he had a massive collection of them, gifts from well meaning buddies who now knew what to get him. Believe me, he did not like frogs that much.
My family knows I like soap, and I truly am happy that every Christmas I get some lovely bars of the stuff... which I use up before the next Christmas. But telling my husband, in particular, that I like jewelry and silk scarves has made no discernible impact. I once confessed that I like fruitcake as long as it doesn't have tutti fruttis in it. That he remembers.
So have you inadvertently generated a collection of something (cats, dogs, elephants, fruitcake door stops??) that you sort of like and happened to mention?
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Everyone knows I like tea, so I do get tea things, which I quite like. And books, of course.
But like you, telling hubby I'd really love some nice jewelry has had no discernible affect. Are we doing something wrong? Maybe they're not watching enough jewelry store ads on TV? :-)
HANK PHILLIPI RYAN: This is hilarious. I have a pal who did it with elephants. Said so, I mean. Now his house is FULL of the creatures. And what are you supposed to do? Say I don't like elephants anymore?
And I agree, when you TRY (ooh, look at that gorgeous scarf!) it never works. Searching for an
inexpensive-y easy thing, I once told relatives I love grapefruit-scented bath gel. Easy, huh? How hard is that? Got none._._,_._Want me to call everyone's husbands?
RHYS BOWEN: I used to collect elephants--ebony, ivory, glass, ceramic and then my kids started giving me elephants for every occasion. I still love elephants (the real thing) but I've boxed up the collection and anything else that attracts dust.
And Hallie, if I want my husband to buy me something specific and non-techie for Christmas I have to draw a diagram leading him to the correct rack or counter in Macy's and describing the item in minute detail. Hints with men never work.
When we're driving I used to say "Oh look, a craft fair. How adorable." And that meant "I want to stop and take a look" but to John it meant keep on driving. So I learned to yell "Stop! I'm going to take a look at that craft fair. Find some coffee. See you in half an hour."
You have to be specific with them. And foreceful!
HALLIE: Laughing, Rhys - this year I sent my husband the web link to the cast iron fry pan I'm coveting (really)... I think it worked. Time will tell.
Hey I say I need to use the bathroom. Oh he says you didn't tell me you need to use it now.
To get back on topic, my mother used to have a collection of owls. Owls made of everything--marble, felt, wood, everything owl. My collection as a kid was stuffed cats. I kept all of them until we moved to Florida in the 80s and the roaches ate the rabbit fur covers. I still miss those cats.
DEBS: Oh, oops, Lucy, you know what's going to happen now. Everyone is going to give you stuffed cats!!!!
HALLIE: Writing it down...
SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: My husband is a puppeteer for Sesame Street and the Muppets, and he's also played a dragon (Majellan on Nickelodian's Eureeka's Castle) and Bear on Disney Channel's Bear in the Big Blue House. So we have tons of dragon and bear stuff around — gifts from people, mostly. The current show is Mouse King, so are we in for lots of mouse and rat stuff, too? (I was going to type, "oh, I hope not" — but then realized a bought a mouse king ornament for this year's tree.... I'm part of the problem here, aren't I?)
HALLIE: Okay, so confessions are good for the soul. Did you ever inadvertently start a collection by saying you liked frogs... or some other cute creature... and then end up inundated with them? (Ellen Kozak: You won't believe it, but I had this blog in the works before your comment!!)
