My birthday, a week ago, made me start thinking about gifts. Which made me start thinking about “people who know me.” There aren’t many. Probably why I started this blog, when it comes down to it. Some people are really great gift-givers, and some people are not. This is not one of my particular talents, so I’m always super-impressed with people whose it is (*cough* Jennifer *cough*).
Before I go further, though, let me say that I don’t really like receiving gifts. So if you think you might want to give me one for any occasion, don’t. But if you have, yay! Presents!
Okay, focus. Gotta get to the point.
I feel like Jeff really knows me. I’ve felt this way from when we first became friends. I didn’t have a car in Auburn for a while, so he sometimes picked me up to drive me to church-group events and the grocery store and stuff. One time, on the way to a Christmas party, he started singing along with the radio in his not-so-great singing voice. And so did I! My biggest insecurity is definitely singing. If you were in my high school, you may remember me crying in music class when we had to sing individually, fleeing the classroom, and futilely trying to explain to Professor Bode what exactly is so bad about singing with other people in the room. But in any case, I sang in the car with Jeff when we were practically just still acquaintances.
And his gift-giving! Wow! Some notable presents he’s given me: hooded sweatshirt, electric blanket, sweatpants (apparently I sometimes like to be warm), Mt. Dew, yoga video, weights, pull-up bar, screwdriver (that was a wedding present. So romantic.), chapstick, derby tights, candy corn, spatulas, can opener (this was in grad school. Strangely, we got each other can openers that year!), and yarn.
Those are things that I appreciate.
Compare with gifts given to me by guys I dated in the past or guys who admired me from not-afar-enough, in my opinion. Necklaces. Necklaces, necklaces, necklaces. The occasional bracelet to break up the monotony. Now, in middle school, I can see where a guy might think giving a girl a necklace is a good idea. You know, commercials and whatnot advancing that idea. But by high school, and college, certainly, it seems a guy would want to give a gift that a girl might appreciate. And I am not now and never have been a girl who appreciates necklaces. Though I turned them down or accepted the gifts when pressed, dashing their romantic hopes all the while, as graciously as possible.
And, the worst––a guy I dated a long time, like a year, maybe, in college, gave me a pink silk Victoria’s Secret robe (though he knew he would never see me wear it. That just wasn’t going to happen even if I did like it). Worst present ever. (I should have known. This same guy thought I should lose weight, when I weighed 130, and I’m 5’10”, and he “subtly” hinted a couple times that I should get a French tip manicure. Does that sound like me?) This is an example of someone who does not know me. And after our years-long friendship and many months of dating, that doesn’t speak well to his skills of observation. Nice guy, though.
But let me say that Jeff’s not cheap. His gifts are amazing because he really does know what a Brigitte wants. (Example of his not-cheap-ness: My engagement ring is some fancy expensive diamond. I couldn’t tell you the specs, but I know it’s the sparkly cut and the more-white-than-yellow grade… or type… or whatever. It’s fancy and I’m sure more expensive than my first two cars (though of course the cost is a secret). I thought it was fake when he proposed, because it’s that nice.)
Jeff’s amazing skills in gift-giving also give the gift of humor: Sometimes people ask what he got me for Christmas, and their reactions are funny. For example, last year was the yoga video and weights. Someone, prepared to be horrified, asked if Jeff was worried I would gain too much weight while pregnant. I guess an outsider might be led to believe that he was not-so-subtly telling me to work out. Ha ha. I’m not sure she believed me that the gift was exactly what I wanted. The look on her face before I explained!
So, yeah, it sure is nice to be married to someone who really knows me. And knows how to show it.
Before I go further, though, let me say that I don’t really like receiving gifts. So if you think you might want to give me one for any occasion, don’t. But if you have, yay! Presents!
Okay, focus. Gotta get to the point.
I feel like Jeff really knows me. I’ve felt this way from when we first became friends. I didn’t have a car in Auburn for a while, so he sometimes picked me up to drive me to church-group events and the grocery store and stuff. One time, on the way to a Christmas party, he started singing along with the radio in his not-so-great singing voice. And so did I! My biggest insecurity is definitely singing. If you were in my high school, you may remember me crying in music class when we had to sing individually, fleeing the classroom, and futilely trying to explain to Professor Bode what exactly is so bad about singing with other people in the room. But in any case, I sang in the car with Jeff when we were practically just still acquaintances.
And his gift-giving! Wow! Some notable presents he’s given me: hooded sweatshirt, electric blanket, sweatpants (apparently I sometimes like to be warm), Mt. Dew, yoga video, weights, pull-up bar, screwdriver (that was a wedding present. So romantic.), chapstick, derby tights, candy corn, spatulas, can opener (this was in grad school. Strangely, we got each other can openers that year!), and yarn.
Those are things that I appreciate.
Compare with gifts given to me by guys I dated in the past or guys who admired me from not-afar-enough, in my opinion. Necklaces. Necklaces, necklaces, necklaces. The occasional bracelet to break up the monotony. Now, in middle school, I can see where a guy might think giving a girl a necklace is a good idea. You know, commercials and whatnot advancing that idea. But by high school, and college, certainly, it seems a guy would want to give a gift that a girl might appreciate. And I am not now and never have been a girl who appreciates necklaces. Though I turned them down or accepted the gifts when pressed, dashing their romantic hopes all the while, as graciously as possible.
And, the worst––a guy I dated a long time, like a year, maybe, in college, gave me a pink silk Victoria’s Secret robe (though he knew he would never see me wear it. That just wasn’t going to happen even if I did like it). Worst present ever. (I should have known. This same guy thought I should lose weight, when I weighed 130, and I’m 5’10”, and he “subtly” hinted a couple times that I should get a French tip manicure. Does that sound like me?) This is an example of someone who does not know me. And after our years-long friendship and many months of dating, that doesn’t speak well to his skills of observation. Nice guy, though.
But let me say that Jeff’s not cheap. His gifts are amazing because he really does know what a Brigitte wants. (Example of his not-cheap-ness: My engagement ring is some fancy expensive diamond. I couldn’t tell you the specs, but I know it’s the sparkly cut and the more-white-than-yellow grade… or type… or whatever. It’s fancy and I’m sure more expensive than my first two cars (though of course the cost is a secret). I thought it was fake when he proposed, because it’s that nice.)
Jeff’s amazing skills in gift-giving also give the gift of humor: Sometimes people ask what he got me for Christmas, and their reactions are funny. For example, last year was the yoga video and weights. Someone, prepared to be horrified, asked if Jeff was worried I would gain too much weight while pregnant. I guess an outsider might be led to believe that he was not-so-subtly telling me to work out. Ha ha. I’m not sure she believed me that the gift was exactly what I wanted. The look on her face before I explained!
So, yeah, it sure is nice to be married to someone who really knows me. And knows how to show it.
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