practicality

We have really developed a fondness for practical gifts over the past years. Packing up and moving all our stuff every couple years will do that to you. Clutter drives us crazy. Actually, our favorite gift is one that is consumable, beer, wine, chocolate, apple pie...you get the point. One thing that always drives us crazy are the mementos for all the balls and fancy dinners we go to. Sure, I enjoyed the "free" wine glass that had the date and event etched on the side when I was just starting out in life and didn't have any. But you can never acquire a full settings worth (would you want to?) and they end up getting shoved to the back of the cabinet collecting dust after you go out and buy a set of "grown-up" stemware. It's just more stuff for us to move, more to worry about breaking, more to figure out where to put it in our new home. We rolled our eyes at the heavy bookend that that we knew would become a dangerous projectile in our household. We chuckled at the metal coffee mug that can't be placed in a microwave (but it sure makes pretty sparks). And, I'm sure you can guess our reaction when we saw this year's memento.

Yep, it's a gigantic key chain. The thing is huge and heavy and, dare I say, a bit gaudy. Of course, Mary loves it. Doug and I started laughing so hard when we saw this. Who would/could carry this around in their pocket? Adam immediately started testing it to see if it was real gold. It's not. Probably made in China with lead. Hmm, better not chew on that, boy.Well, being the funny man that he is, Doug is actually carrying the thing around. This is his set of keys. He gets many a good chuckle at work when he pulls it out. We joked that they should put a key on it at work and use it as the "bathroom" key like at gas stations (yes, it's really that big).

I'm sure he'll stop carrying it soon when he starts having unexplained back aches, starts walking in circles or accidentally punctures one of "the boys" with an eagle wing. But for now, we laugh every time he goes for a drive.