Getting Personal

We had a rule at work in my small subdivision-of-a-department-within-the-larger-department that we would only do Secret Santa/Hanukkah Harry presents amongst the seven of us. We exchanged gifts on the 14th of December and I figured that was that. At that time, I received the highlight CD from the movie version of "Rent" as well as the book "Swimming to Antarctica". I highly recommend both.

So it was a bit of a surprise to receive a belated Christmas present from a coworker today. She thought getting a gift for everyone in the group was no-no, but that getting something for our immediate group (3 of the 7 are in the MD office and the other 4 are in our Philly office) was okay. So she did it anyway, had fun shopping, and ended up buying the two of us (one of the 'us' being our manager) a pair of these with mine in this pattern





I love them and put them on right away before thinking it was a little odd.. odd for a coworker to buy me pajamas. First, my boss gave me shampoo and conditioner, then my manager gave me fleece socks/slippers, and now PJs. It almost feels a little too personal. Granted, I doubt many people will ask where I got the PJs, but I'd rather say "this ol' thing? Ahh.. my sweet gal got it for me. Wasn't that nice of her? Something I've ALWAYS wanted and she got it for me without ever knowing it has forever been on my wish list" than "oh, yeah.. a coworker got it for me. Kinda creepy, eh?".

It seems the thing to do when going on trips is to bring back gifts for coworkers. I have the fleece socks/slippers from Ely, MN, small blown glass turtles from Italy, a hotpad from St. Thomas Island, a purple necklace from Italy (that I don't wear), a pair of earrings and a small replica porcelain mask pin from France (I think), hot sauce from the Bahamas (that I haven't used), a bracelet of kukui nuts from Hawaii, and a beaded bracelet from Paris that I actually wear. It's great to receive these items, but I feel like I have to return the favor whenever I travel, which isn't much. Whenever I use a day of vacation, I'm usually off to do a triathlon somewhere. Anyone up for a sample of a Powergel or some Fig Newtons? I don't think so.

As odd as it may seem and as personal as the gift may be, I did thank her for them and said how much I like them, which I do.

I guess it could've been worse.. she could've gotten me a flannel nightgown.

*shudder*