Your Mother Should Know (Mother's Day)

   Unlike Father's Day, which is celebrated in September here, Mother's Day is the the same in both the US and Oz. My mother's day started off pretty early, with an 8:15 basketball game. We had a short gap between games, so we came back home and the family made me Sunday Morning Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes. Yum!
   After Alanna's game, we came home and I opened the presents the girls bought me at the Mother's Day Stall at school. Aliya gave me a lovely pink lip gloss and a gold duck bank, and Alanna picked out a booklight. Both girls made me cards, and since they couldn't get me an iPad (I told them I didn't want one, didn't want to spend the money) they made me one. It was very cool.
   That afternoon, I went out to see the Hunger Games with a friend. The shaky camera work was a bit annoying, but it was very faithful to the book and I enjoyed it. I know some of Alanna's peers back home read the book and some saw the movie, which I just can't imagine, especially after seeing it. Alanna would have NOT liked that movie, way too scary and intense.
   While I was at the movies, Andy took the girls for more shopping. Later they whipped up a lovely dinner for me: steak and veggies. Best of all, bananas foster for dessert. Andy's still trying to duplicate the incredible tableside-prepared Bananas Foster we had at the old Arches in Newport Beach. He didn't quite get it, and the flambe part didn't work to the girls disappointment, but it was quite delicious nonetheless.

After dinner, I opened up the two presents they bought me while shopping. Despite our discussions, they got me, yep, you guessed it, an iPad. Andy rationalized it a bit by getting the older (and cheaper) version. For the money, I probably would have rather spent it on personal training sessions. It was hard not to share the enthusiams of the girls though, who were so excited they could hardly stand it. I suspect some of the excitement was for themselves, as they use it more than I do. Even Andy uses it more than I do. On the plus side, it frees up the home computer for me. They tend to be "consumers" of content, and play games, watch movies, listen to songs, so it's perfect for them. I prefer the desktop with large screen and keyboard so I can blog, e-mail, work with our photos, etc. So, it all works out. 
   Hopefully (since my family will be reading this at some point) I don't sound ungrateful for the gift. It was well-intentioned and given with love, and it is both fun and practical.

All-in-all, it was a lovely day, and I feel very blessed to be Alanna and Aliya's mom (not mum!) And on the other side of the equation, I am very lucky to have both my mom and my mother-in-law. The support and love I get from them is felt even from across the Pacific Ocean.