mums....and moms.....

the best think about having a bunch of store-bought flowers around is that you can take lots of pictures of them while they are pretty and in nice lighting. you don't have to wait for spring to come or for the rain to stop. i've been trying to get hans to buy me flowers to take pictures of ever since i bought these mums for my mom at thanksgiving. so far, there have been no other bought flowers. but i haven't shown you all the neat pictures i took! so here are some more....
technically this photo is probably a little over exposed because of the lack of detail in the highlights (something i learned in my online photo class!) but i like it, so i'm posting it. and it might not win any awards but it just looks so bright and sunny....makes me all warm inside...

this one is probably more technically sound....i like it too...

and this one is a little overexposed again....what can i say? i like it!!! but in my class, they say that professionals tend to like darker photos...and i'm not a professional, so i can like this bright cheery ones, right?

i like the first and the third one because the background was all black, which was striking, but i gave it this nice orange-y glow....which i think looks cool.

so these mums were bought for my mom. but i probably need to specify which mom. i tend to collect moms, like i collect frogs...just kidding moms! i just find myself surrounded by a lot of women, maybe it is because of avon, some of it is because of who i married and some is just pure luck.

mom #1, is the mom who gave birth to me. she'll be the one who i call mom the most often. and she's the one who the mums were bought for. she likes to take pictures too. she's probably a better photographer than i am but maybe a little more shy about sharing her photos with others. she's a busy lady. i got my love of science and art from her. (thanks mom!) she's very 'math-y' and science-nerdy but still creative and artsy. it is a weird combination but we're goats (chinese horoscope wise) so maybe it has something to do with that. she's also a pseudo-vet. (i consider myself a pseudo-doctor sometimes, but that's just because i feel like i have more of a medical background than the average joe and my family always comes to me for medical advice, even though i'm no where near a doctor....) ok, back to the pseudo-vet. she loves animals and knows a lot about them. she's worked for a vet, so she's been exposed to that kind of stuff. i always go to her when i have a vet question. she's good like that.

mom in colorado, is the mom of my husband. i don't want to call her mom #2, because, well, numbering the moms seems like i'm ranking them and i don't want them to feel bad because they can't all be mom #1. i call her mom also, and sometimes when i'm explaining things to other people, my mother-in law, because calling everyone mom is confusing for people. anyways, mom in colorado, is also an artist. i'm not sure how this all works out, that my moms are so artsy....but, back to colorado mom....she's a definitely a more professional photographer than me. she's had her work published many times over. and i'm sure she never, never likes photos that are too overexposed. but besides photography, she paints, draws and all sorts of things, even woodworking. hard core artsy. i also need to mention that she's german. like FROM germany, not just of german decent. she did get her citizenship a few years back, but she still has an accent, you know, 'proof' that she's a real german. she's also the one to go to when you have any questions about travel. she's like the travel guide/agent of the family.

maybe the next 'mom' i should talk about is my step-mother-in-law. she doesn't get called mom, because, well, she came into hans' life when he was older, so he's always called her by her first name. but she's artsy too! holy moly, this woman can paint. she's starting to do some drawing too. and she can dance. she could dance circles around all of my moms and me. (sorry moms, but i gotta be a little honest!) not just dancing, but official, ballroom dancing kind of stuff, i'm sure i could beat her in car dancing. (car dancing is the dancing you do while seated in a car, either as a passenger or a driver...also known as chair dancing....) i think she also did some synchronized swimming, which is something that i think is very artsy...

my next mom got to be called mom because she could be my mom's twin sister. she's a southern bell (even if she doesn't think so!) is that supposed to be bell or belle? oh man, i don't know my southern well enough! spell check can't even help me! so this mom is my most recently adopted mom. but she's great. she also happens to be german....hmmmm.....very interesting.....she doesn't have an accent except when she speaks german. then you can tell. no gerglish for her! (gerglish is like spanglish, except not as well known) i haven't been to this mom's house to see if she's got photos or paintings all over the walls. but i have a feeling that she could hold her own in the art department.

i don't know if i have a lot of other people that get called mom....i do tend to call a lot of people 'mama'. its my way of giving them a loving nickname. i like calling people by nicknames, its more personal and.....well, seems more affectionate. plus when they have a bunch of kiddos running around, they are mama. i'm not old enough to call everyone honey, sweetie, darling....although i can't wait. i love when the old waitresses call you hun. makes me feel good.

i have called other people mom in the past, mostly friend's mom's growing up. and my teacher's, mostly by accident. especially my third and fourth grade teacher, i remember calling them mom by accident.

and there you go. my mums and my moms all summed up.

p.s. sorry moms if i forgot anything important you think i should have remembered....