Sunday, November 23, 2008

Baring My Soul for a Zune


Have you ever done something that made complete sense at the time but you later realized it wasn't such a good idea? Okay, okay. Let me rephrase... In a non-intoxicated state of being, have you ever?

Well, The Present Professor is running a contest. Entrants (that's me) post a story on their blog (you're reading my entry) about the best/worst gift they ever received. Once all the entries are in, a poll will be posted on The Present Professor's site and readers get to select the winning entry. The person with the most votes will receive a Zune 80GB Digital Media Player. I'll be honest, I've read some of the other entries and they're pretty good so I feel the need to bare my soul in order to have a chance at winning.

First things first. If you're reading this, Mom, you need to take an extra step that nobody else needs to. In the upper right corner of your screen, you'll see an "x". Click it.

Okay. Just don't want mom to think any less of me. Now that she isn't reading, I can get onto the business of my entry.

I'm not in the least bit spoiled. Really. I never ask for anything for Christmas because I have everything I want. Hmmm. Maybe I am spoiled. Anyway, my husband has graced me with some wonderful gifts both for Christmas and for no reason. Things I've wanted but never asked for. Things I've not known I wanted but realized I did once he bought it for me. Growing up, my parents always tried to give us what we wanted also. I really can't complain because even when money was tight, my parents always managed to make Christmas special. So I did some brainstorming to figure out what my entry should be.

But the Christmas gift that stood out the most was something immaterial - a lesson learned. Once we got to the age where we knew that nobody would be sliding down our chimney, my mom was very blunt. "The presents are in my closet. If you want to know what you got, you're only ruining your own Christmas."

One Christmas, I let my curiosity get the best of me. As I cracked open the closet door, the item at the very front caught my eye. It was a pink button down shirt. I was instantly giddy and closed the door with the feeling of complete and utter satisfaction. What's the big deal about a pink shirt? Well, it's two-fold. First, it was the 80's and that was THE thing to have. Second, I attended a Catholic school with a strict white-shirt-required dress code. Any shirt that wasn't white was coveted even though we couldn't wear it to school. But pink? The icing on the cake.

It wasn't until the Christmas chaos dust had settled and I was surveying the loot that I realized the pink shirt wasn't in my pile. Actually, I didn't remember opening it. That's when I realized that it wasn't even a gift for me. It was a gift for one of my brothers. There it was... in his pile. The pink button down shirt wasn't even for me.

Let me say that it didn't ruin my Christmas because I was very happy with what I did receive. Physically, the gifts from my parents were great. Emotionally, the gift to myself was priceless. Sometimes things aren't what they seem so it isn't worth peeking in the closet.

Edit 11/24 - The contest poll is up. Would you please consider popping over to The Present Professor and voting for mine? They're accepting votes until 11/30. Thanks! Here's the link - the poll is the big black box and my entry is #11.

1 comments:

  • Anonymous

    I remember that shirt! I remember Dan wearing it, and I think I remember YOU wearing it! Unless you eventually got one for yourself. A couple years ago, when I was in London, pink came back in.. I couldn't stand it. Horrible flashback to high school and my very bad dye job. Sigh.

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