Missing Mom, Asian Glazed Meatballs with Rice & Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Grief is like the ocean, it comes in waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.

Vicki Harrison

This morning I woke up and the first thing I thought of was my Mom. Lately, I’ve been thinking about her a lot. When I got into the van the radio was on and Memories from Maroon 5 was playing. By the time I got to my first client’s house I was in full-fledged tears. I don’t know if it’s because I haven’t seen my Dad and my In-Laws since December 1, or because I am missing my Sis so much, or because it is so freaking cold out that childhood memories have been flooding my brain? All I know is that I miss her.

I wonder how she would deal with the pandemic? My Mom was always a little bit of a rebel 😆 I don’t know how she would’ve dealt with having to wear a mask everywhere. In fact, I remember this time, when she had just finished chemo and I saw her little bald head and her frail little body walking in Superstore without a mask. I confronted her! I went up one side of her and down the other! I said, “how dare you! You have one small thing to do to keep yourself safe when you leave the house and you obviously don’t respect or love your family enough to do it. Either stay home or at LEAST wear a mask! How could you do this to us?” I was bawling.

OK, I may have gone a bit overboard 😂 however, the thought of her catching something while being immunocompromised was so terrifying to me! Everybody in the store must’ve thought I was a raving lunatic 😆 I made my point though. Mom apologized and went home. Her only explanation was “I want to feel normal. I want to go to the grocery store and buy some bananas for myself. Kristin, I just want to live.”

2 months later she was gone. I don’t think she would’ve liked the rules that 2020 has put forth on our lives but she would’ve done it, to keep us safe and to keep herself safe because we needed her. We still need her 💛.

Last week, close friends to our family lost their Dad. They are now part of this horrible club. It is this invisible tie that only people that have lost their Mom/Dad can see. It ties us together in our loss. Only we understand the grief that washes over us that can hit at any moment on any given day. I am sorry for their loss. I am sorry I can’t say, “it will get better.” They just lost their Dad! How can that EVER get better?

It can’t.

Some days will be better and others will be like today. Today, when my sobs were uncontrollable, my big fat tears froze to my face as I unloaded my vehicle for my work day and my nose was running all over my quivering lips. Days like today when I feel her loss so much, it feels like it was yesterday instead of almost 8 years ago.

It’s a club. A horrible stupid club. A club we didn’t ask to be part of but now that we are, we stick together. All I can say is I will be there on those days. I will understand and I won’t say the flowery words. I will listen and I will feel their pain because it is my pain too 💛.

Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #210 Your ‘But’ Pops in my Ear HERE! This week we battle some audio issues. Topics: Saved by the Bell, NHL, snowbirds, basketball, pizza, dining out, Brownies, cancel culture, & questioning authority.

This week we will be celebrating Lunar New Year on Friday February 12. We always celebrate the Lunar New Year by making a whole lot of yummy food! This year we are supporting local and ordering out. Usually we celebrate with my Dad and with my in-laws. When you are making a lot of dishes, I always find that having lots of people to eat all the dishes is best. Either that or I eat… and eat and eat 😆. This year we will order some of our favourites like ginger beef, bourbon chicken, spring rolls, sticky rice, Szechuan noodles and sweet & sour pork. Already drooling just writing that!!! We love Asian food! Last week I made delicious glazed meatballs that you can make this Friday if you want to celebrate the Year of the Ox too! I make a lot of meatballs because they are SBean’s favourite, these ones were good. Really good and crazy easy!

I was craving my favourite cookies this past weekend and I had a few pie shells in the freezer, so I made a Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie!. It was sooooo good! It took 1 bowl, 45 minutes and a few ingredients that I already had in my house! Craving satisfied 😍.

Asian Glazed Meatballs with Rice

Adapted from Taste From Home

1/2 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
4 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Sriracha chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 package frozen fully cooked meatballs, thawed
green onions, sliced
hot cooked Rice

In a large saucepan, mix the first 6 ingredients until blended.

Add meatballs, stirring to coat; cook, covered, over medium-low heat until heated through, 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with green onions. Serve with rice.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
Adapted from Belly Full

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 large eggs, well beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 9-inch pie crust, store-bought

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix all ingredients and pour into the pie shell.

Bake 45 minutes until crust is baked and top is golden and crackled.

This week we had some cuddles (of course 😂) and we saw the sun!! It has been so gray lately and on Friday we finally had sunshine! I pulled out my new mask that I bought in Boxing Day from Jasmine’s (the Bachelorette Canada) company, Dream On. I walked to SBean’s school to pick her up, it was glorious! I continued my 30 day yoga challenge with Adriene, SBean showed me her hip hop moves and Ninja insisted on taking me for lunch so I could shake off some of my crankiness from sitting in for the past 11 months. It was so nice to get out! We went early so there were less people there and we went to our favourite local restaurant The Nest, we know them and we know they are following all the rules to keep their clients and staff safe and healthy. It was so nice to get out.

Ninja got the HOTTEST haircut although it has taken the Girls a while to get used to it 😂, I baked a few pies, watched golf, watched the Super Bowl, went grocery shopping and Ninja painted SBean’s nails in the colours for the KC Chiefs! ❤️