Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Christmas Past, Present, and Future Meme

Okay, so Burgh Baby's Mom, at www.theburghbaby.com , decided to get creative and come up with her own holiday meme, then she tagged me! I like the fact that she didn't just follow the crowd, but took initiative, and did her own thing, so I'll gladly play along. (Well, sort of. I'm not tagging anyone. I still don't know how to link to someone else, and I hate to play favorites anyway).

So, I'm supposed to list my favorite childhood Christmas gift, my favorite gift that I received as an adult, and a gift that I would like to receive in the future.

Past: I'm an only child, but I spent a lot of time growing up with my two male cousins. Combine that with the fact that I have never been a girly girl - never liked to wear dresses, braid my hair, paint my nails, buy shoes(size 11, remember?!), swap recipes, etc. So, every year when Christmas rolled around, I was dreaming of matchbox cars, skateboards, and machine guns, and every year, I seemed to get...dolls. But, one year I got a toy I truly loved. You got to be a pilot, and look through the scope at the slowly spinning disc that had various targets. Then, you would pull the trigger and drop a bomb, KABOOM! What fun! Wish I still had that. (Inside my soft spoken, laid back self, is an inner bad ass vigilante just waiting to escape).

Present: As an adult, my best Christmas was last year. Dylan was only a month old, and I was basking in the glow of new mommyness. Since Jim and I are both only children, holidays were small, quiet gatherings, but adding a baby to the mix has made holidays more exciting, more joyful, and much LOUDER! I love it. The best gift, other than my son, was a gift certificate to Nemacolin for a 1 hr. couples massage. Wow. After enduring Dylan's colic scream torture for months, that massage was heavenly. When we walked out, I turned to Jim, and informed him "I'm leaving you for Heidi. Sorry".

Future: Somewhat along the same lines of Burgh Baby's Mom's answer, I would love for someone to give me a trip for Christmas. Not necessarily to Disney - I would be thrilled with just about any trip. The reason for this is simple. Sometimes I think I should change my name to "We". Let me explain. I don't really think of myself as a leader, but it is a role that I always seem to find myself in. In high school, my group of extremely different from each other friends, would all turn to me and ask "Where are we all going to go this weekend?" In college, more of the same, and on and on in just about every relationship I ever had. My family, (my parents, aunt, cousin, and I), once went to Sea World for my birthday. I felt like a sheep herder. I was screaming, and running around them in circles, "People! There is a show in 10 minutes all the way across this park! Let's go! Can we talk and walk at the same time? Is that possible?" My husband, Jim, is no different. He calls me the activity director because I plan, well, everything. When we go on vacations I hear this from Jim..."Jen, did WE make the reservations yet? Did WE remember to pack the suncreen? Did WE remember the tickets? Did WE cancel the mail? Do WE know how to get there?" "No, Jim. WE didn't, but I did". Having all the details of a trip planned for me would be AWESOME! If all my stuff would magically pack itself, that would be good too.

If any of you would like to take this one on, go for it, it is a lot of fun. It put me in the holiday spirit. Where's that spiked eggnog?

6 comments:

Hannah said...

That's neat meme! I liked your answers. The last one especially, as that's what I would love for Christmas one year! AMEN to a suitcase that magically packs itself too! Your hubby and mine sound very similar ... ;-)

Hannah
http://blairsboys.wordpress.com

Aunt Becky said...

Like you, I wasn't into dolls but always recieved them anyway.

Down with Dolls!

Kellan said...

I'd like that trip too - just like you describe - that would be a perfect present!! I love that wanted skateboards and such when you were little - those are the sorts of gifts my girls have always asked for too and I have bought them many a basketball, soccor ball, skateboard ... for Christmas. Take care - this was fun. Kellan

Pam said...

Great memories...thanks for sharing! I am a planner too- a vacation where someone else does the planning and work...sounds great!

Burgh Baby said...

I'm so with you about the dolls. Why did us tomboy types get so many of them when we were kids? Were our relatives trying to convert us?

Since you're a planner and I'm a planner, I bet we couldn't go anywhere together. We would both try so hard to relinquish planning duties that neither one of us would be willing to make even a simple decision. Come to think of it, it would be a blast!

Jen said...

Hannah, do you think us women have control issues, or do we just realize that if we let them plan stuff, things will go very, very wrong?

Becky, A little girl that I was a nanny for hated dolls, and her mom actually wrote in her birthday invitations, "My daughter hates dolls". I'm sure some people were offended, but I thought it was great!

Kellan, I never did get that skateboard, but I also never broke a bone, so maybe my parents knew what they were doing.

Pam, hope you get that trip someday!

BBM, Yea, so when ARE you emailing me the plans?