Impending slew of crap—thread #2

[iris lilies]

Gifts opened, paper and boxes and other crap ferried to the dumpster (recycling dumpster pretty much full) but I managed to jam in the crap before others get to it.

Our friend who over gifts promised not to give gifts this year, but I am not stupid and didnt believe her and of course she gave gifts, but a modest number, like 5 for our household. We had a really nice dinner and visit with friends and the focus of the evening was NOT sitting in a circle opening the mf presents. It all was fine. She gave me Scotch! My new obsession.

DH gave me an excellent present, a new shower device that is exactly the same one we have in Hermann which is THE BEST SHOWER DEVICE IN THE WORLD! He said he had trouble finding one. No kidding, they hide it from everyone because if everyone knew about it, no other device would be sold ever! Hahaha.Now, he just has to install it.

[sweetana3]

We also kept the junk out. Got a bottle of Reposada tequila, a bottle of maple syrup aged in bourbon barrels, a couple of tshirts I will wear, and a good cookbook from a friend.

[HappyHiker]

I respect everyone's ritual/custom of gift-giving this time of year. Or not. Spouse and I opted out a few years back. Just felt tired of feeling compelled to go out and buy something because of a certain date on the calendar. This year, my gift to spouse was bringing him a slice of pecan pie and coffee in bed this morning. No gift wrap required...

[rosarugosa]

No crap given or received! I got $100 and a bottle of wine from my housekeeping job, and $100 and some primo chocolates from my dog walking job. My little side jobs may not pay as well as my corporate job did, but the holiday tips are great!
A friend stopped by today with some regifts of Starbucks ground coffee and Trader Joe's chocolate bars and a neat calendar. I already have a calendar, so will pass that along, but I love the consumables. I gave her a vase of holly from the garden. DH brought home a bottle of blood orange EVOO from his boss. A friend gave us a wreath and we gave her a Trader Joe's gift card.

[catherine]

Well, we have just done our supposedly "minimal" gift giving. I'm exhausted, but part of it is because our house is filled in a good way--DD/DD's SO, and DS from VT, and my NJ family spent a couple of hours here as well.

The favorite gift I gave my DH was a crapper. I told the UPS guy: "It's not every wife who gives her husband a crapper on Christmas!" It's an RV/camping/boating toilet. Nothing fancy, but practical.

Favorite gift I got so far (we still haven't finished opening gifts) is a lumberjack plaid vest and a "Dream Without Limits" Dog Mountain hat.

Yes, we are rampant consumers on Christmas, but and we haven't yet figured out the "minimalist Christmas" thing. Oh well. There's always next year..

But it was a great day--not because of the acres of wrapping paper but because it was great to be with the kids.

[Chicken lady]

Dh loved his present. I did not get a present from him, but that was expected. I got several new needed items leading up to Christmas.

gifts I got from the kids: a yak wool scarf and little clay yak from ddil’s trip to Nepal, a cow bell from dsil’s trip to Switzerland, a hand carved spoon from dsil, a very useful and attractive large lidded blue yarn and sea grass basket from a fair trade fair, a new t-shirt designed by dd, a book, and a fantastic numbered chicken art print. Ds said he wanted to get me the original piece of chicken art, but it was very expensive and also 3’x 5’, so he got me the 1/4 scale (9”x15”) print.

[pinkytoe]

DH's family exchange checks and gift cards. Seems like the amounts spent on each side cancel each other out so not sure the point of continuing but until the matriarch passes to the other side, it shall continue.

[Tradd]

I got a book on Lake Erie shipwrecks and some tea. That’s it.

I gave only two gifts. I gave $30 towards the small netbook computer ($110 on sale online from Best Buy) for my goddaughter. Her parents and maternal grandparents also put towards the gift. The grandpa found the deal. Plus Coffee mug for a friend that she loved.

I did my 2nd year of photo cards featuring diving pics that were a massive hit with everyone. Did a lot of cards.

[herbgeek]

The only gift received other than from hubby, was a set of pictures from my nephew's wife of their family which I treasure. Hubby really seemed to be listening/watching me this year and each item was spot on. Only bad thing at Christmas is recognizing the depth of my mother's memory loss. She did not recognize one of my brothers.

[rosarugosa]

Oh no, Herbgeek, so sorry about your mother. Mine was recently diagnosed with early Alzheimer's, so I can certainly empathize. My MIL is also currently in a rehab facility with some cognitive as well as physical stuff going on. It isn't easy.