My oldest daughter (who is in the Army) and has some money for the first time in her young life, asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I told her lots of dirt for Winter Sowing and Bubble Mailers for exchanging seeds through the mail. She had a fit!! She said she was not getting "some raggedy stuff for her mother for Christmas!". I tried to convince her that it was what I really wanted, but she was having none of it. She ended up buying me a very lovely indoor tabletop water fountain that I will NEVER be able to use because of my 4 large dogs and three smaller children that would just destroy it!!!! PLEASE!!! SOMEONE GIVE ME SOME DIRT!!!!!!!!

I have one that is more strange than funny, but appropriate for a decorating forum. Many years ago, just before Christmas, my BIL and his wife remodeled their kitchen, using apples as a theme--dark red and forest green colors. My MIL called and told me that for Christmas she and FIL were buying BIL/SIL new dishes, to match their new kitchen. She described the dishes as having apples painted on them, with a dark green edge band. Then she said, "And we'd like to get you new dishes, too." I was thrilled, because I'd been thinking of buying a new set of dishes to replace our old odds-and-ends, but hadn't wanted to spend the money. I told my MIL this, and thanked her, and mentioned that either a cream color, or a light sage green would look good in my kitchen. MIL: "No, we're getting you the same dishes, with apples on them, because that's what FIL likes." Me: "But, we don't have anything with apples on it in our kitchen, and really, nothing red or forest green." (The kitchen had no theme--it was neutral with cream and tan, and some light blue-green vintage pottery.) MIL: "Well, that's what we're getting you, and I'm sure they'll be just fine." Me: "Um, OK, thank you. That's really nice of you." On Christmas I opened the package, thanked the in-laws again, then used the hated apple dishes for about a year and a half. One day when the in-laws showed up for family dinner, I put out my brand new cream and sage dishes, that I'd finally bought for myself, without saying a word. Neither of them ever mentioned my new dishes. I love my FIL and my late MIL, and that was so out of character for them, it still puzzles me. BTW, I packed away the apple dishes, until just recently, when my DD needed dishes for her new place. She was happy to see the familiar pattern, especially since the dishes came from her grandparents. :)

That is a wonderful gift, Dawn! And a belated Happy Birthday to you! Another tool lover here. One of the very best gifts I ever received for Mother's Day was a band saw I had been wanting. Apparently the salesman where my son bought it was almost in shock, said he'd never, in all his decades of selling tools, ever sold a band saw for a Mother's Day gift! I don't remember what my son said he replied to that, but we all had a good laugh over it. I love my Dremel, too. That work station looks very handy! ! ! Rusty

I have kind of a cute story. In 1982, I was a recent college-grad, newly moved to San Francisco, and during the Christmas season, I walked past the SPCA's adoption event on Market Street at lunchtime one day. I've always been a huge dog lover, and impulsively decided I wanted to buy all the dogs chews for Christmas, so I stopped for a few minutes to talk to the woman in charge to find out how many dogs there were in total, where I could drop the chews off, etc. We had a good 10-minute conversation. During our conversation, I was slightly aware of a youngish man standing off to the side of us, but Market St. is a busy street with lots of people around, so I didn't pay him much attention. Anyway, after I made a plan with the volunteer, I walked quickly away, because by now I was a bit delayed getting back to work after lunch. Half a block later or so, I suddenly, I felt a bit of a tug on my arm and turned to see the young man who had been listening to my conversation with the SPCA volunteer walking quickly as if to catch up with me. "Excuse me," he said, with a heavy Eastern European accent. "I sorry to be nosy -but I never see this before. You are buying shoes for all the dogs for Christmas?" It just cracked me up, to think of him sitting there thinking, "These crazy Americans, they buy shoes for their dogs!" I think I got him straight, but the funny thing is now, nearly forty years later, it wouldn't seem all that bizarre to buy shoes for dogs!