THE BIRD HOUSE BLOG

I made a last minute decision to surprise my Mom for Mother’s day this Sunday. I flew straight to Pittsburgh from a show in Lawrence, Kansas Saturday night.  It was my Dad’s idea. Truth be told, he was kind of using me as a Mother’s day gift because he didn’t know what to get her, but I didn’t mind. I was happy that I could help him out.

 After he picked me up from the airport, we pulled in the driveway and he told me to stay tucked down under the dashboard so nobody saw us… Then I walked upstairs behind my dad (who is almost twice the size of me) and popped out once we got into the kitchen and screamed “Happy Mother’s Day!!”

 Ma’s face lit up like a candle. She was SO surprised and happy. My Dad scored like 27 brownie points in that moment.  Should have given him a high 5, but I was lost in the moment….

 My mom, like me, becomes overwhelmed pretty easily and cannot multitask to save her life. My unannounced presence was not in the least bit helpful in preparing a meal for all the guests that were walking in the front door as she said “I just can’t believe it” over and over.   

 It was when she started washing her hands with the salad dressing that I knew she was truly excited to see me and that dinner would not be ready on time.

 My Dad, along with being an occasionally awesome Mother’s Day gift giver, is also an architect by trade. He has been designing houses (for people, nor birds) for as long as I’ve been alive. He couldn’t help but get his hands dirty with my little birdhouses which totally cracks me up and warms my heart.  We were sitting around last night and he started talking to me about how I could improve the design of the Freedom Houses and build them more efficiently if I changed the dimensions.  I’m going to take his sound advice. Above are some rough sketches of Thomas J. Moakler’s thoughts. I thought it was pretty cool.

 If you need me this week, I’ll be in my garage catching up with all the Freedom you bought. I’m thrilled to say that I need to build ten houses.

 Mom and Dad are proud and excited. So am I.

 I can’t wait for you to see what’s coming next.

STEVE

May 10 2011