Thursday, May 5, 2011

Wooing The Man #1- How it Went

    When I decided on doing Wooing The Man #1, I thought it was going to be sooooo easy to pick some objects from around the house that would have meaning for both of us. Or more meaning for me until I explained what it signified to me. Boy was I wrong! I had to really give my brain a work out to figure out what gifts to give and why. I guess some problems came from the fact that my husband is a pretty sentimental guy and I..... well I am not the most sentimental of girls. I think this stems from being an Air Force brat. When you are a child of someone in the military, it really doesn't pay to be sentimental. You or your friends are always moving, your favorite things get damaged or lost in the moves- things like that. So for that reason, I think this one was a really good challenge for me.
      The items I chose:
           1.) A wrench
           2.) A tennis ball
           3.) A picture I drew when I was preggers with our daughter
           4.) A trash bag
           5.) My favorite picture from our wedding.
     The wrench was a bit of a challenge to wrap. I ended up making a box for it and wrapped the wrench with tissue so that it would feel nice and heavy but not bang around inside the box. I already talked about the reason I chose it, so I will move onto the next item: the tennis ball. I really just wrapped it as was. there was no real way I could disguise it, so I just wrapped it making pleats in the wrapping on one side. It actually came out really well. I chose the tennis ball because we started playing tennis in college together and make a point of playing every summer (sometimes until midnight or after, we love it that much). We even get the kids in on it. I am not very good at this game (and he lettered in it in high school) so he spends a lot of time laughing at me and I spend a lot of time chasing the ball, but we still have a blast!
      The picture I drew when I was pregnant was of Hubby in a hammock with a sleeping baby on his chest. The baby's head was turned away and he was in profile. the hammock was tied to a tree and the tree had a rake leaning against it. In foreground, there was a pile of leaves with a squirrel nearby looking for something to nibble on, and in the background, there was a storage shed. The picture was titled "[Hubby] Raking the Leaves". I was a single parent when I met my husband and had never had the luxury of raising a child with the father around. I had this excitement back then because I knew that he was the one that would stick by me. I don't know that I had ever told him that. To wrap the drawing, I took a medium sized pizza box, lined it with wax paper, covered the inside with wrapping paper and then covered the outside with a coordinating paper. I then mounted the photo on the bottom inside of the pizza box. After I did that, I just closed the box and taped it closed.
           The trash bag I felt was a little unoriginal, but I was kinda running out of time and ideas. I chose it because, as old fashion as it may sound, I believe it is the mans job to take out the trash. Even when I was a single parent, I always made sure one of my brothers came over and made them take out the trash mu ha ha ha (being a big sister rules :p). He always does this for me and I never even have to ask. I love that and never really say thank you any more. To wrap the trash bag, I just found a DVD case, took out the movie, the little movie booklet, and the dust jacket (or whatever that thing is called) and placed the trash bag in the spot that the movie booklet was in. After that, it was a piece of cake to wrap!
       The wedding photo, I framed in a really pretty frame I had around the house. It had a picture of my dad in it, but I decided that it was time to get my photo shy photographer/ dad to pose for some pictures of his own (it was a candid snapshot). When we got married, Hubby was home on leave and we only had 1 week before he had to go to his first duty station. In that time he had to spend time with his family, help me get our house in order, see any friends he would want to see, and oh yeah, get married. Our wedding was kinda just something we got through because we knew we wanted to be together, not the grand special occasion I had planned (lets just say everything went wrong that day). All of our wedding stuff was quickly whisked away as we moved out of state. We didn't really even see any pictures of it for a year. So really our photos have sat in a box, collecting dust. My favorite picture of him, though, is when we are saying our vows and he is getting ready to put the ring on my finger. He pulled the goofiest face that is just so... him. It cracks me up every time I see it and really brings to mind all of the good things from that day instead of the negative ones.
      I didn't do the extravagant candles and fire thing. I have been working a lot of hours so didn't have the time to be as elaborate as I would have liked. Instead, I wrapped the first present, put a name tag on it and accidentally left it on the bed as I had to rush off to work. Luckily, I had left the name tag blank. I called him on one of my breaks and he (and the kids) were all excited wanting to know who the present was for and what was in it and when could it be opened. I explained to Hubby that it was for him but he couldn't open it yet. He asked me questions every day "When can I open it?" and "Why do I have to wait?" and even "Why are you doing this???" lol. So yeah he was excited.
     On the day of present opening, he sat down with all of his little packages. He opened the tennis ball first, and his original reaction was one of disappointment. "So what you just wrapped up all of my old junk???" Until, that is, when I started telling him what the tennis ball meant. Then he opened each gift one by one and waited for me to tell him why that was special. He kinda seemed almost embarrased by the time we got to the last gift (in a good way). He seemedsurprised by the thought that went into each one, but better than that, I think he realized that I really do see what he does and contributes to the family, even if I never say anything to him. He saw that I appreciate all that he does. Funny thing is, I realized that maybe there are things that he appreciates about me, too.

2 comments:

  1. Wow I am like you alot. This kida discribes our relatioship too. What a great idea. i might just have to steel your idea.

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  2. Feel free to steel this idea! It went over really well. If you have any ideas, please share and don't worry, I am working on another idea as you read this!

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