Christmas with Melody and Candi (Part 1)

Discover how holiday gift-giving can turn into an adventure full of surprises and mishaps! Have you ever thought you were the master of keeping Christmas gifts a secret, only to find yourself giving them away early or forgetting where you hid them? Melody and Candi share our entertaining escapades around gift-giving, from Candi’s early reveal to her husband Jake of a much-needed Bluetooth speaker, to Melody's escapades of losing track of an expensive sweatshirt for months. We explore the delicate balance of maintaining the magic of Christmas surprises when dealing with shared finances, sharing clever strategies to keep those gifts under wraps until the big day.

Ready to laugh along with us as we navigate the festive season? Hear about our amusing encounters with Amazon wish lists, and how one couple's shared account led to the ultimate spoiler alert during the holiday season. We also stroll down memory lane, chatting about the childhood gifts we yearned for and the ones that got away. It’s a heartwarming mix of holiday mishaps, laughter, and practical tips to keep your Christmas joyful and full of delightful surprises. Tune in and join our lively chat, where we promise a dose of festive cheer and a sprinkle of seasonal wisdom!

Transcript

0:00:00 - Melody

Hi, I'm Melody and I'm Candi and you're listening to Quirks, Bumps, and Bruises. So on this episode of Quirks, Bumps, and Bruises, we want to talk all things Christmas. So, Candi, I'm going to almost like interview you on some things, ask you a few questions and let's talk about some things that have to do with Christmas. So the first thing I want to ask you is this Are you good at keeping gift secrets? 

0:00:32 - Candi

I am, yes, very good. You know what. I kind of have to go back on that. 99.9% of the time I am Like I'm legit, I hide them in places nobody can find them. But over the weekend Jake was working on a project and his Bluetooth speaker had gone out and he was just bummed because he enjoys listening to music while he's doing projects. So I had bought him that for Christmas because I knew he needed one. So, the good wife that I am, I listened to him, I bought it and I had put it back and I knew I wasn't going to let him see it. And I had gone back there and I said, look, jake, I don't do this, but I'm going to give you your Christmas present early because I know you need it. And I gave that to him. So I feel like that's different, though. 

0:01:21 - Melody

So let me ask you this First of all, was he appreciative? 

0:01:25 - Candi

Oh yeah, Very grateful Okay. But it's going to be different. You know, at Christmas now he's going to have one less present. 

0:01:30 - Melody

Well, I was going to ask you do you feel pressured to have to now buy something? 

0:01:35 - Candi

else you don't. No, I told him no. 

0:01:38 - Melody

Because that was a nice gift. 

0:01:39 - Candi

It was. 

0:01:40 - Melody

Yeah Well, I'm really good at it. I'm so good at it that I buy the gifts. I don't let anybody know what they are, I hide them and then I forget where I hide them. So one particular year my son had wanted a Colts football team hooded sweatshirt. Oh yeah, and they were kind of expensive because it was like a real. 

0:02:03 - Candi

NFL. 

0:02:05 - Melody

And I hid it. And then Christmas time came and I couldn't find it, and three months later I was cleaning out a closet and found it. Oh my word. So I gave it to him and I said here's your Christmas present. I couldn't ever find that is so funny, I know, I know. 

0:02:22 - Candi

It is. 

0:02:22 - Melody

It's so funny, wow. All right. So let me ask you this I hope this is not too personal Do you and Jake have the same checking account? No, we don't, okay, we don't. My husband and I don't either, like I have one, but so many do. So I just wonder how you surprise your spouse with a gift at Christmas when you both share the same checking account. 

0:02:46 - Candi

You know, does that work? It is funny because I have a friend you and I both know him very well and he and his wife have like wish lists on Amazon. So they have an Amazon account and she will go in and she will add things that she wants for Christmas to that wish list, which is wonderful. They share the same account so she watches it very frequently so anytime there is money spent out, because I remember he would make comments like, oh, my wife's going to find out. I spent $10 at lunch today, just being funny. You know she watched it, so she knew when he made purchases, especially on Amazon during Christmas, and then her wish list was gone. So I'm like there is no surprise in that at all, right? So I would suggest, if you share an account, maybe pull out an amount of money and give it to that person and then just say look, if this is what you want to spend on me, here you go. 

0:03:48 - Melody

Yeah, I won't say, or just set a budget and each of you can have that money like that, yeah, yeah, I've always wondered how that worked, but I'm like you. I have a separate account, so I can I can hide all that yes all right, Candi a gift that you always wanted as a kid, but you never got it man or are you spoiled, rotten and you got everything you ever wanted for and wished for in your life, that that's so funny. 

0:04:13 - Candi

I mean there were several things I wanted, like I would have loved and I don't know that I ever expressed this to my mom growing up, but I would have loved to have had an Easy-Bake oven. 

0:04:25 - Melody

Oh. 

0:04:26 - Candi

And those were really popular. I had one. I hope my mom's not listening because it'll hurt her feelings. You did one, I had one. They were very, very popular. Oh yeah, you know I love to cook and do things like that and that's just a perfect gift for a young girl. And I never got one under the tree. I always waited and never had one. 

0:04:45 - Melody

A funny story with my daughter. I never knew this until she was much older, but she wanted so badly a Barbie Jeep. Older, but she wanted so badly a Barbie Jeep, oh, like the kind that you can sit in and it's like remote. Oh yeah, but she never told me that and she was like but you were supposed to just know, oh my word. 

So we pick about that and I told her. I said if you ever have a little girl, she will have a Barbie Jeep. I will make sure that's hilarious. She also says I never made her Rice Krispie treats like all the other moms made their kids. 

0:05:21 - Candi

You are a horrible mother Terrible, I'm just terrible. That is funny. I can't wait till she I mean, she does have a son now, so I'm anxious to you. Need to ask her this Christmas. 

0:05:40 - Melody

Did you make Benson Rice Krispie treats? Oh don't worry, I need to ask her this Christmas. Did you make Benson rice crispy tree? 

0:05:43 - Candi

oh don't worry I will definitely ask her that. This is just a random question. Does anyone actually eat fruit cake or do we just buy it? Okay, so there is one place and it is, I think, and is it, Bear Creek, North Carolina, I can't think of the name of it, but they are known for their fruit cakes and they are good, but that is the only good fruit cake that. I've like the little like $7 loaves that you buy at the grocery store who eats those. 

0:06:06 - Melody

Well, I was at my dad's the other night and he had that exact that little loaf in a little basket on his counter in the kitchen and I said well, when did you get this? He said somebody gave it to me. I said, well, are you going to eat it or just leave it in the basket? And he said probably just leave it in the basket. But it's that exact kind that you're talking about. 

0:06:27 - Candi

I think that just becomes decor through the holidays. 

0:06:30 - Melody

I love the little fruitcake cookies. It's like all the things that go in a fruitcake, in a cookie, in a cookie. 

0:06:36 - Candi

I do like those you know we had a listener many, many years ago stop by our station and brought us I don't know if you remember that brought us fruitcake cookies and that was the first time I'd never heard of that and they were really good. They are good. 

0:06:49 - Melody

All right. What's the Christmas dessert that you're known for? Do you have something that you make every Christmas that people just love and possibly even ask for, look forward to I? 

0:07:01 - Candi

don't know. I don't know if they look forward to it, but I do make it. It is a chocolate chip cream cheese ball. It's like a cheese ball. It's got powdered sugar and cream cheese and real good vanilla and it's got chocolate chips many chocolate chips in it. You roll it up into a ball and then coat it with more chocolate chips and then you serve it with like graham crackers. 

0:07:23 - Melody

Oh, my goodness, oh, it's really good. You can't go wrong with cream cheese, confectioner's sugar and chocolate chips. There's no wrong there. No, it's so, so good, Except for your hips. There's wrong there. 

0:07:33 - Candi

Oh yeah that just sticks right to them. 

0:07:35 - Melody

Yeah, it's so good I think mine would be. I make they're just simple, but everybody loves them. And they're sugar cookies, just plain sugar cookies. 

0:07:45 - Candi

I always wondered who that's your cookie of choice. 

0:07:49 - Melody

Oh I do love sugar cookies, but these are just so good. They're crunchy around the edges but kind of chewy, and they're just really good. And then I make a Hershey pie, okay, where you take Hershey bars and melt them down and then you add Cool Whip to the chocolate and basically pour it in a pie shell, so it's like whipped creamy almost like a French silk pie. 

0:08:17 - Candi

It's delicious. Oh, I need that right now. 

0:08:19 - Melody

And then you get the Hershey bar with almonds. Make sure you get that, because you'll get that little bit of salty crunch in it too. That sounds pretty easy. Wow, yeah, so that sounds pretty easy. Mm-hmm, wow, yeah, so that would be mine. What is the best surprise that you ever had on Christmas or Christmas Eve? Did you have something that just was shocking to you? 

0:08:39 - Candi

No, that's sad for me to say. I've had wonderful Christmas and Christmas, but no, no, well, I'm so sorry, kim, have no. Well, I'm so sorry, have you. 

0:08:49 - Melody

Well, I had a biggie, yeah, Christmas Eve of 1984. I was dating Gary and he came over for Christmas Eve. My mom had all these little goodies out and we, my parents have like a living room and a den and it's like two levels so you can sit in the den and actually look up into the living room so it's not like closed off. So Gary and I were exchanging presents and he had a huge box, just a huge box, and I opened it and it was a gigantic pink elephant.

0:09:28 - Candi

I remember this story. 

0:09:29 - Melody

And around the elephant's neck was a little box, and in that box was an engagement ring. 

0:09:34 - Candi

When you saw the elephant, did you know which I still have on my hand? Did you? 

0:09:37 - Melody

know, this is what's so funny. I told him, and we knew we were going to get married. But I said don't ever propose to me on any kind of holiday because I don't want to be expecting it. I don't want a valentine proposal, Christmas, easter birthday. Don't propose to me on any holiday because I don't want to be sitting there thinking is he going to do it now? And so he did it then. 

0:10:02 - Candi

Which is brilliant. It was brilliant. Because you were not expecting it Exactly. I love that oh my goodness Go Gary. 

0:10:09 - Melody

And I still have in our basement that big pink elephant. Do you Still have it oh? 

0:10:14 - Candi

my soul. 

0:10:15 - Melody

Well, we, this is so fun to talk about Christmas and all the fun things that that happened during Christmas and the memories, and we have so many Candi that we're going to do a part two next week. This is fun, best Christmas memories and just things that happen around the Christmas holidays that we can kind of still talk about and have some moments of nostalgia. I guess you would say. So stay tuned. Next week, part two of Christmas with Melody and Candi. 

0:10:47 - Announcer

Thanks for listening to the Quirks, Bumps, and Bruises podcast with Candi and Melody. If you enjoyed the show, please take a moment to subscribe, rate and share the podcast. You can learn more at joyfm.org.