Annual Xmas Phat Lewt thread

In my family we have a Pollyanna where each family member selects another (name in a hat, of course) and gifts them up to $100, as well as (newly instituted this year) gifts the remainder of the family a series of stocking stuffers under $25.

My mom ended up being the lucky one to gift me.

I got 2 pairs of jeans, some shirts, socks, underwear, and cash. I had also asked to have, instead of turkey for Christmas Dinner, home-made pot roast. That wish was granted Quite splendidly.

For stocking stuffers, my brother got me a deck of Transformers playing cards (before the trailer came out, *cues Twilight Zone music*) and a set of game cases for my DS Lite; my sister got me a digital tire gauge; my dad got me a window squeegee for my car and a pair of lottery tickets from which I won ten bucks.

From friends I got a lovely (if uniquely scented) candle whose purchase benefited the Elton John AIDS foundation, some amazing home baked cookies, exotic teas (white, red, very yummy), and a gift card to Baja Fresh. Also got a handful of lovely holiday cards.

Ok, well this was a fun and hectic xmas. We bought ourselves a new entertainment center, so we spent the week before xmas rearranging the downstairs. It's completely different now, but our HD tv that Mike HAD to have when he got back from Kyrgy is the center focus of the living room and our dining room is now over in what was the family room. We flipped flopped everything, it's crazy but I really love the way it is now. We cozy up on the couch and watch tv together.

Mike seemed to think that I needed clothes this year - my mother and mother in law did too O_o. I got some really pretty stuff from mike, obligatory sleepware and a gorgeous red sweater from my mother that Mike says makes me look motherly. =x

We spoiled the shit out of the kiddo. She got her Wii, that Mike left work for to drive to the next city over to get for her. Some Spongebob clothes, a ton of movies and games. She absolutely flipped out to see the Wii though. Santa brought her CrissCross Crash, this match box cars thing which is loud as hell.

Mike got clothes, his graphic DareDevil novels (jesus h crimney, those are expensive!), an xbox game and movies.

The last thing to open was actually stuck in the middle of the tree. Mike told Catherine to go over and take it out. I thought it was for her, but turns out it was for me. I open this smallish box and lo' and behold. The one thing I have been asking for, for the past 10 years.

My Seiko kinetic watch.



My teeth look gnuddy, like I just dipped them in vaseline Anyway, that's actually the watch I exchanged for. The first one that Mike gave me was a little not my style, so I switched it out for this one (which was cheaper, but I thought prettier) yesterday. I was very happy, obviously hehe.



That's Catherine and Shadow showing off the xmas cookies we baked for Santa. I actually frosted them, DAMN they were good though lol.

Money with which I bought an Ipod

Something I thought Id never do but the girl was in town and I spent hours playing wiht hers and sold myself.

Some clothes from both mom and girl. Golf Shoes from the girl as well.

Bought the girl some ipod shit like an rf transmitter for the car and bought us both a nice new stereo.

S

My Mom managed to find on eBay a like new copy of the 40+ year old, out of print cookbook she learned to cook from (and so did my sister and I). She got one for me and one for my sis, since we always fight over who will get hers 'eventually'. My Uncle and his girlfriend got me a very nice rice cooker (we all went and stayed with them for the holidays for the first time) These two gifts just crack me up considering I may cook once a month. The Uncle also got me and X one of those Visa debit cards. Sweeet! I have it earmarked for a deck but we're still debating And X let me get myself, from him, the only thing I really wanted (besides Poser 7 which we couldn't afford ) which was the V4 pro bundle

Portable DVD player
Lolita Lempika perfume spray
2 pr 14k gold hoops
2 pr sterling hoops
Small desk fountain with a light in the center
Subscription to In Style magazine
Kitchen Fairie figurine (which I collect)
Music box with a pretty sentiment printed on it about 'Granddaughters' from ... yep, my grandma.
Essence of Magic CD by Medwyn Goodall
Five days with my daughter
Harmony in the family (a big deal, really, no arguments...everyone seemingly getting along this season, for a change. Well, in the immediate family anyway. lol)

New sneaks (new balance)
lounge pants, shirts, sweaters, socks, etc. (no drawers this year)
New watch
Oakley Bottlecap (I think is what they are called) sunglasses
Money

Steph:
New hair flatener iron thing
clothes (shirts, sweaters etc)
Money / Gift cards to clothing stores
Gucci (i think) purse X 2

Steph's mom hooked us up with:
Bath towels, and assorted bathroom things.
Fancy luggage

Santa brought Jeremy a Robosapian V2 (signature series from Sharper Image....hey Santa outsources his help too.) and a skateboard. He likes the skateboard more I think.
He also got tons of clothes
Build a bear
Some king kong type hot wheels track (Toys R Us ran out of the Criss cross crash...which he really wanted, but this'll do.)
Moon Sand (this stuff is cool)
and Numerous other toys, that I can't think of.

We're broke, but was a good Christmas for our family.

I love this thread. It's nice to see what people do for the ones they love.

I recieved the usually shirt and sweater from the mother in-law, along with a GC to Half-priced books, $50 which I used to by a Logitech rollerball mouse, and a wrist cushion, and some Kuhn Rikon kitchen utensils.

From my babies I recieved two pairs of warm fuzzy socks and body splash in leu of perfume since I'm allergic and my daughter insisted on buying perfume for everyone.

From my hubby I recieved a card that was good for one 19" flat pannel monitor which I picked out and purchased on the day after Christmas. It's a lovely silver MAG Innovision and I drool over it in my sleep.

I gave my hubby the headphones he's been lamenting about for months.

For the both of us we recieved an electric skillet, a gc to olive garden, seasons 1 and 2 of SG:1, and some time to ourselves with out our kids.

The girls recieved DDRMax2 and dance mats as their big gift, plus lots of other toys and games. They had a great christmas and I really enjoyed my family this year. There was only one argument and it was -not- between my hubby and me!

Sheila's mother got me a knife that sits in a dragon stand. Pretty cool, but the scary thing is when I flew back to Illinois here, my mother got me a very similar one.. except this one is a table top stand whereas the other one was a hanging one. Trippy.

Got some cash from the parents as well.

My sister and I chipped in and bought my parents a basic PC to replace their old one. I came home and saw that their monitor wasn't too great so Sheila and I picked up a 19 inch for them on Christmas Eve.

I got Sheila an anniverary copy of Moonheart by Charles de Lint. She usually buys them at the comic con and gets them signed by the atist, but it was out of her budget 2 years ago. Made a mental note of that one. lol.

That's about all.

After Christmas, I hit up Toys R Us' clearance video games. Boought about 10 games for about $10 each. lol

For my grandparents: Sopranos and Deadwood season 1
From my grandparents: 3 nice shirts
For my aunt & uncle: Talladega Nights, Firewall and Dodgeball DVDs.
From my aunt & uncle: mini water fountain/bird bath village piece & Care Bear PJs
For my sister and her boyfriend: $50 each Best Buy gift cards
From my sister and her boyfriend: Nightmare on Elm St calender, Chip & Dale PJs and a Shippo (InuYasha character) keychain.
For my mother/stepfather/brother: $50 Walmart gift card for mom, $50 Home Depot gift card for stepfather and the 2007 Encyclopedia Brittanica DVD rom for my brother.
From my mother/stepfather/brother: a watch, scarf, gloves and a Hello Kitty throw blanket.
For my husband: against my better judgment (due to systems sitting under the tv collecting dust)I bought him a 360.
From my husband: a diamond with pink sapphires necklace.
For my cousin and niece: $50 each gift cards to Build-a-Bear.
Miscellaneous gift to the girls: Betty Crocker candle set.

Hmm, I really dont get into the whole gift giving thing at Christmas anymore. Its like, wtf do you get for your parents who are in their 60s? They got everything they want. I also impossible to buy for because I already get myself anything I want within reason, and I wouldn't expect someone to spend money on the bigger ticket items I may want. Ask Rainee, I drive her nuts. My yearly answer to what do you want for Christmas is "nothing". Then after repeated sighs I just come up with a few minor items for her to choose from so she doesn't kill me lol.

So...I got a texas holdem set (cards and chips in an aluminum case), a Pittsburgh Steeler hoodie, and she pre-ordered Vanguard for me. My parents gave me their yearly $100 bill in an envelope, and my brother and his wife got Tammy and I a gift card for PetSmart (damn pets, they're spoiled I tell you!).

Oh, Serg, I see you got new golf shoes. I say we have the first annual Triadica Open this Spring in Tampa. We'll get Occy and Vit to round out the foresome.

Wow that just sounded too dirty, Mylec.

I'm so glad I wasn't the only one thinking that...

Well What happens in Tampa Stays in Tampa.

You know Occy hes not descriminating.

Also Mylec Im having some health problems this year so I may have to postpone that till I get all this shit straigtened out. Im going to the doctor this week.

S

What happen, Serg?

Ive been having dizzy spells and been running a fever off and on now for a few months. I had attributed it to my ear condition but looks like I could be wrong. I had a full physical last year and nothing showed up. Ive been having indigestion off and on for a couple years so were thinking I have have an ulcer thats bleeding. Ive been staying with the girl till i feel well enough to go home to my doctor and at that pointim going to have some serious tests done on me.

Ill let you know how it turns out.

S

Yeah, the Tampa trip is on the DL

Sorry to hear about your health, Serg. Take care of yourself and keep us posted.

Well if it's an ulcer, that's pretty easy to treat, right? Got my fingers crossed for ya, dear. Catherine had a fever thing off and on for a couple months and the doctors couldn't figure out why. It eventually just went away. =/ /hug

Ulcers run in my family and I also have a few habits that can contribute to forming them. I smoke which is a bad one and I drink red wine. Well see i am hoping its just ulcers because they are easy to treat for the most part. Couple of months of antibios and it will likely go away and not return. Guess its time to quit all the things I love and live like a vestile virgin. =///////////// But its better than the hell ive been in for the past year.

Obviously if its something worse you wont here from me for awhile. If I wind up hospital bound for any period of time Ill get a laptop and see about internet access.

S

My haul:
Ipod Shuffle (from LB)
Cash from Nana & my Parents
House season 1 & 2
NCIS season 1
Cookbook
Gift certificate to my salon
A week with Angel and my Brother-in-Law & family

Angel's CT Haul:
Cash & Gift certificates
Shirts (from Hot Topic or various web comics. My kid now has a Republicans for Voldemort shirt, mwhahah)
Ipod Shuffle she bought with her gift money
A Bank of America savings account w/ $200 in it
60 pounds of books. Yeah, the airport weighed her suitcases. 65 pounds total and it was 90% books.

LB got:
Garmon Nav thingy
Satelite Radio & service cupon
Movies
Southpark season 1&2

Its all good but I am so damn thankfull its over.