Bad Gifts?

OMG, I haven’t blogged in so long I forgot my username and password and I swore when I started I wouldn’t be one of those bloggers that start and then only blog infrequently --- but then life happened or more descriptly didn’t happen (at least not the way I imagined) and the blog became the least of my concerns. But today on my loooooooong drive to work I made a promise to myself that I would at least write a little something. The question then is what to write about, needs to be something positive, and then on the looong drive home it hit me.

On the radio they were talking about the worst gifts to give and receive and I was shocked that #1 was something home-made. Maybe my shock comes from my love for giving homemade gifts. I love to receive them too. In fact I pride myself on the createdd gifts, especially those that come from the kitchen. I've always thought that the recipients loved them as well --- these are not the yucky fruit cakes and rumballs your grandma used to make --- I make only the good stuff. Perhaps I'm extra sensitive this year without a kitchen and I'm going into baking withdrawals. But it's not just the baked items, but the created ones --- scrapbooks have made people cry, knitted items are a huge hit, the only bomb I've had was an attempt at jewelry making back in high school. I learned the hard way that all are not appreciative of the thought and effort that goes into an effort and looking back it may not have been my best creation but I still think it was cool. Just that my sister at the time was too shallow to appreciate it. So now I wonder why grown adults don't appreciate the handmade gift. Handmade gifts are the true spirit of Christmas. It shows that the creater has spent money(yes plenty of money goes into those creations--- sometimes more than others spend on a gift certificate or cheesy item from the store. The creator also spends an even more valuable resource in today's word TIME dozens off cookies don't bake themselves overnight, knitted scarves take hours of work. Most importantly the giver has given a piece of themselves, art in whatever form comes from within and sometimes that piece is very difficult to give away. For me I have trouble expressing myself in other ways, but when I give a created gift I hope that it says I love you. At least that's how I feel when I get a handmade gift even if it's not as beautiful as something in a store. I know the person giving has thought about me throughout the process and that's means so much more to me than thinking they popped into a mall and chose a random gift.