Visiting the family, Volume II

I've been threatening to give the Mom a makeover for ages. It was no small feat, but I finally did it over the weekend.

Mom's problem is twofold: 1) She put on some weight post-hysterectomy and decided walking around in tents would be a really good idea and 2) My stepfather died two years ago and she stopped caring. I told Mom she could either let me go to town or she was going to find herself on What Not to Wear. She chose the former.

The first thing Mom needed was clothes that fit. I took her to Target (partly because I really wanted to go to Target) and loaded her up and sent her into the dressing room. We had this conversation no less that 56 times:

Mom: It's too small.

Me: No, it fits.

Things were not going well, and in a big show of drama, I told her to forget it. We went over to the movie section, where I bought her the Lord of the Rings trilogy instead (this outing was for her birthday). On the way home, she wanted to stop at WalMart for hair dye. Hair dye has been another issue. She's been going gray, and I've been telling her that a single, 49-year old woman has no business running around with gray hair. To make up for being so difficult about the clothes, she offered to let me dye her hair. She also suggested we check out the clothes, just in case. I groaned and followed.

Mom proceeded to pick up carbon copy versions of everything I had forced her to try on at Target and love it. I wanted to kill her, but was happy I was able to buy her a sassy new outfit, with shoes to match. She now looks 10 years younger and 10 pounds thinner, and I am the Greatest Daughter Who Ever Lived.

Mom felt so good she went a little boy crazy. First, she mentioned that if Marco, the guy who works on our house, were 10 years older she'd be "all over him." Then, Cousin Desiree told her about someone she wanted to fix her up with, and in between scoffs, Mom asked a LOT of questions about him. We're going to get her hooked up yet.