<p>I’m sure you wore either the comfortable ones or the sexy ones, Missy 
Kudos on the Pieson milestone…whether he’s on his own schedule or not :)</p>
<p>Shaw, i think you might be passing up an excellent opportunity to stock your bar for eternity! You could just say they can bring their favorite botte of wine, scotch, etc. and then save it to serve/share with them next time they’re over 
That’s kind of what I do when I don’t want gifts, though I haven’t had the good fortune of hosting 60 friends who all want to buy me serious gifts (I might get 60 out to a pool party, but mch would never organize such a party FOR me, as he hates big events.)</p>
<p>But on a smaller scale or at party, the approach works out rather nicely for me, and especially for the red wine drinkers…I’m allergic to red wine so I don’t buy it often unless I know one someone likes. This gifting helps me learn what wine they like and means I usually have some good ones in stock for company The great thing about wine is the value of the gift can float according to their means. (I have some friends who like fabulously expensive wines.) After a certain point in life, a gift to share back is to my mind the best gift!</p>
<p>We have a few family members who would never spend what we would on a bottle of scotch but once they’ve had some here, fall in love with the pricier stuff. So for those folks, we like to give them things they like but that they normally wouldn’t buy on special occasions.</p>
<p>At any rate, enjoy the thoughtful and fab gift your wonderful wife is giving you…six dinners of ten is so much nicer for you in terms of really enjoying your guests than having them hoarded together at a single party. And happy birthday, whichever day is the “real” one!</p>
<p>NM, have a great time at the cottage! I didn’t mean to be especially cryptic about the gradzilla phenom, but I’m still a little raw over a very deliberate and nonchalant exclusion, and in the interest of not being unfairly painted as a prospective monster-in-law one future day, should likely not post a long rant about it for google’s safekeeping :)</p>
<p>I think it would be fair to say I am not presently enjoying the kind of authentic, warm relationship I’d like to be having with mcgf, and that i felt i previously had up until about a year ago. I am grieving some of my notions about what my life with an adult mcson will look like. I am also a little worried for mcson, as it is a bit difficult for me to distinguish between instances of random self-absorption vs. lack of commitment overall to the relationship – and i do hope I’m dead wrong in terms of my fears. But that’s for him to figure out, not me. I’m just not in warm-fuzzy land at the moment after a culmination of observations made this year, topped by the most recent stuff. And that sucks, but it is what it is. I’m up for a reinvention of how things have become, but we’ll see if such a reinvention unfolds. I’m honestly having to work hard at convincing myself I’m up for that and overcoming the petty human machine, which could really ramp up if I allowed it to :)</p>
<p>At some point in life, we all grieve hopes. The trick seems to be to be unstoppable in enjoying the “what’s so” of the lives we’re actually living. It’s a glass half-empty/half-full conundrum and a fine balance. I’m no zen master, but I’ll take the coaching life gives :)</p>
Hope it works out ok. Sending good karma your way!!!</p>