[Sundae]

Silly things, silly things.

My sis contacted me today asking if we'd thought about getting a card from Grandad to Mum.
Good for her - we hadn't.
Grandad is not out of the woods yet, still laid low with a chest infection.
So off I skipped on my second trip to town today to get one.

Came home to find a card on the mantlepiece - 4 days early.
Turns out one of the staff at the home had bought one and filled it out - Grandad managed the two kisses at the bottom.
That was lovely, and really kind. But means the really nice £4 card I bought was worthless. Never mind - I owed dad £4 change from £10 he gave me to buy something yesterday, and he's sucked it up.

So why is it in this thread?
Apparently, Mum was whinging to one of the staff yesterday that this year would be the first she hadn't received a card from her father HINT HINT. Oh how sad, a birthday without a Special Daughter card HINT HINT.

Now Dad has bought said cards for 5-6 years. Okay we did need a reminder from Laura, but we were on it. Someone in the family realised and remembered.

Never mind Mum. Your massive hints got you what you wanted - a card chosen by a member of staff and delivered way before your birthday is now your prize possession.

She has also told everyone in the world (what, not you? just wait) about how her surprise birthday evening was screwed up.
A friend invited her for dinner, saying it was nothing special, and she'd just throw whatever she could find into a pie. The date was the night before her birthday.
Then another friend forwarded an email to the whole group, and at the bottom wrote "See you on Sheila's Birthday Night!"

So now she knows, but hasn't admitted she knows.
Except to everyone else in the County, in a really woeful voice, as if by finding out, someone ran over her kitten or something.
The thing is, Mum hates surprises. She's said to us (in this house) that she was relieved to find out - what if she hadn't dressed up, she'd be SO embarrassed.

Meh.
I won't do anything at all next year.
She'll have the pleasure of complaining all the way through until Christmas.