speaking of wrapping

But first, a status report (humor me, I'm proud of my accomplishments)
Wrapping: done!
Shipping: sealed and addressed and ready to go in the morning (apologies to the recipients that these gifts will be late, though with the exception of Clare (sorry, doll) they will arrive during the twelve days).
Baking: hope springs eternal!

Okay, I confess, I'm a gift-wrap snob. And should the confession that follows offend anyone, let me please offer my apology in advance with the disclaimer that nothing stated here is personal.

I didn't come to terms with my snobbery until Friday night, when I purchased a hostess gift at Barnes and Noble en route to the hosted event and opted to have the gift wrapped. The wrappers were supporters of a local youth orchestra, and one of them claimed to be a professional, having once been employed by Macy's to do the deed. Spare me. This was an act of tape overkill in the extreme. Every fold of paper was taped into place. The folds themselves threatened to give origami a bad name, and the extreme "care" with which the paper was positioned (in itself rather bizarre) about put me over the edge. Ken nudged me to shut up--mind you no words escaped my lips, he was all too aware of my non-verbal communication (the eyebrows raised into my hairline were the first clue).

You have to understand, I come from a gene pool of master wrappers. Except with awkward shapes or very large packages we wrap without using tape. Bows don't have knots, nor are they twisted awkwardly on the underside of the package. Our paper is crisply and cleanly creased to hold its shape and the ribbon tying is deftly handled. It is, frankly, simple (and practice is really all that is required to achieve the art). So you can understand my utter horrow as I watched my craft being mangled and tortured with tape.

I don't pretend to be Martha Stewart, and I admit that if I had the time, the money and the storage space I would have accessories to tie into my bows. That flaw notwithstanding I do have to I admit, I'm a snob. There, I've said it. I feel better now.