My father-in-law gave my mother-in-law the same book for the same reason (her ancestors were Peter Brown and Francis Cook - perhaps you’re related).
I got three books, which is wonderful. My family is often too intimidated to give me books, because they think the books they choose won’t be interesting to me or I’ll have them already - neither of which is usually true. My mom gave me The Murder Room by P.D. James, my brother gave me Word Lore, and my brother-in-law gave me a Doonesbury collection. My daughters each made me and Mr. Legend a ceramic masterpiece (the younger one made a weird skull thing and the older one made a carnivorous plant piece). My in-laws gave me oven mitts and my mom gave me a good probe thermometer. But best of all, my mom and in-laws also gave me money, way more than they should have. Enough, in fact, that I’ll be able to justify buying a Kitchenaid stand mixer. So I’m off to start a thread asking for opinions of the various Kitchenaid models now.
This year was a year of practical gifts. The one somewhat exciting thing I got is a flatscreen monitor, which is nice not only because it’s not as heavy as the old CRT, but because I can actually read text on it. I like to think my problems with the other one were caused by the monitor getting old…
Other than that, I got new towels/washcloths/etc., a new shower curtain, a couple sweaters, and a little vacuum cleaner for the places the big one doesn’t reach. I also got a check from Grandma, and I’m thinking that I’ll spend that on something fun.
We decided to replace the living room furniture this year instead of gifts. We’ll be paying for it for the next 18-months-same-as-cash so it may be next year’s present too.
My gf got me clothes, movies, earrings, and chocolate covered cherries. mmm mmm mmm.
My gf’s granny and mom made me crocheted and fleece blankets. They are wonderfully cozy and loved because they were hand made.
And finally, stepson got is an indoor/outdoor thermometer/barometer/forecast/atomic time/ yada/yada/yada. I think it even does dishes.
Actually, I got some cash and some clothes, which is more than I really wanted. The main thing that I got, which is what really mattered to me is I got to see my mother, my nephew, and some of my aunts and uncles that I hadn’t seen in years (in the case of my aunt Dorothy and uncle Bill, about 20 years, sadly, I don’t think that my uncle Bill’s going to be around much longer, he’s pushing 90 and in poor health due to a medical mishap).
I wish I could have gotten to see some of my cousins, but had to be back home today, so that I could go to work tomorrow. :rolleyes:
House, season 2 and Supernatural, season 1, a big book on ghosts and a big collection of scary stories, a gift card for Second Cup and a bunch of pencil holder tins, two gift cards for Indigo, a substantial cheque, a brilliant coffee mug and an ale tankard, and a mint condition edition of the first issue of Books of Magic. I love my family.
More swag to be collected on Boxing Day–I’m definitely fixated on Terry Pratchett’s Wintersmith and Susanna Clarke’s The Ladies of Grace Adieu, and mulling over season 2 of Grey’s Anatomy…
Mom gave me Slacks
Little Sister gave me a throw and a blanket with a Wolf on them ( I like Wolfs)
Her SO Gave me a book and a tool part (6" 3/4 drive extension)
Best Aunt gave a fuel gift card (better than slippers by far)
Good meal with the relatives what else could I ask for?
A DVD of Police Squad
A bunch of books including John Ringo’s newest Ghost book, and Salt.
A box of Kosher Salt to go with the book
A boombox that accepts my iPod so I can listen to tunes in the spa
A new printer Cannon Pixima iP6700 WOOT!
A good year.
The top gifts this year were:[ul]
[li]Firefly: The Complete Series[/li][li]Serenity[/li][li]Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss[/li][li]purple dragonfly soap[/li][li]Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes[/li][li]$25 Borders gift card[/li][/ul]
I also got a couple of other books, a shirt, a sweater, a CD, an office-themed Mad Libs, a pair of snowman socks and a bunch of bath/shower stuff (two of my siblings and my mom gave shower/bath gifts to all my sisters, only the purple dragonfly soap was worth individual mention, although it means I don’t have to buy shampoo, conditioner or lotion for a month or two), a play ticket, a gas gift card and a grocery store gift card.
Blah gift this year (this was also a “theme gift” that one sister gave to all her siblings): cookie mix in a jar (mine is “Potato Chip Cookies”) and a 2 x 4 refrigerator “glurge” magnet (mine says has a “For My Friend” poem and two hugging bears.
Blah gift honorable mention: One of the bath/shower gifts included lipstick and eyeshadow, which I do not wear. At least the other two people varied colors/scents and a couple of the individual items to personalize each gift a little bit. (Gift-related pet peeve: Giving several people (especially those who are going to be opening the gifts in front of each other) identical/near-idential generic gifts.)
Best birthday card: Little blonde girl with giant candy bar on the front, speech bubble saying: I have chocolate and you don’t… “pppppttttpp!”; inside: Today is not about sharing!
It must be a sign of getting old that I was happy to receive shirts and underwear.
From my parents: shirts (which is what I asked for. Shirts here either are too short in the sleeve or freakin’ expensive, or both).
From my wife: a Project X DVD about the Sony Aibo (again, which I specifically asked for).
From my MIL: underwear, which I didn’t ask for but was fine by me.
From aunt and uncle #1: annual renewal of subscription to Scientific American.
From aunt & uncle #2: jazz CDs.
This was our son’s first Christmas so naturally it was all about him, and I was only too happy to step aside.
I’m buying a gift for myself next week during the New Year’s break.
I got an 8 GB RED ipod nano! I was not expecting it at all. But the best bit of all (and you have to understand the non-demonstrativeness of Japan to get what a big deal this is…) the inscription on the back reads “To HB, We love you Hub Brit, Kid Brit 1 and Kid Brit 2”. Ahhhhh.
I just uploaded about five CDs worth of stuff, all I had on my computer (told you I wasn’t expecting it!) and then IT went and all by itself uploaded 2700 photos in the remaining space. And it isn’t even full yet!
Revenge of the Sith. I asked Santa for the widescreen original versions of the original trilogy, but that proved too difficult for him. I would have gotten Revenge of the Sith sooner or later anyway, so no matter.
Two Pratchett books: Wintersmith and Monstrous Regiment.
A Jamie Oliver flavor shaker, that I was this close to buying for myself while Christmas shopping. Lucky I didn’t.
A gift certificate at a book store. Combined with an earlier gift certificate that I never got around to using, I can now buy Beginning Ubuntu Linux: From Novice to Professional for none of my own money at all. Whoo!
A new set of headphones for my MP3 player. My ears are freakishly deformed, so ordinary headphones don’t work for me. These are specially designed for a) freaks like me and b) using while working out. Perfect.
At work, we got this multi-giftcard thing where you go to a website and choose your gift from their online catalogue. I picked an MP3 player that appears to be pretty much like my old MP3 player, but with twice as much memory.
A new cellphone. The old one was still working, but the battery died after about 30 seconds of conversation, which pretty much made it a text-message-only device.
A gift certificate for the cinema.
A fiberoptic lamp that’s almost, but not quite, as tacky as a lava lamp. Definitely a step in the right direction.
And the real prize: a robot that sweeps the floors. I haven’t tested it yet; will be back with appraisal.
I’m so happy with mine! Like a kid on Christmas mor-- oh.
From my parents -
I got a digital camera which I adore, it’s perfect for my purposes. Canon PowerShot A430 for the curious. To go with it, a camera case, and a battery charger. Yay! I’m so ridiculously happy over this camera that I want to take it everywhere.
Two pairs of pyjamas (slightly too big hehe, but that’s OK, that’s why drawstring bottoms were invented!) Really nice pyjamas too - one’s blue leopard printed flannel, and the other pair is red with snowflakes and a tank top as the top.
A magnetic bracelet. I don’t believe these do anything, but honestly? I think they’re really cool looking. My parents are all into these for some reason.
Seasons 5 and 6 of Seinfeld!
A box of President’s Choice Ferrero Rocher-alikes. They are yummy.
From my brother and sister-in-law -
A Body Shop gift set in Vanilla Spice. Has soap, shower gel, body butter, lip balm and a bath pouf.
A gift card to EB Games. $100. :eek:
From my boyfriend -
A gift certificate to Lush. I love Lush, he knows this. Also he plans to get me a Wii. :eek: again! I have asked him not to but he doesn’t listen. I do want one, but I wanted to buy it myself. I’ll just comfort myself by telling myself he’s going to use it too, so it’s OK.
From my husband: Ski goggles and gloves, to use on our trip to Denver next month. Also, a lighted makeup mirror (I’m trying not to read any message into that)!
From the girl-child: A canister of trail mix
From the boy-child: Cat-themed potholders and dish towel
From my brother: A tree-shaped thing with a bunch of little picture frames hanging from it.
From Mom: Sheets
From Mother in Law: Chocolates
Our best Christmas moment: My 14 year old step-daughter asked for nothing this year but cash. So I went up to the Goodwill and bought her this long, shapeless orange sweater-dress with pearl detailing at the cuffs and collar. She pulled it out, held it up, and gamely squealed, “I love it!” At our urging, she went into the next room to try it on, but came back unexpectedly and caught us all making those silent-scream-of-laughter faces.
For both my husband and I from ourselves: A Gameboy Advance SP + 3 games.
From my mom: A Scrabble game and a Dustbuster (for both my husband and I)
From my dad: A nice glass bakeware set with lids and carrying cases.
From Grandma #1: A hand-made lap quilt.
From Grandma #2: A one-night stay package at a local hotel/casino.
From my nephew who drew my name: An electric tea kettle, a hand-held Solitaire game, and one of his senior pictures.
In our $5 gift exchanges: Some new kitchen towels and some mitten/stocking ornaments.
Also: two boxes of chocolate covered cherries.
We still have one more Christmas to do with the in-laws on Friday.
Me, too! I got the Braun 8985 – even though yes, I’m a girl. Men’s razors work on women’s hair, too, and I figure that my legs deserve to be treated as well as some guy’s face.
Also in this year’s haul:[ul][li]A Peeps maker[/li][li]Clive Cussler’s Treasure of Khan[/li][li]a blouse from Coldwater Creek[/li][li]cash from various relatives[/li][li]AmEx gift card[/li][li]Starbuck’s gift card[/li][li]The Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus[/li][li]several DVDs: It Happened One Night, The Sixth Sense, the first season of Fame, the entire Sports Night series, and Tales of the City[/ul][/li]My favorite “gift,” though, is my new boyfriend. (I’m getting sappy in my old age … sue me. :D) He spent the weekend out of town with his parents, but we had a very nice Friday night together and we’ll be spending this coming weekend (including New Year’s Eve) with each other.
