If That Doesn't Say Happy Birthday...

Yesterday my mom turned 48 years old! She is of course a very young 48, which is why it's okay for me to tell you her age!

Anyway, you know what birthday's mean: Presents. My mom is so self-less that she would never ask for anything or expect anything for her birthday, but she does so much for me and for my sister I really wanted to get her something special for her birthday. Only problem was I have been a little busy. I started working full time this week, and because I so geniusly totaled my car last summer, I am car-less, which, you know, makes it hard to go anywhere. So as of 5 PM yesterday when I was leaving work, I still didn't have a present for my mom. So, after a quick consult with my dad and asking my sister to borrow her car, I went off in search of the perfect present.

My dad told me about this used book store that she likes where he got her Mother's Day present from. Since I didn't have any better ideas, I decided to go in there and see what I could find. It was more than just a book store; they had a lot of cute decoration things like really pretty crosses, and things to hang around the house. There was a sweet old lady who worked there and asked what I was looking for. "Well, it's my mom's birthday," I told her. So she showed me a few things, but not quite the right thing. I really wanted to go with a sentimental gift, and maybe make her cry a little! ha Happy tears, of course!

For Mother's Day, my dad got her a bracelet from there she loved, so I decided to look at their jewelry and see what I could find. I looked around and finally stumbled across a really pretty silver bracelet that was engraved with the words "I am blessed when I think of you, my mother and my friend." I knew right away it was perfect. So I grabbed a card and checked out and went home and tried to give my mom a good excuse for randomly disappearing!

It was all I could do to not give it to her right away, but I decided to wait. We traditionally open presents after dinner in our family, so I waited until then. So, she opened her presents from my dad and then I handed her my card and the box with the bracelet in it. She took the bracelet out of the box and put it on (she loved it of course), and then that's when I noticed the gift tag at the bottom of the box.

Sitting there in the gift box the bracelet came in, was a Merry Christmas gift tag that said To: Mom. Love, Linda. 

What!? We all had a great laugh at the fact that this gift had apparently been "used." My sister chimed in with "Well, it is a used book store." I knew it was used books, but I didn't expect there to be used bracelets! My promptly announced very matter-of-factly "I would never return something you gave me!" Thanks, mom. Good to know. Too bad we can't say the same for Linda's mom... poor Linda. I mean, does Linda know her mom returned the bracelet? What could she possibly exchange that bracelet for? As my dad put it, did she walk in and say "give me a couple of used books for this bracelet and I'll take a bookmark too..."?

I mean, really though, if a used gift doesn't say happy birthday what does?! (side note: I tried to get a picture of the gift tag, but thought about it too late, so you'll just have to trust me.)