The ribbon.

Back in 2005 while Jill and I were in Brazil teaching classes, one of the gals we met gave us a huge bag of ribbon.  We sat on the bed in our hotel room later that night, taking turns picking our favorite ribbon, piece by piece.

The last, unpicked piece of ribbon was thick with blue and yellow checkers.  Neither one of us wanted it. Maybe because it was our old high school colors but more likely because it was just plain ugly.

So Jill pushed it over to my side of the bed and said "Here, I want you to have it."  Then I pushed it over to her side of the bed and said "No, you're such a good friend that I want you to have it."  Then she pushed it towards me saying, "No, I insist."  and it just went on like that for awhile until I gave up.  (Jill never gives up so I had no choice.)

So I waited until she was doing her hair and slipped the ribbon inside her suitcase.  She must have noticed it while she was changing her clothes and slipped it into my suitcase.  I found it the next day and tossed it in her purse.  She found it that evening and threw it in my suitcase.

We quit talking about the ribbon after that but were both determined that we were not going to be the person who left Brazil with the ugly ribbon in our suitcase.

We ended up getting robbed a few days before we were scheduled to go home.  I know I posted about it at one point but can't seem to find it in my archives.  Basically though, three men walked up to use and stole everything we owned right off our bodies.

We were pretty shaken up and decided to fly home early.  And though we were still upset over what had happened by the time we were boarding our plane, I think that in the back of our minds we were both thinking, 'Dang, I hope I'm not the one with the ribbon."

I actually can't remember who ended up leaving Brazil with the ribbon, but we've spent the last 4 1/2 years, trying to secretly get the ribbon back into the other person's possession.

I've come home to find it tied to my front door (mind you, we live 8 hours away from each other).  I've found it tied to the side-view mirror of my car.  I've untied it as ribbon wrapped around my birthday present and found it shoved in the bottom of a box of ebay dishes we were splitting.

When Josh and I got married, I had Jill's hairdresser tie it in her hair before turning her around to check her up-do in the mirror.

And one time, Josh got in on it, slipping the ribbon into the back of Sammy's (Jill's youngest) new dump truck while we were helping them load their car.  Jill found it in her living room one day after Sammy dumped the contents of his truck onto the floor.

Our greatest fear is that the ribbon might one day be in our possession without our knowing it.  Jill once inquired about who currently had the ribbon in their possession.  I said that I didn't know, while silently gloating, knowing that she was the one who had it.

At this point in time, we've decided that whoever dies (gruesome I know...but that's the sense of humor we share) without the ribbon in their possession wins.

While Jill was doing her hair one morning in Montana, I unwrapped one of the antique glass insulators she bought, tied the ugly ribbon around it and then took a quick picture of it before wrapping it back up.

I was checking over my back, laughing so hard I thought I might pee my pants the whole time I did it.  I knew she wouldn't catch me though because it takes her an eternity to do her news-anchor-style hair.

Comments

[Jill]

You Inglorius Basterd you... at least I got a good massage...
but I'm having issues with my back/neck fat in the peacock photo.

[Dina]

Such a cute story!

[Patty Hetrick]

what a great way to recall all those special memories! I love this and all I can say is if it get put in the coffin of the first one to go and then makes it's way back ----that will be just plain weird!

[Nicole Beltane]

such a beautiful story.

[Nicole Kberg]

*giggle* This story made me smile.

[tamara dunkin]

my favorite part of this story is jill's comment (which i just read)! LOVE IT! and love that you have such an amazing best friend who's been part of your life for forever.

[Shae]

That is simply toooooo funny! And I simply love Jill's comment.....hee hee hee!!!
A few years ago my daughter moved into a home and in the garage we found an ugly print of flowers in mauve and purple framed in a cheap gold frame.....when she wasn't looking before I left the house I hung it on her wall. It took her 2 months to realize it was there. She called me wondering "how the heck did that get there??" We both laughed so hard :) Months later, a few weeks after returning home from vacation, I noticed the thing hanging on my wall....lol...it had been there for 2 weeks before I noticed it.....so for the past year we have been passing that ugly picture back and forth waiting to see how long it will take for the other to notice.......hee hee hee.....currently it is back on her wall.....about a week now...and I haven't heard a word......wonder if she is planning her strategy ......:)
Thanks Karen for the chuckle.......and a great story for my blog too!!!!! Have a great day!!!!

[Tina]

that is the best story!

[Amy]

lol, you guys are adorable!

[Conni]

I love that!! My dad and my Uncle did the very same thing for YEARS...but with a figurine. We would find that little sucker in the weirdest places, under a mattress, in a suitcase we hadn't used in ages, under the bathroom sink. My dad was very clever, he would wrap it up, put it in a box with a return address of some company my Uncle worked for, and then have a friend send it from overseas or some place far from our home....and we would get the same type of packages in the mail. It was a secret as to who had the item...and you never let on you were suckered into opening the package!!

My Dad has passed away and my Uncle is in his 80's...I wonder where that darn thing is now??

You made my day cute story!!

[Wendy A.]

What a great "tradition" to have with your sister - so much fun!!!

[Krys72599]

LOVE this story - just started the same thing with $40 and a couple of friends of ours.
We alternate paying for dinner since "splitting" the check never ever happens! The last time they ordered in and it was our turn to pay so obviously I said, "Let me pay for the take-out." "NO. Abso-freakin'-lutely not!" was the response!
So I took $40 and left it on an end table with a note that read, "Dinner's on us!"
She sent a local newspaper home with my husband for me to read, and I almost tossed it without reading it. Good thing I didn't - stapled to page 6 was $40 in cash with a note, "HA! Got you back! Love you guys!"
It's my turn to get it back to her and I'm plotting feverishly...

[MichelleG]

This is fabulous! My sister and 2 of her friends had a sweater they did this with...lots of laughs and stories from that!

[kribss]

my mother in law and i do the same thing but with an ugly pickle ornament. i got her back last year when we were in hawaii. {yes, i took it to hawaii with me!} i wrapped it so it looked very professional and had the front desk place it in their room to look like a thank you gift from the hotel for staying with them. we were both in tears from laughing so hard when she opened it!

[Regina]

That is super funny and really is an ugly ribbon. LOL!

[Shannon Riggs]

I really love this story! It's wonderful that you have such a great, long lasting friendship like that.

[Leslie]

Awesome story! My mom and I have a similar thing going on. All my life she loved to torture me with the song "We Need a Little Christmas." She'd play it for me when I least expected it, as a kickoff for the holiday season. About 5 years ago, I found a soft-sculpture snowman family that sings the stupid song. Of course I had to buy it, thinking she'd LOOOOOVVVVEEEEE her prized possession. But no, the following year, it made it's way back to me. Each year, we try to out-do each other in it's presentation, so the recipient never suspects it's coming. One year, I snuck into her house while she was shopping and left it in her refrigerator. Last year, I videotaped it, put the video on youtube, emailed her a link . . . and then left the stupid snowmen on her doorstep. (I thought she's never do better than that!) Not to be outdone -- I received it as a Christmas in July present last month!! (She tells me it's "dead" until Christmas 2010, but she obviously doesn't know who she's dealing with . . .)

[Tammy Mellish]

I love it.. super cute and funny story.

[Monica]

If I were Jill.....I'd shove that ribbon deep inside that Chandy of yours;-) She would win for sure!

[Juli]

that really is ugly ribbon...

[Kelli]

That's so funny!
We used to have a 2 liter container of French's Mustard. It was a house warming gift, it had been passed around to dozens of people. But now someone thinks it was mistakenly eaten, not by us. But no one has seen it for about 11 yrs.
And if Jill has problems with the back/neck fat,(which I didn't notice) can't you, as her very good friend 1. take more flattering photos, or 2. photoshop them for her?

[Theresa]

Karen,
You and Jill missed one of the best salvage yards. It is located in Spokane WA. and is called Browns building supply. You can spend hours going through the acres of stuff they have. Next time your in Spokane you need to visit it is a junkers treasure trove.
Theresa
Spokane, WA

[Jessica K.]

My husband and his college roommate do the same exact thing with an old ratty royal blue and dark green towel. They even made the death pledge but that whoever dies first without it doesn't win, they get buried with it!

Glad to know that their are more sick puppies out there. Can't wait to see what Jill does with the insulators...

[Teresa Loop]

LOL! I love it, thanks for sharing... =)

[Val]

You tell the best stories. Easy to do when you're talking about your best friend, huh? :)