Did all your wishes come true?
Did disappointment find you?

Dreams and Wishes

What is the best gift you ever gave and received?
What is the worst gift you ever gave and received?

30 Comments

  1. Christmas was good.
    Wishes surpassed – no disappointments.
    Each and every one.
    The worst gift given – you will have to ask them – I try not to give them!
    The worst recieved – a new hoover !
    Hope your Christmas was good.

  2. Hello Nicola!
    I am so happy to hear you had a wonderful holiday.
    You can go back in time to pick your worst and bests.
    😀
    A new hoover! Yikes! A classic bumble! Who was the offender and how did you react?
    Things here were quiet and sublime. I actually spent three straight days with Janna. That’s a rarity because our schedules hold us so far apart much of the time.

  3. Hi David,
    I didn’t get a lot of gifts this year, but I didn’t give a lot either, except to the kids. My wife and I gave each other the new house and a lot of home improvements at our current house as gifts to each other.
    The worst gift is easy. When I was younger, my parents gave my brother and I underwear and socks. We probably could have used them, but it was pretty silly as a Christmas gift from my parents. Maybe we were bad kids that year and that was our coal. 😉

  4. Hi Chris!
    I like your house gift! That will be enjoyed for a long time.
    Socks and underwear. Ouch! Did you ever ask why or what happened? I’m sure you didn’t request them as a gift!

  5. Minor correction: “my parents gave my brother and me underwear and socks” should be inserted into the second paragraph.
    Omission correction: I don’t know that I’ve given a bad gift. When I was younger, I always tried to get people things that I knew I’d like. Now, I always prefer to get people gift cards for restaurants that I know they’ll enjoy.

  6. Hi Chris!
    Correction noted!
    😀
    I think giftcards are great and you can’t beat cash. My family refuses to give cash — they’re a “gifts only” sort and that means you better like what you get because it will be one-of-a-kind and you can’t take it back. Sometimes letting someone pick their own joy is just as thoughtful as picking out some esoteric thingy…

  7. Hi David,
    My parents were always practical.
    It always took us a long time to get anything “cool” when I was a kid.
    My parents have never really been into consumerism. If I asked for a T-shirt with a name on it, my dad would ask if the company was paying me to advertise.
    We didn’t get cable until we moved from New Jersey to Indiana because we couldn’t receive the Indianapolis signals well in Bloomington. There were enough over-the-air signals in New Jersey, said my parents. Why would anyone need extra channels?
    When I wanted to get a computer when I was in middle school, I ended up buying a used one from a friend. I think I gave my friend $10 for a tiny Timex/Sinclair machine. 🙂 My parents did understand that computers could be used for educational purposes, so they did buy me a nice computer (an IBM AT clone) when I was in high school.
    Of course, Christmas was the same — no frills. When we were really young, we’d get lots of toys, but when we were a little older, we always seemed to get clothing and other necessary — but not necessarily fun — items.
    My parents still stick to the no frills lifestyle today. They are wired in with a computer to keep in touch with all of the relatives, but don’t have a DVD player because they don’t see the need for it. 🙂

  8. Hi Chris!
    That’s a great story!
    I, too, grew up cable-less while all my friends around me hooked up to watch HBO and all those other channels. Once we finally joined the cable ranks it was soon evident we had been missing a lot of very neat programming.
    I understand the need for practical gifts — I’ve always felt gifts should move above and beyond the everyday need and become something someone would never buy on their own.
    Who needs a DVD player when you have Video On Demand?
    😀

  9. The donor is now my ex-husband !
    My best gift to me has to be the gift of live from the surgeon who saved it.
    MY worst gift I have given has to be the one year I gave someone back the bath salts they gave me the previous year ! – oooooooooops !

  11. Hi Nicola!
    Yikes! Ex-hubby indeed!
    😀
    Yes, your surgeon deserves all the credit we still have you with us now!
    Oooof! The bath salts do sound painful as a reminder of a “re-gifter!”
    Ah! The rocking horse! Does it bother you that you haven’t beat that best since? Have you tried?

  12. I always do the best I can do – my circumstances have changed quite a lot over the years , my ability to meet their expectations differes year to year.
    Talking to her she says the laptop was pretty cool too – but the rocking horse wins because it was such a surprise!

  17. Glorious, Nicola!
    You must’ve known it was a special gift because you had all the “pre-excitement” shots all set up!
    The last image is precious! SO DARLING!
    THANK YOU!

  18. My pleasure – the other two kids were brilliant as well – they didnt let on either – hard to hide a rocking horse without one of them finding it!
    Charlotte saw me scanning the pictures in this afternoon and promptly demanded copies.

  19. So much fun, Nicola! I love the wallpaper in those images, too. Quite lovely. Does it still live?
    It’s good Charlotte wants copies! Good memories are meant to be kept in all forms!
    😀

  20. I would think that the people who bought the house after we split up redecorated . As you can see from the photogrpahs we were in the process of doing the same.
    It had the most horrible varnish/paint combination on all the woodwork that had to be stripped off. I can still remember the smell – ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww

  21. The best gift I ever received is your comments.
    These comments are addressed to the people whom I wish to present. Hearty responses as comforts so awaken: I have done much less than I was pottent to do. Thus your comments prompt me to improve this situation, to move forward.
    The worst gift I ever gave is my silence. Even the most beautiful musings at a window is the hidden candle, the love received but not shared with other. That’s the hardest burden.
    [Edited by David W. Boles for content.]

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