Essence and Countenance

A girl just walked in here to take a test. I glanced to make sure she really was there and to make sure I didn't know her. Then I glanced again.

She has no recognizable makeup on and her hair is simply pulled out of her face; she's wearing a red sweater with a white undershirt, dark jeans and white flats. Nothing out-of-the-ordinary, and yet she has a contagious smile and she's absolutely striking. It might be the way she carries herself or because she's got a figure like me: trim and petite. I don't know exactly why, but my eyes followed her everywhere I went.

This girl reminds me that beauty can be found in simple essence. Not necessarily in clothes or appearance, but on the inside. She's just so striking, and there was else nothing out of the ordinary about her. It makes me wonder two things: whether I knew her before this life, and whether I have that same presence. It's admirable, but I don't think it's something that can be cultured consciously. It also makes me realize why Just'In sees me in plain t-shirt and jeans and thinks I'm gorgeous. This might be why. He sees my essence and my countenance, not what I'm wearing. I feel humbled.

That Gift I Often Get

Each person has that one gift that everyone else likes to give them. They just get it for birthdays and Christmases repeatedly. For most girls, it's some form of body lotion, shower gel or fruity spritzer. For most guys it's stuff like ties and socks. For me, I do get lotion (which is just annoying as it takes me years to get through one bottle) but that one gift is Play-Doh.

• I got Play-Doh first from someone in high school my junior, senior year: a whole tube of those miniature tubs of assorted colors for my birthday. I thought it was highly amusing as I'm an extremely tactile person.
  
• My roommates my freshman year of college gave me a play-doh set to make McDonald's burgers and fries: molds and all the right colors of dough. Talk about roommates not knowing me very well; I eat fast food probably once every few months, and very rarely is it McDonald's.
• I got another tube of Play-Doh from my parents for Christmas my sophmore year. They'd forgotten I'd gotten an identical one years before, and I didn't say anything. I've since thrown away the first set because it had gone dry; I've kept a few containers in my backpack to play with when I'm bored. Or to keep my hands occupied in class. Most of it, however, sits in its original tube, unused.
  
• Just'In gave his co-workers Play-Doh for Christmas the next year. Naturally, I got the leftovers that he didn't hand out.
• I must have commented on this coincidence to my mother-in-law because she gave us both Play-Doh on key chains for Christmas this year. Two of them now hang on my backpack, and I hand them to my snoozing classmates or children around me who are restless. They're much more handy when they hang in plain sight.

Does anyone else get any one particular gift repeatedly from different people? So often that it's bizarre?