Happy Mother’s Day!

I have been blessed with an amazing mother. She is the most generous, loving, hard-working person I know, and I strive to emulate her every day.

I woke up this morning to the sound of a broom brushing the concrete outside the window. I laid in bed listening to five busy beavers cleaning, planting things, and arranging items, and I felt giddy: this is the only day of the year I really give myself permission to just be. I don’t throw a load of laundry in the washer. I don’t make myself a cup of coffee. I don’t make the bed (okay, confession: I don’t always make the bed anyway).

When I heard the activity winding down, I got up. Loudly. Creaked the bed, flushed the toilet, and my wonderful family responded. When I opened the bedroom door, there was a steaming cup of coffee waiting for me, and there were four homemade cards, and there were five smiling faces, pouncing on me to give me hugs and kisses.

They led me to my newly finished writing shed. My husband finished the interior last weekend, but the outside still needs siding and paint, and the little patio off the front was littered with tools and the detritus of construction. But now?

They finished the patio for me.

I have a beautiful purple-glass Moroccan lantern hanging from the eaves. I have flowers planted along the wall. I have two new teal Adirondack chairs. I have a Chinese dragon garden statue by the front door (hello, Mushu!). And I have a tin-roof bird feeder and a glass hummingbird feeder hanging from the pear tree.

All I can say is, WOW. It is my perfect space, created for me by my perfect family.

We spent the day playing game after game: Betrayal at House on the Hill, Seven Wonders, Forbidden Island, Pyramatrix, Codenames, and Catch Phrase. We had lunch at Red O in Fashion Island. We just enjoyed one another.

Thank you, Michael, for such a special day. Thank you Hannah and Jackson and Tyler and Alex and Jon. You gave me wonderful memories.