Do You See What I See?

Things aren't always as they seem. Like you buy something with "some assembly required" and it doesn't look a bit like the picture on the box.

Or you buy some yarn that has a neat color scheme to match your recliner – if you were 80 years old and inclined to crochet a lap blanket – but it ends up looking like a government-issued bath towel.

Case in point...

I like the brown and white colors when I picked it out. Obviously, I envisioned something way different than desert camouflage. Of course, I wasn't following a pattern and randomly picked 40 stitches across. It might have looked different at 38. And yes, I am that 80-year-old woman who needs a lap blanket in her office. And maybe the recliner, too. Unless we have company. Which I guess won't happen anytime soon.

This of course led me to thinking that maybe I had something negative that could turn into a positive surprise – the complete opposite of a camo action figure blanket.

So I took that special box out of cupboard. You know the one.

It was already open since this was the second messed up shipment that arrived somewhat smashed with the perforated cardboard torn to create an opening in the box. I took one out and convinced myself that it could be a tasty evening drink on cold nights. 

Spoiler alert: It won't be.

In all fairness it was not awful. The smell was good and that jacked up some ridiculous expectations. And taste was OK. Was thinking that if I added a bit more cream or even eggnog, that it would be tasty. Then halfway into the cup, I just couldn't the handle the flavor anymore. Just wasn't right.

We'll see if the recipient of my white elephant gift tomorrow feels the same. If they actually like it, they're in for a nice surprise (which is good since I'm 0 for 2 on happy endings here) come Christmas or New Years or Mardi Gras – whenever we're back in the office again.

In the meantime, enjoy the mystery and magic of the season. Don't always believe what you first see, hear, smell, taste...