Secret Powers

Recently a friend asked me what my "secret X-men power" was. He said that everyone had one, gave me a few examples, though I do not remember what his was. At first I was totally baffled, what could my secret power be??? In the interest of not letting the conversation lag too long, I said that I had an uncanny ability to give excellent cheer-you-up gifts. It isn't a skill that I particularly tried to enhance, but when a friend is down, I love arriving with a random thing that will bring a smile to their face. Past examples have included chocolate chip mint ice cream, caffeinated mints, those little gunpowder sparks things for throwing, a late night trip to Koreatown for a scrub and massage (no I am not referring to my recent post about that activity), cannolis, a plastic lizard, a My Little Pony... It is not so much about the expense of the gift as the total correctness of it for the particular person. In compiling the above list I noted that about half of my examples were food related. What do you expect? After all, I am going to be a Jewish Mother one day! I guess more than anything it is about being thoughful. Ironic, since I can be quite careless with the feelings of people that I, in fact, care deeply about. I am terrible about giving expected gifts, for birthdays & Xmas, I can be months late. I claim that it is about finding the absolute perfect gift, but I suspect it is more about procrastination. But give me less than an hour for a gift that is not weighted with meaning and is exclusively to make someone smile and I am right on it!

Ended up watching two movies tonight that I had somewhat avoided when they were popular. Like Water For Chocolate & Cider House Rules. Maybe it is just that I am a diehard sucker for romance, but I really enjoyed them both.