, and  I find her to be remarkable.  Luis' mom goes to church every day.  She studies the bible daily, and people in their community know her to be a woman who is close to God.  I've been at my mother in laws home at times when people have come to see her in the middle of the night, to ask her to come and sit by the bed of someone who's very ill and pray for them.  No matter the hour or how tired she is; she invariably goes.  People come to both my mother and father in law for counsel of all kinds and they are regularly take the time to help.  What I've  found astonishing about my mother in laws faith, is that she was always accepting of Luis marrying a Jewish girl.  At no point in time did she ever try to convert me or preach the bible to me.  It was enough for her that I believed in God and had faith.

I don't know that if one of my children came to me and said that they had fallen in love with someone who lived in another country and they wanted to leave their family to move there, that I would be as understanding and agreeable, as my mother in law was.  But again, she is a highly evolved woman.  

Now I've told you that I do speak Spanish, and I do so with a pretty good accent, ( or so I've been told),  so I am able to communicate with my mother in law, we just don't have the kinds of conversations that we'd be able to have if we were both fluent in the same language.  We do both speak the language of love though, and through body language, eye contact and embraces, I can tell that we understand each other.  And then of course there's her kindness...

When Luis came home last night, he brought me a big bag of Tamales.  Luis' mom knows this woman who makes the best Tamales EVER!  She makes the most delicious, sweet corn Tamales, and she used to make a shredded beef  Tamale that was to die for.  But as the cost of meet went up, she stopped making shredded beef and opted for ground beef instead.  I tried the ground beef Tamale last year and I didn't enjoy it as much as the others; so I asked Luis to bring home a couple of sweet corn Tamales only.  When we were driving home from the airport, Luis had mentioned something about his mom having made Tamales, and when I questioned him about this; he told me that his mom cooked up some shredded beef and then brought it to the woman who made the Tamales, so that she could make me some shredded beef Tamales.  How sweet is that?  I'm telling you, I have the best mother in law EVER, and certainly not just because of the Tamales.  Her kindness truly transcends language.

I know that one day my kids and I will speak fluent Spanish and we'll be able to communicate with everyone in a much more familiar way.  I can never thank my in laws enough, for giving me the gift of their son.  My in laws did such a wonderful job raising all of their children.   They are truly selfless and extraordinary people and I am so fortunate to have married into such a loving and supportive family. 
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-17) Sweet Treats

Last night Luis and Nicky wanted to have a guy's night out for dinner and they of course went to their mutual favorite, "ass burrito;" which left the girls and I to fend for ourselves.  In the interest of having something yummy AND cost effective; we went to Cracker Barrel. Now if anyone hasn't had the pleasure of eating at a Cracker Barrel, I'll just describe it as some Southern, down home goodness. The food is NOT gourmet by any stretch of the imagination, but it's comfort food that hits the spot. There are SEVERAL reasons that I enjoy Cracker Barrel: 1. They have THE CUTEST country store and I love to meander around and peruse their wares. 2. Complimentary biscuits and apple butter. 3. Anyone can order from their kids menu (in fact it says, kids of any age) 4. They make MAGNIFICENT Macaroni n cheese, SCRUMPTIOUS Sourdough croutons, HEAVENLY Hash brown casserole, and FABULOUS Fried apples; just to name a few.
Since my week had been stress-FULL, I thought some Cracker Barrel Mac n cheese might be good for what ailed me. I ordered the kid size portion, which believe it or not was JUST PLENTY and our bill came to a whopping $12.85; which truly could not be beat.
Once we were through with our meal, we looked around the country store and as I was paying our bill, I noticed a jar of Zotz; (one of my FAVORITE childhood candies.)  I asked the cashier for some watermelon Zotz and much to my delight they cost only 39 cents for 4.  What a score!!!  Now for those of you who have never heard of or tried Zotz; they are "where the fizz izz!"  Zotz are individually wrapped, flavored, hard candy with a powder candy in the middle; and when the powder gets wet, it fizzes.  I guess you could liken it to a hard candy with Alka Seltzer in the middle, only tastier.  Now I really can't tell you exactly why I liked Zotz so much, but after having one today; I can affirm that indeed I still do!!

When I was growing up in "The Condo," our ice cream man sold Zotz and I have a very vivid memory of being in second grade and trading my "boyfriend" to "slendiferous" Judy for HER Zotz. So when I got home from dinner last night, I wrote on Judy's Facebook wall and let her now that I had bought some Zotz and thought of her.  I suppose that Judy thought that I had gotten the better end of the deal all of those years ago, because she wrote back and wanted to know why I didn't buy her any. So Judy, expect a small package when you least expect it...

Since I've always been overweight, candy wasn't something that I ate a lot of; but surely there were candies that I liked. As a kid I would have wanted a piece of chocolate, or Zotz of course; and a Wacky Wafer or Bottle Cap wouldn't have been too bad either; but as I've gotten older, I've found that my candy interests have changed.  I'd rather have a piece of dark chocolate than milk chocolate and I seem to like my flavors mixed - sweet and sour, sweet and spicy or sweet and salty.

My latest fave craves are Pretzel M & M's; which I HIGHLY recommend if you haven't already tried them; and Hot Tamales.  What can I say; sometimes we can ALL just use a little extra sweetness in our day.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING