Giving and Getting!

My Mom is famous for buying Christmas presents all through the year. She then "hides" them in the house so nobody can find them, even her. There have been many times that I got a gift on my July birthday that Mom had bought for December. Not that getting a snowman sweatshirt is a bad gift, it's just the timing is sometimes off. She also tends to tell you indirectly what she has bought. An example would be the comment I made about a new soap dispenser that she had in her bathroom. She told me not to go out and buy one, it "might be in my stocking". I just said it was cute. She gets it honestly. My Grandma Dorothy was know for her gift opinions. Not that she wasn't thankful for the gifts she got, she just wasn't good about hiding the fact she might not care for it. I got her a blouse one year that had 3/4  length sleeves. She opened it, held it up and went into a commentary about not putting this on to go to the "outhouse", then looked over at me, smiled and said Thank You! She also was a snoop. She would go through the closets looking to see what was bought. Then she would tell you what she found. Mom and Dad had bought my Grandpa Henry a coat for Christmas one year. Grandma found it and told me that Mom bought her the wrong size. When she opened her gift, she announced "Where's the coat!" Gift giving is hard. The older you get, the less you need. You also get more opinionated as time goes by. There are people who say, anything you want to get me is fine. Well, it really isn't. You think you know the person well enough to get that one of a kind, flying monkey with ruby eyes. But in reality, they hate monkeys. Then there are those who give you "the list". These contain, the item, the item number, and the web site to buy the item complete with pictures. And how about when YOU get the flying monkey with ruby eyes. You open the gift and stare while it stares back at you. You hear how excited the gift giver is when they explain that there are only a limited number of these made. Yeah, no kidding, it's hideous.  You then smile and nod, not knowing how to express your feelings. This is a good time to pass the cookie tray! I hope you get just what you want for the holidays. I'm buying lots of gift cards! Take care!