Christmas giving
It's a frigid 32 degrees outside which means Christmas is right around the corner here in St. Louis. Wahoo! Not one normally to stress about gift giving (well, not too much anyway), I set out on a mission early this year (as in the Monday of Thanksgiving week) to map out who I need gifts for and what I'm getting them.
The usual suspects on my gift giving list include my parents, my brother, my sister, and my best friend. Normally, 5 gifts. Easy peazy. Well this year with my sister being abroad in Australia, she is kinda scratched off the list. You may think that's a bit harsh but she won't be home for the holidays this year and when we spoke on the phone the other day, I told her to forget getting me something. Now I may get her address from my parents and see if Etsy ships internationally but who knows for sure. My brother is often the easiest to shop for as I can buy him any number of random things and he's content. I have his present already. My mom and dad are much harder to shop for as my mom never claims to want anything other than perhaps a CD that's out. In reality, there's tons of things she wants but never shares them with you. My dad is a huge tennis nut and most recently, a huge PS3 nut but he's the same way never really telling you what he's interested in.
In fact, when I was home for Thanksgiving, I had two separate conversations with my parents where they both told me what they wanted for Christmas from the other. So I sat them down and told them to communicate with each other about what they wanted and leave Jeff and I out of it because the things they wanted, Jeff and I couldn't afford (exhibit A: a set of 6 massages for $300 or exhibit B: new gold jewelry). My brother did tell me when I was home by Dad wants an espresso machine so we are going to look into that and I bought tickets for a Broadway show for my parents and I to go see in April and my mom is saying that's her gift (though she'll probably get something else too).
So relatively speaking, I'm doing quite well. New additions to the list this year include my brother's fiance (I have hers) and three friends here in St. Louis as part of a Christmas party/gift exchange we're doing in a couple weeks (I have all of theirs). So that really only leaves the best friend, who in many ways, is often the HARDEST of them all to shop for. We play this game normally every birthday and Christmas (although this year we bypassed the birthday with a gift-free truce) and I often wrack my brain for a thoughtful, meaningful gift. Gift cards aren't allowed and usually, neither are wish lists. This year we included wish lists. So we'll see what he ends up with. Once I cross him off the list, I'll feel a sense of completeness. And with it only being December 4, I think I've done quite well thus far.
Cheers.
The usual suspects on my gift giving list include my parents, my brother, my sister, and my best friend. Normally, 5 gifts. Easy peazy. Well this year with my sister being abroad in Australia, she is kinda scratched off the list. You may think that's a bit harsh but she won't be home for the holidays this year and when we spoke on the phone the other day, I told her to forget getting me something. Now I may get her address from my parents and see if Etsy ships internationally but who knows for sure. My brother is often the easiest to shop for as I can buy him any number of random things and he's content. I have his present already. My mom and dad are much harder to shop for as my mom never claims to want anything other than perhaps a CD that's out. In reality, there's tons of things she wants but never shares them with you. My dad is a huge tennis nut and most recently, a huge PS3 nut but he's the same way never really telling you what he's interested in.
In fact, when I was home for Thanksgiving, I had two separate conversations with my parents where they both told me what they wanted for Christmas from the other. So I sat them down and told them to communicate with each other about what they wanted and leave Jeff and I out of it because the things they wanted, Jeff and I couldn't afford (exhibit A: a set of 6 massages for $300 or exhibit B: new gold jewelry). My brother did tell me when I was home by Dad wants an espresso machine so we are going to look into that and I bought tickets for a Broadway show for my parents and I to go see in April and my mom is saying that's her gift (though she'll probably get something else too).
So relatively speaking, I'm doing quite well. New additions to the list this year include my brother's fiance (I have hers) and three friends here in St. Louis as part of a Christmas party/gift exchange we're doing in a couple weeks (I have all of theirs). So that really only leaves the best friend, who in many ways, is often the HARDEST of them all to shop for. We play this game normally every birthday and Christmas (although this year we bypassed the birthday with a gift-free truce) and I often wrack my brain for a thoughtful, meaningful gift. Gift cards aren't allowed and usually, neither are wish lists. This year we included wish lists. So we'll see what he ends up with. Once I cross him off the list, I'll feel a sense of completeness. And with it only being December 4, I think I've done quite well thus far.
Cheers.
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