Linda celebrated her 48th birthday the other day – and normally I wouldn’t share the particular number, but it’s kind of hard to hide when you consider the loving tribute that Emily wrote on Facebook the other day. With her permission, here is her post:

For Linda Maag’s 48th birthday I wanted to share 48 fun facts about my dear mother

1. She hates eggs
2. She is truly convinced that I will not be able to live on my own
3. She has to take a nap everyday or else she cannot function
4. One semester in college she didn’t have classes on Friday and now refuses to teach on Fridays
5. July is a month you should not talk to her because she is too busy watching the Tour de France
6. She took me to my first royals game when I was only 2ish months old (I do not remember it but appreciate the sentiment)
7. She spoils Sally and Suzy like no other
8. She loves Winnie the pooh and our dining room when I was little was basically a Winnie the pooh shrine
9. She is the best example of being a badass that you can ever find
10. She keeps her cool very well, but you better not mess with her
11. She doesn’t like to admit it, but she loves the chaos Anna and I add into her life
12. She knows a large amount of Spanish even though she refuses to admit it
13. She claims that she doesn’t have a favorite child except for Sarah
14. She is the one who taught me the most about politics
15. Linda Maag is her maiden name if you didn’t know and that is the name that I use when I am describing sassy or slightly angry Linda
16. She is a fanatic Royals fan
17. She is a true believer in the jinx
18. She cannot eat yogurt in the morning
19. She has a library problem and I mean that she puts too many books on hold at once
20. Somehow she trusts that I will work out all my relationship issues on my own
21. She will always say that she does not want a new electronic device, but Dad will always get her the new electronic device
22. Kill them with kindness is her best advice that she has ever given me
23. I can count the number on one hand the amount of times she has read a book on an electronic device
24. She refuses to be hooked up to machines aka the Apple Watch
25. She has the best Christmas lights in the world (it is spectacular)
26. She is a supporter of KPERS because both of her parents are public employees
27. Kenny Chesney, is in fact, her boyfriend
28. She is going to rule the world one day
29. She insists that Christmas does not start until after her birthday, but for the past two years has put up the Christmas Spectacular during Thanksgiving break
30. The only two drinks that I have ever even seen her seem to enjoy are a mimosa (90-10 orange juice to champagne) and a margarita
31. She cannot drink milk in the morning
32. There is nothing better to her (and me) then an 8am coke and a donut
33. She has three Christmas trees because she owns that many ornaments
34. If you cannot find her in the morning she is downstairs on the couch with two dogs on top of her blocking her from doing anything
35. She will single-handedly keep the library open with her small donation of 35 cents (?) a day (she swears by it)
36. She reads the newspaper everyday and refuses to do it on the Internet
37. I am going to come home one day to find that our entire yard was converted into gardens
38. If it was up to her she would still be using her blackberry but she is married to Mr. Technology
39. She is the type of mom that does not butt in my life but will fight my battles when I am too weak to
40. She will set up Christmas lights in the middle of summer if it means she gets to be on the great Christmas light fight on HGTV
41. She is a tiger mom when it comes to music
42. Her favorite kind of ice cream is chocolate chip ice cream
43. She does not like the pulp in orange juice
44. She does not read fiction anymore because she overdosed in middle school
45. She once didn’t get full homework credit in a math class because she was too shy to do more than her required one problem on the board.
46. She once rode a century in a day on the trails because she felt like it
47. She has two degrees from K-State and she uses that to tell us what kind of music sucks
48. She is by the far the best mother I could ever have and no one can convince me otherwise because this is a list of facts

I love you mom. Happy birthday! You are by far the strongest woman I know. If I end up being ¼ as strong as you one day, I know I will be fine.