Happy Mother's Day Moms!

Over the past few years I've forged this new tradition with my mom.  Growing up I HATED, yes you read that correctly, HATED anything to do with home maintenance or gardening.  My parents' favorite places always seemed to include these types of things, which I never could understand.  Spending an hour in Home Depot was the cruelest form of punishment for me, and I would literally hide out in the piles of lumber to not have to walk around that place with them!  When it came to gardening things, all I associated that with was having to pull those darn weeds, a chore that I despised.  Now that I am older and have my own home I understand finally the appeal.  So, last year I went with my mother to my favorite nursery to pick out a shrub for our yard.  I love that something that I hated while growing up is something that I can now enjoy with my mother now that I am an adult.  A few years ago I had purchased a gift card for my mother for her birthday to this same nursery.  She's held onto since then, not wanting to spend it until she found something she really, really liked.  I clearly don't get my impulse spending gene from my mama!  We went to the nursery again this morning, and she was able to find something that she really liked and wanted for her yard.  I was able to pick out a weeping cherry tree that I hope will grow into wild awesomeness like this:

     Isn't that beautiful?  I've got the place all picked out in our front yard where I want it to go.  I've been so excited for weeks, looking forward to Mother's Day to go and buy my tree with my mom with me.  We were having a great time until we reached the register.  The owner took care of my purchase and was then working on ringing up my mom's purchase.  She took out the gift card that I gave her a few years ago, and come to find out, that even through the name of the nursery hasn't changed, apparently ownership changed very soon after I purchased that gift card for mom.  The previous owner had drained the account that all money was to go in for gift cards, and long story short, my mother's $60 gift card was worthless.  They were very kind, they gave my mom $25 credit towards the purchase, and she still got the shrub that she had finally decided upon, but I am so bummed for my mom.  She feels so guilty, like she threw away money of mine because she didn't just rush out to spend it.  So that kinda put a damper on our day.  We're getting together again this evening to bbq and have ice cream, so it will end on a fun note at least.  Can't go wrong with ice cream right? =)  I hope that all of you moms have had a wonderful day!
~Heather~