Dude, send one this way. I need all the telephone cords I can get - the longer the better. My apt is designed so that the only phone jack for the living room/kitchen is in the hallway. I have a 25’er duct taped across the ceiling to get to my computer in the kitchen, heh.
I’d have to say that the strangest gift I got this year was the can of Paremsan Cheese from my step-mom. Hmmmm.
OR the black Yankee Candles that smell like man perfume. I don’t want my apartment to smell like man! They got them for me because they were black, hehe. “It’s a black candle - she’ll love it!” And they’re STRONG.
ANOTHER tacky photo frame from my daughter. Not only does my taste in photo frames differ enormously from hers, she must have noticed I have nowhere to put them in the tiny cubby hole I live in. I am beginning to speculate about the origin of the endless array of photo frames I recieve as gifts from this particulat child - maybe her partner robbed a tacky gift shop or something? I find it hard to believe I raised a child with such excruciatingly bad taste. :rolleyes:
My 17 year old daughter (unknown to me) gave my mother a Turkish Keychain. It’s about 5 inches long, with tons of evil eye beads, a clear plastic elephant, and about 40 silver beads dangling from it on approximately 5 seperate wires. When my mom unwrapped it, I thought to myself, “Hmm…that looks familiar” because my daughter had attempted to pawn it off on ME a few months ago when she returned as a foreign exchange student from Istanbul. The keychain could be used as a personal defense device–if my mom could actually fit it in her purse.
My mom called me later Christmas evening. “That keychain,” she said. “It’s awfully…busy, isn’t it?” she asked.
This year was good, but in previous years, I’ve received some very odd things.
A few years ago, my grandmother gave me maternity clothes for Christmas. I WAS pregnant at the time, but I was also due in a little over a month.
Same Grandma- a sweatshirt (many sizes too big) with Santa standing atop an outhouse shouting “I SAID THE SCHMIDT HOUSE!!!” Very funny. :roll eyes:
One year I got a tiny Christmas tree candle from a relative. It was cute until I lit it. It was gone in ten minutes.
How about NOTHING??? Harborwolf’s brother is notorious for coming to Christmas with no gifts for anyone, greedily accepting the ones that others buy for him, then promising that everyone else’s presents are coming soon. You know what? They never do. Selfish bastard.
Yeesh. That’s Midsummer Night and it IS man perfume scented - it’s a knockoff of Drakkar Noir. They are strong, and not my favorite scent by a long shot.
My “WTF?” gift this year was from my mother-in-law. I had asked for long-sleeved, solid-colored tops and specified “not pastels” because she has had a habit of buying me pale pink and pale blue stuff in the past. So this year she got me a thick, fluffy fleece jacket in a hot pink SO hot that it was practically radiating through the wrapping paper. Thank goodness for gift receipts.
My sister gave me a box of “herbal cold remedies.” Never mind that I rarely get colds and when I do I tough them out or go to the doctor. And they had alochol, and I’m a recovered alcoholic. The stuff also smelled bad. I don’t know if it was suppose to smell bad, or if it had gone bad (my sister is a nortorious re-gifter, and may have gotten them for Xmas 2002). Either way, I’m not putting them in my body.
A size 3X quilted flannel jacket from my step daughter. I could use it for a tent. Back to Scuz…err, K-Mart to exchange it. Hopefully for something that I will wear.
Oven mitts. The response in my mind? “Gee, thanks mom…just what a grown, married man whose home is well-stocked with the necessities of life needs – paper-thin oven mitts in a color directly opposite our kitchen decor on the color wheel. Here’s a hint: I left home many years ago. I did not go all this time pulling things out of the oven with my bare hands.” The actual response? “Thanks mom, they’re great!” <sigh>
A pack of Post-It notes. Mom saw my confusion when I opened the package, and explained that they were the single greatest invention in history. You can actually leave yourself a note without having to look for a piece of tape! The response in my mind? “Yes, I’m well aware of their splendor, seeing has how I work in a corporate office and all, and there’s only about 17 pallets of these things sitting in our supply cabinet. I am an American office worker. I steal office supplies. I have many, many packs of Post-Its at home, thanks.” The actual response? “Thanks mom, they’re great!” <sigh>
Fortunately, she scored nicely on just about everything else. Thank you, Amazon.com Wish List!
Wow. Thanks everyone for making me feel better about my giftage.
The only one that really raised my eyebrows was a new mixer, from Mom. Yes, I like to cook, so it’s not as if I’m unfamiliar with the appliance. Considering it was Mom who called and gave me a list of dishes to bring to the family dinner, recipes that might have been difficult to assemble without a mixer, I’d have thought she realized my mixing needs were met.
See every year my grandpa asks what I want. So I tell him, and over the years I’ve learned you have to really specify things you want.
This year I give him a very short list of bands I’d like to have CDs from (I mentioned Tool, The Smiths and similar groups I just don’t remember offhand) and what do I get?
Barenaked Ladies!
I’m not sure what he was thinking. I’ve heard maybe 2 of their songs, and I’m sure as hell not a big enough fan to want a CD.
I know, I know “It’s the thought that counts”, but this is just… wow.
I love him, but he sends very odd gifts some years. Guess I just get to give this CD a try and see if I like it any.
I am actually complaining about me, you see, I did all the holiday shopping this year, and knew that my FIL had seen “Office Space,” and who can see “Office Space” and not love it, and not lust after a gorgeous Swingline all of their own?..and so I bought him a “red” Swingline from ThinkGeek, except it’s more orange than red, and when he opened it, his face had a clear ¿huh? expression, so I guess the movie didn’t make as deep an impression on him as it did on us. Oops and damn, a $20 stapler down the drain. Well, I’ll be sending him some scotch, a handknit wash-cloth and manly french soap, as he likes to hide from his wife in the bathtub. He’s my favourite father-in-law, after all
That reminds me. One year, I kept joking about wanting one of those electrical sawing carving knives, it was a whole schtupid schtick my boyfriend and I would go into, where my boyfriend would roll his eyes in fear and trepidation and I would say, “You never know when such a thing might come in handy…” And that’s what my Dad got me for Christmas; he made it fairly clear he wasn’t a big fan of that boyfriend.
But I nice hefty, meat cleaver, now that’s handy. Are you a Sopranos fan?
One of those CD scratch repair kits. In the past 17 years of CD collecting and 4 years of DVD collecting, I have amassed 600+ CDs and 350+ DVDs and NONE of them have so much as a single scratch. I’m that anal about such things.
I gave it to the kids who treat said discs like Frisbees or coasters.
