Thoughts on Being a Mother

Being a mom means carrying a wonderful gift around inside you for nine months. From the moment you know it's there, it's real . . . it's your baby and you love them. You would go through fire for them, to hell and back for them. That's it . . . you're a mom . . . forever and ever after. You sit in your chair and you cradle your belly in your arms and you think special thoughts as you caress it and hold it close with the only thing you can at that point . . . your heart. From the very first butterfly flutters to the last gargantuan rolling abouts . . . you relish every moment, every movement, from hiccups to kicks and punches. You're a mom.



Then the day finally comes and they're ready to be born and you are so filled up with excitement that you can't contain yourself. You feel like jumping up and down , an excitement that is tempered with a pain that is at once excruciating and yet wierdly blissful. You are filled with the wonder of what is happening and joy and amazement . . . and a final awareness of all that your own mother did, and went through . . . just so you could be here.



Little do you know that the easy part is done. What follows is a lifetime of joy, and pain, and worry, and pride, and sleepless nights, and long weary days, and wonder and every emotion from the lowest to the very highest, and everything in between. Once a mother always a mother, be your child two seconds, two days, two years or two decades old . . . your baby is always your baby . . . and ever will be. You celebrate the good times and you mourn the sad times. Like a mother bear, you would protect this life that you have created out of love, with every ounce of your being, to the death if necessary, and beyond.



When they are young your days are busy and filled with more activity and chores than you can sometimes cope with . . . with baby steps, scraped knees, and tearful faces, giggles and hugs, sticky kisses and broken hearts, first teeth and lost teeth, lessons learned, piles of dirty laundry that never seem to get any smaller, bedrooms that are never picked up, mismatched socks and homework, homemade cookies and birthday cakes, report cards and concerts and prayers and stories told . . . little do you know that you are building memories with each achievement, however large or small . . .



Before you know it they are grown, and your hands that once had more work than they could handle, are now empty and longing for a braid to tweak, or a neck to scrub, for the feel of tiny arms clinging and holding you close, and the sounds of laughter in rooms that suddenly seem too large and empty and silent, where once they were crowded and full of noise. Once there were not enough hours in the day . . . now every minute seems like a lifetime, and you would give anything to hear that door slam at the end of the day, and for a cheery voice to ring out . . . I'm home, what's for supper . . . You wonder where the years all went and you would give anything to once again be the sum total of their world, and yet at the same time you are grateful and glad that you gave them the knowledge and the strength to be able to stretch their wings and fly . . . you're a mom . . . and ever will be . . .

Happy Mother's Day to all my North American readers. May it be a day filled with wonder and love and Happy Memories!

I am just getting home from work. I've been awake now for 26 hours and am off to bed. I hope you'll forgive me for sharing a recipe with you this morning that I shared previously on my Marie's Muses pages. I just don't have the energy for anything else as I am fading fast! This is a recipe that is both delicious and low in fat!



*Barbeque Pork with Mop Sauce*
Serves 6

Wonderfully lean pork filet covered in a deliciously spicy rub and then roasted in the oven just until done, so that it is moist and flavourful, this dish is a real winner. I love the tangy spiciness of the sauce which accompanies it. Any leftovers make a delicious hot sandwich when shredded and heated in any leftover sauce.

2 TBS dark soft brown sugar
1 TBS paprika
1 TBS mild chili powder
1 ½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 pork tenderloin fillets (1 ½ pounds), trimmed of all visible fat
For the Sauce:
1/3 cup tomato ketchup
¼ cup cider vinegar
2 TBS molasses
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Pre-heat your oven to 230*C/450*F. Line a baking tray with foil and spray it with cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine the brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt, cayenne and pepper in a bowl. Mix well. Rub half of the mixture into and all over the pieces of pork. Let stand for 15 minutes.
At the end of the 15 minutes rub the pork with the remaining spice mixture. Place on the baking tray and bake it in the oven for about 30-35 minutes, until just done. (this all depends on the thickness of your pork. It may take longer or shorter time) The end result will be beautifully moist pork, just pink in the middle, which is perfectly acceptable. ( Any more done than that and it is too dry. Most people overcook their pork) A meat thermometer will register an internal temperature of 71*C/160*F.

Make the sauce while the pork is roasting. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, then turn the heat down to very low and keep it warm while the meat cooks.

Remove the meat from the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes before cutting into 12 thickesh slices. Serve with the sauce.