A Tale of Two Magnets
This Christmas story is about a surprise that I spoiled for myself.
The two Walt Disney World magnets you see in this picture look the same but they have different stories.
One was purchased off of Ebay by someone who couldn't wait and spoiled his surprise (me). The other was given as a gift by a very thoughtful someone (my lovely wife) on Christmas. Here's the story.
Back in September while we were in Disney World, my wife urged me to by a Disney World magnet (I get a souvenir magnet whenever we go on vacation or do a "touristy" thing) with a "2010". For some reason, and I can't remember exactly why now, I kept saying that I didn't want one.
Once we returned back to Kentucky and I started reviewing the items we purchased as keepsakes of my 50th birthday trip. It was then that I realized that I regretted not getting a magnet with the year on it. This was sometime in October, I believe
This Christmas story is about a surprise that I spoiled for myself.
The two Walt Disney World magnets you see in this picture look the same but they have different stories.
One was purchased off of Ebay by someone who couldn't wait and spoiled his surprise (me). The other was given as a gift by a very thoughtful someone (my lovely wife) on Christmas. Here's the story.
Back in September while we were in Disney World, my wife urged me to by a Disney World magnet (I get a souvenir magnet whenever we go on vacation or do a "touristy" thing) with a "2010". For some reason, and I can't remember exactly why now, I kept saying that I didn't want one.
Once we returned back to Kentucky and I started reviewing the items we purchased as keepsakes of my 50th birthday trip. It was then that I realized that I regretted not getting a magnet with the year on it. This was sometime in October, I believe
Well, at the time a couple from our church was at Disney World for a business conference. The woman was one of Paula's friends on Facebook. I had Paula send a message to her asking her to bring back a 2010 magnet from "The World".
I waited a couple of weeks and didn't hear anything from the friend so I figured that she didn't have time or had forgotten to get the magnet for us. I decided that I would have to find one myself somehow.
Paula very subtly tried to get me to wait. The friend had brought back a magnet because she had given it to my wife one Sunday in church. Wanting to surprise me, Paula put the magnet aside for a Christmas present.
Mr. "I want what I want when I want it" went out on Ebay and got a 2010 magnet; thus spoiling the Christmas surprise. Not only that but I got the EXACT same magnet.
I want Paula to know that I appreciate her thoughtfulness. Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy; especially when it comes to buying things that spoil surprises planned for me on Christmas.
It started back when I was 12 or 13 years old. I really made my mom mad when with my own money I went out and bought a very cheap electric football game 2 weeks before Christmas. My parents had gotten me a rather expensive deluxe model of the same electric football game as one of my "big gifts". I made my mom so mad that she took the present back. I never got it.
You'd have thought I'd learned back then but, as my wife now knows, I haven't yet realized that I shouldn't buy myself anything in the weeks before Christmas.
Once again, I'm sorry Honey, perhaps I've learned this time. You really have given me a gift that I needed without realizing it. Because now I have a visual reminder about an area of my life and a time of the year that I should exercise some self control. And I see it every time I look on the refrigerator at those two 2010 Walt Disney World magnets.
No comments:
Post a Comment