I give the worst gifts!

The one thing my kids know about me is I give the worst gifts. I'm the kind of guy that will give a woman something for the kitchen as a Christmas gift. One year my daughter got a flat tire and when I came to change it she didn't have a star wrench which I find is the easiest way to take a tire off. So, instead of getting her an AAA membership I bought her a star wrench for Christmas. For Sarah's birthday one year I told her I would pay to have her hair done for prom, she never wanted that done. Sometimes cost is a factor, but not always. I like to give gifts that I would like to receive, but that doesn't always work out.

I try to give gifts that are useful, but that doesn't always make a good gift at all times. What makes a good gift? I sure don't know the answer to that. I have been lucky in the past few years because I can ask my youngest daughter, Sarah, what to get everyone else. That is why I mess up with Sarah's gift, her sisters are not available to help me get gifts for Sarah. I'm worried about her high school graduation gift already and the school year hasn't even begun. If you ever thought you deserved a gift from me and you didn't get one I hope you understand now, and are thankful for it!!

A couple of months ago I had a student in my class that was from the East Coast. She had a lot of drama going on in her life and she and I became friends. I helped her find a job to supplement her income while she was here. We hung out once or twice and we became fast friends with each other. I haven't seen her for a few weeks and let me know a couple of days ago that she will leave this weekend. She wanted to buy me dinner before she left to say thanks for the help I gave her so I thought I needed to get her a gift.

Originally I tried to get out of meeting her so I didn't give a stupid gift that she would have to pretend to like then leave in her room when she left for her room. I then thought of, what I hope is, a great gift. I take a lot of pictures and one or two of them turn out really good. Since she is visiting here for only the summer I looked at my favorite photos and decided to give her two, one of San Francisco (where she stayed) and one of Monterey (my hometown). I figure if I give her the prints she can't complain they won't fit in her suitcase. When she gets home I hope she buys a couple of cheap frames and puts them on her wall. We will see what she does!

When I was in Germany I used to sell my pictures. People often ask me if I really took some of the photos I do, so I am thinking of trying to sell them again. One thing I will do is always carry a couple of my photos with me as I travel and give them out to people that are helpful to me.