Mother's Day

It was both a quiet and an eventful day.  The plan had been that we would meet Ned and Marta at Atria and we would, as usual, go to the Sunday brunch with my mother for Mother's Day.  Remembering Easter, when I thought I could make a reservation and found out they were already booked, I tried to book earlier for Mother's Day, but that wasn't early enough.  They could let us have a table for 4, but not for 5 so we had to come up with an alternate plan.

Realizing how confusing restaurants are for my mother (to say nothing of how expensive on Mother's Day), I decided I'd just cook brunch here.  I told Walt that I had lots of recipes for fun brunch things I'd been collecting, but since we never have brunch, this would give me the opportunity to try them out.

Only when I talked with Ned I found out that he and Marta are doing a month-long gluten free diet, so that pretty much knocked out all of my special brunch things, but it would be easier.  I'd make eggs, bacon, gluten-free muffins and fruit salad.  Ned offered to cook, but being the slob that I am, it was easier for me to do the cooking, then to have him working in my kitchen.

The morning started with a perfect card from "old Wally and the gang"

While Walt went to Mass, I worked on getting the living room cleaned up and setting the table, using the flowers Tom sent to me yesterday as a centerpiece.

I had asked Ned they could pick my mother up and said to get here "any time after 11."  I had my schedule timed perfectly.  At 10:45, I would put the muffins in the oven and then cook the eggs and bacon when they all got here.   Only they arrived before 10:45 and nothing was ready.  Who would have expected that not only would my mother have remembered, but that she would be waiting outside for them, cutting off the "stalling time" Ned had planned on.

But while the muffins baked, we sat and chatted and opened gifts.   I had given my mother a couple of little hand soaps for her bathroom, since I had noted she was almost out, and a basket of flowers.  Ned gave me the perfect card, only it was a birthday card instead of a Mother's Day card.

It's one of the singing cards and the two pinatas are singing in faux opera style with the lyrics like supertitles printed inside.  Funny.  I loved it.  He also had been to the Whole Earth festival yesterday and picked up a magnet for me.

The boy knows his mother.

The food was cooked and we had a nice brunch and while I was loading the dishwasher, starting the first load of dishes, Ned was checking out a box that had come from my mother's old house, which contained things from her high school years, including her Varsity letters (she was pitcher on the softball team, and also played basketball)...

and a giant photo of the entire population of Galt High School in 1937, which she really enjoyed looking through.

After all those things were put away again, the two cards from Walt and Ned were lying on the coffee table and my mother would look at them, pick up the pinata card, ask whose it was, and then jump when the singing started, because she didn't know it was going to make noise.  She did that 3 times in the space of 15 minutes.

It was clear she was getting antsy and Ned and Marta needed to go, so they drove her back to Atria.  I meant to have a 3-generation picture taken with Ned, my mother and me, but forgot about it.  All in all, it was just a nice day.

In the afternoon, Walt rode around putting up flyers for the upcoming beer fest and later, while we watched Amazing Race, I cooked dinner.  Jeri called and she and I had a nice chat, and then Alice Nan called and we had a nice chat.   Then, after The Good Wife was over, Walt staggered off to bed and I got the kitchen as cleaned up as it ever is when I'm cleaning. I was kind of sorry not to hear from Brianna and Lacie, but I will see them this week, so that's OK.

I'm going to sleep content.  It was a nice Mother's Day and she actually seemed to enjoy it, though she had indicated before that she didn't really want to leave Atria.