Monday, May 14, 2007

Honoring Tha' Day



I spent part of Mother's Day morning burning a cd of my favorite Missy Elliott tunes for a friend. As I did so, I surprised myself when I realized how very appropriate this activity was. Missy Elliott, a quadruple threat: rapper, singer, songwriter and producer is on my list of favorite, very cool strong women. She has chartered new territory in a field that is male dominated...and she Works It.

Missy doesn't have children that I am aware of, but I do find her to possess authentic Mother-Energy. Over the years she has nurtured other artists, gathered people together, spoke out on behalf of others and has become a strong, competent, honest female icon in a world of sleezy, booty-baring PopTarts.

As is my style, I started trippin' on my thoughts about this Mother-Energy and where I cultivate it in my own life. Areas that I gravitate to are: mothering the earth as I garden, nurturing others as part of my work, caring for friends and family in need, creating delicious food and meaningful art/craft to nourish my soul and never giving up hope that one day I will sharpen my focus on said Mother-Energy when our long-awaited child enters our lives.

I hope to be a mother that creates adventure and fun in our life as a family. When I reflected upon how to honor Mother's Day 2007 - I decided that it was time for an adventure for Jzboy and I. What could be better than reservations at a killer Hot Pot restaurant for Sunday? Our first Hot Pot experience. No way I was going to be all mopey with Hot Pot plans on the brain.


This place is called "Little Sheep" and apparently has over 700 locations in China! Some of my Canadian friends may be familiar with it because there are a handful of places up there. Our little place is the first US restaurant. How lucky are we?


Jzboy and I felt just a little closer to China on Sunday seeing as we were two of the only Caucasian people in the place. It would have been nice to know some Chinese phrases so we could have asked the kids next to us what they were having. We did pretty well because the waiter was very nice and helpful.

See how the pot is divided? One side is mild and the other is very, very spicy.


Here is the array of ingredients that we chose. Fresh leafy veggies, tofu, noodles, shrimp and the "mushroom platter". Oh yeah, and fish balls!!! Yuuuum!


The two of us had big ol' grins as we rolled ourselves out of there last night.

Adventure with Jzboy, tofu and shrooms for dinner, Missy Misdeameanor on the radio and dreams of sharing Chinese culture and cuisine with our child to be...I'd say that it was a very, very nice Mother's Day indeed.


PS - BTW, Mother's Day also commemorates the fact that we've been logged in w/ the CCAA for One Year.

Whoa.

32 comments:

Joannah said...

Whoa! Happy one year to you!

Your Mother's Day dinner looks very similar to ours. Mom was out with Dad on a date, so me and my guy went out for Shabu Shabu. Yum!

Polar Bear said...

Happy 12! I was happy to get past that number. It all seems downhill from there. :)

I think you are going to be one very cool mom! You inspire me with the things you do. The way you offer such warm comments and e-mails is so good for my heart. I love reading messages from you. I know that your going to pass that, and many other wonderful things on to your daughter.

I am glad you had a wonderful Mother's Day! The Hot Pot looks really fun and good too!

aimeeg said...

Happy One Year! What a way to celebrate!

Fish balls? Mmmmm.....

M3 said...

Awesome hot pot idea!!! You come up with The Best ideas, that's just one reason you're going to be a great mom.

Congrats on one-year, it's all downhill from here, right? :-)

walternatives said...

Mother-Energy? I love it. Gives me pause to think about my own mother energy - thank you for that. I forgot to honor myself yesterday and can take a few to do that now. Don't forget that you certainly mother your beloved cat. And Little Sheep? Looks scrumptious-

Katie J said...

Mother-Energy is a perfect phrase and just what I wanted to say on my blog for tha' day. You definitely have it, WZGirl. What a great post and a wonderful attitude on what can be a difficult day during the wait of waits. Hats off to you and JZBoy.

Hugs, hugs and more hugs...

Mariah said...

Wow!! That looks delish!!

C's Mom said...

Lovin' that day. Sounds so you.

I'll trade ya some Spotted Dick for some Fish Balls ;0)

Woohoo on 1 whole one behind.

Special K said...

Interesting how you incorporated Missy Elliot into Mother's day. Wouldn'ta thought of that. Cool.

Happy 365 days!

Rhonda said...

Happy 1 year LIDiversary!

Anonymous said...

Yum! That meal looks wonderful. I'm glad you celebrated. And happy (in a bittersweet sort of way) one-year LIDiversary.

Anonymous said...

Whoa. I just saw that Rhonda used LIDiversary. I had no idea. I thought I just made that up. Freaky.

Beeb said...

I've wondered about the infamous hot pot - good to learn.
Happy one year to you and jzboy!

Anonymous said...

Oh, that looks like a fun place! Happy one year (mine is coming up in three days)!
Stephanie
www.thewrittenword.wordpress.com

4D said...

What a wonderful day!

Happy 1 Year!

Keep smilin!

rubyiscoming said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Kelli said...

Wow....Yeah...mothers day...yeah...we had hot pot...yeah good food....oh by the WAY...in TEENY TINY PRINT....1 Year LID-Versary?!!! Waaaaa-hoooooo!!!! Congratulations!!! You should be shouting that from the Rooftops! It's a milestone...it DOES feel good to get past that number, I've got to tell you...it REALLY does!!! Congratulations! sounds like a great way to spend Mother's Day!!!

Kelli said...

PS. If you Like the Fish Balls...You are going to love Shamien Island. The 7-11 across the road from the White Swan (or 2 blocks over from the Victory) has fish balls hot & ready any time of day...kind of the way our 7-11's have hot dogs hot & ready any time of day....!

"M2" said...

Happy one year to you!!!
now... about them fish balls...

Jessi said...

Happy year, sweetie. Your meal looks amazing! Yum.

atomic mama said...

What a cool Mother's Day post! Missy Rocks. A happy belated one to you for sure, and 1 year logged-innedness to boot! Big time congrats. We just had our 10-month, and I let it slide... I'm holding out for the big 1-2.

And can I just tell you that we had fish balls with dinner the last 2 nights in a row?! Actually, our fish balls had shrimp filling. Yum. Little Sheep looks fun!

Red Sand said...

Happy One Year!!

Anne Marie said...

This is a cool post! I love the idea of Mother Energy. And yummy hot pot! And Happy 12 mos.!

Irena said...

Let's do Hot Pot soon. Is it appropriate for 2 year olds?

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm, I'd love to try Hot Pot. Never have.

You logged on Mother's Day? How appropriate. Happy Belated Mother's Day.

kitchu said...

I like you. I mean, really, I like you. I like the way you write, the way you think, the fact that you appreciate Missy in all her Mother Energy goodness (and I have to tell you she's a long time fave of mine), I like that you want to be the kind of mom that makes life into an adventure. You rock.

And here's to 12 down- unbelievable!

"M" said...

Congratulations on your one year! Your celebration day sounds like a lot of fun. You are so creative and energetic. You will be a great mom!

Jacquie said...

Congrats on the one year. Big milestone. And love your attitude. You're gonna be such a great mom.

Beth and Shayna said...

You are going to be a fun, fantastic, hilarious and loving mother. Happy 12month LID.

Hey, the place you went to looks so yummy, maybe we can go there this summer????

JMCS said...

How appropriate Mother's Day was your 1 year LIDiversary. Happy LID =iversary to you and jzboy. Missy E. is so cool and the hot pot restaurant looks yummy. John and I can't wait to try some fun foods in China. Hope your day was great!

Hugs,
Jonni
www.journeytosofia.com

Joelle and Chandler said...

Happy DOZEN! Your dinner looked great - I think we will have to look for a good Hot Pot place here in LA.

Pink Velvet Mommy said...

I want a HOT POT!!! I may have to look for it when I am in that area in the fall. I am going to see if they are expanding. Very fascinated by this concept.

Happy 12 monthS...I guess. We should be getting to say Happy referral instead, but oh well what's a girl a do??

Hope to see you stick around the alts, would miss you and your positive energy around there.