Thursday, December 04, 2008

What's the strangest gift you ever got?

Disclaimer: The author of today's blog thinks hunting is mean. She also occasionally enjoys a good steak. Hmmm....

Just in case you didn't know there are only 19 shopping days left until Christmas. I have been happily doing my part keeping the economy afloat. My closet is so full that I can't open it without everything tumbling out. I just have a few more gifts to purchase online and I'll be done. Most of my purchases have been for my little boys. One wanted a remote control dirt bike, which is safely tucked in my closet, along with a neat digital camera for kids, LeapFrog tag reader, candy, movies, kiddy shaving cream, and Tinker Toys. My littlest guy has been begging for a shopping cart since last summer. I found him a really cool metal one from Pottery Barn Kids and am going to fill it with plastic food and a Cabbage Patch Kid. Until Thanksgiving, I thought I was done buying for the boys.

Then we spent the day with my in-laws. My father-in-law had just gotten a six-point buck a few days earlier. My mother-in-law was thrilled at the prospect of yet another deer head hanging on her wall (they already have two). My boys have talked of little else since last Thursday. My oldest son asked me when we could have a deer head on our wall. I told him when pigs fly. He proceeded to tell me that when he got his own house he was going to hang a hundred deer heads on the wall. He's five and I don't really want him thinking about moving out quite yet. I figured there had to be a compromise. It got me Googling. You really can find anything on the Internet. So here it is.
For only $45, my boys can have their very own stuffed deer head to hang in their bedroom. It is by far the weirdest thing I have ever bought. My husband thinks I'm insane. The way I see it is that I only have a limited number of magical Christmases with my boys. If something they want is within my power, I'm going to get it for them. Someday they will realize how incredibly cool I am and be in awe of me. Yeah, I know that part won't ever happen but a girl can dream.

So, how about you? What is the weirdest gift you have ever bought/received?

What I'm reading...Play Dirty by Sandra Brown
xo,
Stephanie

10 comments:

TinaFerraro said...

Steph, that's hysterical (in a good way)! I love nothing better than finding odd, yet meaningful presents.

My strangest one is also something I really wanted, but I don't know many people who get a mailbox for a present.

The backstory is we'd moved out here to the boonies (or at least, from my POV, it was the boonies) only to find our mailbox across the street, this 40 year-old metal thing leaning on splintered wood.

First up, I made friends with the mailman. Then some neighbors, and found out the way to petition to get it moved to my side of the street. After getting that, my 75 year-old father was kind enough to spring for the mailbox, the wood, and to come out here with a shovel and install it for me.

A strange but wonderful gift!

Me said...

Hmmm, a mailbox and a fake stuffed deer head ... not sure I can compete with those. Maybe I've blocked out all my truly weird gifts, but the most unusual gift I can remember was a step ladder.

I was three years old.

My dad and his friend were painting houses to earn extra money, and would occasionally take me along with them. In addition to an incident in which my dad's friend "stole" my paint, I was obsessed with the step ladder. So, for Christmas that year, I got one.

It was a good one, too. We had it for years and years.

sarah said...

Hub caps...

but... I did ask for him.

Marley Gibson said...

A bulk packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix. My brother's restaurant had closed and so...well... = )

Paradox said...

The weirdest gift I've ever gotten was from my best friend on my birthday. It was a huge, three inch thick medical textbook. Even the title was meaningless to me. Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods. I am not kidding. And it was boring, scuffed, and gray. Well, until I opened it, that is. The book was hollowed out and there was a pile of mini gifts inside. So I have the little gifts, and a place to hide stuff that no one in their right mind would want to look.

Another year I was given a laundry basket and a can of silly string, but that's another story.

The Golfing Librarian said...

Steph threatened to send "Rocco" over to my library to do some work on my kneecaps if I didn't comment on her blog. I had no idea Steph had so many "facets", shall we say!

When I was 4, my parents gave me a big, WWII era Tonka Jeep. On the box, it said that it was guaraunteed indestructible for children under 5 yrs old. Can you guess where this is going? By the time Christmas dinner came around, I had all 4 wheels off, the steering wheel was off, the fold down windsheild was some where in the backyard, anf the two bumbers were later found in the fireplace. Man did I have fun with that one!!!

The Golfing Librarian said...

Now that I've sent the comment, I see that I didn't answer the question that Steph posed. (Hey, it's hard to think straight with the threat of Rocco breathing down your neck!)

I didn't give or recieve this gift, but I was witness to it. One of my wife's sibling had had had a partiularly "naughty" year, and when it came time open gifts on Chritmas morning we all had wonderful gifts and the naughty sibling got a pair of socks. Period! The rest of the day was a bit...awkward!

stephhale said...

Thanks for the comments, everyone! I think Marley gets the prize for strangest gift! ;)
Chuck, my youngest could destroy any "indestructable" toy.
PS- I told Rocco to stand down. :)

stephhale said...

Thanks for the comments, everyone! I think Marley gets the prize for strangest gift! ;)
Chuck, my youngest could destroy any "indestructable" toy.
PS- I told Rocco to stand down. :)

Heather Davis said...

Ok, as someone who actually had moose antlers on the outside of her one-time dwelling and stared down the massive stuffed heads while working at Alaskan lodges, I can say that those stuffed animal heads are... cute. Darn it. I'm not for hunting (unless it's truly to feed a family and not for sport) but the trophies really made me go ugh.

The weirdest gift I ever got was a toilet for Valentine's Day. And yes, I asked for it. ;)