FAST!

"FAST!"  Me?  Haha - noooo.  It's Bundle of Joy's mama who I'm talking about.  

Bundle of Joy's parents, perfectly exhibiting their energy levels.  (Mine would be the same as her daddy's!!!)

Yesterday afternoon, she and I went to Canada to watch a movie . . . something we've been trying to do since our birthdays in July.  Now this woman is a WHIRLWIND:  such a hard worker, gets SO much done, is constantly baking or cooking and delivering same to whomever she thinks needs it at the time . . . I could go on and on.  But, after yesterday, I understand how she gets so much done.  She does everything FAST!  She drives FAST.  She shops FAST.  She even pees FAST!

Case(s) in point.  She asked me to drive once we got near the city because she's not a fan of city driving.  As I was driving along (right with the traffic, I felt), comments kept popping from the passenger's seat like, "Hey!  You could get into this lane if you wanted!"  or "Geez, is the speed limit really this slow here?!" and (knife to my back), "Ohhh!  I feel so sorry for those people behind us!"  ;)

Hahahahahaha!  Okay, let it be known that I am NOT a slow driver.  I'm a steady-as-she-goes driver.  Same with work.  Steady pace.  Same with (ahem) peeing!  Our first bathroom visit went like this:  we walk into our respective stalls, and I SWEAR I hear her piddling before I've even gotten my purse settled and coat unzipped.  Then, as I'm seated and doing my business, she calls, "I'll be outside . . . MOM!"  Okay, so that one had me chuckling my way to the sink.

This woman does EVERYTHING fast.  She talks fast, particularly when she's excited or trying to multitask.  I don't know how many times I asked, yesterday, "Huh?" or "Ummm, say that again?"

She makes the 14-hours, one-way drive to her family in Kansas several times a year.  FAST.  I think she makes it in something like 10 or 12 hours.  And she drives straight through (aside from potty stops).  (Even with Bundle of Joy in the car - who's a WONDERFUL little traveler!)

She cooks fast (she steps in and becomes chef when there's no one else at the historic lodge where she is so invaluable I don't know what they'd do if she ever left works).  

She's called in to cook, spur-of-the-moment?  No problem, Baby can sleep through it.

As Bundle of Joy grows, she can help Grandma NeNe (lodge owner) make bread while her mama works!  Here she is doing just that at only 17 months old!

She eats fast.  She's the only person I've actually met who DOESN'T CARE about food!  To her, it's nutrition, nothing else.  She doesn't like to spend any time making fancy meals.  She doesn't like to eat out (a waste of money in her book).  Matter of fact, rather than us "wasting" the money on a meal out yesterday, she PACKED DINNER FOR US!  Hahahaha!  And, I think I can guarantee that we were the ONLY ONES eating "free", deliciously homemade lebkuchen in the theatre last night while the rest chewed on their $5/box Mike & Ikes!

She "mothers" fast:  if Bundle of Joy needs to go to a sitter in the morning (or if they're setting out on a road trip), she puts her to bed in the clothes she'll wear in the AM.  That way, Baby's up and they're all out the door!

She plants the garden fast!  One day this summer, she and I were out there with Bundle of Joy as I set to thinning the carrots.  She, looking at the squash, said, "I need to thin and replant these."  We only had a few minutes, and I said, "Oh, no - that's gonna take SO long!  Shouldn't you save that 'til later?"  I continued with my work, and suddenly I looked up when I noticed her flying between two beds.  She'd knelt down in the clothes she had on, dug the new holes with her hands and then had the squash all replanted in, literally, 10 minutes.

Want new wallpaper in the kitchen?  No problem, it will be done in a single morning.

It's her family's way.  As one of ten children raised in a VERY limiting setting (both financially and culturally), she's learned how to make do and do it FAST.

She's just a wonderful, whirling-dervish, this one, and I love her to pieces.  But remind me to never go on a full-day shopping trip with her - I'd be EXHAUSTED!

Bundle of Joy's mama - epitomized!

P.S.  I can take NO credit for these photos - I stole 'em all from her FB page.