Gifting from the Heart

It has been a really busy two weeks and I noticed I had not posted anything in about 10 days. Then I had a million thoughts running through my head about what I should say. You know they were all clever and witty, don't you? :)

First off, it has to be said: HOORAY FOR DONNY OSMOND!!! There will be nay-sayers out there who think one of the others should have won, but I am really happy to see him win this.

Thanksgiving: Thanksgiving has a bad place in the calendar. It gets overshadowed when you are young because of Halloween and then Christmas. It really takes some work to push the turkey day up to the forefront to get the recognition it deserves. Our Thanksgiving Day turned out beautifully. We have had bigger crowds before, but we have never had better food or better or more willing participants in the kitchen. I had the lists made and recipes handy and people just milled in and out making something and crossing it off the list. There was no fighting, no moaning or bitching, no one forgot the rolls, and every year someone in our family forgets the rolls and they burn. And guess what? As if remembering the bread wasn't enough, we also had a couple of hours of spare time in the middle where everything was ready to go in the oven but it wasn't quite time to put them in yet. So we all got to relax, watch some t.v. or take a quick nap, or a shower or whatever it was people did. My new rule regarding Thanksgiving: Everyone who was here this year, has to come back EVERY YEAR!! It was perfect. And I am so grateful and thankful for that.

One more thing before I get to the gifting portion of this post. My tea hoarding challenge update. Tomorrow is the 1st of December and that means for a full 11 months so far I have been working down my tea supply this year. The only new teas I have brought in are for Mr. Big Ed who is not participating in my challenge and herbal teas like chamomile that I consider to be medicinal. But everyday regular breakfast teas, green teas, etc. I am STILL winnowing down those tins. I am almost ready to crack open those hermetically sealed teas and re-label some of the saved tins to house the new teas. Can you believe I had this much tea in my pantry? I sure as hell can't!

What has my tea hoarding challenge taught me? Well, first off it has taught me restraint in the tea aisle, that's what. Secondly, tea companies might want to offer their teas in 2 sizes. Some of us may want to try 2 or 3 varieties, but buying a tin with 50 bags of each flavor is just crazy. And that is where I seem to have gone wrong, thinking I could try all kinds of new teas 50 at a time. And the third and most important lesson for me has been that I don't need to have all the teas, just a select few that I seem to gravitate to on a daily basis anyway. My sister and I always bring a tin of tea when we visit each other, so I know at some point during the year she will come and bring an interesting tea for us to try.

Gifting through the years has morphed from being so much fun when I was a kid to becoming a chore and a huge task to make sure everyone got something and no one was left off the list, then adding in the neighbors, the co-workers, the husband's secretary, the postman, the paperboy, the yard guy, etc., etc. I have kept my Christmas lists for the last 10 or more years and I have been noticing the changes. I used to think I had to buy the best, the latest, the most cool up-to-date crap out there for my kids and nieces and nephews. If I had the $$ I have spent on expensive, non-useful gifts over the years, I would have a ton of money, that is for sure. None of this is to say that I wish I hadn't gifted at all. That's not it. I just wish I had gifted from my heart and not been led by the commercialism of it all.

The gift of time, the gift of an experience is certainly more memorable than one of 20 new games for the Nintendo, game boy, X-box, Wii. Who remembers that Aunt LisaPie gave them Super Mario Bros back in 2000? No one, that's who. So, I am completely changing my strategy for gifting. In the last few years I have gone to gift cards from http://www.heifer.org/ or from http://www.kiva.org/ for birthday gifts, but I still felt I needed to get something tangible for Christmas.

This year, whatever the gift will be, it will be well-thought out and truly given from the heart. It may be a hand-made gift, it may the gift of time and an experience together, it may be a store-bought item that I know will really bring a smile. And it may be more gifts from Heifer or Kiva.

And if you are reading this and thinking of getting me a gift, please know that my favorite thing is spending time with you. It's a gift that always fits, it's never the wrong color, and we both can enjoy it equally and together!