# A Christmas present for my ex-fiancée **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 16, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-christmas-present-for-my-ex-fiancee/331353 "2005-11-16T18:09:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![raz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-christmas-present-for-my-ex-fiancee/331353/21 "2005-11-18T02:35:09Z")
He wants Christmas advice, not relationship advice, guys. Maybe he’s over her, maybe he isn’t over her, but that has no bearing on the topic of this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-christmas-present-for-my-ex-fiancee/331353/22 "2005-11-18T19:52:29Z")
Just a [suggestion](http://cgi.ebay.com/A-BAG-OF-ROASTED-EDIBLE-SCORPIONS-A-UNIQUE-SNACK_W0QQitemZ5636346883QQcategoryZ1469QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem). ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-christmas-present-for-my-ex-fiancee/331353/23 "2005-11-19T05:02:37Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > Just a [suggestion](http://cgi.ebay.com/A-BAG-OF-ROASTED-EDIBLE-SCORPIONS-A-UNIQUE-SNACK_W0QQitemZ5636346883QQcategoryZ1469QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem). Oh. my. GOD. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-christmas-present-for-my-ex-fiancee/331353/24 "2005-11-19T09:32:45Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Oh. my. GOD. :eek: No, it’s only me. Oh! You mean the snackage! I’d try 'em. And the other thing in the tin. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-christmas-present-for-my-ex-fiancee/331353/25 "2005-11-19T09:55:40Z")
Into socks and history? [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0934026971/103-0118084-8666207?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0934026971/103-0118084-8666207?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance) ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-christmas-present-for-my-ex-fiancee/331353/26 "2005-11-19T18:42:45Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > No, it’s only me. I’d laugh if I weren’t still somewhat horrified … of course, I clicked on the link _before_ discovering **Shirley Ujest** ’s [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=345443) about same, so it was completely unexpected. > [@](#): > > I’d try 'em. And the other thing in the tin. That, my friend, is because you are insane. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-christmas-present-for-my-ex-fiancee/331353/27 "2005-11-19T18:58:18Z")
This is a cute book that’s good for a Jane Austen fan/history buff. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671882368/102-3680822-3089730?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671882368/102-3680822-3089730?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance) ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-christmas-present-for-my-ex-fiancee/331353/28 "2005-11-20T09:50:15Z")
I take a little interest in some parts of Russian history and would do wicked things to own even a used copy of this: [Great Art Treasures of the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg (2 Volume Set) (Hardcover)](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0810934280/002-8655393-6219203?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-christmas-present-for-my-ex-fiancee/331353/29 "2005-11-20T16:24:22Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > I[Great Art Treasures of the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg (2 Volume Set) (Hardcover)](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0810934280/002-8655393-6219203?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance). From Amazon: > [@](#): > > **Hardcover:** 2 pages > > \ > > **Shipping Weight:** 20.4 pounds. I wonder what the pages are made of? 😕 I’m sure she’d like them, only I really don’t want to spend _that_ much. I mean, I like to give gifts, but $195 for ‘very good’ volumes is a little much. > [@Manda JO](#): > > This is a cute book that’s good for a Jane Austen fan/history buff. > > [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/06](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/06)…=books&v=glance She might like that, since she likes Dickens too. (She says that all of the world’s problems were summed up by Dickens in _A Christmas Carol_. Ignorance and Want are the roots of wars, prejudice, crime, etc.) A couple of reviewers pointed out inaccuracies in the book. She tends to believe a lot of what she reads. (Hey, she read the _Bible_ for God’s sake! 😛 Just poking a little fun at the Christians. Only a joke. No offense.) Not that it matters. She’s unlikely to get into conversations about Austen and Dickens with anyone beside me, and I’m no scholar of those authors. Now if the book was called _What Jane Austen Ate And What Charles Dickens Knew: The History Of The Czars’ Socks In Regency And Victorian England_, I think that would be a winner! 😃 Actually, the book is a good suggestion. I’ll put it on the list. 🙂 > [@Misnomer](#): > > That, my friend, is because you are insane. 🙂 Aha! That’s where I have you! I _do_ question my sanity! If I thought I was sane, _that_ would be a clear sign of insanity! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-christmas-present-for-my-ex-fiancee/331353/30 "2005-11-20T16:57:16Z")
You know, she really likes smoked salmon. The best smoked salmon I’ve had is from Brady’s Oysters in Westport, WA – very near where she used to live in Hoquiam and Aberdeen. She likes Brady’s salmon, but it’s not the _best_ she’s had. That would be the salmon her friends caught and smoked themselves. Last time I went to Brady’s smoked salmon was $12.50/pound. On the website it’s $52 for two pounds – plus shipping. :eek: It’s a 400-mile round trip from here, and I’ve heard that overnight shipping for fish is expensive. Oh, well. ☹ Hey, I have an idea! She likes tea. (Actually, she’s more of a coffee drinker; but she does like good tea.) Someone in the tea thread mentioned a nice shop just ten miles away from here in Canada. Maybe I could get her a nice selection, and a nice mug to drink it in. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-christmas-present-for-my-ex-fiancee/331353/31 "2005-11-25T03:34:55Z")
I found out what she wants: C.S. Lewis books. She’d found a boxed set on amazon, but she didn’t buy them because they were like $40. Naturally I went to The Easton Press. Unfortunately the same set is 300 simoleons. _The Chronicals Of Narnia_ set is about 350 dollars. I went back to amazon and put the $40 boxed set in my shopping cart. She liked the socks and the paperback copy of _I, Robot_ I sent her for her birthday. I assume she has other socks, but she really likes the ones from REI. Now she has a pair for each weekday, plus the ones she already has. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-christmas-present-for-my-ex-fiancee/331353/32 "2005-11-25T04:43:30Z")
**John** , if you e-mail me, I may have time to do a piece of glass personalized for her from you. We’d have to talk about it. I have a Christmas fair in Sequim on the 3rd, after that I don’t have any projects pending. [here](http://photobucket.com/albums/v483/picunurse/Glass/) are a few examples of my stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-christmas-present-for-my-ex-fiancee/331353/33 "2005-12-03T04:11:49Z")
Well… She already bought the C.S. Lewis Signature Set. So today I made her a basket. I got a blue teapot, a large cup with a blue cartoon cat on it, a royal blue tin to which I added two ounces of Earl Grey tea, a decorative/functional strainer (I just put the loose tea in the pot, but I think most people don’t like it that way), and the Spice Hut cup that Spice Hut gives away free for purchases over $30. Then I went to Pier 1 and bought a little tray-shaped basket. At home I wrapped the mugs in bubble wrap and pot them in the basket/tray with the pot (still in its box), the strainer and the tea. Then I added a box of Trader Joe’s Cocoa Almonds and wrapped it in red Saran Wrap. Why do I have red Christmas Saran Wrap? I’m not sure. Either I wasn’t paying attention when I bought it a year or two ago, or it was part of a two-pack. I put the gift basket into a U-Haul Small box and stuffed the empty space with bubble wrap and those air bag things. I put the part of the newspaper that has a large photo of me on the front page on top, and then put the card on top of that. **picunurse** is making a glass wolf for me, and I’ll mail that separately. Now I have to look for a box so that I can mail my sister’s/BIL’s present and my nephew’s present to them… ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-christmas-present-for-my-ex-fiancee/331353/34 "2005-12-03T04:34:21Z")
The basket sounds awesome. 🙂 I’ve made CARE packages for people before, and sometimes it can be really fun to put a bunch of things together like that! > [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > **picunurse** is making a glass wolf for me, and I’ll mail that separately. If possible, I’d love to see a picture of that piece before you mail it… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-christmas-present-for-my-ex-fiancee/331353.md?page=1)