Christmas Gifts

Alright, the point of this thread is to show the Christmas gifts you've bought for your family, friends and partner. Who knows, you might just give some MoFo a luminous idea for a gift if he/she hasn't yet done her Christmas shopping.

I'll go first.

For my mom:

The Complete Series: Inspector Morse

A cherry pit pillow

For my Dad:

This scarf, but in blue:


For my girlfriend:


This nightshirt:



These slippers (for lack of a better word):



I've still gotta buy small gifts for my grandparents and my godchild. I'll put those up when I've bought 'em.

So what have you guys bought?

Can't weigh in just yet because a couple family members read this forum, and the others could conceivably check it, so I'll be back in a few days.

I bought a few of these for people, they're so much fun to fiddle with.

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My gift is almost a "re-gift" but it holds a lot of sentimental value to my mom. Before my Grandma, (her mom), died, she made a illustration made of thread depicting a house. She told my mom, "I can't get you this house now, but when I die, I'll give it to you." When my grandma passed on, and the picture was complete, she willed us enough money to help afford an actual home. Years later, (today), the picture fell, so I'm going to restore the frame as well as keeping my grandmothers signature on the back.

As for me. I got my holiday present early.



AK 100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa

Cool. Cool. Stuff.

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Imagine an eye unruled by man-made laws of perspective, an eye unprejudiced by compositional logic, an eye which does not respond to the name of everything but which must know each object encountered in life through an adventure of perception. How many colors are there in a field of grass to the crawling baby unaware of 'Green'?

-Stan Brakhage

I can't tell about my gifts yet either, but I wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I realize that the Spirit of Christmas is a wonderful thing but that sometimes things don't work out so perfectly when everyone gets together. Even so, I hope you all have happy times with no Scrooges or Grinches to spoil the Day or the Season. I'll come back and post some gifts after Christmas gift giving.

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My son:




My wife:



5D (mark ii)

Switching from Nikon to Canon. www.haleyhickmanphotography.com if anyone is interested in looking at my wife's stuff.

My brother:



For our parents we just ordered them framed prints of my son.

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If I had a dollar for every existential crisis I've ever had, does money really even matter?

Very, very cool.

I can't wait to see the look on my niece's face when she opens what I got her:


She's 2 1/2 years old and Caillou is like her crack. Hmm...I just noticed that she's technically under the recommended age for this toy but it should be okay, she's mature for her age - she eats her own boogers.

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

I got the wife a nice little laptop. Which works out pretty good for me because mine is screwed up right now so I may have to just borrow it for awhile. Heh...

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We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...

Julesee is getting a stuffed animal of a giraffe and a rocking horse. the rocking horse was ''recommended'' for one year old and up. i hope she will love it. she got her christmas present from her aunt dee: she got her ears pierced.

My boyfriend and I found out we bought each other the same gift! We both bought a digital photoframe. Can't be more made for each other if you buy the same gift without knowing lol

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I'd never given much thought to how I would die... But dying in the place of someone I love seems like a good way to go

I also got this from my mom this holiday. (Don't like saying Christmas because neither of us are Christians, we just like celebrating the day for material and family purposes really.)

But, my mom surprised me this today:


My old Corolla I drove into the ground after it's been with our family for almost 20 years. So this new one hopefully will last just as long. Very, very, cool.

One thing I learned long ago--never give a woman a present that plugs into the electrical system or can be used as a weapon. The first is too often a house appliance of some type and therefore not romantic. I'd put TVs and computers in that category. As for not arming them with potential weapons, the course of even true love is never completely smooth, as one wandering Houston area husband learned to his sorrow when his wife ran him down in the Mercedes Benz he had bought her. Caught him out with his girlfriend.

Got my smaller grandkids books and games to get them away from the TV and playing together in ways where they aren't bouncing off the walls. Gave money to grandsons age 18 and over. Gave my widowed daughter-in-law a gift certificate to a hair salon and an offer to baby-sit the grandkids when she wants a break or has a date. Gave my son the Pacific series that he wanted. Gave my wife two front row tickets to the stage production of Mama Mia! coming to Houston in May. Gonna get a limo to deliver and pick us up that night.

Best gift I received was having my wife, our two sons and three daughters-in-law and five of our seven grandkids together at the house on Christmas Eve. Talked by phone Christmas day to my dad and daughter who couldn't be with us. That's what I love about Christmas, getting the family together, especially the children who still believe in Santa and are thrilled by the Santa Tracker program on TV with reports he's getting closer and closer! Christmas without little children is just not the same.

So I had an experience today that reminded me how much I hate this holiday, which annoys me because I love Christmas. I just really hate gifts.

I hate giving gifts, I hate getting gifts, and I especially hate people asking me what I want/like; if you knew me, you’d know. So thanks for telling me you don’t know me.

To this day I’ve never received an unexpected gift that didn’t leave me feeling like shit, and for a few reasons: first, it hurts me because it tells me the person doesn’t understand me; second, I have to either be an ******* and be all “thanks, but how bout you take this back” or I have to lie and dispose of their gift; and lastly, it leaves me feeling obligated to the gift giver.

I have constantly told friends and family I want nothing when asked. Then I get treated like some freak monster and/or shamed. If there’s something I want I will buy it if I can afford it. If I can’t afford it I will just accept that I will never own it.

You sound like my twin! I mostly feel the same way. I do like the idea of Christmas but the social pressure on gift giving is nuts and makes me feel stressed. Went Christmas shopping yesterday and what do you get for older adults who don't need anything and yet 'you have to buy something'. It makes me feel guilty to get gifts that I can't use as it's a waste of someone's time and money and it makes sad to buy gifts for people who can't use them. I'm just a bit more sad thinking about it at this very moment. Well at least you know you're not the only one in that situation.

Yeah, like I’m polar opposite with experiences. Take me to the movies, a vacation, a nice dinner I’d never buy myself. The best gift I think is a person’s time.

I do love me a 4 star dining experience.

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I haven’t ordered anything yet—I always end up doing my Christmas shopping during the last week