Musings of a Wench

Present highlights

Best present: a king sized duvet and cover for our bed. We have a queen but I think have been using a double sized duvet which was about 2 cm thick, plus a single sized blanket my mother crocheted, and a ugly polyester quilt my grandmother made that John hates so much. This is so much better, and warmer, and more comfortable. Also? It is gorgeous in dark grey with black stripes. You may notice a trend in my life. Dark is good. It will fit in perfectly when we paint the bedroom. I am planning on white walls, maybe dark grey trim (dark grey is the colour of the ensuite bath) and the headboard wall? Deep, glorious red. A colour called Rapture. A colour that to me on such a big wall will scream blood and death and sex and love. And really, what else could I do?

Best present idea that sadly fell short: the spice rack. It's a nice countertop spice rack with 20 different labeled spice jars, complete with spices. However. We love spices. We have lots and lots and lots of spices. I have a drawer with more than 40 types of spices, most in matching Ikea jars. We also have the whole spice and condiment cupboard. The bottom shelf is all spices. The middle is of oils and vinegars and condiments and food colouring. The top is a variety of dry good that don't get used much. Uncle Ben rice mix, Oregon blueberry pancake mix, rice papers, rice stick noodles, Chinese soups I eat at work when I don't have real food...

So it was a great idea - we sure love our spices, but a total failure, because what would we do with them? I already have them in matching containers that fit our life. I don't want a big bulky thing on my counter top. Great attempt though.

The dairy free cookbook Christine gave me is a close second, because I bought it for myself a few years ago. Again, great idea.

Hands down weirdest present: pink peppers in brine. My parents bought the duvet and then bought a few small and silly thing from a Greek deli, including a small jar of pink pepper corns in brine. John got cuttlefish flavoured snack crackers from an Asian market, so I guess I win. :)

Most useful gift: probably not the dining room table, for all it could be very useful later. No, it's a trio of casserole dishes that can be microwaved. I've gone for a year and a half without being able to cook dishes in the microwave, or make any form of casserole. I will be making shepherd's pie very soon now.

Most over the top thing we got: our stocking from John's parents. 20 things in mine, plus handfuls of chocolates. Big things too, like an olive wood spoon and a garden trowel in mine. John got things like putty knives and a pooping reindeer toy.

Biggest surprise: my sister send a present wrapped in a long sheet of white paper that has sat on the stairs for the last month. I opened it and it was a delicate glass ornament, miraculously unscathed.

Most crazy ridiculously over the top present: a scarf from my big boss. A nice scarf. In fact, a very nice scarf. A 100% cashmere scarf from Holt Renfew. (I am afraid to find out how much it costs.) I must have done very, very well at work this year. (Of course, it's a matter of days for me to take home the money, and a matter of minutes to him, so it really is all very relative.)

How can I reconcile this? My pleasure with the receiving with my ambivalence towards all the materialism and the conspicuous consumption? I don't know. Maybe I'll figure it out in time. I do hope so, because all this internal conflict is no fun for anyone.

posted by Morgan @ 10:10 a.m.