They are all great suggestions! I'm sure they will give lots of gals good ideas on gifts for those hard-to-buy-for friends and family members!
Unfortunately -- my mom will not go out to eat, already has the picture collages (hey what can I say........we've been at this for a while) never sends cards or any other correspondence, I've done the soap and body lotion thing, I bring her books all the time, and I've done the gift basket thing. A few years ago I gave her a box of greeting cards for all occasions and she loved that, but then she quit sending cards. But at the time it was a great gift, since she couldn't get out to purchase them herself. A couple of years ago I went to World Market and filled a basket with sample sized packs of cookies, candies, and other stuff............since she doesn't eat much at one sitting, small sizes were good. That worked well too. To be honest I'm not even sure she's going to know it's her birthday, but I know and I need to try to highlight the day for her in some way. I'm thinking, maybe this year, a small plant she can keep in her room. If it doesn't get watered and doesn't make it........no big deal. Maybe she'd like to have something green and growing, maybe not........it's hard to tell these days, you never know how she's going to react to anything. But all the above ideas are good ones.......worth noting!!