SURPRISE MOM!

On Thursday I called my mom and told her that my friends and I were planning a last minute road trip to San Francisco this weekend. I asked her what she was doing. She said she would be at Grandma's. I asked her if I could come visit since San Jose is on the way and Grandma lives right off the freeway. She said no.

I would go into the details of why my mom said no, but I'd end up sitting here on the couch with tears and this post would turn into a novel as I delve into extremely touchy, emotional subjects and that's just not what we Asians do. I was raised in a very unemotional household. It wasn't until a few years ago, when I moved out and my mom now misses me dearly, that my mom and I hug and kiss whenever I come home or leave again for LA.

I called my mom before taking off from Daly City... got the vibe that she wasn't feeling well, so maybe I shouldn't give her a surprise visit. We got on the freeway.... transferred to 101 South... passed by the exit that I would normally take to go home whenever I took the car for the night to visit the best friend in the city. Grandma's exit was next and I asked Uzi to make a random stop at Grandma's house. Uzi needed to use the restrooms anyways.

I called her and immediately told her to come outside. My instincts were right. She was happy to see me even though she had told me not to stop by. Okay, every mom reading this is probably thinking, well duh, a mother is always happy to see her kid. HAHAH even me??? I could tell she was extremely happy that I stopped by because:

1.) She didn't nag me about my weight. I'm not obese but I've gained some weight since high school. My aunt no longer yells at her to force feed me. Supposedly I was THAT skinny in high school but I had the eating habits of Michael Phelps.

2.) She didn't bother to remind me to eat my vegetables and to stop eating out. I need to stay away from Tommy's Tacos. And any other taco stand/truck. You'd think I'm part Mexican.

3.) She didn't mention money matters. She is ALWAYS on me about money. And I ALWAYS have to reassure her that I have enough money in my account to live for another month. I don't need your money, Mom. And I mean that in a very loving way.

4.) She didn't complain about my face.

5.) She didn't complain about my hands.

6.) She complimented my hair numerous times and when I told her I had a strand of white hair, she didn't crack some joke about me getting old. Instead she said something about how I'm such a good studious student.

She was in SUCH a good mood that I thought about showing her my tattoos. I had flip flops on and was hoping she'd catch a glimpse of the star on my foot. She didn't. She was THAT happy to see me. Mothers know everything and they can tell when something is different. My mom's maternal radar must have short circuited when she saw me.

The deal with me showing my mom my tattoos is that I don't want to show them to her (and my whole family) on the day of graduation. I don't want my family (mostly females) to be in some kind of mixed emotional frenzied state of happiness and anger. Like I said, Asians are unemotional. They keep their feelings bottled up inside and I don't want them all to explode on me on the day of my graduation. Also, I'd rather not be stuck wearing a long sleeve shirt and sneakers in the hot LA summer sun.

I didn't want to ruin the surprise visit by showing her my arm and foot. She knows about the neck already. The foot and arm will have to wait next time. Julie, Nikki, and I will be going to the No Doubt concert in May. I have to fly home for that event. Hopefully timing will be good and I will somehow casually reveal the tats to her. Surprise, Momma! Cue enormously cheesey smile that only a mother will love.