Nana week

So, those of you who know my mother know that she totally rocks. For myriad reasons. She came for a much needed Nana visit last week and Eli has been asking for her ever since. Unfortunately, I missed out on many of my mother's wonderful traits, such as those of precision and perfectionism; fortunately, I married someone who possesses those that I am missing. Here are a few of the reasons why, in the words of Crush the turtle, she so totally rocks:
1-She is skinny, cute and way too hot to be a Nana. When I go places with her, people always compliment her on "being my sister" or some lame joke like that. But I know we both like it, let's be honest. I hope that I am as healthy and look as good as my mom does when I am a Nana. She always implicitly taught me how important it is to exercise and eat right, not to look good, but to be a healthy and happy mom.
2-Along those same lines, she has more energy to keep up with Eli than I do. SO splitting his requirements makes him a breeze. And she is more than willing to do it, always trying to entertain Eli when I am fed up with the kid and laughing at his eccentricities, making me see how truly funny he is.
3-She is one hell of a bargain shopper. That woman can sniff out a deal from a mile away. We went down to Santee Alley for some serious street shopping. Note: I would not recommend doing this on a Friday afternoon unless you want to spend three and a half hours in traffic on the way back.
4-She is the definition of handy. She can do anything, fix anything, solve anything-and furthermore, she just does it even if you tell her not to: she cut and colored my hair, cut Eli's hair,

scrubbed the disgusting crap off of my stove top (of which I was afraid), fixed Adam's wool pants (which I thought I had ruined), taught me how to make freezer jam (which I thought was hard, but isn't), and refused to let my dishes sit in the sink. And she read "No bad bunnies" to Eli about 100 times and bought him all kinds of birthday presents in between her chores around my house.

5-She goes home to this, and still loves all of the yucky boys in her house anyway!

We did everything there is to do while she was here: visit Disneyland with cousins and aunts,
visit the beach,
eat lots of frozen yogurt and treats, watch our favorite shows, and shop until we no longer wanted to shop. Thank you mom. When you get finished with your laundry, please come back.