Mother's Day 2016

brother Joe, Mom & me in 1956

This Mother's Day weekend was packed with activities, which is a good thing because Mother's Day holds mixed emotions for me. I have always felt that this day was about MY mom - not me. Though she has been gone since 1989, it is still her day in my mind. I suppose it doesn't help that our kids live so far away, as does my mother-in-law. At any rate, Jim always goes out of his way to make the day special for me. Usually we spend it going to a picnic with my sister and her extended family, but they needed to have the gathering on Saturday this year, and I already had plans for that day. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Women in Focus St. Louis

On Friday night we had the opening for the new photography exhibit of the Women in Focus group. It is being held at the Webster Groves Public Library, which is convenient for me and the three other ladies in the group who live in Webster Groves. We had wine, water, cookies and candy at the opening, and it was pretty well attended. I entered two photos in the show, which has 27 pieces hanging. Two of the ladies have already sold pictures - awesome! The show will remain in place through June, the longest time period we have had for one of our shows to date.

Saturday morning was the Paint Webster event, and our group had been asked to be volunteer photographers again this year. Artists from all around the area come to enjoy the day painting outside, or plein air. It is fun to watch them, and talk about the techniques they are using. There might be four artists all painting the same thing, yet the results are entirely different. I was particularly excited to see all the children participating this year.

Paint Webster 2016

On Sunday, Jim and I headed to the Missouri Botanical Garden as soon as they opened. We knew it would be crowded, but there is nowhere I would rather be than at my favorite place in the world. Most of the people were hanging out in the front of the garden, no doubt waiting to enjoy the Mother's Day brunch. We had the rest of the garden pretty much to ourselves for the first couple of hours. By then we were ready to head out as it was getting hot.

Missouri Botanical Garden

From the garden we drove downtown to Washington Avenue, where we had lunch at Sugarfire Smoke House before going next door to the National Blues Museum. The museum has only been open since April of 2016, so I had not talked to anyone who has gone there. It is quite the place, and the exhibits and graphics are very well done. Though it was not crowded, it took us a couple of hours to see and experience everything. I'm so glad we went, though it is a bummer that they do not allow any photography inside except for the entry lobby and gift shop. They said it is for copyright reasons, but I am skeptical as many museums allow photos.

Both of the kids called that night, so that was the cherry on top of my wonderful ice cream sundae Mother's Day.