Me? It's no secret around our house that horse-something is always appreciated. But every year about this time T announces, "I don't want anything for Christmas. Nothing. Christmas is too commercialized." (He does this for birthdays, too. And of course I get him something anyway.) And before you start thinking, oh, he must just really like surprising me, or that he really hates shopping in general, nope. That's not it.
I suspect in his mind, if I don't get him anything, he doesn't have to shop for me. To be fair, it's more likely the trauma of past gifts given: jewelry (I've never worn any of it), the new cell phone (it went back), the perfume (made me sneeze, reference jewelry above)... see where I'm going with this?
For my birthday this year, we got a new coffee maker. I picked it out. As copious amounts of strong black caffeine help keep other people safe (from me) in the pre-dawn hours, it was the perfect gift. Although we agreed it was my birthday present after our previous one died the morning before my birthday....
But really, I'm not that hard to shop for, honest. The perfect gift doesn't have to be expensive, sparkly, or even require braving the mall or that store, initials VS, full of lacy things, that shall not be named. I'm even okay with gifts of small power tools - or would be, if T didn't already own most of the ones I can name and more that I can't! But you be the judge; here are a few items that made my Christmas list this year, several of which can actually be found at the local lumberyard:
- A saucer. Not the teacup kind, the outdoor, fun in the snow kind you can tie a nice long rope to. Given snow, I think Sunny would be a perfectly lovely saucer-towing pony. At least, I'd like to give it a try.
- Weave/pole-bending set of 8 poles. Admittedly, a more time consuming present, but with a few empty coffee cans - we have those (!) - some quick-set concrete, and a few lengths of PVC, not overly spendy.
- A pair of large C-clamps. My own set, for moving the trailer mats, that way I don't have to dig through the tool box (and remember to return) a borrowed set from the workshop when I deep clean the trailer.
- A trailer mat. A new one for outside the barn, one under the loft door for dropping hay out onto. Yes, this is on my to-be-purchased list anyway, but it would be a lovely early gift, and he'd definitely get credit.
- New lead ropes. Several of the old ones are really ratty, and I'd love a couple more of the long, thick, cotton kind with bull snaps. Not available at the lumberyard, but I'd take an IOU in my stocking.
- A battery-operated portable radio. For the granary/barn/orchard riding. With good speakers, and maybe a port to plug in my MP3 player if I wanted to ride to a particular playlist.
- Flavored coffee. Not horse related you say? But since it's lovely, lovely caffeine, or the promise of it when I come in, that propels my butt out the door to do chores in the morning, and I'm the one that drinks the flavored stuff, it counts. And that's grocery shopping.
- Horse treats. Always acceptable. The (Sunny-approved) gift that keeps on giving.
(We won't mention the gorgeous saddle rack I spotted on Pinterest that I know he's more than capable of making for me. And yes, I hinted. Well, actually, I came right out and said, "Hey honey, look what I found! Why don't you build me this, with wheels, for your next project! It would be a perfect gift!")
So anyway, this year when he started bemoaning the shopping aspect taking over the spirit of Christmas, I called bull. "You just don't want to shop for me. Because you and I both know you'll get the kids and your mom something." LOL! Yep.
T's right, of course, it's not all about the presents, but this list is going up on the fridge. :)
