What did you get for Christmas?

An awesome faux Cowichan sweater from JR along with a vintage Christmas cross stitch magazine, a David's tea infuser w/tea from JR's oldest and his fiancee and a gift package of coffees from JR's twins and one of their girlfriends. They appear to have noted my love of hot beverages.

Best gift of all - our power coming back Christmas Eve day after approximately 56 hours without. Waking up in our own bed with a functioning Keurig may have been the best gift of all.

And for those keeping score, Gordon Lightfoot sang at my church Christmas Eve as always (Dylan's "Ring Them Bells") and looked and sounded good.

 

Kicking myself that, even after YF told us his brother's profession, I hadn't put this together.

 

YF and I are not related.

 

Nada.

 

A new pair of running shoes from my wife. (also several months' worth of toiletries in my stocking)
$100 cash and an embroidered sweatshirt from my mom
Truck window visors from my dad.
A bottle of Jack
$50 Buffalo Wild Wings gift card
$50 worth of Chick-fil-A gift cards

 

Congratulations to you and the future Mrs. Snabler!

I don't celebrate Christmas, but I had the opportunity to join a friend's family again this year -- then travel on to see another friend in an unfamiliar part of the country for New Year's Eve. The material gifts, while much appreciated, are secondary to the company.

 

Just started it (middle of Chapter 2).

It's the Bushkin book. Should be a quick and enjoyable read. Helps that, like many people, I know NOTHING about Carson.

SPOILER ALERT












The oft-told bit about petting Zsa Zsa Gabor's pussy "I'd love to, if you'd move the damn cat" never happened.

 

A $50 gift card from my brother, good at many stores, none of which can be found where I am. I'll use it for LL Bean, probably.

$4k from my parents, as noted on Dick's thread

A "Wizard of Oz" coffee mug from my sister. ??? I don't drink coffee.

In September, before I left the country, she thrust this wrapped package at me and said, "Here! I'm not paying for overseas shipping!" (Never mind that I have a DPO) I totally forgot about it until Dec. 26 and then was like, uh, WTF? Last year it was a Chip and Dale Disney shirt that was my least-favorite color and a size too small. If there was a chance she put any thought into her gifts, I'd be more grateful, but it's just not there. Everything she does oozes "I don't give a shit."

Also got a multi-pack of mini Snickers at the office swap. They're fairly expensive here; I think it cost around $10 for the lot. (That was the max on the exchange.) Next year, my gift going into the swap will be the mug.

 

I got wayyyy too much stuff, but it's all pretty good. The new Canon 70D is already getting a lot of use.

Best gift given was a train set manufactured in the early 50s that my dad had as a kid. He had given it to me when I was young and this year he gave it to my son. That was pretty special.

 

I didn't get tons of stuff, but it was all good.

The big thing was a hybrid bike that's supposed to be good either on roads or for mountain biking. This was something I wanted, but it wasn't the best thing.

That status went to an old family picture of myself -- which my mom has kept as part of a gallery of photos of me and my five other siblings -- that she had restored (because it had practically faded out of existence) to its former glory, with a copy going to me and one for my Mom, who intends to change out the old gallery pictures for the new ones. (She did the same for each of the pictures of each of my siblings, so these were kind of her special, project gift this year, intended for us to have for posterity).

Thrown in for good measure was a vest I'd had my eye on for a while. (I have a thing for coats, jackets and vests. It's too bad I live someplace where such things are not needed all that often...But that apparently doesn't matter to me; I still have quite a collection of them).

 

I got a North Face coat that's so heavy, I doubt I will ever freeze again (except for my legs). I also received a new wallet that's supposed to block those readers that can get information off your cards. My daughters gave me a four picture set with one of each of them and the fourth of them all together -- needless to say, my favorite gift.