Under the heading of ‘strange gifts we have received’ I offer this:

What do you do when you receive one of ‘those’ gifts?  I think we all know what I am talking about.  We have all been the recipient of such a gift.  A gift that you open and your immediate thought is ‘what am I going to do with THAT?’.  We received one of these gifts recently.  To make matters worse, it was a gift that was given by someone who enters our house on a normal basis, so I can’t just sell it on Ebay and never use it.  It was given by someone who should know us better, but doesn’t.   And yes, I’m not that morally bankrupt that I don’t appreciate that the giver put time and thought into giving us this gift (although I’m not entirely convinced the giver didn’t first order this for themselves, only to feel guilty about spending the money on themselves so they re-gifted it to us for our anniversary—because it honestly would FIT.RIGHT.IN the giver’s home).  I must admit, when I received it, I laughed.  I laughed REALLY hard.  Then I showed Dean and I laughed more.   So what was this gift you ask?  Well, words can’t really describe it, so I will share a picture:

Uh huh…I warned you.  In the packing information, this little gem is described as:  “Your ‘Thomas Kinkade White Christmas’ Masterpiece Edition Crystal Snowman is an exceptionally fine collectible. … As with any fine collectible, this snowman should be handled with care.  It is not a toy and should not be left unattended.”  Great, does that mean I have to stare at it all the time???  For crying out loud when my kids were toddlers I left THEM unattended, why can’t I leave this hunk of glass unattended.

This fine collectible plugs in and lights up.  Then the little train travels around the track.  This provides entertainment for our cat, Kaja, although she isn’t quite sure about the snowman.  The fine collectible information goes on to describe that this hunk of glass conjures up images of your childhood winters sipping hot chocolate.  Uh huh…ok.  That’s right boys and girls, I remember when I was a little girl living in the village and we would play in the snow and then go inside and have hot cocoa.  It was all wonderful until one day this monstrous snowman came and swallowed the town and we became stuck inside its icy belly.

I’m not sure what we are going to do with this thing.  It may get unattended while on the edge of a counter and Kaja is home alone.  OR, I COULD  put it on Ebay and just SAY that it was destroyed by Kaja.  I just checked…this thing is going for $100 AND there is also an Irish version that sports a green hat, scarf and mittens.  Hmmmmmmm