Proud Mama!

Last week I mailed out a DVD I made for Mr. MP entitled "In The Army". It included pictures and videos of him in BCT (basic combat training) and AIT (advanced individual training) at Fort Leonard Wood, MO, set to a soundtrack of music I hoped he would enjoy. My heart danced when he received it Thursday and said he loved it! I am amazed at how fast the year has gone since he completed training and came home for a brief stay before departing for his new home away from home, which is further away than any mother would want her son to be. But as they say "home is where the Army sends you".

The family has come to know that anytime we go somewhere, anywhere, they need to prepare themselves for a photo session that will result in a bazillion pictures and the occasional video or two. I love to scrapbook, so I am always looking for the right angle, the right shot, the perfect still. But now...making DVD's has become my new interest and I'm already getting hints from family members like "can we all expect DVDs for Christmas?" Hint-hint? (smile)

Mr. MP has such a talent for taking pictures, capturing a level of emotion in his photographs that is indescribable. I love to work with his pictures and revisiting his days at Fort Leonard Wood made it seem as though I just hugged him yesterday, instead of last October when he got married.

Since Mr. MP left for the other side of the country, I have begged him for pictures. I get a few...but just recently I asked for pictures of him in uniform, standing next to his patrol car, and/or whatever else he wanted to send. He poo-poo'd me off with "I just don't think about it mom" and that was that.

Today Mr. MP's scheduled day off was changed to a blues mission, providing security detail for Senator Ted Kennedy's funeral. I'm going about my day, getting things done around the house, when my cell beep-beeps, indicating I have a text. When I opened it, there was Mr. MP, standing proudly in his uniform, with his badge, and my first reaction as a Proud Mama was "ahhhhhh". My second reaction was a smile that erupted into full tilt laughter. Now he gets it!! Now he knows why I need pictures!! And all it took was a DVD. Begging, pleading, asking, demanding...that didn't work. But the DVD did.

I am a smiling Proud Mama!! Who wouldn't be?

Fine Art of the New Millenium

I was stopped at a red light the other day and looked to my left. A man, in his mid to late twenties, sat confidently in the driver's seat of a construction truck, waiting for the light to turn green, just as I was. I noticed his body art creeping out of his t-shirt, halfway up his neck. It was at that moment I thought to myself...what is this world going to look like in 20 years? My thought of the moment wasn't about world peace, polluted air, or whether anyone will still drive SUVs. I was imagining 40 to 70 year olds running around with sagging body art and sun-damaged tattoo ink.

Everywhere you look, be it television, or in the newspaper, or even at a stop light on a random day, EVERYONE is wearing the fine art of the new millenium. It seems as if everyone is tatted up in some way or another.

Even my eldest son, Duce...inked for life. I remember when I accidentally discovered his tats. It was the fall of his senior year. He was asleep and I walked into the boys' room for yet again another "GET UP NOW!" start to the morning...when I saw his arm...and God forbid...a tattoo!! I was shocked! I couldn't believe my eyes! I paused...maybe it was a fake tattoo I thought. I grabbed his arm to get a better look, shocking him from his sleep, and as calmly as I could, I asked "what the hell is this???" He jerked his t-shirt sleeve down, trying to conceal what I had already discovered, and fumbled his way out of bed as I demanded loudly that he get up immediately and meet me in the bathroom. I had hoped the better bathroom lighting would ultimately prove that my eyes were deceiving me and I only imagined a tattoo on his arm. If it were real, this meant my "no tattoos/no weird body piercings under the age of 18 (which he was) and as long as you live under my roof!" rule had been broken.

There he stood, wiping his eyes as he tried to wake up, while I examined his arm- touching, poking, rubbing, and stretching his skin. Yep, it was real. And no, I didn't have a brillo pad to try and scrub it off - which I would have had if one were available! The tattoo had been there for quite some time. Void of any raised red areas indicating it was a new tattoo. My shock turned to acceptance. It was his body-his skin afterall. Even though I gave birth to that body, it doesn't belong to me, I thought to myself. He rolled his eyes ten times over as I voiced my opinions about aging skin, the lack of knowledge of where his life will take him in the years to come, and other profound motherly words of wisdom.

It was at that moment, Duce (who I've always said should have been an attorney), began to take off his shirt and gently defend his case. What??? What is that???? Another tattoo permanently stained across his left pectoral muscle! "Mom..." he said. "I wanted to tell you about my tattoos, but I knew you would get mad. But Mom, I love you, and that's why I had your name tattooed across my heart, because you will always be here..." as he patted his hand over the tattoo, "...right here in my heart".

Oh, how sweet. Again - Duce would have made one heck of an attorney. His defense was brilliant. He had taken an unmanageable situation, considering he was smart enough to know he was facing an indefinate period of "grounding", and turned that situation on its heels into a controlled, shining star, center of the stage moment, in which he professed his "forever" love for his mom.

I was touched, really I was, but it didn't change the fact that my boy, my son, was now tatted for life!

Back in my teens and twenties, guys with tattoos were...well...kinda scary! A tattoo usually meant some sort of rebellious incident that may have involved jail time, or a random act of drunkenness during military leave...or even worse - a biker. Not that bikers were bad...but think Hell's Angels and you get my drift.

That was then...and this is now. A world full of tatted up men and women running around expressing themselves in body art. In my little city, I've seen body art sleeves, leg art, and even a guy who had the inside of his ear tattooed.

Again, I think to myself...what will this world look like in 20 years???

Minnesota Vikings

Wow - I just completed watching an NFL Network program entitled "America's Team: The Missing Rings" that told the story of the 1998 Minnesota Vikings that featured the great wide receiver Cris Carter, the rookie great WR Randy Moss, and quarterback Randall Cunningham and that arm of his! It was the year they almost...almost made it to the Super Bowl. Ahhhhh...the memories. The memories of how I despised that team that year! They were on TV every single Sunday it seemed and I was soooo sick of seeing them grab their glory, tromping all over every single team, but two. The team they lost to, obviously at 15-1, and the Atlanta Falcons, to whom they lost the NFC Championship game. All they had to do was beat the Falcons. The team I rooted for. The team for whom I made a cake...with a Falcons logo. In retrospect, I may have been the only one that ate any of that cake! :)

I am a HUGE Vikings fan now, thanks in part to Mr. MP and the teen years. My checks have the Vikings helmet and my bank card is purple/gold with the white Vikings horn!

Back then, having lived in MN and Atlanta, it could have been a toss up on who my team was of the moment, as I base my favorites on who my kids like (Go Texans, the fav of Ms. Independent, and Go Saints - Duce's fav!!) and where I've lived in prior years. Given the fact that I did not like the Vikings in any way shape or form in 1998, there was no doubt that I wanted Atlanta to go all the way and win the Super Bowl. Now in hindsight, what I would give to have that glorious year back, just so I could watch the Vikings nearly every week, instead of my state's teams, ummm...teams I do not like AT ALL!

Mr. MP wanted the Vikings, even back then when he was still a Cowboys fan, but I wanted the 14-2 Falcons to win, and win they did. Funny how things have changed in 11 years - even right down to my football teams.

As the NFL season approaches and I prime my roster for the fantasy football draft, I think back with great fondness to a time lost. I'll sit back this year and enjoy the Vikings on TV for two, maybe three games TV if I'm lucky, during the regular season, and continue the hope that one day, maybe this year, they will make it to the Super Bowl.

Go Vikes!