1 Picture, 781 words.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. It just so happens, that THIS picture is worth seven hundred and eighty one. So ALMOST a thousand.



Let me explain.

1. Guilt gift #1. This is the ONE thing that Peter told me he actually WANTED for his birthday... and I didn't get it for him until I felt really guilty about ruining his birthday by telling him about the jersey (see previous post...). By the way, he's wearing the jersey behind the blanket. Speaking of the blanket...

2. Guilt gift #2. When I went back to the Packer Pro Shop, I saw this blanket on my way to the check-out line with the hat. This is when I started feeling really REALLY guilty about ruining his birthday. And I figured that he could use a new throw blanket anyways. Speaking of throw blankets...

3. The re-gift. You know how for Secret Santas, there's always a dollar limit? Well, I usually spend about 5 dollars MORE (1) because I'm SO rolling in the dough and (2) because I always feel bad giving bad gifts. I actually LOVE giving gifts, something I have inherited from my mother. So whenever I have a Secret Santa, I always GIVE a good gift. What do I get? ALWAYS a crappy gift. This snowman blanket was a gift that I got one year. That same year, I gave a Starbucks travel mug PLUS a Starbucks gift card (this is actually always my Secret Santa gift. Can't go wrong with Starbucks.), and I open my gift to find THIS. AWESOME. It's super thin and a pretty much worthless blanket. What am I supposed to do with it? Re-gift it. To Peter.

The best part is that when I gave it to him in 2008, he left it in his bedroom at his parents' house, and the blanket didn't re-surface until... now. This past winter, his mom found it and said, "You should bring this to De Pere! I'll bet Sara will be happy that you have it in your apartment!" If she only knew...

Speaking of Secret Santa...

4. The Christmas tree. That teeny tiny little thing that you see there? On top of the entertainment center? THAT is the pathetic excuse of a Christmas decoration that Peter has. All Holiday season long, we would go to other people's houses/apartments/abodes, and EVERY time I would say, "I LOVE YOUR DECORATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Even if they had a pink aluminum tree covered in tinsel. I loved them. Because every weekend, this piddly little tree was all the Christmas spirit that I got. And Peter didn't put it on his entertainment center until... ummmmmm December 23rd. It IS still there, though, so I suppose I get just a teeny-TINY fraction of Christmas spirit on an almost daily basis. And speaking of entertainment center...

5. The project. One Saturday afternoon, after months of me complaining about NOT having one, Peter decided to go out and buy a TV. Hooray! I was SO happy! While we were at the store, Peter decided against the TV (dang...) and got an entertainment center. To put a FUTURE TV purchase on. But for now, he would put a computer monitor on it. The entertainment center (from here on out, it will be referred to as the EC for simplicity's sake) was in two pieces. One piece was HEAVY. And I am about the most worthless person when it comes to carrying heavy things. But for this, I sucked it up because HEY! This is one step closer to a TV!!

When we got the EC upstairs (of COURSE Peter lives on the second floor), Peter decided that he wanted a TV too. WOOHOOOOOO! Alright! Let's go right back to the store! So he bought a TV. Everything was half off, mind you, so that's why we went back.

After arriving in his apartment the SECOND time, we put the EC together. WHAT a project. I'm not kidding you, it took us like FIVE hours to put this thing together. There was a lot of frustration going on, especially because we had ONE screwdriver to share, but we eventually did it. And after it was assembled, Peter found like 4 (not kidding) more screwdrivers. Anyways. I love the thing now. And can I just say that I did not get scolded at all while I was assembling? Because we were smart and put the two large pieces together SEPARATELY as in Peter was in the living room and I was in the kitchen. And I got the easier one. So when I finished I laid down for a while and watched Peter get frustrated about missing a few screws or something. Speaking of Peter...

6. THE BIRTHDAY BOY. I'll bet he wished he smiled nicely for me whenever I tell him to smile nicely for a picture.

For the record, though, I DID ask him permission to use this photo:

svanderstappen: You need to look at the picture that I attached and tell me if you DON'T want me to use it for my blog. Be honest, because I REALLY won't do it if you don't want me to. That's why I'm asking. I won't even give you a hard time if you say no.

promenesko: Not very flattering, but it is your blog and they'll know you're the one dating that handsome stud.

svanderstappen: I'm using it.