Monday, July 23, 2012

You Get What You Give

The other night I came home and found THE MOST PERFECT GIFT on my doorstep!

I like gifts just fine, but I'm a giver so I am usually happier when I GIVE a gift than when I receive one...but when someone find you THE MOST PERFECT GIFT...well, you just have to LOVE LOVE LOVE it...

And blog about it...

So let me tell you...and show you...what was on my doorstep...

(I apologize now for the poor quality of my photos...I need a new lens on my camera...gonna get to "Fix Your Gadget" (yes, they will fix your iPhone here in Houston) and get it taken care of)



Yes, that is a real, honest-to-God, vintage Barbie case!

Inside...

Yes, that is MALIBU BARBIE!!!!

I don't keep her in the case...she lives on my nightstand so I can see her every day...see...


She is so perfect and beautiful!  She even has her little towel.

I'm considering getting her some clothes so I can play dress up with her...

So where did she come from?

I have a nickname among some of my friends...yup, you guessed it...Malibu Barbie.

I'm rather fond of my tan and my bleached (from the sun) hair.  If only I had her figure...but I'm working on it.

So my friend Marvelous Margaret...who I am renaming "Dragon Lady" on this blog for reasons known to her and me...spent most of June calling me Malibu Barbie when she saw me...she still does...

So she was at a vintage store and voila...she found the doll and a case.

Now I have to tell you, it is one of the BEST gifts ever...because it was given for fun...and love...and friendship...and because I totally LOVE LOVE LOVE Malibu Barbie!

I cried when I saw the case...and then the tears would not stop when I opened up the case and saw her inside...and I knew that Dragon Lady is a very special friend indeed.

You know you are really blessed when a good friend gives you a gift that is simply PERFECT!

And this one is perfect...

It's just like my 1/2 birthday gift that GOTT and GOTTESS and GOTTSON gave me 2 years ago...my favorite coffee mug that says "Don't make me call the flying monkeys"...it is a statement I often tell the kids at school...and every time I drink coffee from it I love GOTT and GOTTESS and GOTTSON even more.

Last year for my birthday GOTTESS gave me the sweetest card about being friends and a little book about friendship...I keep them both in my nightstand so that I can smile and feel the love with which they were given.  She is a special friend indeed...

And as you can see my nightstand is my treasure place...

I also keep a gift that my friend SuperSue (she was one of my camp counselors) gave me...it is a joke gift but it reminds me of camp...

what is it you ask?

(of course you want to know...)

well, this one is unusual...

once upon a time at Friday Mountain Girls Camp someone decided that when Julie (the best camp director ever and who's love and approval I want and treasure as much as my own mother's) said we should SHARE...well, that camper decided to SHARE...

the stomach bug....

Yes, about 60% of the camp fell victim to a vile form of the stomach bug...

And so one of the campers decided that while she was locked up in the infirmary cabin that she would write a manifesto about the ills of the stomach bug...

she wrote it on toilet paper...

SuperSue ended up with it...and she sent it to me...and I treasure it...because it reminds me of camp and even though I fell victim to it, I remember the year fondly...

I even wrote a play for us to perform at camp about it...I called it "The Wizard of Kidd" (the camp was owned by the Kidd family).  It was a take-off on The Wizard of Oz.  The wicked witch was named "Montezuma's Revenge" and she was killed when Dorothy threw Pepto Bismol on her...

I thought it was a pretty clever play...I myself was not Dorothy but the scarecrow...

So I keep the toilet paper manifesto there in my drawer...

The best wedding gift I received was a handmade quilt lovingly stitched by LovelyLinda.  I treasure that quilt.  When I packed up for the hurricane it went into a plastic tub for safekeeping.  I sleep with it when I don't feel good.

The marriage didn't last but the quilt did...and I'm lucky that LovelyLinda is still my friend.

My Aunt Jane (the Best Person in the World) gives me a lot of amazing gifts.  But one of the best is a photo collage that reminds me of how far I have come with my weight loss.  And a photo frame that she managed to buy when I wasn't looking when we went to Oprah.

My friend D-nice gave me the best gift for Christmas...she got me a beautiful apron and some herbs de provence as a promise that we are going to cook our way through Julia Child together.  Even if we don't get through all the recipes I will treasure getting to cook next to one of the people I love most in this world.

I gave her a bottle just like they used on "I Dream of Jeannie"...she keeps it in here bedroom...it cost next to nothing but it symbolizes a mutual love we have...

My friend Angel Amy gave me a great gift when she made me apply for the Oprah show...

And Twirler Girl knows the way to my heart because she gave me a Rabbit...no not the "naughty" kind like on Sex and the City...but a Rabbit wine opener!

(hahahaha...I got you there!  I did the same thing to D-nice when I texted her and told her I got her a Rabbit...she wasn't sure if I meant the wine opener, the "toy" or a bunny...)

So you see...a REAL gift is one that touches you in a way you can't forget...

I try and do that when I can...

I gave GOTT a mug that reminds him of how special he is...he likes to drink his hot tea from it.  I also got him a hot water boiler to use at work so he could make his tea...he likes tea...

I've got something special picked out for GOTTESS this year...but I'm not telling cause she reads this...but hey GOTTESS...I know what you want!!!!!

I have a friend who had a bunch of t-shirts that he was holding on to but no longer wore.  He asked me what I thought he should do with them.  I told him to give them to me if he trusted me...he did trust me and he gave me the shirts.  I had a quilt made out of them for him.  He teared up when I gave him the quilt and declared it the nicest thing anyone had done for him.  It was a simple gift but a lovely way for him to remember what the shirts meant even if he can't wear them...and now he doesn't have to part with them.  I did it as a gift but it was also a test run because I want to do the same thing with my son's camp t-shirts.

(www.campusquilt.com)

The other day a friend mentioned that after her grandmother died she had a lot of chenille blankets that they were trying to figure out what to do with.  They had teddy bears made from the blankets and she treasures hers...what a great idea!  What a great gift...

Ke$ha Barbie collects old vinyl albums...I found "Pet Sounds" by the Beach Boys for her...we love that album and how it changed music...she framed it...but to me it represents our mutual love of music and that I taught her that some of the best stuff comes from the past...

The other day I ordered JayVee something for her new house...it's not much and it really is just something for her pantry but I knew she would appreciate it and I knew that every time she opened the pantry she would appreciate having it there.  It's not what you spend, but it is about thinking about what the other person NEEDS sometimes...she was going to get it for herself but it was more fun to surprise her...and she does so much for me that I loved doing it...

But really I think one of the best gifts we can give is our time...be it to help a friend move...or to listen when someone needs you...or an afternoon to just laugh together.

But the BEST gift of all is love...not a thing...just to give your love...freely...

I read "The 5 Love Languages for Singles" (all of the books are good but that one applied to me best).  But the 5 languages are the same whether you are single or not: Physical Touch, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Acts of Service and Receiving Gifts.

For me, the languages I NEED most are Words of Affirmation and Physical Touch.

Because of that I freely give them...I love to tell people how much I love them and support them and I meant it each and every time.  And I'm a hugger and kisser...you are gonna get hugged whether you like it or not with me....

What I don't need to be given to me is Acts of Service and Gifts...but when they are given to me, I really do appreciate it.  Funny thing is that I love to do acts of service and I love to GIVE gifts.  And I always appreciate Quality Time because I freely give it.

But I DO need words of affirmation from those I love...it was a problem in my marriage and the man who wins my heart (and hopefully drives a big ass truck...still holding out for that) will be one who gives me those words of affirmation...and his physical touch will be one that sends a thrill through me each and every time.  It's not about "that" (you know what I mean...but yeah that's good too)...it's the holding of a hand when walking in a parking lot...or a kiss because dinner tastes great...or rubbing my back while we watch tv...those little touches...

So I speak all 5 love languages...I give freely of each...

I'm a giver...I love to give little gifts and big ones...I love to listen for 5 minutes or 5 hours when a friend needs me to...I love to help out when someone needs a hand.

And in return I have amazing friends...

If you get what you give...well then I get a whole lot...not because I'm so great...it's just that I chose to love freely and give freely...and in return I get a lot...

Inspiration Song: "You Get What You Give" by New Radicals.  It's a great song...I have always loved it...not really a song about giving but it's still good...

Bye Darlings...today I am giving you a blog...because I have to celebrate my Malibu Barbie...you should all be as lucky as me to have a Dragon Lady in your life that knows you so well that she gets you the perfect gift...I love you friends...and I love you Dragon Lady!!!!






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