Best and Worst of Christmas 2010

 

KLEENEX!  That's right my husband gave me a box of Kleenex....  Under the tree, wrapped with a bow and everything! OK, it's not as bad as it sounds.  First off you should know that years before we had children we stopped buying Christmas gifts to eachother.  Instead we buy cartloads of toys for kids in need. One year we filled the car with so many toys and games, that I had to get in and let Kenneth stack stuff all around me so it would all fit...  Too bad that was pre-digital camera days, because it was hilarious - my face pinned to the passenger side window surrounded by Hot Wheels race tracks and Little People Doll houses!

This was such a fun tradition for us during the years we were praying desperately to have a child of our own.  We continue the tradition now that we have a little boy. Every year Awsumb and Kenneth take a big bag of toys over to the Giving Tree at Microsoft and we look for other ways to help during the season.

Kenneth and I still exchange stockings.  Because of the size limitation this usually leads us to give only smaller more thoughtful items. And lucky for me all my favorite things fit in a stocking ie: perfume, jewelry, lipgloss, markers and pens, etc.  Plus there is usually enough room for a paperback and a movie.

So this year, Kenneth hands me this funny round shaped package all wrapped up with a bow and says, "this woulnd't fit."  What could it be?  And what an unusual shape, I must admit I was a bit excited!  So, I pulled off the paper when what to my wondering eyes should appear?  A cream and brown swirled box of Kleenex, more oval than round!  Because this has been the Christmas of surprises, I'll say that I was sure surprised!

Actually it was a pretty sweet little gift. I suffer from year-round allergies.  Years of daily nose bleeds, steroid sprays and trauma to my nasal passages has led to quite a mess.  When I see a new doctor I have to explain that, "NO I have never used cocaine!"  I take multiple allergy prescriptions and still resort to Benadryl many days just for some relief. 

I can never seem to keep enough tissue in the house and it's often at the top of my list.  These days I prefer Puff's to Kleenex. I guess Kenneth has been watching me lately as I look at the cute little designer boxes of Kleenex and pass them up, selecting thebig industrial - family sized boxes of tissue.  So he just wanted me to have something cute and fun... even though it didn't fit in my stocking!  But it sure is funny and I am never going to let him live this one down!

I shouldn't be so hard on him because of our last minute trip to Disney and all that we have going on we agreed to go really simple on our stockings this year.   Kenneth still managed to sneak in a Alfred Hitchcock boxed set of DVD's.  And in all fairness among Kenneth's stocking goodies was a DVD he got FOR FREE from the Disney Movie Club! LOL!  Hey, it was in the pile of DVD's and games set aside for Awsumb and I thought he bought it because he wanted me to put it in his stocking! 

What was the best and worst gift you received this year?