Mother's Day

Every Spring we venture to celebrate our annual day to honor mom. This tradition has been dated back to the Roman eras, in one form or another. However, the American establishment of Mother's Day was created in the 1900's. Woodrow Wilson signed a measure to make Mother's Day a national holiday in 1914.

This traditional day of celebration of all the things our mother's strive so hard to provide their children quickly became commercialized. Businesses such as floral and candy confectioners saw a big boom even before the day was ratified as a holiday. A simple idea of thanks for the unsung role of mothering was tainted by profit.

The commercialization of the holiday eventually had the creator, Ana Jarvis, the advocate of the holiday renouncing it entirely before she died in 1948. Jarvis even lobbied for it to be removed for the American calendar. I know how she felt.

Commercialization of everything is the American agenda. You see it all the time, even if you are not aware of it. Christmas decorations go up each year before Thanksgiving dinner is served and right after a feast to celebrate our thankfulness, millions of Americans clobber each other to buy more stuff to take home during the Black Friday sales.

Holidays break up the dreary daily struggle. They add richness and can foster better relations with family and friends. Cheer up moms, your kids will be burning and torturing food to serve you breakfast in bed very soon. Cherish the macaroni art and the lanyard bracelets. You deserve them and much more. Your stretch marks, imperfect abs, along with the whole host of sacrifices of sleep, money, time, and headache make you the beautiful mom that you are everyday.

Happy Mother's Day Beautiful Ladies. The whole world owes you a debt that can never be repaid.

http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/mothers-day

Snap, crackle, and pop drop.

I was having a stressful but better than average mood today until I heard some very sad news. But before I go there, and I will, I just wanted to make a quick post about my fibromyalgia. I do not want this blog to be taken over by news on my condition, but felt this was worthwhile.

The last couple of weeks I have had a infatuation with cereal, milk, and bananas. I have not been able to consume milk products regularly since 2nd or 3rd grade. I would eat ice cream, well because it's ice cream, and just suffer any upset stomach or bouts with diarrhea that can with it. Now, since I have been on some new medications to control my symptoms, I have found, or reignited, my love of bananas, milk, and cereal. Add to this, a lot of the cereal manufacturers have changed their formulas to make their products gluten-free. Cheerios, for example, was using wheat flour as a binder in their old formula, but now it is certified gluten-free.

I woke this morning and eat yet another bowl of my new found treat. The ability to enjoy breakfast again is welcomed. I haven't been eating breakfast regularly in years as most of what we consider breakfast items were not well suited to eating them and then going to work. The upset stomach and having to rise earlier to fix something to eat, has never been good for me. Making something quick would always leave me with upset stomach, and the items that take longer to prep and consume would always leave me lethargic and uncomfortable.

This last year, or more, has had me making fruit and vegetable smoothies to both raise my metabolism and nourish me throughout the day. This regimen began on a smoothie cleanse and when it was over, I could really tell when I wouldn't fix one, that my body functions were slower and sluggish. So I would make an carry one everyday I was working, and that made it much easier to consume food while away from home, and not be searching the grocery store for something to eat, as the fast food joints had zero, or next to zero, gluten-free quick meals or snacks. On my days off, if I didn't get out the blender, I would be functioning very well, and would regret not preparing one for myself.

The marketplace is improving its options for gluten-free offerings and we sufferers of gluten allergies and Ceilacs disease thank you. The American diet is highly concentrated around wheat flour, it is in almost every well know product, even in ways that are harder to discern by just glancing over the nutrition labels.

Now for the drop.... As I was watching one of my shows on Hulu, a commercial break appeared, and I opened up my Facebook feed only to find out that my life-long favorite artist, hands down, Prince has died at the age of 57. I am heartbroken. The last couple of months we have lost the legends of music and radio that has been devastating to my generation especially, Phife Dawg, Doug Banks a king of radio broadcasting, last week, and now Prince. I grew up with Prince, danced on stage with him once at a show, I've heard every released track, sat in the fourth row center isle to see him perform, took fashion cues, watched his movies, memorized the lyrics and dance moves.

It's with a heavy heart that I say thank you to someone I have only been in physical proximity only once. Goodbye to a voice of my generation that moved us like none-other. And I send my tidings of peace to his weary soul.