What did you give for Christmas?
 

For me Christmas is about getting wonderfully thoughtful gifts for others (and peace and harmony, blah blah blah). I went all out this year, all outier than any all out year before, in fact.

I sent my little brother and his gf to South America, I digitized all of my family's home movies for dad (over 100 hours), I'm putting in new tile for my mom's kitchen, I'm going to have In-n-Out waiting mysteriously on my grandmother's kitchen table when she gets back from Christmas morning services, and the SO is getting a romantic dinner followed by an autographed photo of the cast of Firefly—her favorite all time show. Oh, and Jack the Beagle is getting boiled organic chicken with rice and beans instead of kibbles.

So what are your masterful gift-giving plans this year?

We got my SO's parents the game Apples to Apples for their game collection. For my dad, I picked up a bottle of Deschutes Brewing's the Abyss, a limited release bourbon-barrel aged stout, and their Black Butte Porter XXI, a limited release bourbon-barrel aged porter. For my mother, I got her a subscription to This Old House magazine. And for my SO, a snow shovel.

I was planning to get my mom a calf and foot massager. But she told me not to because there's no room to put it in the house. So I gave her some money.

I did Secret Santa with my group of friends. I got my friend two t-shirts that describes him and his personality. The first one is "It's a Nguyen Nguyen (win win) Situation," his las name. And the second one is "Choi Luon," basically meaning, "Let's play" because he's always down to do stuff.

Finally, I got the ex a scarf.

Is it possible your brother's gf will let me go to South America in her place? I'd be good, I promise.

As usual, I didn't have a lot of money. My son really wanted a new system, but I just couldn't afford it this year. So, he got a new PS2 since his is acting up. A ton of games and toys. And my mom got photos of my son. I didn't get anyone else anything.

I gave money to modestneeds.org after reading about them on cnn.com. I helped a family who had a medical emergency and was behind on their mortgage because of it. There's 2 other families I've contributed to help, but they haven't completed the pledges just yet.

My ex has been on crutches due to an ankle injury from skateboarding. And, when I say on crutches, I mean she's quit them and just used the boot alone. So, her ankle has been feeling pain and she hasn't really moved all that much recently. So, I decided to get her:

1) Movies and Books to help pass time while she's not doing anything.
2) A gift card for a free massage for her and her 2 best friends (her sisters)
3) A baller looking cane that would be less of a hassle for her to use than crutches

Of course, this doesn't compare to anyone else's here....

Merry Christmas, everyone.

OMG, an autographed cast photo? That's way, way cool.



Let's see... I got my mom a 'Bama hoodie, some bath salts & bath bombs, and a huge bag of Atomic Fireballs, which she loves.

I got my stepdad some vinyl gloves (he butchers all his own animals, so they come in handy), and a Bob Marley cd (I recently found out he likes Bob Marley, which is kind of out of character for him... but I was so excited about discovering this, that I HAD to share the love.)

My brothers got giftcards, because they're teenagers, and that's what they prefer.

My grandpa got a bottle of Elijah Craig bourbon, 'cause that's his favorite.

Eden got a bunch of stuff from thinkgeek, and I'm fairly certain he liked everything :)

And I can't tell you what ZombieSquirrel got, because I haven't given it to her yet.

For my daughter, who is 12, I got an Ipod nano, various Nintendo DS games and various CD's. My son, who is 7, like LEGOS and Pokemon, so that is what I got for him. Pokemon Emerald is hard to find, but I found it!

I bought millions of Nerf guns for the many children in my life. My mother and grandmothers got these neat little plaque things with fitting little sayings on them. I also got millions of candles for lots of people. My sister got a bottle of Jim Beam.

I got DaniGirl's three daughters a few toys and stuffed their stockings and stuff. I also got her oldest a thing of half used Scotch tape...

She walked in while we were wrapping her sisters' presents. the conversation went something like this:

Her: "Whose baby doll is that? Is that my baby doll? Is that what you got me for Christmas?"

Me: "Nope. I got you one present. Want to see it?"

Her: "Yeah."

I showed her the tape I was using to wrap the presents.

"....I'm not old enough to use that, though." was all she said.

After she left the room I wrapped the tape up and gave it to her with her other toys and stuff. The ironic part is the tape is the thing she ended up having the most fun with. She taped all kinds of shit up.

/long side story

3 ps2 games and 2 movies on dvd for family. mostly hand-me-downs. I am kinda cheap this year due to not having a lot to spend right now.

Amazon "Gift Card" numbers and a half-dozen ugly monster-faced rubber balls to the biggest kid in my life.

single serve coffee maker for my parents
Scott Westerfield's Uglies for one niece
Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass for another niece
NAMCO Museum DS for another niece
A Flat Stanley box set for my nephew
Cormac McCarthy's The Road for one brother
Showtime's "This American Life," season 2 for the other brother

Bare Escentuals make up
Archipelago candles
coffee
coffee mugs
Bailey's Irish Cream
pajama / lounge pants
2 tie-blankets
chocolate covered cherries
a few gift cards

...I think that's all. Not much giving this year.

I look forward to playing "Jacks" with my Mom later today.
I found a nice old set of them in a most bizzare little store.

Mom has talked about the countless hours she played with them as a child.

& then there they were; inside an old glass case, sitting amongst other's flotsam.

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...titledfeoi.jpg

I then spied some lovely old/odd cocktail skewers.
My sister will shriek and love them.

2 cases of Cakebread cab to The_Wife.
A Bruder Cement Mixer to Max
A Thomas Train racing set to Drew.

Plus assorted other gifts, but those were the big ones. And each boy gets a special gift from Daddy (since those are the ones I buy myself) and everyone gets an ornament from me.

Folks at work don't get Christmas gifts. They get New Years gifts since that's when we get reset back to $0.

to aunt phil:

windows 7,
sony dvd/cd player,
4qt crock pot, and
a bottle of cakebread cellars chardonay...

A flight to Toronto and guilt free clothes shopping while there.

I dug my mothers car out three days in a row....now that is a GIFT!

I gave my daughter a nice camera and my son an xbox 360 even though I wanted the PS3 :)

Mom - cool retro candle holder
Dad - PS3 game
Sister - Tuscan serving bowl and Simple Sewing for Baby book
Best friend - Post secret book complete with my own secrets added in
Other best friend - FML book, A virgins guide to everything, FAIL nation, chocolate
Life long friend - Beatles playing cards and a book on service dogs.
Girlfriend - Me, in nothing but brand new black lacey panties.

My mom: made a cd of moutain ballads that I've been collecting for her for 3 years, a civil war book and a victorian key pendant (it was her birthday as well)
My Dad: 2 year subscription to his favorite magazine (Georgia Backroads) and a home depot gift card
Dave's mom: a platter we found that goes with her antique plate collection and a gift card to bath and body works
Dave's dad: 2 year magazine subscription (he's recently found he loves the same magazine my dad does) and a best buy gift card
Dave's sister, books and dvd's off her Amazon wish list and an iTunes gift card
My nieces: money
My daughter: xbox 260, bunch of games, her first "real" jewelry, a diamond necklace and a guitar

Dave and I also made soy massage candles for all the females on both sides of the family..it was the favorite with all of them lol

Dave and I never exchange gifts, we prefer to use that money to go on a trip somewhere for new years eve, but his bday is the 20th so I get to cheat a little, I got him a framed Joker (Heath Ledger version) art piece thing and a 30 year old Star Wars Beer Stein and lightsaber chopsticks for his next trip to Asia)

OMG!!! I'm an idiot!! I forgot it was Christmas!!! I gotta get to the mall!! When a woman, especially your SO tells you " You don't have to get me anything this year, we'll buy something fore the house instead." RUN!! Run, drive like Steve McQueen, get to a mall, a jewelery store, a travel agent..... any where that sells shit.....something.......ANYTHING!!!!

I have no idea why I thought it was ok not to get her anything. She went and did all the shopping for the kids and I told her over and over not to get me anything ( I really don't NEED anything and money is a little tight) and like I said, we agreed not to get for each other. STUPID -- STUPID -- STUPID !!!

Christmas morning as we all sat in front of the tree and passed out gifts a queezy feeling crept into my stomach and and slowly, like I was waking up from surgery a fog lifted and I was aware of my true surroundings. The panic came over me like a wave. A hot flash shot through my body and my mouth got dry. It was like somebody else was in control of my brain for the last two weeks and they just gave me the reigns back as I was careening toward the edge of a cliff with no chance of stopping in time!

So the next day as we were exchanging our daughters coat at Macy's, she picked one out. Ok, got the coat,....and scarf,.....and hat,.....and gloves. Then the stop at Best Buy to return duplicate movies cost me a $1200 TV for the bedroom (which originally WE were gonna buy, now I bought) then since it was too late to fix dinner at home we stopped in one of the pricier steak houses that we usually avoid. And if I am reading signs correctly now, I'm still expected to get her a surprise present. How about a new bicycle so we can still get around after the cars get repossessed!!

My parents, I took a picture from their wedding album and had it blown up and professionally matted and framed because June was their 50th wedding anniversary.

My Husband some Taylor Made golf clubs that I can't really describe. His golfing buddy sent me the link from Edwin Watts and I just ordered them. I don't know nor want to know anything about golf.

Our Son, an all expenses paid trip and tickets to Manhattan to see Robin Williams perform - he got that at the beginning of Dec., a new laptop and the windows tinted in his car and various clothing store gift cards.

Those are the main ones, of course the usual bottles of liquor and the like for friends.

Ahhhhh Christmas! I usually give more than I receive and that is perfectly fine!

I got My Girl Friend: Star Trek the Original Series (all 3 seasons), A Zombie Survival Guide (For her Birthday), A Warlock WoW Shirt (For her Birthday), and a Promise Ring for our Anniversary (Which is on Christmas Eve :3)

I got My Best Friend: A Bean Bag Chair for his phone (He Idolizes his Iphone too much :P) and I am going to get him speakers as a second and delayed Gift for his car!

I got My Best Friends Wife: A Cool Shirt and World War Z (Another Zombie Book)



Ended up buying a Few games for some of my other Friends and my Family!

My brother and I got mom a laptop, hers was old and crappy, and she loves the new one.
I got my brother tickets to two hockey games, and I helped him to get a guitar during a pre-holiday clearance sale.
I got one of my friends the shaving supplies kit I use because he's always razorburned and had come to accept it as part of life.

Everyone liked their stuff. I guess I'm getting mature since I got more enjoyment out of seeing how much everyone liked stuff I and my immediate family got for other people than of stuff I got, and that's saying a lot since my mom got us Apples to Apples and the new Mario game for Wii, and my brother is getting me homebrewing equipment for a combo Chirstmas/birthday present.

I got my dad a coffee maker that he doesn't know how to work, and for the girl I am dating, I got her a blue animal print wallet, and loaded it up with gift cards for her fav stores. +1 for one of them being from Victoria's Secret = awesome text messages. ^^

I suppose we have a lot of special people in our lives. Between my husband and I, here's what we gave:

Sister's family including nieces & nephews:
- magnetic Disney Cars
- shoes & bib
- coloring books & ceramic teacup charm
- jump wrope & reptile books
- scrabble card game
- Dinosaur board game
- giant stock-pot for cooking

Parents:
- Pastel artwork
- Ironing board cover
- Car detailing supplies

Brother's family:
- United States puzzle & board game

Close friends:
- parasol (x2)
- mini sketch book w/handmade paper
- hand-stamped Indian pillow covers
- clay bird
- large trendy purse
- special coffees (Kona, Irish Cream, Frangelico)
- hand-carved soap stone animals
- campfire starters that look like $100 bills
- figurine of a grumpy old coach
- petal-like crystal serving plate

Total $ spent this Christmas: $76.82. Frugality strikes again.

GF:
- Teddy Bear (local store does a Cancer Society bear and I buy it every year for her)
- Gone With the Wind DVD box set
- Dinner at her favorite restaurant
- Best of Queen, Pink Floyd's The Wall and Phantom of the Opera records (we both love vinyl)
- PVR

Dad:
- a box of golf balls (that's all he wanted)

Mom:
- A puzzle
- Photo Albums
- Socks
- Baked goods (from the gf)

Brother: FIFA 2010 for the 360

GF's Brother: Beer

GF's Sister: Ground Coffee from a local place I've been raving about.

GF's Dad: Beer

GF's Mom: A bottle of wine.

I got my mom a new outfit (slacks, a sweater and boots). She mentioned to me that she hasn't had time to shop lately and she wasn't really sure what to buy so I took the liberty of getting her a nice outfit she can wear to work. I got my dad a shaving kit with a really cool brush and organic shaving cream and after shave because I have very find memories as a kid watching my daddy shave. Also, my mom mentioned that he had grown a beard and she hated it, lol. I got my boss a gift certificate to Newegg, my coworker got beanie she had been eyeing online and my ex got Usual Suspects on BluRay. He lent his copy out years ago and never got it back so it was a nice surprise for him. Christmas was a little tight this year so it was bare minimum gifts but every one mentioned that they were very thoughtful and that's important to me as well.