You can hate me because I have also finished my Christmas wrapping.
So there.
Also I got the neatest stuff for people this year:
Brandied peaches I made myself.
A restored 1950’s telephone (with our old telephone number on the dial) 39$!
A neat lemon juicer
Some books for my mother
and my favorite, for my little niece, a hooded shirt of unusual design…
cool stuff!
Having been to Doha, I am guessing you didn’t get all that stuff there… or perhaps you know a secret part of Doha.
I am in Frederick, Maryland, but will be returning to Saudi Arabia in a week or so. As a result, I have been winding up loose ends.
Aren’t those shirts neat?
Those shirts are awesome! Makes me wish I had kids to buy for!
I’m at a complete loss this year for Christmas presents. I usually have all sorts of great ideas, and get things done early, but this year my brain is fried. People at work will be getting cookies in little gift bags, but that’s the only thing I’ve got figured out. Parents, siblings, my fiance… no clue. I really want to tell everyone to forget about gifts this year and we can all keep our money and we’ll have a big Christmas party instead, since nobody needs anything anyway. We’re all working on downsizing our crap because we have too many things that we don’t need or use.
A few years ago someone on the Dope recommended I buy my mother postage stamps with a photo of her cat on them. She loved them. Take a look around the web for them.
Been done since August. My cards are also already made, written out and addressed and ready to stuff in the mail Tuesday.
I posted that I had finished mine more than a month ago.
We did buy our Christmas cards last week - need to send most to Europe and figured might as well get them now and maybe get an early start - although I know I will wind up waiting until it is getting late to do them.
BTW - as an addition to that cool retro phone, you might want to add this for mom to put in her purse and use with her cell phone when she is on the go.
I got one for my brother and when he took it to his local bar and answered a call, people come from all corners to laugh and gawk and give it a try.
I finished my Christmas shopping about 1959 or so when I figured out that the whole Christmas thing was rather silly. Spouse had the idea first and I agreed.
I usually try to start my christmas shopping around August, actually.
I’ve already got a small but respectable hoard built up, so far. Including a human brain!*
*Okay, it’s plastic. But it’s still anatomically accurate and life-sized.
I’ve got my MIL taken care of today – bought her a MICHE purse, that has magnetic outside panels that can be taken on and off to change the look of the purse. The purse people had the booth next to mine at the craft show I was doing today. I’ll be sewing for a lot of the rest of mine.
I haven’t started buying presents yet. I don’t want anything from my sister, and if I get her something then she’ll feel obligated to get something for me. I’ll get my 11-year-olf nephew a scientific calculator. It might prove useful in school, and a ‘gadget’ might get him more interested in math. He has enough Lego already. That leaves my ex-fiancée. I don’t know what she wants. She usually asks for socks from REI. (She got me wearing them, too.) I gave her a wool Pendleton blanket that she liked. Last time I chatted with her, I’d just bought myself another one. I asked if she still had the one I gave her, and she was using it as we spoke. She said it was getting a little threadbare after years of use. Maybe I’ll get her a replacement.
I got my Christmas crackers today. I like the ones they sell at Costco. Nice prizes. I got stopped on the way out because the receipt checker thought the receipt was for crackers that you eat.
No, it’s okay. Just last week, I finished shopping for last Christmas.
I’ve barely even started yet. I got my mother’s gift (a Seal CD) in early spring, and I have a gag gift for my boss, but I still don’t know what to do for her real gift. Or anyone else’s, for that matter. I know I’ll end up getting my sister a gift card… Geez, I better start making a list. Actually I should try to complete shopping this week. Every year I end up trudging around stores in the bitter cold and dealing with crowds and disorganized shelves, and every year I swear that I’ll never wait until mid December again. This year’s totally going to be different.
ETA: Saw the link. Those shirts are awesome!
Amazon, my friend. I guess you could say I “started” shopping last year, just by creating a gift idea list for somebody and adding items to that. When the day comes closer all I have to do is pull up the list and click “move to cart”. For some people I may want a very particular or wacky item from a brick & mortar place, but for most I can do all my Christmas shopping at home in my fuzzy pink bunny slippers. With a laptop I don’t even have to get out of bed.
Geez. We haven’t even figured out when we’re going to have Christmas, let alone what the gift giving scheme is this year!
Between my family and my husband’s family and the trip we’re taking with them, and my sister and her SO’s family (who live 3 provinces away), no one really knows yet when/if everyone will even be able to all get together on or about the 25th of December. Also, since we occasionally do a free-for-all-gift-for-anyone-you-want-to-buy-for, or sometimes a gift exchange, decided mostly by everyone’s financial situation in any given year, that’s also something that needs to be worked out.
I don’t even really start to think of Christmas until the start of December.
I am going to be in a Muslim country on Christmas, so I think I am exempt.
So this means you’ll have plenty of time to get my Christmas shopping done for me, right? I’m grateful not to have very many people to buy for, but still.
Don’t you feel like you are missing out on the holidays?
I suppose it is different for everyone, which is fine. For myself though, I enjoy the buying, wrapping, and writing of cards around Christmas. It’s part of the season for me. If I did all my Christmas shopping and wrapping before the leaves started falling, I am not sure I could get in the mood when Christmas time finally comes.
What happens if something significant happens between now and Christmas? Do you leave off that you are <insert exciting news here> until next year, or do you rewrite all the cards? Do you have one letter that you send to everyone, or do you write individual letters to each person?
ETA: I suppose in the OP’s case, it makes sense if you are going to be out of the country. I guess it’s either do them now or not at all!