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Gifts

I have a birthday coming up in  3 days.  When it dawned on me just a few days ago, my first reaction was sheer terror.  You see, my driver’s license expires on that day and I hadn’t been in to renew it yet.  But, a quick trip to town and $75 later, that detail  was taken care of yesterday.

As I pondered  previous birthday memories, my mind wandered to the subject of gifts.  Although I really don’t want to focus my life on obtaining things, I must admit that getting gifts does make a person (well, at least me, anyway) feel special.  As I unpacked my suitcase the other day, I felt like I’ve already been blessed with gifts galore.  It’s not necessarily the monetary value of an item that makes it special.  It’s the fact that the person giving it knows you so well that they just know what you’d love…

Let me show you:

dish towels

My friend Kerry-Lea sent me a package with 2 beautiful kitchen tea towels in what she told me was my “signature color”.  {I didn’t realize I had a signature color until she informed me it was aqua blue.  Yep.  I’m going with it.}  We had had a conversation when I was at her house about how we went for years using towels that were wedding gifts and not replacing them when they got all worn out and ratty.  Funny thing ~ I was going to send her some new kitchen towels.  She beat me to it.

One of the many things I miss about my mom was her yearly trips up here to visit us.  When she arrived she always had a suitcase filled with little “goodies” for all of us.  It was often little things that she knew we’d each like…like a candle, or special flavoured coffee beans.  Of course, I miss her more than the gifts, but the gifts were part of the fun.  As I pulled this out of the suitcase, I realized I had also been given some special memories of her…

mom's cookbook

{her favorite cookbook, the lace tablecloth she always used for special meals, and songbooks that she sang out of.}

You don’t need to be around me for long to realize that I have a slightly OCD reaction to restaurant and public washroom germs.  My little bottle of purse-sized purell is always hauled out during a restaurant meal.  My sister Becky got me these cute little bottles that even smell nice!

purell

When I oohed and ahhed over my sister-in-law Lorrie’s cupcake display,

cupcakes

 

she whipped out her baker’s twine and got some all packaged up to send home with me.  I can’t wait to make some “faux cupcakes” myself!

baker's twine

And remember the Sisters’ Birthday Brunch that Susan put on for us?  That day, their gift to me was to take me to the Medora Musical in Medora, North Dakota.  I don’t think I’ve been there since before I was married (22 years ago).  If you don’t know what in the world I’m talking about, it’s a musical that takes place in an outdoor amphitheatre  smack dab in the middle of the badlands of North Dakota.

DSC_7733

See that “backdrop” of sky and badlands behind those buildings?  That’s not a backdrop, folks.  It’s the real deal!!

The evening was filled with singing and dancing and cowboys and patriotic songs that make me choke up.  {Yep, I’m one of those people…}  If you are ever in the area of Medora, North Dakota, I highly recommend it.  You can find more details here.

As I tucked away my suitcases and found new homes for all these little gifts, I felt overwhelmed with blessing and thankfulness~

~Not just for the gifts, but for the givers of them…

Thank you. xxoo

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3 Comments

  1. I missed your birthday..well then so glad I got that little package up to you in time…you are a blessing.

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