Sometimes it's not better to receive

I was chatting with my friend Jeremy (of the panel) about registries and whether he and his lovely bride Dani got many gifts from it. I'm a little worried about it, I admit it. I've been stalking our registries, I admit that too. Anyway, as we were chatting, I realized he must think I really superficial about presents. I've blogged way too much about our registries already and I'm sure this was the 3rd or 4th conversation we've had about them. So I decided to come clean about why I'm paranoid about gifts.

I've gotten some pretty weird gifts over the years. Yes, everyone get weird gifts, but this has been pretty consistent throughout my life. I once got a can of peaches for Christmas. My Dad had just seen this S & W commercial where people are really happy about getting canned fruit, so he decided to copy it. He was joking of course and later gave me a card with some money. That's kind of cute and funny, but that's where those types of gifts end.

Here's a run down of the gifts I've been given:
10 lbs of jasmine rice
A new toilet seat cover (better than used).
SOOO many statues of animals, religious figures, flowers
Perfume from the Dollars Store (really, they left the sticker on)
Winnie the Pooh PJs -- I was 25 years old.
Hideous sweaters that people make fun of and highlight in holiday movies
My own gift. Yes, this really happened.
Signs for my home that say, "I love this home" with bunnies.
Dishware with bunnies jumping out of watering cans and strange flowers on it.

You get the picture. In most cases, I didn't need a gift. A simple card would have meant more. So of course wedding gifts scare me. None of my relatives would ever show up at a wedding without a gift. Even if I didn't want gifts, they'd bring them. Is it wrong to not want the sign that says, "Jesus will bless this home and this marriage?" I saw my aunt eyeing it last time we were out.

So, I'm paranoid about gifts. Do you blame me? Two questions. 1. Did you find that a majority of your guests bought off the registry? 2. What was the best or worse gift you got?

P.S. Now I may actually welcome a new toilet seat :)