Filed under: General Peevery | Tags: annoying, christmas, drive me up the wall, grating, mother, nervous breakdown, parenthood, parenting, peeve, pet peeve, pet peeves, regift, regifting, sarcastic, vent
Christmas is over, the goose done got fat, and you can tell which presents weren’t such a big hit by the fact that they’re still under the tree. Yes, all of my decorations are still up. Let’s just blame that on an unfortunate series of events and not my overactive lazy gland.

ecards.com
I learned how to re-gift from my mother. She’ll recycle just about anything. When Biggie was a baby, she pulled out the clothes from the late 70s… um, thanks mom. Another time, I was eating ravioli in what I thought was a brown sauce…
Stepbrother (let’s call him Stepdoucher – more on that another time): What are you eating?
Peeved: Ravioli in brown sauce. Mom made it for me.
Stepdoucher: Ew. I bet it tasted better last week when it was ravioli with red sauce.
Peeved: [spit, cough, choke] What??
Mom: Oh, stop. It’s fine. I re-worked it.
*****
Last year, her and AJenda had a ridiculous re-gift exchange that went something like this: AJenda buys overpriced bowl set from one of Mom’s hairbrained catalog schemes. AJenda is pissed that she paid so much money for what she thought was a set of stacking serving bowls big enough to hold chips. Turns out, they are big enough to hold about two handfuls of peanuts and a couple of MnMs. AJenda regifts the bowls to Mom for her birthday – “I thought they would look nice in your house.” Mom, in turn, regifts the bowls to AJenda for her birthday 10 months later – “I felt bad, you ordered them and they go so nice with your house – I hardly used them.” You can imagine, this did not fly with AJenda. Come Christmas, there was a familiar looking package under the tree with Mom’s name on it. My mother, who is the queen of Christmas shopping at Big Lots and Kroger but expects her own gifts to come in small packages and sparkle, just says, “this better not be those damn bowls.”
Alas, this year, there was no reappearance of the damnbowls and Mom did a great job of picking presents.
Mom: You girls really liked your presents?
AJenda: Absolutely, the scarf is lovely.
Peeved: Yep! I liked mine, too. My favorite was the little change purse that looked like a vintage purse.
NotBonJovi: My favorite was the sweatpants! Thanks Ma!
Mom: Ha! I just want to let you know that out of all the gifts, only two are regifts… the scarf and the little purse!
Peeved: Well, your regift skills are improving! Thanks Ma!
Later that night NotBonJovi went to put on his sweatpants. They were a little short. They were a ladies XL.

I guess it could have been worse... (photo courtesy of codeodor.com)
For those of you that care where I’ve been for the last three weeks, it went something like this:
Dec 17 – 22: Last minute Christmas shopping and decorating the house.
Dec 23: Bieber! Smalls gets the gift of a stomach bug that keeps on giving.

Ignore the rest of those girls, he was only singing to HER!
Dec 25: Blessed temporary reprieve from illness and a white Christmas in the South – thank you Santa.
Dec 26: Peeved gets the gift of a stomach bug that keeps on giving. Mr. Peeved gets it, too. You know, just to keep things fun.
Dec 27 – 29: Netflix! There is a reason some movies go straight to video.
Dec 30: Sickie remnants, but must clean house and go food shopping for company coming over.
Dec 31 – Jan 2: House guests!
Jan 3 – 4: Actual work in the office. (How do I do this again?)
Jan 5 – 8: Trip to NY for Grandpa’s funeral. (Even stuffing my face with pizza and bagels couldn’t make me feel better – believe me, I tried.)
And, now, I’m home and work was cancelled today because we have a blizzard (READ: 3 inches of snow). I’m about to improvise some sleds, but thought before I do, I better take a moment to check in and give all of you your Christmas presents. It’s a regift, of course:
- When good intentions go bad
- Mission: Accomplished
- You can’t handle the truth
- So there I was…
- Revenge of the Mom
- Rollin’ in my 5.0
- How to get blood from a stone

... and to all a good night.
Related
15 Comments so far
Leave a comment
And now I feel guilty about nagging so much. The bit about the funeral was just slipped in… never a good time, and at that time of year….
Comment by gallowaygrave January 10, 2011 @ 11:47 amWelcome back! We have missed you. YOU survived a Bieber concert? If yes, are you still deaf? Love the pics! The little reindeer is adorable! 🙂
Comment by TheIdiotSpeaketh January 10, 2011 @ 12:18 pmSomeone may be getting a butterfly auto-shade in the near future! You’re in luck, I think mom’s birthday is up next!
Comment by AJenda January 10, 2011 @ 12:37 pmJust as long as you don’t mind getting a Captain Cook “Surrender Your Buns” apron… 🙂
Comment by perpetuallypeeved January 10, 2011 @ 2:03 pmYeah, sure. I was was in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Century in My Time Machine. Do you have a good criminal attorney? I see da kid stole Rudolph’s nose.
Comment by carldagostino January 10, 2011 @ 12:49 pmI love Smalls’s antlers and nose!
Comment by thoughtsappear January 10, 2011 @ 1:18 pmI missed you… I really did. Welcome back!
Comment by tryityoumightlikeit January 10, 2011 @ 3:54 pmI wondered where you went!
I’m sorry to hear about your grandfather.
That’s one tired looking reindeer you go in the back seat.
Comment by Todd Pack January 10, 2011 @ 6:45 pmGlad you are back! Was getting worried. Your blog makes me smile. Thanks for sharing the joys!!
Comment by Jen January 10, 2011 @ 7:13 pmDecember flew by so fast – I love the holidays but so glad they’re over. No more guinea pig allergies, please.
Comment by Brooke January 10, 2011 @ 7:44 pmDitto Idiot’s comment! The things we do for our kids!
Comment by egills January 11, 2011 @ 11:34 amHope the bug has left your household completely and sorry to hear about your Grandad.
Sorry for your loss, welcome back.
I’m also sorry about Bieber, but you are a hero for taking it on!
Comment by omawarisan January 12, 2011 @ 3:14 pmWelcome back, PP!
I can’t believe you sat through the Biebs. You are a far better parent than I ever will be.
Comment by Pop January 13, 2011 @ 2:57 pmSo sorry to hear about your Grandpa! Yes, Christmas and New Year has a way of all blending together in a time-warp kind of sense, doesn’t it? And throw a snowstorm in there to boot, and well… Congrats on surviving Beiber, and I love your little reindeer. 🙂
Comment by Bonnie January 14, 2011 @ 9:04 amRegifting,
I too watch my mother and her friends do this to one another. By the time anyone admits defeat, the scented candles no longer smell, the bath gels are half melted, and all but the basket is kept.
Which if course, is then regifted.
Love little rudolf there
Comment by wanderingmenace February 21, 2011 @ 11:20 am