No. 21 - MUM

How appropriate that Number 21, Mum's birthday, be her day.

Mum and I have a great relationship and it's only now that I'm starting to realise just how much alike we are. My Nan and uncle are visiting from Melbourne and we recently made the trip north to my aunt's place to visit them. I wanted to take up a snack to share, so I spent hours in the supermarket finding just the right thing. A balance of diabetes friendly and healthy Vs luxurious, as I know my Nan doesn't treat herself nearly enough. I even said to Kevin "this is something my Mum would do". Sure enough she didn't take a treat with her but she did this past weekend, spend hours in the supermarket pouring over the yoghurt to pick out just the right one for her grandson. She was beside herself with excitement at spoiling him with a "Brian-a-misu". Yoghurt with an Italian sponge finger biscuit and fresh blueberries. Of course Brian didn't mind one little bit!

One thing I love about Mum is that she knew "I" was coming before she met me. A while back Dad played us a recording of the singing telegram he ordered for her, on her last day of work before leaving to have me. I was blown away by how awesome it was to hear that my Mum "wanted a girl because her husband already had a son" and that "her name would be Brooke". She knew me before we met.

On the many occasions I've asked Mum to accompany me to some craft event of one type or another she usually responds with "but I'm not crafty". I'm not quite sure why she says it sometimes because I know that she would jump at the chance just to go out with me. And Mum, you are crafty, but your spare time these days is spent bringing home the bacon, listening to music ironing and trying to stay awake past 8:28pm. My Mum can knit, crochet, sew and recognise a card that has been made using a Cricut machine from a mile away.

One of my Mum's best creative talents however is her ideas. We are a pretty fussy bunch when it comes to Christmas gifts and rather than waste money on something we wont like, this year Mum and Dad decided to give us some cash. But putting it inside a card wasn't good enough. Mum spent hours after work running to all the stores we like grabbing about 6 brochures from each, even making a special trip to one of my fave scrapbook stores to pick up their brochure. Unfortunately she discovered that most scrapbookers shop online and that scrapbook stores don't have catalogues, heck most of them don't even price their papers!

On Christmas morning we were presented with a bon bon style gift, fit for a giant and inside was a wad of brochures. I was happy as we haven't been receiving them for months now. I was then told to look a little further and found my envelope of cash. The idea was to look at the brochures and choose what you want. Wasn't Kevin happy to receive a lingerie brochure!!

I love how kind and thoughtful my Mum is. She is the only one to have kept a record of Kevin's citizenship. The anniversary of the day Kevin became an Aussie as well as the relevant year are on my Mum's calendar and she makes sure Kevin knows it, even when he has no idea it's coming up.

My Dad likes to joke that when they sell the house they can advertise that the oven is brand new as my Mum doesn't cook. He knows very well however, that she makes the best hedgehog known to man. The recipe is super-secret and well on it's way to becoming a family heirloom.

I've decided not to add photos to this blog but if I was to choose one for today it would be Mum, sitting in the backyard in Melbourne, sporting her favourite haircut of all time, and with her face freshly painted by her young children. Afternoons in the backyard at Melbourne still seem magical. We would picnic out there and just spend a lot of time outside. The smell of fresh cut grass, the warmth of the sun and family fun.

You know I love you Mum.