Day: May 8, 2005

Happy Mother’s Day, Tess

The top twenty things about Tantalising Tess that make her a terrific mother, wife and friend… (not in any particular order):

1. Great conversationalist – much better than I am at parties and on the playground.
2. Creative writer – thinks of things that never cross my mind.
3. Incredible ability to observe – whenever we are out on hikes, Tess sees and points out things that I would have missed for sure. (Like unusual snakes and spiders and bugs.) This is also great for kids.
4. Educational mom – Tess is always doing things with Sebastian or the triplets – puzzles, reading books, drawing, games, singing songs – which they love and are typically not in my automatic repertoire.
5. Socially sophisticated – in other words Tess will tell you one minute into a movie, who will sleep with who and probably the ending of the story. This applies to real situations, too. Therefore, if you meet Tess at a party and have your eye on someone, well, Tess will have read your mind by that point. I, on the other hand, am incredibly naïve and still mulling over whether or not Daisy and Jay slept together in The Great Gatsby… even after seeing it twenty-five times.
6. Tess speaks her mind – Tess is never afraid to speak her mind to people who step out of line – such as taxi drivers who take circuitous, long routes or waiters/waitresses who ignore us at restaurants or farcical people who missed the point somewhere along the way.
7. Forgiving – any time Tess and I encounter conflict in our relationship, (“now, now… conflict is our friend” – spoken like a true HR professional!) Tess is a master at processing the situation and forgiving me for whatever misdeed I committed.
8. Appreciates fine things – like diamonds.
9. Incredibly thrifty – Tess thinks she spends too much money. In truth, she hardly spends a cent. (Maybe she knows I am saving for the diamonds.)
10. Pragmatic – Tess likes practical, useful gifts. Not really into flowers and the like. Lots of our family decisions are oriented around being pragmatic. (Not at all influenced by our current circumstances! Ha!)
11. Loves a good laugh – the more laughs the better and preferably multiple laughs. Not into ridiculous, slapstick humour – has to be the clever stuff.
12. Excellent cook – including making tempting, tasty things for Sebastian and the triplets… even if the Terrific Trio have to have everything puréed.
13. Into down time – especially with the events of the last two years (including the OHSS) Tess recognizes the value of chilling out and taking it easy.
14. Supportive of work – I work for an incredibly dynamic, high speed Nasdaq Darling. In April alone we bought three companies, including closing one in under five days. In the last two to three weeks I have had countless late night conferences calls with the US Acquisition Team. No complaints from Tess.
15. Tess has a great family. Very easy going, fun to be around and like giving me massages!
16. Tess is incredibly loyal… not only does she stand up for herself; Tess also stands up for her friends and family.
17. Tess is thoughtful… always writing thank you notes, or sending cards, gifts or e-mails to friends and family no matter where they may be on the planet.
18. Tess plays a mean game of Scrabble… reportedly undefeated. In any competitive situation, Tess on your team will exponentially increase your odds of winning.
19. Off the beaten path – not only is Tess fun to be around, she also loves to do unusual things. In our relationship we’ve never been in a rut of partying every weekend or doing the same thing over and over. Tess is always open to trying out new things and places.
20. Beautiful – downright gorgeous.