Behind Every Successful Man is a... Mother!

Calling all men! Yes, while I anticipate our female readers will thoroughly enjoy this week's "theme," it is the men in our lives who can truly benefit from what's in store. So, if you are a married woman and your husband hasn't left for work yet... jot down the blog address (highlowaha.com) and send him off to work with it in hand. If he's already at work... click the envelope icon and pass it along. If you're not married, but have a father, step father, uncle, or brother... pass the address along to them. And, finally... if you are a man and you are reading this... get ready to start sharing.

This week we will prepare for Mother's Day by honoring mothers and hearing what they have to say about the favorite Mother's Day gift they've either given or received. Why will the men in our lives like this so much? Because this week's blog (and reader comments) should be chock full of great gift ideas. Now, to keep it interesting I will help pace us by providing a daily gift descriptor (i.e. luxurious, sentimental, funny, practical, etc...) So, if you the reader have a gift idea to share, try to hold it for the day that seems best suited.

And, if that isn't enough reason for the men in our lives to tune in then how about this?... On Friday... Free For All Friday.. we will actually look ahead to Father's Day. We will ask all the men in our lives to share with readers the gift they would most like to receive for Father's Day. This will be great incentive for women to tune in, as if you are anything like me... I am always in search of the next great gift idea.

Before we get completely underway, some Maintenance Monday Housekeeping...

• Today is the LAST day for us to make contact with Julie A. Cole before rendering our experiment a bust and having to take Anon up on her offer to make direct contact with Julie. So, let's see what our resourceful readers can do in the next 17 hours or so.
  
• Julie A. Cole, if you're out there and wondering why the heck your name is plastered all over this blog site, check out the archived blog labeled, On Your Mark, Get Set, Go! (4/7).
  
• We were so busy providing thoughtful suggestions to the author of last week's challenge, that nobody new came forward with a Free-For-All-Challenge for this week. So, if you're willing... share a dilemma and the this great readership will use their collective creativity to help generate ideas.

Thanks for all the kind words leading up to Matthew's birthday. We had a great day. The weather cooperated... presenting us with a perfectly sunny, 85 degree day. I've posted a couple of pictures, compliments of my neighbor who thankfully kidnapped my camera and took all the pictures I would have liked to have taken, but simply did not have the time.




Now onto Operation Mother's Day...

I will warm us up for the week by sharing the best gift I received and gave. First gave...

Years ago I went through a phase where I loved giving people containers filled with rolled up scrolls of either inspirational quotes, study tips (for students going off to grad school), etc..... In my mind, the ideas "fun-factor" increased exponentially when I found red, Lucite, apples. That way... I could package the apple with cellophane and ribbon with a note attached saying something such as... "One a day will keep the blues away."

A couple of years ago I filled one of the apples with 52 scrolls - each sharing a different thing about my mother that I loved, or for which I am thankful. A few examples were: "Providing a nightly sit-down family dinner."; "Teaching me to have a sense of occasion."; and "Role modeling what it means to be a good citizen by coordinating events for the Douglaston Manor Association all these years." I topped the package off with plenty of ribbon and shred and a note saying... "You are the apple of my eye." I know the gift means something to my mother, because frequently she will call after having opened one to say, "thank you." I should also say... the scrolls were meant to last 52 weeks, but my mom won't open one a week. She says she is trying to pace herself.

Now, for one of the best gifts I have received. Will I sound terrible if I do a complete departure from something sentimental and share something... extravagant? Two years ago, my husband and kids presented me with a beautiful and expensive Pentax Camera. I LOVE this gift, because it is something I use every week and most weeks multiple times! The history-major in me is fixated on documenting my children's lives through pictures... and other "archival" data. The camera has brought me great joy... and provided many a keepsake for friends, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and babysitters!

Ok, so the theme for the day will be EXTRAVAGANT gift ideas. Readers... let it rip.

Signing off until tomorrow and...