Ah the gift exchanging...love it or hate it? I guess the answer depends on the gift and the giftee. There are some years that I am up for the challenge to find the perfect gift or to sacrifice something to afford that perfect gift. However it seems that with my increased brood that my gift giving has been lacking in past years. We have been getting smarter and try to get more utilitarian type gifts even if its not on the giftee's wish list.
I was trying to think back to some of the best Christmas exchanges between Boo and I. Sadly, I can hardly remember any of them. I do remember our first Christmas, I was so excited because the company I was working for had a client that made snowboards and was able to get a sweet deal on a cool board for Boo. Even better was that I kept it at my parents house so that he had no idea it was coming. It was a good surprise. I think the wisest gift I ever received was my KitchenAid mixer. I bought it for myself and told Boo he had to wrap it. I love it and use it all the time.
One of my favorite gifting stories occurred in 2001. On Christmas morning we were opening gifts with all of Boo's family at his parent's house. Everyone had a main gift and then each married couple was given a gift card. With that arrangement opening gifts was very organized so we went around the room one at a time and opened up our present from Boo's parents. When it was my turn I remember Boo looking at me with a grin of anticipation for my reaction. I unwrapped a set of red satin sheets. I was a little stunned, as I had never thought of requesting satin sheets for Christmas, let alone from my mother-in-law. Needless to say I was confused and I think my reaction was a huge let down. I said thanks and then tucked my new fancy red sheets next to me. My mother-in-law said that Boo told her that I wanted some sheets from Costco but that she didn't see any satin sheets there so she ordered these online. That only added to my confusion. I wanted satin sheets from Costco? Who knew?
It took me several days to process the whole exchange and to piece together what actually happened. I had mentioned in passing to Boo that there were some sheets that I wanted to get from Costco. He thought he was so clever and passed it on to his mom. Somewhere along the line there was a loss of translation, it wasn't red satin sheets I wanted, it was Sateen. Very different indeed.
Before I could clear up any confusion, Boo thought he'd wash up our new sheets so we could put them on our bed. He came home from the laundry mat with our fancy red sheets and said that everyone was looking at him strangely. "I feel like such a hooker," he said as he was shaking them out. I could only grin and reassure him that they'd look great with our duvet. The only problem was that the duvet wouldn't stay on the bed with the sheets. They were too slippery. We definitely never got the use out of those sheets for the price that was paid, but it is my favorite Christmas story.
Reminds me of the leg lamp from the movie A Christmas Story.
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