It's Not a DOLL! It's LLADRO!

All through Thanksgiving dinner, Peter's sister-in-law (his brother's wife, I guess that makes her MY s-i-l too) kept mentioning that she got me "THE PERFECT gift" for our house.

So after dinner, she pulls me into Peter's dad's bedroom and closes the door (as Peter's mother is on the other side). This makes me very nervous, and I went to re-open the door, but my sister-in-law whispers that this gift is SECRET.

Secret to who? The only people present were her family, Peter, me and Peter's mother. Because the door is closed and bolted, I become extremely nervous and can hardly focus on the gift, which she takes out of a ripped Banana Republic bag. Tina unrolls sheets upon sheets of bubble-wrap and reveals this:



I say, "Thank you, you didn't have to do that," and I give her a kiss on the cheek.

She kept standing there as if expecting more. So I thanked her again. And then she said:

"This is LLADRO. This is VERY GOOD."

I must confess that I must not have the woman gene that appreciates fine porcelain shaped into lovely young women. I do not enjoy Hummel dolls (I think they are creepy) and I think Precious Moments dolls are not very precious.

To be honest, I thought that the doll was cute, but I'm REALLY bad at reacting to my sister-in-law's gifts. I never give her the reaction she wants, probably because she gives me things that appeal to 80-year-old women. Plus, I was still a little freaked out about the locked door. I grew up in a house where we were taught that it is rude to lock a door in someone else's house (except the bathroom, of course). And lastly, I wondered a little if she gave me the geisha girl because I am Asian, and if she understands that I'm not actually Japanese.

No matter how many times I thanked her, she seemed really dissatisfied.

At the end of the evening, after everyone left, Peter told his mother that Tina gave us a gift and she said, "I know, she showed me. And she said that your wife didn't really like it."

If she was going to show Peter's mother the gift, why lock the door? I am still trying to figure this one out.

I said, "I like it, but I don't collect dolls."

Her response was:

It's not a DOLL! It's LLADRO!

(comedy side note: everyone pronounced it L-ADRO when the correct pronunciation is Y-ADRO)