Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Effer - what?

So I've been told, asked, instructed, ordered [nicely] to clean out all "my crap" in the garage.  In the "old days" [meaning pre-eBay, pre-money making days].  I was a crafty girl.  I loved making pointless [to me] crap.  Pretending I knew how to sew.  Making dinner by 11am.  Scrap booking.  Photo organizing. basket weaving. jk yadda, yadda, yadda.

Me. today. = photos stuck on memory card unless blogged about, dinner at 6/7, run, chat with Peanut, work, delete photos, work, buy clothes, work, chat with UPS lady, work.

Soooooooooo, when three boxes full of photos were placed on my office floor . . . . I about cried.  Instead I said, "seriously, just put them in a new [more hidden] place.  You and I both know I'll go through them and not throw out anything."

Door shuts.  Yep, he got it.  I'm in the clear.  Yay me.

uhhhh not so fast.  Pita walks in with three [clear] plastic not so little numbers [meaning storage boxes] from Costco.  Drops them on floor.  "Em, there you go.  Move them all in here according to age."  -------[thinking you freaking move them where the sun doesn't  . . . . . .] fine.  whatever.  they are "mine".

What happened for the next 4 hours was . . . . awesome.  Childhood.  A 98.44% fabulous childhood - revisited.  Peanut sat by me for 1/2 the time.  It was a blast.  I love the random things my Mom kept.

Oddly?!  My favorite was a huge green construction paper heart. 

Written on it was the wordeffervescent

Ohhhhh, the tears flowed.  I remember this day like it was 5 seconds ago.  I was 12.  At church.  Walked into our class to see about 30 moms sitting in the room.  I was like, "awwww crap, I'm in trouble".  Guilty conscience?  Never.

Then one by one the mom would go up and get the heart off the wall that was for their daughter.  Words like: honest, beautiful, smart, helpful, kind, athletic, etc.  I sat there wondering which one was mine.  Heck, maybe I could even have two?! ;)  [ha!]

About 12 remained.  My Mom walked up and goes to reach, "thebestover-alldaughterever" [whoa, wait, what?] . . ."effervescent".

effervescent?
effervescent?
effervescent?

What the crap does that even mean?  I honestly remember thinking, "really mom, really that's all you could think to say about me?!"
Then, for some reason my hampster wheel brain immediately went to a denture cleaner or maybe it was a "gas" commercial.  "Pop. pop. fizz. fizz. ohhhh what a relief it is." ---- later on in the commercial it would say, "the effervescent power of Alka Seltzer"

I sat there with tears running down my face.  Peanut was looking at me like, "Mom, it's just a heart.  Heart means love."

ef·fer·ves·cent/ˌefərˈvesənt/

Adjective1. (of a liquid) Giving off bubbles; fizzy.


2. (of a person or their behavior) Vivacious and enthusiastic
 
Finally, after 20 years . . . . . I get it Mom!
 
Just wanted to let you know.
 
Thanks Pita for being a Pita.  This was an effervescent/happy/grateful/ahhh-haaa moment.

29 comments:

Syl said...

your post made me both laugh and cry - how touching, some times trips down memory lane are the best aren't they.

Emily said...

I remember that lesson! Mine was "confident", and I had that heart on my wall for many years. I remember Shauna was upset because she got "organized" and felt like that was not a very complimentary descriptor.

Emz said...

Yay Emily. I sat there trying to remember yours, shauna's & melissa's. I swore yours was: smart. That would have been too easy though. Heck, all of them could have been YOURS. You're awesome.

Allie said...

I think I get what you are trying to say, you have gas.

Melissa said...

How sweet! I really like that.

ShutUpandRun said...

I LOVE LOVE those kinds of stories. I want an effervescent heart too. What a compliment. Your mother effer mother knew what she was doing.

ajh said...

This is a wonderful post.

Marlene said...

That is a GREAT word to describe you.

Rae said...

Super great post! Had me tearing up too! I love looking back at old pics and memories!

Anonymous said...
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Kevin and Kim Partridge said...

So, can I call you Alkie for short? Love it. Brought tears to my eyes.

Leah B. said...

This is so sweet! I love this post :)

Gina said...

Probably my favorite post of yours yet!

5 Miles Past Empty said...

So cool!!! Mom's are great, aren't we, I mean they? =)

Jill said...

Awwww, I totally love this *tear*.

Karine said...

Shedding effervescent tears into the Baltic sea at this moment. Hugs

Johann said...

Lovely post! Great that you can share this with your daughter now.

Matty O said...

Love it haha, hilarious that your mom chose that... and it was a perfect fit :)

Memories are fun.

RunningLaur said...

That's so wonderful. Simple things can often mean the most.

Big Daddy Diesel said...

In the past, I had this happen, when I was pita and dated an Emz, i didnt understand at the time, now I do, thanks for sharing

KovasP said...

Oh man, Peanut is going to expect big things from you now! What word would you use to describe her?

Emz said...

Ahhhhh kovas- I love that question!!!!!!

Aimee said...

Aww...I LOVE that story. :)

ConcreteNCoffee said...

What a great memory! I don't know what my mom would have called me, but I'm pretty sure I'd have to censor it for the 18 and younger crowd ;)

Kelly Leigh said...

I LOVE going through all that stuff! Old pictures are my fave. But what a great word. Your mom obviously thought hard about that one. And I want to know too - what word for peanut???

Pam @ herbieontherun.com said...

REALLY??? You're gonna do Vegas, too????

BLOGGY MEET-UP TIME!!!!!

Sarah said...

That's awesome. I always laughed at the commercial though because we're supposed to believe that non-commercial people would use the phrase, "It effervesces" or however you spell it. I'm going to incorporate it into my vocabulary.

Laurie said...

I realize I'm a week late to commenting on this post, but just had to say it's a great one. What a wonderful word & story. Seriously had me teary eyed. Thanks for sharing.

Liz said...

i'm new to your blog, but have been loving it so much i've been hopping around on it. what a beautiful entry. i got all teary eyed... (i'm a total and completely hormonal sap right now. i could cry at watching the dora "we did it" song right now. but really, it was beautiful. it makes me want to organize things in my house for nice memories... (i think i'll hold off... why not give it another year for the memories to really hit me hard!)
thanks!