An Ode to My Mother on Father's Day

I know it completely makes no sense whatsoever but I can and so I shall. But there's more to that than just plain obstinacy, and I had thought of writing this precisely because of Father's Day. The though process went along the lines of this: Father's Day > Father > Posts on Dad > Realization that there is a total lack of posts on Mum > Mother. You see it's thoroughly logical to me, though it could also mean that I am utterly bonkers. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of my mother to show because I am so far away from home (Hong Kong) and also my mother has a huge paranoia of her privacy being invaded on the Internet. She is something of a technology-phobe. Oh well, to each their own. Also to those who only know me through the blog (which is pretty much everybody here) by judging from the posts, one would think I grew up in a single parent family (nein), have an estranged relationship with my mother (nein) or I am a total daddy's girl (nein; the two younger sisters do that for me). I do feel bad that I don't give her enough credit for being as quirky as I am (though I sometimes question myself if that is really a positive attribute or not) so this would be my way of making it up to the person who gave birth to me.
I didn't need to rummage through my mother's closet to know that my mother from the get go is extremely different from other Hong Kong mothers. For one, she is no "tai tai" who enjoys high tea on lazy afternoons, gossiping away on the most mind-numbing topics and spending her husband's cash like there is no tomorrow. She is a working woman thanks, and a damn good one to boot (architect by training). She is also pretty tall at 5'7" for a native Hong Konger of her age and extremely lean (I have no idea why, must learn her secret). Lastly, she is a MINIMALIST TOMBOY (of Calvin Klein and Yohji Yamamoto in particular) who stands out from the sea of overeager mothers of classmates who lavishly cover themselves in flashy labels in attempt to show off their wealth (and inadvertently their lack of good taste).
I didn't mean to be so harsh on others but it was obvious even to my six year old's untrained eye. I am always in awe of her frills free approach to dressing that I aspired to have that sensibility and mindset someday. That might take a bit of time; after all she is so pared to the bones that I remember her telling me that the last time she did her nails professionally it was for her own wedding, which is god knows how long ago. She wears little to no make up and owns nary even a pair of heels. For most mature women, such simplified dressing can be most severe and overly harsh on the complexion. It oddly however, only serves to highlight my mother's over-the-top eccentric attitude and personality. This philosophy works extremely well for her because she has so much energy and vivacity that if she had more on her, it would be too much and simply overwhelming. This brings to mind an age old cliché that in order to look as good and true to self, one really needs to know oneself well and understand what matches her best. In the end, most of the rewarding things in life need much forethought and planning (no matter how good it feels to act on an impulse).
Oh, and happy father's day to fathers everywhere!