Lots of really great keeping wine from my parents, very nice. Socks from Baby Sister, am I really that old? Toilet rolls from Other Sister, finally putting to rest the myth that I am the horrible one for getting her a bog brush last year and a framed photograph of myself the year before. And lots of little goodies too numerous to mention.
From my son - a beautiful candle he made
Bro - an incredible wool sweater, new journal for this years deep thoughts
Sisters - candles, new angels for my collection
Friends - a really pretty cold broach, earrings, an angel painting, two new angels for my collection, raspberry ripple bubble bath
My ex - my usual yearly compliment of new cook books, one with nothing but chocolate recipes
My son received just about every truck/back hoe on the market I think… We have a full fleet now 
We are, each of us angels with only one wing,and we can only fly by embracing one another
I got very cool sapphire stud earrings from SO. They’re really big - almost a full carat each. They came from an estate sale, and the all the ladies in the jewelry store were ooohing and aaahing because they were the universal favorite pieces in the store.
He also got me a nifty Land’s End terry cloth robe with my name on it, some nifty fake ocelot fur slippers, a Carhart jacket, a sports watch to time my runs, and a recipe book for mixed drinks which proved to be VERY popular on Christmas day. Oh yeah, a waffle maker, too.
I got him a bottle of nice cognac, some fancy French cologne, a really nice Packers sweater, Lambeau Field hat, and Packers checkbook cover. What else? A Polo flannel shirt, the full set of the Planet of the Apes videos, and a Dr. Evil silly slammer.
And probably my favorite gift was a Nativity set. My mother went out and bought the ceramic figures, and my father made me a manger with a light bulb and a star on top. It’s just like the manger my parents always had when I was growing up. VERY nice!
I got a really nice set of pots and pans that I’ve been pointing at forever. Also, the usual assortment of cheesy stuff from relatives who never bother to get to know me, including a pink knitted hat and gold-glitter-covered purses. (Three of these, in a set, and I don’t even carry a purse.) In the “This makes it all worthwhile” category, I got three of the Straight Dope books.
What did I get for Christmas? A migraine and an urge to kill everyone at the dinner table with my butter knife. Oh, the joys of family.
In the material gifts area, I got:
- Some earrings, perfume and soap from Germany
- Opal earrings
- A ton of clothes
- $50
- “Pinstripe Power Barbie” since she epitomizes the sort of suit-wearing, latte-drinking yuppie lawyer I want to become
- A camera, film and album
- Gift card to the Gap
- Lots of bath stuff
- Pink bunny slippers
- A purse
- Leopard print slippers to match my new leopard print jammies
- Candy
- Nail polish and makeup
They may piss me off and ruin the holiday season for me, but my family does have good sense when it comes to buying gifts.
-Lanna
Hey, y’all, I’m back. Here’s my scoop:
Two big and very very good things: from the brother and sister-in-law, an espresso machine. Oooooooaaaaaa…
And from the folks, a very nice decorative dagger with frame for displaying it. I told them a few months back that I’d collect swords if I had the money for it; this is the first piece in the future collection.
Apart from that, clothes and other miscellaneous whatnot. Oh, and the folks tell me that new sheets for the waterbed are on the way as well, which I really really need.
Pretty good haul, all told. I’d asked them to avoid getting anything distracting (books, movies, vidgames) cuz I have to pay attention to school, so they did a masterful job.
Not true, not true. You’ve never heard a 9-year-old scream “Socks!” and then run across the room to give Grandma a big hug before going back to unwrap more gifts. The only other gift to inspire that much enthusiasm in my nephew was…well, last year’s socks. Strange kid…
Lanna - I feel your pain, hon!
Anyway, what I received:
The BEST gift, and one I got two months early: a new PC. Pentium 550. Which I absolutely adore.
So…down here in Memphis I got: a new umbrella (which has the London Tube system map printed on it), a few books, a book of cat poetry and stories my dad bought asa gag gift, but I love, the new Foo Fighters and Third Eye Blind CDs, vanilla bath gel (mmmmm.), a new journal, a new Coach leather purse, the obligatory Elvis mug, and a new suitcase.
And the day after Christmas I used my Christmas bonus and found a new full length winter coat. Life is good. Now, if I can just keep from killing my parents for two more days…
“But I can cry until I laugh or laugh until I cry.
So cut the deck right in half, I’ll play from either side…”
- Mary Chapin Carpenter
Puffington…ah, how can I say this…BLOW ME. I don’t care if you like it or not. Practical Magic is the only movie about magic I’ve ever seen (and it may be the only such film) that doesn’t present practicioners as either evil manipulators or deluded flakes. Beyond that, I thought it was beautifully photographed, well acted and paced, I liked the love story, and I even liked the musical theme. I think you’re the one who said, a few weeks ago, that you didn’t like the idea of the leads in a so-called “chick movie” sticking needles in a guy’s eyes. Well, FYI, just because a films major characters are female doesn’t mean that the film is therefore restricted to being a “chick movie”, revolving around weddings, births, and people dying beautifully of Movie Star’s Disease. I’m not trying to convince you of anything, just telling you that it worked for me.
And they didn’t actually stick the needles in his eyes. They were leery of doing so; then he came back to life before they got to that part of the spell.
Blessed be!
Remember, I’m pulling for you; we’re all in this together.
—Red Green
Does Christmas nookie count? It was really swell. :-p
PitBullDawg
This isn’t to brag but only because I’m so pleased that my s.o. FINALLY got it right. I told him early on when he asked me about Christmas gifts: “think jewelry.” We’ve been together for 4 Christmases - the last 3 I got small gold earrings (one pair with garnets). Okay - nothing to sneeze at, but earrings are a fashion accessory. I wanted something “romantic” – something that said “I love you and here’s a token of that love.” (Most women will understand this) something I’d wear all the time, like a heart pendant or bracelet. Anyway, this year he says the same old thing: You need to give me a hint of what I can get you - do a list and put it on the fridge. I wrote: Jewelry - surprise me. Christmas morn he gives me a small velvet jewelry box. I think,hmmm…earrings again. Nope. A gold ring, with a large emerald-cut garnet (my birthstone) and ten tiny diamonds. Wow - was I surprised! Of course I wear it all the time. He’s very pleased because I’m so happy with it.
a Diamond heart pendant
a Pearl Necklace
a Digital Camera
a 900 mhz cordless phone and a cell phone
walk abouts- 2 mile range walkie talkies
about 15 cd’s
lots of clothes and kitchen gadgets and girlie type stuff (soaps, lotions,makeup, etc.).
so you found a girl who thinks really deep thoughts. what’s so amazing about really deep thoughts? Tori Amos
PitbullDawg:
I got christmas nookie too. It was super. I say yes, it counts.
so you found a girl who thinks really deep thoughts. what’s so amazing about really deep thoughts? Tori Amos
I got the usual:
A couple of nuclear weapons, a slave girl and a leash so I can take the camel for a walk.
Underneath my clothes I am completely naked.
My parents went nuts this Christmas and restocked my kitchen. All of my cooking pots and pans were old–and they were crap to begin with. So, I received a brand new set of seriously nice quality pots and pans, cookie sheets, pizza pan, cooking utensils (I have a garlic press! What the frick am I going to do with a garlic press?), cutting boards, coffee bean grinder, and even a cappucino/espresso maker (it doesn’t do the steamed milk thing). I’m seriously thrilled with all this stuff–now I just need to get into some serious cookin’!
My boyfriend got me an enormous huggable teddy bear, Catz 4, a beautiful vase, a bath robe, the movie Babe, candy bubbles, and a pocket trout flashlight–hee! His folks got me the 2000 Writer’s Market (hooray!) and a pic of my b/f when he was 3. Aw!
Now, my one rant…My oldest sister got me the exact same thing she got me last year–a sweatshirt with the logo of the high school her hubby teaches at. Hello?! Even worse, I think, she apparently forgot which sweatshirt she got me last year–so she sent me 2 in one box, labeled it for both my b/f and myself, and basically let us choose which sweatshirt we wanted. I obviously chose the one she didn’t give me last year. Of course, since one had to fit my 6’5" b/f, both sweatshirts are XL. I am swimming in the damn thing. Ah, well. I see her maybe once every two years or so…what does it matter?
Oh yeah…my aunt gave me a Longaberger basket. I think she’s trying to lure me into her collecting habit. It’s nice though–but there’s no way I would’ve spent $60 on it!
I used to think the world was against me. Now I know better. Some of the smaller countries are neutral.
Damn, LauraRae, good haul!
You could send it my way…I wouldn’t complain at all.
“Wednesday the 15th - Chris made one of her rare good points today.”
Guanolad
From my sweetie’s parents we got shamrock bulbs, paperwhite narcissus bulbs, flower pots, MiracleGro, gardening books (the mother outlaw cleaned out her attic of ‘oldies but goodies’), REAL Wisconsin Cheddar, Swiss, & Dill Havarti (I love cheese)
From my Mom: Wine, Ansel Adams Calendar, a Black & Decker Firestorm 12V cordless drill for my sweetie, Fresh NC mountain fraser fir greenery (she uses odd stuff for packing material), Strike Anywhere Matches…
From my Dad & stepmother: the most delicious, scrumptious, chocolate truffles (my dad’s homemade truffles are to DIE for), and a pretty ceramic oil lamp.
From my sister: Her old Tevas (she’s trying to save for college).
From my sweetie: garlic bulbs (for planting), wildflower seeds, TONS of clothes, a Pentax K1000 camera with a 70-200 macro zoom lens, gigantic bottle of champagne, bottle of delicious Australian Shiraz, bottle of Deco Chocolate Port, bottle of Chaucers Raspberry wine hic , beef jerky, chocolate-covered cognac marzipan, camera film (like 50 rolls or so).
For my sweetie from me: big fluffy bathrobe, silk boxers, movie passes, Pass the Pigs game (the one where you have two little rubber piggies and roll them like dice and get points depending on how they land), HPI RS4 MT 4WD w/Dodge Ram Body RC car which he spent two days building, cheap cologne, Big Wednesday on VHS, Metallica S&M, frames for his collection of 1920s Long Beach, CA post cards.
And we gave eachother xmas nookie, of course.
I got to stay home for 4 days with my wife and 19-month-old son, and see him enjoy Christmas, playing with his new toys and actually sharing them (for the most part) with his cousins, smiling and laughing all day until he had played so hard he fell asleep after only a couple of minutes in the rocking chair in my arms.
I got to see my wife spend her first Christmas with her father in over 20 years, as we finally convinced him to stay with us for the holidays instead of spending them alone, and see my son get to know his grandfather and love him so much that he asks to kiss him goodnight (“pa-pa?”) before we can put him to bed.
Oh yeah, and many people gave me nice stuff, which I very much like and will enjoy almost as much as the memories of this Christmas.
I got a RAINCHECK!!!
Go Raincheck… go Raincheck…
I love you Raincheck.
I got a baseball autographed by Johnny Bench…
An electric knife sharpener (for my $300+ cutlery set)…
and a couple of new Dead tie-dyes.
Pretty cool.