Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Thursday, December 20, 2018

Surprise!

Been listening to Christmas music all day.
Let the Christmas memories continue!!!
For our first Christmas as newly-weds, I dutifully asked my new Husby what he would like.
I did it sneakily.
I thought.
In July.
His answer?
A router.
Okay, first, I had to surreptitiously find out just what a 'router' was.
I discovered that it had everything to do with home woodworking.
And nothing to do with computers (which at that time in history, really only existed on Star Trek).
The men at the hardware store knew exactly what Husby had been talking about.
And placed before me a perfect example of router-ness.
On sale.
The day was mine!
And soon, so was the router.
Gleefully (real word/emotion) I carried said router triumphantly to the car.
And duly hid it at Husby's parent's place.
Then I waited.
Closer to Christmas, Husby forgot all about the router he had asked for and announced that what he would really like was a deep fryer.
For a few frantic moments, I considered taking the router back and replacing it.
But, reading the receipt, I could see that that possibility had expired.
Rats.
A couple of weeks before Christmas, with a heavy heart, I wrapped his present and placed it under the tree.
Sometime later, he picked it up and shook it.
It rattled.
He smiled.
What he had taken for a 'deep fryer' rattle was, indeed a 'router' rattle, but I said nothing.
And he was happy.
We both waited for Christmas.
Christmas morning, the first gift he went for was his 'deep fryer'.
He was already talking about the fries he would make.
The corn dogs.
Doughnuts.
I held my breath as he tore off the paper.
His mouth dropped open and his face was a perfect picture of surprise as he stared at the router box beneath.
“I totally forgot I asked for this!” he said finally. He opened the box and began removing parts. “I've wanted one of these forever!” He was growing more and more excited.
No more mention was made of a deep fryer.
I heaved a sigh of relief.
That particular gift went on to make tables, cabinets, houses, toys, more tables, and at least one picture frame.
Of far more use than a piece of kitchen equipment.
No matter how many fries it could have made.
I chose . . . well.
I should mention, also, that this was also the only Christmas when I managed to surprise my Husby.
Oh, he tries to 'act' surprised when he unwraps something.
But I know that he knows.
Sigh.
Ha!

16 comments:

  1. Definitely a much better gift than a deep fryer. A gift which has kept giving for many years.

    ReplyDelete
  2. All's well that ends well! Or, in this case, it was even better than well; he loved it AND he was truly surprised :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. The perfect gift for a master craftsman.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have a router, but would love a new one! I didn't think to ask this year. Great gift. Lovely story. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Now if only that router could also fry food . . .

    ReplyDelete
  6. And then there was the Christmas when one of my parents (genuinely can't remember which) wanted a screen for family slide shows (which I loved as a kid and which suddenly seem so quaint and old fashioned as I write about it here!).

    Santa brought 2 suspiciously similar long skinny boxes that year.

    Fortunately Santa hadn't shopped quite as early as you did and had also dropped off both receipts!

    Also, I think that might have been the year that I realized that there wasn't really a jolly old guy who parked his reindeer somewhere in California and was brought to Hawai'i by magical dolphins (too hot for reindeer in Hawai'i, plus no get da chimneys anyways).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, my! That Santa!
      I wondered about Santa's getting comfortably around in the warmer places... I LOVE the magical dolphins!
      And what does he wear? All that fur and velvet. Yikes!

      Delete
    2. He leaves the formalwear in the sleigh and goes to Hawai'i in red-checked gingham and shorts. :)

      Delete
  7. ps he actually comes to O'ahu in an outrigger canoe, that part's true!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I'll tell Husby. I can see a change in our future Santa visits in the near future! :)

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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