We need a little humor around here. Let's polk some fun at the best and worst gifts that we've both given and received from people. You don't have to name names of the gift-giver, but feel free to do so if you're comfortable (and for our amusement):

Best Given: Herman Miller Aeron Chair (although there's a long story attached explaining how I've actually yet to receive it in order to give it. Let's just say I bought two of them this Christmas b/c the first one was bought from a scam artist on Ebay. But, when the second one (which I bought from someone else) comes in, I know it'll be a big deal for the recipient).

Best Received: It's a toss up between the check to buy a new stainless steel dishwasher from my parents and the Sedu ceramic hair straightener from Lar (I was impressed that he did the research and bought this one on his own accord!)

Worst Given: A garden auger blade (it's supposed to help dig in the garden) I bought for my mom. It went over like a stale bagel.

Worst Received: The 100th scented candle received from SAID person's relatives ("How many candles can one own???" It screams of, "I've known you for over 5 years, but only your name. I know nothing else about you, so here, have this candle.")

AND NOT RELATED TO ME but funny all the same, I once knew someone who received for her wedding from the immediate family of the groom, a very old, used crock pot. Needless to say, the bride was mortified.

OK, tag. You're it. Tell us what you got and gave.

UPDATE: The Aeron Chair arrived and Lar will be home in over an hour! I can't wait to surprise him with it (sort of - he knows it's coming, just not WHEN it's coming).

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Amie
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By pre-agreement, gift giving in my family was extremely limited this year but I still got one of the worst gifts I ever received. Seems my parents ordered a few crates of oranges a few months ago. When they came back to town last month to stay for the holidays, they brought oranges out the wazoo with them. By the time Thanksgiving had arrived, I was so sick of oranges, they couldn't pay me to take any more. Then, for Christmas, you guessed it, I got a crate of oranges. We all had a good laugh over it but, bottom line, I now have to be the one to throw away their month-old left-over oranges.

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Once in a while you can get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.

OH NOOOooo. That's horrible! I can't believe they gave you more of the same. I'd rather receive nothing. LOL

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Amie
Stylish Crochet Patterns
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Best Given: a signed Lladro as a Christmas gift, very hard to come by.

Best Received: I have two, one material would be my Chevy Tahoe and the other would be every morning that I wake up healthy.

Worst Received: Would have to be the fruitcake my sister in law made year after year. She thought I really liked them, I didn't have the heart to tell her I didn't. She and my brother divorced 18 years ago.


Worst Given: The re-gifted fruitcake to a fellow co-worker (obviously someone I did not care for.

Don't get me wrong, my SIL made a good fruitcake, I just don't care for them.

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Aruba, no other place like it!
Our next trip June 19 th - July 3rd 2010

I had a feeling a re-gifting story would surface. LOL.

I thought of another bad gift I got. One year when I was working at this other school, we did Secret Santa. I didn't want to, but was talked into it by my friend Sue. Well, one of the founders of the school got my name and gave me a pencil container with the school's name on it as a gift. Needless to say, this was a school I was trying to leave since the first month I worked there. A gift with it's name on it was probably the last thing I was looking for. What was worse was that I think it was off this guy's desk! It was one of the first things I chucked the day I quit.

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Amie
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Best Given Gift- Because every time I go to my sons house and I have to use the bathroom, I use my 10 year old grand-daughters bathroom and, yup you guessed it, there is never toilet paper so I end up screaming for someone to bring some to me. So, I very cleverly disguised a roll of toilet paper (but inside was a $50.00 bill), by wrapping it, putting it into a box, wrapped the box so she had 5 boxes to unwrap to get to her gift
Best Rec'd- That would, of course have to be the trip to Aruba that Paul and I just took.
Worst Given-Scented Yankee Candles to my neighbors that give me CHEAP scented candles every year for past 8 years. It was my year to "get even".
Worst Rec'd- Cheap scented candles and de-caff. coffee from that coffee club (Gevalia) (sp) from those darn neighbors!!!
Weirdest gifts for 18 years- those would be the gifts we all got BACK from the previous years that we had given to my first husbands very wealthy grandmother. She would save them, and re-wrap and re-give the next Christmas. And she thought we never noticed!!!!!

Best Gift Given.... I threatened my boss that I may not come back from my vacation, and that retirement was getting as near as 3 years! He told me that he needed to see me at my desk everyday until I'm 93! I had someone take a picture of me at my desk, bought a frame and gave it to him!!

Best Gift Received.... An old necklace of my Mom's with a very unusual pave' diamond center triangle that I had restored.

Worst Gift Given.... Can't think of one 'cause I wouldn't give what I wouldn't want.

Worst Gift Received... Yep, that old candle thing. What's with candles anyway??? I don't even burn them 'cause of the soot it creates in the house!! (At least I didn't get oranges)

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The countdown's begun!
January 30th to February 27th!

That's funnnnny. I hope she remembers to leave a roll out when you're there now.

LMAO at the candle gift. I have an issue with candles as gifts. Don't get me wrong, I like burning candles, but I think it's a crappy gift to give someone you proport to know. If it's someone who is an acquaintance, well that's different and understandable. A neighbor? Eh, kinda tacky.

I just can't believe that last story! Maybe she was senile??? LOL. Gee, I kind of hope so, because that's kinda tacky, but funny nonetheless.

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Amie
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"I'm not an actress. I just play one on t.v."

HAHAHAHAHA!!!! Orange'you happy 'bout that!

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Amie
Stylish Crochet Patterns
See me on this t.v. show!
"I'm not an actress. I just play one on t.v."

Best gift received: This year, my husband took my grandmother's old diamond and gave it to my friend who made a beautiful round pendant with it by adding all other diamonds around it. It is gorgeous as well as sentimental.

Best gift given: Most of mine are pretty good! But a tie here: After my MIL had a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair at home, I made a big gift box for her. I included: stamps, stationary, pens, easy to bake brownies and fudge, packages of special soups with the fresh ingredients in them and some already-made easy to prepare foods. She still talks about it! This year I got for my mother in the nursing home a radio/CD boombox with a REMOTE. It makes it easy for her to listen to music.

Worse gift received: A tie between a wall hanging with poor dead butterflies pressed between the glass (worse than oranges!) and a hideous lamp from my SIL.

Worse gift given: A tie between re-gifting same lamp back to SIL years later and what looked like a nice book about grandmothers for my mother from a women's-only catalogue. She told me months later there were chapters about s*x and masterb**** in it!

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I'm laughing at how some of you aren't afraid to regift items and give'em back to the original sender of the gift. I wish I had nerve like that. That's pretty cool. I think if I did that, I'd have to hire someone to help me box up all these candles. (j/k)

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Amie
Stylish Crochet Patterns
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Charlie - I need to apologize to you - I Laughted way to hard at this - Crying with laughter - I am not sure " totaly " why - but I could just see this.

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I lead with my Heart and my Body follows

Dan & Sweet Georgene

WAIT! I now can recall the worst gift given to me, and it too is food related. Geeze, I think I almost blocked it out. I was living at home, and probably 21 or 22 years old. My step-father, for some unknown reason, gave bizarre gifts this one year. He wrapped up a box of Kellog's Corn Flakes and gave'em to me. I SWEAR. I totally forgot about that. I recal openeing them up and saying, "What the hell is this BLEEEEEP?!" OK, THAT was the worst gift I ever got. I believe he alos gave me some hot chocolate too.

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Amie
Stylish Crochet Patterns
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Amie, Maybe your Step-father thought that your breakfast eating habits needed improvement (at 20-21) and he was helping you (in his way, start your day with what he considered to be a healthy breakfast. Or, maybe there was CASH hidden in that box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes and Hot Chocolate Mix box???????????????
You people on this BB make me laugh so hard, you make my day (especially since hubby works 12 hour days and I keep getting on this BB because I KNOW there will be something amusing to read!!!!!

No need to appologize; it was kind of intended as a gag gift; at least my brother saw the humor! Want an orange?

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Once in a while you can get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.

Best rec'd: Coach gift cert

Worst rec'd: $6.99 bottle of wine from hubby's boss. He makes a hell lot more than hubby does and gets the cheapest crap for wine lovers...geez!

Best given: Dishwasher to my Sis and her hubby

Worst given: I don't give icky stuff

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Aruba, wine & dogs...Life is good!

Best rec'd: Hot stone massage (at the spa on our cruise)

Worst rec'd: NOTHING from my bro/his family.

Best given: Bracelet to Loren

Worst given: Regifted some Godiva coffee/chocolates.

Last year my brother gave my Dad and his wife a fondue kit...when they unwrapped it they found a wedding card inside to my bro/wife - it had been a wedding gift to them like 6 years ago!

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Good Grief! A real class act! At least when I re-gift, I try to remove the evidence.

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Once in a while you can get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.

ACK!!!

Amie - I didn't regift lamp to the same person on purpose! I forgot a couple of years later who gave it to me. Since my SIL at that time got me the worst, cheap gifts, after I always spent a fortune on her and her kids, I got mad and sent her kids nice stuff and her the lamp. I was mortified when she called Steve and said didn't she give us a similar lamp years ago???? I told him to tell her "oh, maybe, yea!"

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pgsoder: Normally one would think that, but I always ate healthy, especially breakfast. I found it ironic actually because my s-f didn't EAT breakfast!

Charlie: I'll take an orange or two. I need it for the sangria on Saturday.

Kev: How comical that the card was still in there. I think that's an act of divine intervention.

Corrine: I think *justice* was served. If she liked the lamp, let'er have it back. What are the chances that she re-gifted it to you after getting it from someone else? It just sounds like someone who always gives cheap gifts does.

(I just love re-gifting stories. They're always funny)

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Amie
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Okay, what about this? I was given a regift, but i was told ahead of time it was a regift. Is it still a no-no? My aunt regifted and my mom (her sister) okayed the giving. I liked the item and have not passed it on, but just wondered...on principle you know

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No, not all re-gifting is bad. I gave Lar some Dunkin Donuts coupons that I wouldn't use. He liked'em. It's just that most re-gifting stories have some funny element to it, like the person gets the same gift back, or they find out later it's a re-gifted item and they weren't exactly expecting it.

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Amie
Stylish Crochet Patterns
See me on this t.v. show!
"I'm not an actress. I just play one on t.v."

Best gift received: When I was in college, my daddy died right before Thanksgiving. For Christmas that year, my aunt (his sister) had an old family steamer trunk beautifully restored for me to use as a sort of hope chest. I still use it in my den. (No telling what is in it--I think I'll go and look after I post this!) That year my mama and I spent Christmas Eve at my aunt's house, instead of at home, to make Daddy's absence at all the traditional holiday moments a little less obvious. This gift was even more remarkable because every other Christmas, before AND SINCE, my aunt has been like the grandmother in an earlier post, regifting things we had given her! But that one time, when we really needed her to come through, she did so with flying colors!

Best gift given: Bikes for the children, discovered by following a series of clues and riddles after Christmas gift time appeared to be over. It's always satisfying to see an event like Christmas through the eyes of a child.

I can't really think of worst gifts given or received. Maybe I'm just blocking them out, but nothing horrendous comes to mind.

Great gift Macy! That's the kind of gift you'll always remember, and I'm not referring to the trunk per say. ;-)

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Amie
Stylish Crochet Patterns
See me on this t.v. show!
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