Wow. Um, thanks.

It's that time of year, the time when we give our facial muscles and our restraint a good workout. You know, trying to keep it together when you've gotten a really horrible gift? I got my start when I was a kid. Every Christmas, my grandmother would give my sister and me a box of socks and underwear. Not exactly the dream gift for a child, but I sure wouldn't mind getting them now!

As an adult, I think the worst Christmas gift I received was from an old boyfriend. It was a Rollerskating Santa Bear. While this might sound cute, let me explain. It was about 2' tall and made of hard plastic that was covered by fur and a Santa suit. It had a pretty scary face, too. And just to make it a real whopper, it neither skated when you turned it on, nor did it even stand up. So, I tried turning it on to watch it go and it immediately fell to the ground in a loud, plastic crash. Merry Christmas.

Just for fun, I polled some of my friends to see what kind of gems they've gotten over the years. Here are some of the responses:

From a brother, a Dairy Queen napkin dispenser (including a few napkins still inside) that he got from the thrift store. Why? Because she liked ice cream, of course.

From a grandma, numerous ruffly shirts. They weren't just ruffly, they were also plaid and sparkly. Like a holiday.

From a soon-to-be ex-husband, a printer and a camera when they already had those things. Sounds pretty good still, huh? Well, he got them for her because he was planning on leaving her and didn't want to have to buy them later.

From a mother-in-law, a 1000 page book on the history of cooking. Is that a hint?

From a husband, a cable wire to go with the new sound station he'd purchased. But it was beautifully wrapped!

From a mom, a poster kit to color that was part velvet, part paper. Kind of like a make-your-own velvet art piece. Oh, and she was in her 30's when she got it.

From another husband, a new exhaust pipe for the family car. Nothing says Christmas like exhaust.

Last, but not least, I have one friend who is really bothered when people give her Christmas decorations ON Christmas day. But hey, she can use it in another year!

So, do you have any horrible gifts you'd like to share? I'd love to hear about them! At the bottom of the post, in small blue letters, there's a link for "comments" - just click on that and spill! Can't wait to hear all about them!