My mom turns 60

Today is my mom's 60th birthday.

For this occassion, I got her 6 garden lanterns, the solar powered kind that you put in the ground, which I bought from my favourite store in the whole world, Canadian Tire. I didn't realize it at the time when I bought them, but I guess that each garden lantern can represent 10 years, kind of like candles on a birthday cake.

I thought that the lanterns would be a nice addition to her garden, which she has been working on for the past several years. In the backyard, there are several bushes, shrubs, a couple of trees, some statues, and of course, the requisite gnome. In the front yard, there are also several bushes and shrubs as well as a massive Norwegian Maple tree that has been there longer than I have. This tree, despite undergoing frequent and elaborate trimmings, manages to always be wildly out of control and every autumn, its fallen leaves get packed into approximately 100,000 compost bags.

I also got her a nice sterling silver necklace with a Garnet gemstone pendant from Bija, a eclectic jewelery store on Wellington, near where I work. To top it all off, I got her a très (ie. very) humourous card, in French, and I will pick up some nice assortment flowers from the Parkdale Market.

My plan is to go to my mom's house straight after work and to position the lanterns in the prime locations in her garden, before she gets home from work, and then to present her with the rest of the gifts.