Mom Turned 80 Today

Tuomo writes: Today's my mom's 80th birthday!

Last night, after my folks had decided to go to be, I was finally able to wrap the presents, put them in cute bags, and tie spiffy bows as the final touch. I had the tv on with a Gwen Stefani concert playing on low playing in the back ground to cover all the rustling and wrapping noises I was making. When everyhting was ready, I snuck into the kitchen: first to hang up a happy birthday streamer (the least I wanted to do just in case either one of my folks would wake up as I tippytoed past their bedroom) and then all the presents... Then it was time to go to bed.

Around eight I started to hear some noises in the living room area: time to witness the shock and awe :-) My mom seemed to be totally surprised by the amount of prezzies and the streamer. Oh if only the Hallmark store at Langley Mall had had a less lame selection of centre pieces, there would have been a fabulous centre piece to top everything off. Oh well, I iwas able to impress mom with this so mission accomplished I guess :-)

I had placed my cross stitch present - the one I had finished only two nights before departure - in a present bag with a picture of lots of candles on it; when you pressed the button, you could hear the sound of sirens wailing, i.e. to come extinguish the blaze caused by having so many candles on you birthday cake. When I pushed the button, mom either feigned shock or put on a perfect display of being surprised by this detail.

She liked the cross stitch at lot, but she LOVED the blue Swarovski butterfly that Dave had chosen. Then it was time to get her hair done, so she didn't finish opening the remaining boxes until after her return. The outfits Dave had selected and Joy had approved pleased her tremendously though they were all a little tight around the belly...

For lunch to celebrate the big day, dad had selected Cafe & Bar at Hotelli Kämp. We all had avocado mousse in a roll of tuna and mango dressing as an appetizer. Then as our main courses, my folks had grilled spring chicken with bok choy and leaf spinach in red wine sauce; I had a steak of marbled fillet of beef with béarnaise sauce and French fries. To top things off, the champagne... err, I mean sparkling wine - that we chose as our alcoholic drink made everybody feel even more cheerful! And the dessert was perfect: banana choclate mousse à la mode. Yum! :-) In sum, a most charming venue to celebrate one's 80th birthday - especially as it also happened to be mom's first time there!

In other words, next time Dave visits Finland, I'll have to bring him there :-)

At any rate, much fun was had by all, especially by the Birthday Girl. Pictures to follow -sometime in the unspecified future...