birthday roses

Sometimes it's really hard to know what to get someone for a birthday gift. My mom, for example, has reached an age where she pretty much has everything she needs. Not only that, the woman knows what she does and does not like, and I don't want to guess wrong.

My mom can be hard to shop for sometimes. There. I said it.

Still, there are a few fail-safe gifts out there for her, flowers chief among them. A couple of weeks ago my little bro Joe and I texted back and forth something along the lines of: "Crap! Mom's birthday!! What do we get her??" "I don't know. What do you think?" "I don't know. What do you think??" After a few rounds of this, we decided we couldn't go wrong with flowers…except that my parents were planning to drive up and visit us in Madison (yes, they're here now) and would it be better to get her some flowers way ahead of time, only to have them left at home in Kentucky where she wouldn't enjoy them, or order her flowers here in Madison, where she would enjoy them for all of two days before driving back home? Oh, the conundrum.

Then it hit me. I'm the crafty sort. I'll make her some flowers! They won't wilt, she can take them home, and it's a little extra-special to boot.

And that's just what I did:

Scalloped roses from Nicky Epstein's Knitted Flowers, fake baby's breath, a pretty green vase from the antique mall so big I literally got lost trying to find the exit, and some glass stones from the craft store.

I also gave her the kids' school pictures in a nice double-frame, because pictures of grandkids are definitely another fail-safe gift.

The best part, though, is that my mom and dad came up to visit us. We did a little shopping, we're playing Scrabble, comparing knitting projects - all the stuff I always do with my mom. I'm also cooking her a big dinner tonight with some of her favorite foods: roasted split chicken (everyone wanted to watch me cut out the backbone, which I suck at, and everyone had advice for me, none of which I would accept because I'm hardheaded that way), cabbage slaw, mashed potatoes, fried green tomatoes (that's really for Daniel, and because we have some green tomatoes to use), and of course, a birthday cake.

Happy birthday, mom. I learned from the best!