The Greatest Gifts....

I hope you didn't read that title thinking I was going to enlighten my readers with some dippy trite blog about the intangible pleasures that are bestowed upon us by whatever higher power you might believe in. No. That's not where I am going with this.

I was just reading a random person's blog that I found while searching some of the favorite movies; books and hobbies on my profile. Yes, I am that bored right now. (No cell phone service, and Canadian TV sucks bacon)

Anyway, this girl had a great list of the best presents she had ever gotten for her birthday. It really made me laugh. So....I thought I would do the same. Only, I am not going to do just birthday.

Here it is....Viv's best gifts. No particular order. Enjoy.

1. The Big Yellow Barbie Bus.

I begged for this in 1981. My uncle Frank bought it for me on Christmas. Actually, my mom bought it with my uncle's money. That's how my family works for Christmas. No one buys anybody a gift. They just send a check to their mother, or wife and tell them to buy what the person wants. My grandmother and aunts send me money for my mother's gifts. And I know they do that for me also. Its funny. I've never understood why we just don't give money. Oh well...I'm off topic.

Back to the Barbie bus. When I was kid we always spend Christmas at my nana and papa's house in Niagara Falls. We had a great tradition. I was allowed to open one present under the tree on Christmas Eve. Then the rest had to wait until Christmas morning. I later found out that the only reason my parents let me do that was so that I would open the present that it would take awhile to put together, so they could assemble through the night, and I would have it to play with right when I woke up. That is what happen with the bus. I was so excited when I opened it. And even more thrilled the next day. It was awesome! Sunroof; convertible bunk beds. A T.V. Barbie had it all! I blame that toy for the years I tried to convince my parents to get one of those great 80s vans with the carpet and VCRs in them. In fact, I am a little embarrassed to admit that I played with that thing a lot longer than most girls will fess up to playing Barbie.

2. The Breathalyzer.

Oh yes. For my 30th birthday...my close friends (the circle) went in and got me a breathalyzer. It tells you your BAC (blood alcohol content) when you blow into it. The most fun you can have when out drinking on the town. We still pull that thing out sometimes. Great stories about blowing off the chart. Stories about still blowing over the legal limit the next morning. I even made a guy I was dating blow into it once when he was really late picking me up. I was convinced that he went to happy hour without me after work. I was wrong...he really did just work late. (Wow, and I wonder why I am still single)


3. Tickets to the Tom Jones concert. Front Row center.

Oh yeah. Tom Jones is the greatest singer of this or any generation came to St. Louis last spring, and, thanks to a guy I had gone out with a few times, who worked for a record company, I was there. He got the tickets before they even went on sale! Too bad for him, we were not still together when the concert actually took place. It was amazing. Tom is the ultimate entertainer. Plus, with our seats, we were so close to him. My friend Bridget and I loved that concert. We went all out...brought underwear to throw on stage. Tried to arrange ourselves to get pictures where it looked like we were standing next to Mr. Jones. A great experience!!!!


4. My first Stereo with a CD player.

I was the LAST kid I knew in 9th grade to not have a CD player yet. Yup...I did say 9th grade. I had the thing picked out at Target for months before Christmas...despite my mother telling me repeatedly that it was too expensive, and I wasn't going to get it. I only half believed her. My mother had a track record of trying to convince me I wasn't getting something, just so it would be a surprise. It usually never worked, but my parents and I were fighting a lot that year, and I thought she might have been serious. So, on Christmas eve, I opened it and was so thrilled. I also got my first CD that Christmas. It was the Pretty Woman soundtrack. I spend all of January singing "The King of Wishful Thinking" into a hairbrush along with my new stereo. I really was that big of a nerd.

5. A gold Bracelet.

This is going to be a strange example, but I felt I had to include this on the list. When I was a senior in college, I had this boyfriend....let's call him George. He wasn't my first boyfriend, but he was definitely my first really serious relationship. Also, the first boyfriend I had ever had over a gift giving holiday.

Anyway, I have always been a romantic at heart. I love flowers, and sweet cards from boys. That Christmas, George and I went shopping together to buy presents for our parents. While we were at the Galleria, I spotted this pretty bracelet in a store window. It sort of looked like a column the way the design wrapped around, and since I was getting ready to graduate from Mizzou, I really liked it. Anyway, I forgot about the bracelet later that day, and I didn't even notice that George saw me looking at it. But, a couple weeks later, he gave it to me for Christmas (along with 2 tickets to see RENT, another great gift.) Now that I think about it....
George was a great gift giver....well...... until he bought me a miracle bra for Valentine's Day. He claimed the women at Victoria Secret said I would love it! True story. He told me that after I gave him a strange look upon opening it. I bet there was probably a contest among the salespeople on miracle bras that particular day at VS. Anyway, back to the jewelery.....

It was a really big deal to me getting that bracelet. And it's hard to explain why. In my shallow head at the time, I guess I really believed that if a guy buys you jewelry, that he really loves you. Man, I was a hopeless romantic back then. Who am I kidding?.....I am still a wide eyed hopeless romantic. No shame.

Anyway, that was a wonderful Christmas gift. And a wonderful Christmas for that matter. In fact, I think that was the last year before I started hating Christmas. Memories.......


6. Rodney the Reindeer.

This is funny. As a child, I collected these stuffed Reindeer called Rodney and Rhonda. There was a whole line of them, all different sizes. They sold them every Christmas season at Famous Barr. Well, through the years, I had collected all of them. The only one I didn't have was the huge, almost lifesize, stuffed Rodney that was part of the display. Every year, I would go to Famous Barr and my envious eyes would see that same huge animal in the Christmas section. One year, it disappeared right after Christmas. I asked the saleswoman what happen to it, and she told me she wasn't sure, but that when the store is done with their displays, they usually get pitched. I was so upset! I had been watching it for years thinking it would actually be on sale one of these days. That dream was gone.

Little did I know that it was not pitched, but my mother happen to be at Famous Barr the day after Christmas that year, and even though it was not for sale, she asked to buy it, and they sold it to her!!!! The funny part is that she wanted to give it to me for Christmas, so it was actually hidden in a sleeping bag in our basement for an entire year. She gave it to me the next Christmas. What a surprise.....i think I slept with it in my bed for a few months.

Now that you have read that last story, and were thinking how sweet it was that I, as a child, finally got the gift I had wanted for years, I will let you in on the embarrassing secret. I was a junior in high school when i got the big Rodney. Yeah. Pathetic....I know.


That's the list. My best gifts ever......I hope you enjoyed reading it.