I’d like to request help from you all, with the Friendship Basket.
The Friendship Basket is something that we do in our Relief Society here in my YSA branch. Every other week someone brings the basket, filled with things that represent them and their interests in some way. They go through the basket and explain everything in it (e.g., “I really like to travel, so I put in some travel-size shampoo.”) and then someone in the RS presidency pulls a name out of a baggie. The first person they get to who is actually attending RS that day gets the basket. She gets to keep everything in it, and she fills with her own stuff and brings it back in two weeks to give to someone else.
A few weeks ago, I got the Friendship Basket, which made me really happy. And, frankly, a little nervous. On the way home from church that day, I kept thinking to myself how sorry I felt for the person who gets my basket, because it’s going to be so utterly geeky. Anyway, I’ve mostly filled it, but I still have a few more weeks (the normal schedule got thrown off a bit because of our fifth-Sunday combined meetings and then General Conference this weekend), so I wanted to ask for your suggestions of other things I could add. Here’s what I have so far:
foot scrub: because I really like it
two socks, mismatched: because I rarely match my socks anymore
about 4 pages of quotes, condensed from my 25-page quote document: because I read constantly and like to gather quotes as I go
granola bars (Nature Valley Sweet-n-Salty Cashew): because they’re some of my favorites
ramen noodles: because I love them — cheap and tasty!
bookmarks (library and Relief Society): because, as mentioned, I read constantly, and never have enough bookmarks; I really like libraries, and I adore Relief Society
Jane Eyre: because it’s one of my very favorite novels of all time — I can read it again and again and again (I threw in a cheap copy, which I feel I can easily spare, since I have so many other copies as well)
map of Idaho: because I love to travel, especially to drive, and I find it useful to have a map just in case
CDs (indie pop/rock, 20th century pop, Muse): because I’m addicted to music and it makes me really happy to share great music with others — and I had to get Muse in there somehow 
If you have any thoughts about how I could represent other things I love (like England or the American Heritage Dictionary) or stuff that’s important about me, please let me know.
The Friendship Basket thanks you.
4 October 2007 at 10:36 am
I think your basket sounds great! I would totally love to get a basket like that. But maybe that’s because we’re both geeks!
Hmm, well, I think you should include something Harry Potterish, because that’s an important part of your life. Maybe you could include a small box of Bertie Bott’s beans. Maybe you could also include a phrase book of Welsh or just a few Welsh terms/Old English terms. You could include a list of the most important things you need to be able to say in Old English, like “Where is the outhouse?” and “Where can I buy a Turkey leg?”.
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4 October 2007 at 12:47 pm
LOL! I love your ideas. I honestly hadn’t thought about Harry Potter stuff at all, but I like your idea of using Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.
I had thought about Old English (and Welsh), and in fact you reminded me of something I was going to do for OE. I wanted to include a few Old English quotes in my quote list (with translations, of course).
“Where can I buy a turkey leg?”
6 October 2007 at 9:23 pm
How about a card with the American Heritage Dictionary definition of “friendship”?
For England, I could run to London Market and buy you some digestive biscuits or Cadbury Flake or something like that and mail it to you. If there’s enough time. I always like an excuse to go to London Market.
6 October 2007 at 9:28 pm
Oh, and I’ve still got a few of the Orlando Bloom Read bookmarks I ordered. I can send two of those too (one for the basket and one for you, of course).
8 October 2007 at 10:41 am
Hey, clever! I knew I did the right thing, asking my oh-so-wise friends for help.
I love the idea for the AH Dictionary — I might even do both “friendship” and “basket.”
I don’t think there’s time at this point to send anything to me. But I will try running around town a little and see if I can find anything British to throw in. Maybe some Heinz Beans?
OK, probably chocolate or something would be more generally acceptable.
8 October 2007 at 5:43 pm
Oh, I don’t know. If I go tomorrow, and mail it priority, it could be there by Friday.