I follow Annie at Tuesday 4 each week as she poses 4 questions. As Christmas draws nearer and nearer this week she is talking about something which probably obsesses us entirely too much.
The topic this week is all about gifts
1. Whether it's Christmas, Chanukah or a birthday party nice gifts can be hard to pick out. Is there a safe go to gift you think will fit anyone? Generally for a safe gift I go with a book
2. Is wrapping a gift a necessary part of the excitement of giving and receiving? I enjoy wrapping and like for the gifts I give to look really pretty. As far as receiving? I don't really care at all.
3. What gifts given to you did you love the most? As a kid it was probably the year I got my big bike.
As an adult, I got a baby grand piano for my birthday one year. I love it and I play it often and think of Mom and Dad every time I play it..
4. In the O. Henry book The Gift of the Magi, a man sells his pocket watch to buy some beautiful hair combs for his wife's long hair but she has sold her hair to buy him a platinum pocket watch chain.
Have you ever saved long and hard to buy someone a special gift?Yes I have saved all year to buy a special gift before. The only gift I regret not getting was a little red sports car for my dad. It was never in the budget but all of my life he said nothing would make him happier than a little red sports car. Of course it got to be a family joke and he had little red toy sports cars, and models, and ornaments, but never the real thing.
Would you be okay with a holiday that didn't include gifts? I am so overwhelmed right now with things I have gotten from Mom's house that I need/want nothing. I would not mind receiving absolutely nothing this year, except some well wishes and company(which we can't have) . I do still like to give gifts though.
Would friends and family understand? I know my family and friends would. We all have everything we need and want little
Christmas sighting Day 8:
This would be the light fixture over the breakfast table. It is what you do when you accidentally order 1-8 inch shatterproof ornament when you thought you were ordering 8-1 inch balls. I imagine the tree on the deck will be undecorated except for lights. Such is life!
How I love that light fixture.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate well wrapped gifts. It is a skill which I simply don't have.
Increasingly I am leaning towards giving experiences rather than gifts. And yes, I have saved for long periods of time for that 'perfect gift'.
I have more than enough things and would be happy not to receive gifts this year.
I am giving experiences also but I still wrap a box detailing the experience! I like to wrap!
DeleteThe only things I can think of that I need /want is a pair of readers from The Dollar store and a hand held manual can opener
Ha, ha, I thought you ordered the ornament especially for the light fixture! I love it! :D
ReplyDeleteNo! My sister was here when I opened the package and I had just been telling how how the color would be prefect for the tree on the screened porch. We have this running joke about doing stupid things, so she said "You're not only the president of Dumb ass club of America...you're also a member.
DeleteBefore I read it was an ornament, I thought it was part of the light fixture. I would be stunned if I had that experience--opening one huge ornament instead of eight tiny ones.
ReplyDeleteA picture frame was my go to present for about ten years.
I was kind of surprised, but not stunned that I could make that kind of mistake. It would have cost more than the ornament to send it back so I just had to find somewhere to use it.
DeleteAt least you found the perfect spot for the giant ornament :)
ReplyDeleteI am not sure it is the perfect spot, but it is a spot at least!
DeleteYour order mishap made me chuckle this morning because I could totally see that happening to me. :)
ReplyDeleteIt made me laugh when I realized what I had done.
DeleteInteresting list of questions. I don’t think “a book” is a fair answer to the question of a universal gift, because there are so many possibilities from a collectible to a cookbook to a picture book...Maybe the universal answer is candy? Maybe there’s no answer?
ReplyDeletebe safe... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Yes I know book is rather vague, but even candy is taste specific. I am not sure there is a universal gift unless it is cash.
DeleteThe ornament may not have been what you were thinking, but it looks pretty!
ReplyDeleteTake care, stay well.
It is not what I wanted, or needed but I at least found a use for it.
DeleteBooks are always a good gift. Or wine or food (but you do have to know people's preferences for those to work). I do like your light!
ReplyDeleteI had no intentions of decorating the light, but mistakes happen and now I have a huge green ball over my table.
ReplyDelete1. Beeswax candles.
ReplyDelete2. I LOVE wrapping gifts. I think giftwrapping is my favorite part of Christmas. I have quite the stash of paper and ribbons. I work very hard to make the gifts look pretty.
3. When I as in kindergarten, I received a 500 sheet pack of paper complete with the carbon sheet. That was my favorite Christmas gift EVER. I realize in retrospect my father probably just grabbed it from the discard pile outside his office when they were disposing of them due to discontinuing mimeograph machines in favor of Xerox during a building renovation. (He was a professor.) The gift was PERFECT for me. I got chalk and an eraser in my stocking that year too, again, probably discards...I was in heaven.
4. I don't recall having to save to buy a gift--we pretty much exchange token gifts or necessities. I'd be sad if I thought somebody saved and saved to get me a gift. I think they have better things to do with their money.
5. We celebrate every holiday here, and only Christmas and Easter have gifts. It's about the food and traditions. Also, all of us have everything we need and most of what we want, so I know they would understand.
-Love your decorations, and I must say, I'm a bit envious. You see, there's no way in hell, with a house of sharp witted teenagers could I ever hang a giant ball above the kitchen table.
The only thing that will save me from the obvious remarks my sons will make is that it isn't a big brass one!
DeleteYou're right.. books are a great gift. I enjoyed the video so I much I watched all of them on YouTube and am now a fan ;) Thanks for joining in for Tuesday 4. I just love reading everyone's answers. :)
ReplyDeleteI was referring to the Colt Clark and quarantine kids videos on your previous post.
DeleteI watched them all too, Annie. I think they are such a cute bunch!
DeleteIsn't it lovely to want nothing! Anything beyond that is just a plus!
ReplyDeleteI think it is a product of growing old. My need were met a long time ago and my wants are so few, other than things like world peace and an end to covid!
DeleteIf only it were brass!
ReplyDeleteIt is funny to realize you need and want nothing. You want your kids safe, you want world peace. We all should have been beauty queens.....
ReplyDeleteI would have done well on the interview part but the swim suit competition????
DeleteI'm not getting any Christmas presents so yeah, I'm obsessed with that. You got a big ball, lady. You should grow a pair.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Like I told Sluggy, if only it were brass!
DeleteA baby grand piano. How awesome is that! Love the light fixture.
ReplyDeleteMom and Dad bought it for me and it has been well loved and well used by all of us throughout the years.
Delete