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My first Christmas with new boyfriend. I bought a leather aviator's jacket for him from Hammacher Schlemmer. I think it was $300. A few days before Xmas, he brought over a wrapped gift for me.
I hadn't expected anything special but I lifted the box and shook it a little...and got this bad feeling. I unwrapped it carefully and opened the box.
It was a horrifyingly gaudy pink ceramic pig cookie jar from Cost Plus. What is he trying to tell me, I wondered. Who gives something like that to a woman they want to sleep with?
I sent the aviator's jacket back and bought something else. I can't remember what it was. The relationship didn't last long beyond that.
....... 6 inch in diameter circle of netted cloth with small metal balls sewn on the edges. She had to tell me what it was. Any "quessers"?
Cream pitcher cover. They are very common in Britain. Had your sister-on-law been on a trip to Britain that year? I like them a lot; they are quite ethnic and usually quite pretty. I do put out a creamer when I serve coffee to guests, so I use mine.
My strangest gifts are very sad gifts. My father, who probably hadn't talked to me in 20 years, found out he was dying, so he drove up to my house and gave me a badly cracked ceramic pottery casserole dish in a strange bright red color, a small TV that didn't work, and all the school photos of my son that I had sent each year that my son was in elementary school. I was surprised that he had saved them.
For about 3 years, I used to get Christmas and birthday cards signed with my father's name in his roommate's handwriting. That ended when the roommate ended.
Up until about 4 years ago, my mother sent me a birthday card every year with a check for $11 in it. I have no idea why the figure was $11. My mother is financially very comfortable so it wasn't all she could afford. Some sort of symbolism there that I never understood. The cards and checks have stopped.
Not me, but a boyfriend had his father buy him a drum set on time payments and handed him the payment book so he could pay for his own Christmas present. I thought that was an odd thing to do.
My grandma got me a used flute once. I had no interest in playing the flute, and even if I did, I had no interest in playing someone else's used one. I never played it and stored it in a box for years before finally donating it to the Goodwill. I found out later she bought it for me because she always wanted to play the flute and could never afford it. I felt very guilty for giving it away.
My MIL lives on the East Coast and we don't see her often. She bought my wife this hideously ugly silvertone and turquoise bracelet. I know she means well and is a very generous person, but I would have expected her to know her 50+ year old daughter's tastes better. She never wears silver or silvertone; only gold. The item is collecting dust in the jewelry box. We talked about regifting it, but don't know anyone who would like it.
For Christmas, my mother gave me 2 wooden plate chargers. Not four, just two. Oh, and she forgot to take the clearance price tag off the back so I could see how little she spent on me that Christmas.
Everyone else got nice gifts that obviously didn't come from the clearance aisle.
The year before, she gave me a cheap (I mean CHEEEAAAPPP) crappy set of plastic spoons that were dipped in chocolate for me to use in coffee. Didn't take the clearance tag off of those as well.
Out of her four kids, obviously I am her 10th favorite.
What are wooden plate chargers?
ETA: Looked up plate chargers. That's a new one on me.
Last edited by Mightyqueen801; 02-09-2017 at 05:41 PM..
In Junior High in the 70's, my best friend gave a pair of pink, nylon pantaloon-type underwear with ruffles on the rear. They looked like something a toddler would have worn in the '50s under her little short dress. We were both tomboys and why anyone who knew me thought this was an appropriate gift, I'll never know. I think it had to have been picked out by her mother, hoping it would be a "feminizing" influence somehow. I'd never seen such a thing in an adult size so who knows where she found them, or who actually wore these relics for real. My friend was so embarrassed to watch me unwrap it, but we both burst out laughing when I unfolded the pretty wrapping tissue and held these up in the bold light of day for God and everyone to see.
Luckily we both agreed it was hilarious and later used them as a flag on a pole in the little fort we built in the backyard.
My in-laws were always gifting us with religious books...DH and I, and our kids. I wish I could have told them not to waste their money...that stuff was NOT going to be read.
They were Seventh Day Adventist and wanted badly to convert us.
The Christmas I was thirteen, my aunt gave me a cedar pencil box filled with pencils with my name printed on them in gold. Fancying myself a true sophisticate, this seemed like one of the most childish things she possibly could have given me! To top it off, my cousins, her children, who were close to my age, received what I considered age-appropriate gifts (I have no idea what they were, now).
I remember thanking her: "They'll be very ...useful." Talk about damning with faint praise. Fortunately, my aunt, who had clearly gone to some trouble to obtain the personalized pencils for me, was a good sport, and many years later, those name-stamped pencils turned out to come in quite handy.
My friend's MIL used to give the family, including grandchildren, unsigned birthday cards then take them back so she could use them again.
My aunt and uncle just rip the card in half, write on the back of the picture, stick it in a mismatched envelope and use it again. Used cards. At one time, me and my sis sent it back and forth to each other, crossing each other's names out. One year, they sent us ONE birthday card (our birthdays are close together).
Years ago my longtime boyfriend gave me a beautiful pearl/diamond pendant necklace the pearl and diamond are a good size and nice quality. It was a lovely gift, really surprised. He seemed to know my taste in jewelry even though I'm not a huge jewelry person, what I have is nice quality.
Anyway, we broke up and a few years later my new boyfriend gave me the exact same pearl/diamond pendant necklace, however, this one was so small looked like a child would wear. It was kinda bizarre. I found out how much he paid for the necklace that looked like it was for a child and it was ashame he paid so much. I'm glad he didn't know it would have hurt his feelings. I think I wore the necklace once so he could see it on me, looked like I had on just a gold chain w/o a pendant.
Last edited by 70's Music Girl; 02-12-2017 at 11:27 PM..
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I found out how much he paid for the necklace that looked like it was for a child and it was ashame he paid so much. I'm glad he didn't know it would have hurt his feelings. I think I wore the necklace once so he could see it on me, looked like I had on just a gold chain w/o a pendant.
