best of 2009...gift

{every day from now until december 31st i will be including a "best of 2009" post, with lists & thoughts galore about my favorites and best ofs the past year. check back in and feel free to share your related best of 2009 in the comments, or suggest a best of topic!}

today's best of 2009 topic: gift

creative category: coffee bean birthday art

this year, on my birthday (january 14th if you need to put it on your calendar) i woke up, opened the front door, and lo and behold, my youngest brother aaron had written "happy birthday" to me in coffee beans. in cursive. on my doorstep. it was appropriate because he worked at starbucks at the time, but it was the most lovely, creative, and kind gesture to wake up to. (plus the latte and present that my sister had also anonymously dropped off right next to the coffee-bean installation art made it even more spectacular!)

the gift that keeps on giving category: monthly clean fest

my mom gave my sister and i the most amazing gift this year. she comes to our house once a month on a saturday morning and cleans for 3 hours. we get to write the list of what she does, and then we clear out. it can be absolutely any cleaning job we want-from tidying to a deep clean.

can it get any better than that?
so maybe life has gotten a bit crazy for some of the year so it hasn't been quite as cut and dry as that, but nonetheless,
my mom has washed dishes, cleaned out my fridge, washed windows,
scrubbed my tub, folded laundry...
you get the picture.
it may be the exact same gift i ask for next year!(taking a cleaning break with little m to listen to the airplanes fly over)

lifechanging category: little m's cochlear implant surgery


i don't need to say much about this, besides the fact that the amazing gift of cochlear implant surgery changed our lives. on february 24th, little m had her surgery, which enabled our baby hear her first sound on march 18th, 2009 at ten and a half months.

(moments after getting the phone call that little m's surgery had finally been approved)(post surgery snuggle)

gifts big or small, mundane or unusual, any category- what was your best gift in 2009?