I don't believe in karma, but if karma exists, it got me good.

I think the worst gift you can give someone, unless you really want to say, "I don't know you that well nor do I care to get to know you that well, nor do I care to spend money on you, nor do I think you have any decorating sense, and I'm assuming your house stinks," is a candle. That is, unless the recipient really love candles or collects them or something.

Sure, candles are really easy to buy, they can be hefty, and sometimes they are hefty enough so you can throw them at someone's head and do some serious damage, but really? A candle? As a gift? Who decided that was a nice idea?

I know, I know, it's the thought that counts. But still. A candle?

So here is how karma got me.

Someone I know received a candle for a gift. This person and I had already had several conversations discussing our hatred of the candle as gift, so it was really funny to me that someone she knows sorta well (at least, I thought), gave her a candle. She said she was going to re-gift it and give it to her friend who actually likes candles.

Since I'm a loser, I was totally late on some Christmas things this year - oh, like our Christmas card and certain people's presents and thoughtful gifts that came to me way later this past week that I just had to see into fruition. One gift was for the person who received the candle, but since she knows I'm a loser, and since I am so loserish, I told her that I hadn't bought her what I planned on buying.

Not only am I a loser, but also I'm a joking loser. So I started saying I was going to buy her a candle and a stinky one at that. I said this, oh, about 10 times until even I thought it wasn't funny anymore.

And no, I didn't get her a stinky candle for her gift, but that's not the point of this post.

Yesterday I received a gift from someone who knows me, but I guess not that well. I mean, I thought she knew me well, but she's never heard my candle rant, so I'm letting her slip on this one. If you could see my work station, you'd get a fairly good sense that I'm not a candle sort of gal. And I'm definitely not a stinky candle sort of gal.

I looked in the bag and read the card first and thought, ah, how nice. Then I saw the block at the bottom of the bag. Then my nose was greeted by a very stinky perfumey smell.

Candle.

I immediately told my friend, the one I taunted about giving her a stinky candle for Christmas, that I received my very own stinky candle.

Then I said I was going to give it to her next year, even though by next year, it won't be stinky anymore.