Thursday, April 12, 2007

Happy Birthday Mom




Happy Birthday Mom!!!!
62 and you don't look a day over 21! Really!!!
Mom lives up in the Okanagan Valley with my Dad (AKA Outhouse Capital of Canada). My sister Cathy and her little family live next door. Mom's house is down an orchard lined country lane. Her front door is the sort of place that "neigh"bours can just ride their horse right up to it. Mum gets such a lot of pleasure out of her two nearby grand children. In this picture she is watching Mathews face to see what he thinks of this black, hairy visitor. She gets such pleasure out of watching the kids reactions to things.

Because of the distance, we dont get to see her as often as we would like to. But when she sees the kids, she really make it up to them. Here she and Heidi, have a water gun fight on the bumper boats. Not many grannies are so much fun. Heidi just worships her Grandma. She really has this funny possessive streak where Grandma is concerned. Some how, Gramdma has made her feel that she is the most special grand child. What Heidi doesnt realize, is that her grandma has the knack of making everyone in her life feel as though they are the most important person in her life. That is a gift which she gives to all her family and friends everyday. Thanks for that Mum. I hope you have a wonderful birthday, I wish I could be there to help you celebrate it.
It's too bad that Mom doesn't watch the hockey games. Tonight the Vancouver Canucks gave their fans a wonderful gift. The beat the Dallas Stars in the first playoff game of the series 5:4 after 4 periods of Overtime. The game started at 7pm and didn't finish until about 12:30 in the morning. Those boys must have been so tired! I had a meeting at 7.30 that I didn't get home from until 11.30 pm. I was disappointed that I would have to miss the Canucks first playoff game. What a surprise for me to be able to watch the end of that game. Three more games like this and round two here we come!
After the game, the news came on. Two more Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan today. This on the heels of six of our young men being killed there of Sunday. How much heartache those families must have! Yet another suicide bomb shortly after that which luckily, narrowly avoided harming any Canadian troops. Yet seriously injured at least ten Afghan civilians. These suicide bombers don't seem to mind killing their own citizens, if they happen to be in the way.
I just wish this hate and madness would stop. There has to be a better way. How many must die to call it enough. Whatever nationality, a lost life is too great a price to pay.
This morning Andrew, (my 19 yr old) and I went out to the College and got him enrolled. He meets the entry requirements. He will be starting in September! Only four more years and he will have his Associate Degree in Environmental Science. That's along time to learn how to be a tree hugger! He is very excited. I am so proud that he has set this goal and has worked hard to get to this point. When I was his age, all I could think about was getting married and setting up house. I did it all backwards. I had the house and the kids before I got my education. I'm sure it will be easier to do when you don't have a family to look out for at the same time.
When we got back from the college, I got changed and put a second coat of stain on the front on the house, where we closed in the garage. We covered it in cedar shingles. Let me tell you, they are a PAIN to paint! Trying to get the brush into the 1/4 inch gap between each tile was very trying. My shoulder and neck are killing me now! After that I raked up all the debris off the lawn from cutting down the pampas grass, what a mess that was. Then I swept and hosed the driveway. The pruning branches are all stacked along the curb. Next week the city comes along to chip them. All for free. They started doing this after they banned backyard burning within the town limits, as a pollution preventer. The chipped branches are used as mulch on park trails.
That was my day off. I love when I get things accomplished!


Once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM,,, I LOVE YOU. XOXOXOXOX
All these photos taken by my dad.





8 comments:

Monica said...

Happy Birthday to your mom! I've remarked before about being grateful my daughter can see my mom as a granny and a woman. My mom is also an avid Dallas Cowboys fan and if you aren't in the room with her when they mess up a play, you come running to see if she's having a heart attack. (Sort of like Teresa will be at that age with her Colts...LOL). My mom is also a big nintendo/playstation player with the boys.
How great about the oldest and college. Congrats to him!

Have a great day, Susan! And again, happy birthday to your mom!

Deanna said...

Happy Birthday Mrs. W!

Susan... we live parallel lives!

ellen said...

You sure look like your mom, and she looks great.

sharon said...

Wow you're a busy lady! I hope your mom has a great day. It's so great and unique that she has the ability to make everyone in her life feel they are special. I'll bet she has a strong circle of loved ones.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday to your mom! Hope her day is a good one. You look a lot like her.

Congrats on your son enrolling for college. It's great when you see your children striving to meet their goals.

Speaking of goals, I thought they never would score in the marathon overtime last night. I'm glad we won!

Jo said...

Happy Birthday to your Mom, and congratulations on her 62nd birthday. And congratulations to your son for enrolling in College. Good for him!

Could you believe that hockey game? Amazing!

Cheers,
Josie

Outhouse Capital of Canada said...

Great post for moms B'day, she hasn't seen it yet, she will be sure to comment. I also put some pictures and comments on my blog from our hike on sunday up Oliver mountain the hill just to the front of the house.

Anonymous said...

Hello Susan and thankyou for the beautiful tribute, I hardly recognize the person you are describing!!! I have had a wonderful birthday, out for lunch at Daughter's of the Nile, thirty women all singing the birthday song, off key!!

We then did an hour of precision marching practice, the marching thing is something we do on special occassions, but we practice after each meeting. Imagine a troup of "non too young" women, of all shapes and sizes, forming pinwheels, drilling in several rows and doing crossovers. The Rockets we are not, and the only one who takes it really seriously is the leader and the crosser she gets, the sillier we get. Usually resulting in fits of hysterics as we try to keep in formation. To add to the mix, we all wear silver sparkling shirts, stretching over bosoms from 32 to 48, which makes the command to stay level with the rest of the group, rather difficult. You can see why I enjoy this group, we are all out to have fun.

Did a major shop afterwards for a catering job on Saturday, so by the time I got home I was really weary. Dad fixed me dinner of scrambled eggs with cheese, it was wonderful, no black bits, which are his usual garnish!

Thankyou again for your lovely post, makes and old girl feel proud.