I was taken by surprise. In Spain it is customary to give the presents either on Christmas or on the Epiphany; for us it’s always been the Epiphany. So this year since I have to be away for the Epiphany (I’m working for these heathens who don’t have it as a national holiday*), I expected to miss the gift-giving.
Turns out that my brothers had decided to move the gift-giving to Christmas but hadn’t told me :smack: One of them had mentioned to Mom that they were thinking about it, but hadn’t confirmed it one way or the other. I had to re-address the two gifts I’d been bringing for “the family” in general: the choklad stenar (“chocolate pebbles”) for The Nephew, the Gemblo for the Niece. Like every group game they’ve gotten at Mom’s, it’s stayed here, so in the end it’s for the whole family.
Them Lutheran Swedes do, but the Brits don’t. Will it be unprofessional if I spend January 6th sighing that “I’m missing the celebrations of the Epiphany!”?
My brilliant gift to my sister, who will soon be retiring and moving cross country, so she doesn’t need or want a lot of “stuff” – altered portraits of her cats, Sybil and Nero.
For Dad, a Die Hard Christmas sweater and a Martin Short Biography. He’s retired now, so I can buy him books and he’ll have time to read them.
For Dad’s wife, two puzzles and I crocheted a scarf to match the new coat Dad bought for her.
For Mom, a KA stand mixer. Well, I was going to get her one, but she saw one on sale in the fall, and bought it, so I gave her the cash. I also bought her a bar stool for the kitchen, so she can perch while she bakes. She seems to think it will be easier on her back.
I bought my best friend some assorted teas, a travel mug (her Dad got her a Kuerig) and NPH’s Choose Your Own Autobiography. She was thrilled.
The boyfriend got a guitar stand. His guitar doesn’t have to live on the floor any more.
My five nieces and nephews are all getting marshmallow guns and a bag of ammo. We do that exchange in January.
I got her the bread maker that she asked for, the coffee maker that she asked for, and about 6 or 7 lbs of different chocolates from various chocolatiers that she didn’t.
My niece and nephew are getting headphones and headphone stands. My brother & his wife are getting fire extinguishers and a set of shopping bags. Mum also got a set of shopping bags and chocolates.
I spent a bit of time on the internet deals sites so picked up a lot of things for good discounts leading to a fair number of gifts.
Wife: Three various scarves for wearing or belly-dancing (she takes classes), couple books, big illustrated Marvel encyclopedia, perfume, robe, Dr. Who Tardis ornament and one of those portable phone charger/battery thingies. Her “big” gift was a trip earlier this month and hotel stay so she could attend an author meet-and-greet.
Teenage Son: Clothes, Nintendo 3DS XL, various 3DS and PS3 games, book about Minecraft
Toddler Son: Play table with “Lego” surface, beanbag chair, Lite-Brite, card matching game, backpack & lunch bag for pre-school, some books, assorted smaller toys and a tower of Duplo blocks.
[li]TO MOM: a big custom-made wreath (she loves snow and the color blue, so it’s dark blue with silver snowflakes and a white snowman), a pair of slippers she’d asked for, and a big plaque with that Winnie The Pooh quote about being stronger than you realize, braver than you think, etc. The latter is because she’s been in assisted living for the past couple of years and still struggles with the transition sometimes. Every now and then her health issues really get to her, so I wanted to give her something to remind her that she can handle anything thrown her way! She cried, so I think she liked it. grin[/li]
[li]TO DAD: a book called Docent Details (he recently retired and became a docent at a local basilica), and a small cell phone/device charger (he travels a lot, and before his last trip I loaned him mine: he raved about it, so I got him one)[/li]
[li]TO BRO: an Amazon gift card (it’s what he always wants, plus it’s hard to buy for a 41-year-old)[/ul][/li]
My best friends are a married couple. We haven’t done our gift exchange yet (they were sick and then went out of town), so I’m hoping everyone will like what I got them![ul]
[li]TO HUSBAND BEST FRIEND: an iGrill2 (he loves to grill, and I always give him a hard time about undercooking my steaks: so this is part joke, but he also loves gadgets so it’s mostly a serious gift)[/li]
[li]TO WIFE BEST FRIEND: a cashmere pashmina (the last time we were at the mall together she said she was hoping to come across a pashmina cart, but we didn’t; I hope she likes this one!)[/li]
[li]TO MY 13-YEAR-OLD “NEPHEW” (their son): the Maze Runner Blu-ray and an iTunes gift card[/ul][/li]
I got one of those for my mom last Christmas! She always had cats but for the past several years has been unable to care for one (even before she went to assisted living), so I thought this would be a cute joke gift. Turned out that she absolutely loved it.
OMG I MUST HAVE ONE OF THOSE! I will have to investigate and see if this shop will take American currency/ship to the States (or see if I can find one sold by a US retailer)!
I will have to investigate and see if this shop will take American currency/ship to the States (or see if I can find one sold by a US retailer)!