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ninanevermore.
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Today on my drive into work, I was thinking about my husband's birthday present to me this year. I am notoriously hard to shop for, or so I am told. There are two reasons for this: the first is that I don't know what I want unless I am looking right at it, and the second is that if I don't want a gift I have just received, I have no talent for hiding my feelings.
After 19 years by my side, Jeff is used to this, because a man can get used to almost anything. Being used to a situation doesn’t mean you are happy with it. Gift-giving occasions are an emotional minefield around our house.
"Just get me a card," I've told him, "I like cards."
"I've got to get you more than that," he always says.
This year I suggested earrings. I'm always losing one somewhere, so earrings are a nice bet. To make it easier for him, I even gave him what I consider to be very simple rules for what kind of earrings I like.
"They have to be made of gold and sterling silver, because otherwise I'm allergic. Nothing too cutesy: I don't want anything shaped like puppies or dolphins or unicorns, or any other kind of animal, for that matter, including ladybugs. I hate cutesy. I don't want them so long that they hang down to my shoulders, but nothing too tiny, either. I kind of like the understated urban bohemian look; earthy, but sophisticated. That's not too difficult, is it?"
He just looked at me and sighed.
When Jeff came home from work on Saturday morning, I was on the back patio reading the paper (I'm old school like that). He handed me a card and said, "I know you told me what you wanted, but I didn't get a chance to go shopping for it. So I got one of your other choices; I hope you like it."
I opened the card, and smile broadly, thinking that he had finally come to his senses and just gotten me a card. Cards are never disappointing, because even when you don't like them, they only take up so much room and can be filed away easily.
"Thank you!" I said, genuinely happy.
He looked at me strangely. "Your gift is on the front porch."
"Oh, okay."
I walked thought the house, opened the front door, and found this:
"A tree," I said.
"A magnolia tree," he said.
From time to time, I have mentioned off hand that I've always wanted to live in a house with a magnolia tree in the yard. I like their big glossy leaves, their show-offey flowers and the fact that they are evergreen. Best of all, because they are native to this region, once they are in the ground they don't need any special help or attention. Anything that thrives on neglect is right up my alley.
"She's beautiful," I said, "Let's name her 'Maggie.'"
"You need to tell me where to plant it," Jeff said, so I've been thinking about that ever since. Magnolia trees are kind of a showpiece sort of tree, and not something you should hide away in the back yard. I think she would be happiest in the middle of the front lawn, where anyone approaching the house can admire her enormous white flowers in the spring.
Suddenly, I'm liking my fixer upper house a little better, or at least hating it a little less. Sure, it's a money pit and an eyesore. It's still brimming with potential that it will never live up to, because my husband and I lack the talent or the money to make it happen. But you know what? It has a magnolia tree in the yard. Maybe the place can grow on me, after all.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * # * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
.
.
Today on my drive into work, I was thinking about my husband's birthday present to me this year. I am notoriously hard to shop for, or so I am told. There are two reasons for this: the first is that I don't know what I want unless I am looking right at it, and the second is that if I don't want a gift I have just received, I have no talent for hiding my feelings.
After 19 years by my side, Jeff is used to this, because a man can get used to almost anything. Being used to a situation doesn’t mean you are happy with it. Gift-giving occasions are an emotional minefield around our house.
"Just get me a card," I've told him, "I like cards."
"I've got to get you more than that," he always says.
This year I suggested earrings. I'm always losing one somewhere, so earrings are a nice bet. To make it easier for him, I even gave him what I consider to be very simple rules for what kind of earrings I like.
"They have to be made of gold and sterling silver, because otherwise I'm allergic. Nothing too cutesy: I don't want anything shaped like puppies or dolphins or unicorns, or any other kind of animal, for that matter, including ladybugs. I hate cutesy. I don't want them so long that they hang down to my shoulders, but nothing too tiny, either. I kind of like the understated urban bohemian look; earthy, but sophisticated. That's not too difficult, is it?"
He just looked at me and sighed.
When Jeff came home from work on Saturday morning, I was on the back patio reading the paper (I'm old school like that). He handed me a card and said, "I know you told me what you wanted, but I didn't get a chance to go shopping for it. So I got one of your other choices; I hope you like it."
I opened the card, and smile broadly, thinking that he had finally come to his senses and just gotten me a card. Cards are never disappointing, because even when you don't like them, they only take up so much room and can be filed away easily.
"Thank you!" I said, genuinely happy.
He looked at me strangely. "Your gift is on the front porch."
"Oh, okay."
I walked thought the house, opened the front door, and found this:
"A tree," I said.
"A magnolia tree," he said.
From time to time, I have mentioned off hand that I've always wanted to live in a house with a magnolia tree in the yard. I like their big glossy leaves, their show-offey flowers and the fact that they are evergreen. Best of all, because they are native to this region, once they are in the ground they don't need any special help or attention. Anything that thrives on neglect is right up my alley.
"She's beautiful," I said, "Let's name her 'Maggie.'"
"You need to tell me where to plant it," Jeff said, so I've been thinking about that ever since. Magnolia trees are kind of a showpiece sort of tree, and not something you should hide away in the back yard. I think she would be happiest in the middle of the front lawn, where anyone approaching the house can admire her enormous white flowers in the spring.
Suddenly, I'm liking my fixer upper house a little better, or at least hating it a little less. Sure, it's a money pit and an eyesore. It's still brimming with potential that it will never live up to, because my husband and I lack the talent or the money to make it happen. But you know what? It has a magnolia tree in the yard. Maybe the place can grow on me, after all.
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no subject
Date: 2008-07-29 07:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-29 07:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-29 07:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-29 07:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-29 07:57 pm (UTC)2. Happy Birthday.
3. Good job Jeff!!!!
4. I wasn't very appreciative of our home until I put some blood, sweat, and tears (and lots of cursing) into a home improvement project. After that, the home and I came to a level of mutual appreciation/admiration. The little things have a way of doing that.
5. Jeff!! Jeff!!! Jeff!!!!
no subject
Date: 2008-07-29 09:14 pm (UTC)2. Thank you! :D
4. As God is my witness, no one will ever again talk me into taking on a project because something "has potential." I hate the word potential more than any other in the English language.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-29 09:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 02:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-29 07:58 pm (UTC)*sniffle*
~*~
no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 02:28 pm (UTC)the place can grow on me,
Date: 2008-07-29 08:58 pm (UTC)and may the tree become a beauty,..:)
Re: the place can grow on me,
Date: 2008-07-30 02:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-29 09:16 pm (UTC)That is an incredibly thoughtful present :) He probably racked his brain for this one! What a sweetheart :) :)
no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 02:34 pm (UTC)Yeah, he did good. This is way better than cut flowers; I not only get blooms for years to come, I get a shady place to sit and enjoy them. :)
no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 05:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 02:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 02:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 06:05 am (UTC)But that's just me.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 02:46 pm (UTC)Besides, Jeff has a whole forest of saplings growing in paint buckets to fill in the empty spaces in the back yard. He digs them up or plants them as acorns to grow in a protect area until they are big enough and tough enough to take the heat and the assaults from hungry dear, who can nibble a defenseless baby tree down to a twig.
Meanwhile, the magnolia goes in the front yard, to replace the pine that died in the drought 2 years ago. We have a big blank spot to fill in.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 02:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 02:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 04:25 pm (UTC)Happy belated birthday!
no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 10:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 07:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-12 11:32 pm (UTC)