Randy and Shari's World

This is the blog post I have been putting off and putting off for a long time now.  Randy bothers me about it almost weekly, but I have been able to avoid doing anything about it until now. 

Then it happened.  Last night, as we were getting ready for bed, it became obvious that I was going to have to write it.  Because, just when I thought I was safe, he tells me, "My mom sent us an email asking if we ever watched 'The DVD'". (A DVD she got me for my birthday.) He said this rather triumphantly, since he knew that he won: I have no choice but to blog about this now.

My birthday was 3 months ago, and my very thoughtful mother-in-law took great pains to have a dvd shipped to me special (she is currently going to school overseas, so this is no small feat) and I was touched by the kindness.  Now, I wish I could say that it came, we watched it, it was our absolute favorite movie, I told her this in a nicely decorated thank-you note, and that was that. However, as you know, nothing is that simple for me.

Here's the problem: it wasn't very good. I tried really hard to like it, I really did!  And the whole time we were watching it, I was like, "Self, please PLEASE like this, because you will need to tell Randy's mom how much you liked it so she will know how much you appreciate the effort."  But, just like the funky too-spicy peanuts my dad bought one vacation while I was in high school and ate the entire bag of, hoping that sooner of later they would get better, we just didn't really like the movie.  It was supposed to be funny, and I REALLY wanted it to be.  Because the pressure was mounting: I'm going to have to acknowledge this gift.  I do not lie about things, but I do not want to hurt feelings either. 

The movie ended, and we realized that it never did get better.  All that was left were the empty peanut shells of hopefulness, jingling around in the bottom of the bag, while we sat on the couch discussing what I should say to my mother-in-law.  And the only thing I could think was, Maybe I could blog about it, and then, because she is so kindhearted to me that she reads my blog, I could tell my mother-in-law in an offhanded sort of vague type of way that I am very thankful for the gift, but

but what?  What do I say?  That's the whole problem, and why I've avoided this for so long.  How do I come right out and say, "I didn't really like the movie you got me for my birthday."  OUCH!  I can't say that!!  That's too blunt. So I'm not saying it. In fact, I'm crossing out that sentence right now.

So, by choosing to be a wuss about it and not do anything at all (always knowing deep down that Randy's nagging would eventually force me to blog about it I guess) I appear REALLY ungrateful.  Wretched!  

What should I do?  How do I get myself out of this web of wretched wussiness? 

All I know, is that I am definitely planning to write "thank-yous" for Thanksmas (early Christmas that we just celebrated with Randy's family) gifts.  I actually tend to enjoy writing thank you notes and the last thing I want is to get an email 3 months from now asking if I happened to like anything that I received!

So, to all of you who have given me anything and I have not thanked: Yes, I loved it. Whatever it was, was the best gift ever!