I am in materialism heaven.

Mr. W wanted to celebrate Christmas early this year due to varying schedules, so tonight was that night. We (Mr. W’s two teens and us) had salad with bleu cheese vinaigrette dressing, lasagne, garlic bread, sherbet punch (mine and Mr. W’s spiked with vodka), and then we each decorated our own giant gingerbread man with frosting and candy.

As we waited for our frosting to harden, we gathered in the living room and opened presents, each of us with a wineglass of sparkling pomegranate juice. Mr. W orchestrated the opening ceremoniously so we could all bask in each other’s joy as we opened our loot, and he could take pictures. He’d hand one to one person, the person would read the clue on the label and try to guess what was inside, and then open it to see if they’re right. And then play would move to the left. I got Mr. W a membership to 24 Hour Fitness, first 3 years prepaid, which he’s been using since November since I gave it to him early. I’ve created a gym rat who wants to go twice a day and try out all the different clubs! Tonight I handed him his other present, a replica of the DaVinci Code cryptex complete with the rosewood box. The code was the same as in Dan Brown’s novel: apple.

Here’s the list of what he got me, in the order handed to me and opened.
Clue: “To keep the little piggies hidden from the big bad wolf!”
Present: a 3-pack of super-soft slipper socks

Clue: “So shoot me.” (I first thought he bought me a DVD season of “Just Shoot Me” cuz the size of the box is right, and then I thought he bought me a gun, but it was too light.)
Present: an Ultra Compact 5x Zoom All-Weather 7.1 Megapixel Olympus Stylus 740 digital camera with 5x Digital Image Stabilization!!! Holy crap!!! The guilt was instant. The camera was also asymmetric, which he pointed out right away, which was the winning factor in his selection of this camera when it was down to 2 models, that and a Canon. He knows me; I love asymmetry!

Clue: “Beware the windstorm!”
Present: (I knew this one, he’d accidentally given it away last week without realizing it, but I’d really wanted it. I’ve even blogged about it in the past.) A little stuffed hamster (life size!) inside a hamster wheel that plugs into your USB port, so that the faster you type, the faster the hamster runs on the wheel! I’m a pretty swift typist, hence the clue.

Clue: “Some ‘juice’ to call me!”
Present: cell phone charger, because my phone has been dying every few days lately. “Why don’t you charge it?” he would ask. “Because my charger’s at home!” I would declare.

Clue: “You are It is music to my your ears!”
Present: a tiny little flat white iPod Shuffle! I’ve never even heard of this model. It’s the size of a large postage stamp, and the back is just a clip that clamps it to your shirt. It came with a printed card that read “Merry Christmas Cindy! I love you, always, [Mr. W]”. And then I looked closer at the tiny little 1 gig player. In tiny print toward the upper edge is engraved “[Mr. W] loves Cindy.” I started laughing. It’s so cute, it should be carved on an apple tree or something! He must’ve had it specially ordered. “Listen to it, I’ve already pre-loaded a song on it!” he said, pulling the included earbuds out of the plastic wrapper. I put on the earbuds and pushed the playback button. Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” played in stereo sound. I started laughing again. As I type this I’m smiling and laughing, feeling silly as Mr. W lays behind me. “I’m reliving it,” I explained to him.

Last but definitely not least…
Clue: “To put on your toast? …” (I joked, “You got me butter? And had it laying out all this time?”)
Present: 5 years’ worth supply of Body Butter. I’d just run out of the tub he got me last year, and was sad about that! He remembered! This time it’s a tub each of coconut, olive, white chocolate, mango and raspberry n’ black currant scents.

The photos on here are taken with my new camera. 😀

I’m so spoiled sick. SICK!