Mom is a lucky girl to have so many wonderful and amazing co-workers, friends and family members.
And while she is always appreciative of this fact, her birthday is one day that she feels especially grateful and fortunate for having these people in her life.
Because, on her birthday, Mom receives a plethora of well wishes, notes, calls and thoughtful gifts.... all of which put a huge smile on her face (which isn't exactly an easy thing to do on a Monday during one of her busiest weeks of the year at work)
Moreover, some of the gifts mom received were just too noteworthy not to capture on the blog. So, in true Beej blog style, we decided to do a birthday countdown...
At number 7 from Dominga: The rainbow math equation birthday cake
Dominga spent a considerable amount of time baking and decorating a special cake for mom... only for all of us to realize at the last second that we didn't have the right candles to put on it. But mom loves math and so do I, so we decided to make her an equation themed cake of the candles we did have...
X=(3x10)+4+4-1. Genius!
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At number 6 from MasterCard: The "priceless" chocolate bar
Mom came back from an early morning meeting to find this neatly placed in the middle of her desk. And she couldn't agree more - unexpected gifts of chocolate truly are priceless!
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At number 5 from me: The tank card
After a lovely "taco night!" dinner (a request from mom and also family favourite) and rainbow equation cake, mom got to open her gifts from dad and I. Not surprisingly I wanted her to open mine first... starting with my brilliance in card design...
Who wouldn't want a picture of a tank?! All moms love that kind of stuff.
And when she opened it and said "thanks Beej a tank!" I was quick to point out that, just for her, I included a heart on it right next to the gun.
Also, for the record, the tank is not running over our family at the bottom, that is actually a picture of us swimming next to the tank...
I received lots of kisses for my efforts
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At number 4 from Luke (mom's boss): The gift that has it all....
Mom's boss Luke has a great sense of humour. He has also worked with her for a long time and knows her well - which became quite obvious upon receiving this gift.
In case you can't read / see it properly, it is a cheesy dollar store card featuring a cat with a birthday hat and it reads "A birthday quiz: how many old folks does it take to open a birthday card?" and when mom opened up the card, inside was a Taco Bell prepaid card with Luke's message that says....
This card has everything
- a quiz
- a cat
- taco bell!
Well done Luke... couldn't agree more!!
At number 3 from Dad: the picturesque scavenger hunt
My dad is a thoughtful, loving, considerate, sentimental, affectionate, adoring man... and no one on this planet would ever disagree with that.
Family birthday celebrations are always bright and shining examples of how truly amazing he is. And this year's birthday for mom was no exception.
Mom was literally opening gifts for days before her birthday, but sure enough, she still had more waiting for her on the big day!
This year (inspired by Papa B's style of present giving when dad was a boy) Dad created a scavenger hunt for one of his presents. And, as you can see by the look on my face in all of these pictures, I was quite thrilled at the opportunity to help mom in her quest!
Dad's little clues led us all over the house... up and down and in and out of every room until we finally found what we were searching for....
An amazing collection of canvased family portraits!!!!!
It took a considerable amount of time just to unwrap all of them... some of them are even life-sized versions of us! And, believe me, there is no better feeling in the world than receiving your family as a present on your birthday :)
Dad then proceeded to spend the rest of the night helping mom to hang the pictures in her new sewing room, officially making it her favourite room in the house!!
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At number 2 from Lia: The writing's on the wall... in a super fancy pen!
Mom's friend Lia has been beyond supportive of mom's ambitions of being a future 'dirty, dirty cheese' novelist
Lia has volunteered hours of her time to help mom review her plotlines. Mom is so appreciative of this that one of the characters in the book is now named after Lia.
While mom truly values the brainy side of Lia's contributions, secretly mom's favourite part of discussing the book with Lia is all of the laughter that ensues during the conversations. A lot which centres around plotlines of ghosts, werewolves and superheroes (long story... no pun intended)
On the day of her birthday, Lia took mom out to one of her favourite Mexican restaurants by her office that isn't Taco Bell (note - in case you haven't noticed the theme in this blog entry, mom really enjoys Mexican food).
Lia sent mom a bbm in advance letting her know that she had the best present for her... and oh boy, she really didn't disappoint!!
Nicely wrapped up in a pretty bow was this beautiful box with satin lining and in the middle of which was....
... a Jill Kelly monogramed pink pen complete with heart-shaped bling!!!
While mom wanted to photograph the pen on top her most recent manuscript, Lia gave strict instructions that it was to be used for autographs only!
The pen will also be heavily featured in mom's "The Fire Down Below" novel blog
Also, for the record, there are no ghosts, werewolves or superheroes in the book :)
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And finally at number 1 from Team Peachy: A dancing Beth Anne!
On the morning of her birthday, mom received an email from Maggie with an attachment saying "if this doesn't make you smile on your birthday, I don't know what will"
And she couldn't be more right.
After watching Beth in hospital beds and struggling on crutches for nearly 12 months, seeing a dancing Beth doing some warm-up Zumba before the big 'Team Peachy Cancer Walk for Hospice' in Windsor was truly a sight for sore eyes.
And the best birthday present a proud member of Team Peachy could ever receive.
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