The pleasures of giving

[Ehelldame]

I'm a little late in starting this topic but dang, this second cold of the year caught me right at the holidays and knocked me out.  The prescription drug Tussonex works great but when I take it, I might as well be sedated. 

I was very much looking forward to this Christmas because this was a special year in which I found many special gifts for people.  Find that perfect gift is so hard sometimes and I don't think it happens very often.  But this year was different.  I couldn't wait for Christmas morning and family to open their gifts.

The most special was for my husband.  He had a double vinyl album of an obscure local band he used to follow in his teen years from coffee house to coffee house.  In 21 years of marriage I had never heard this album because he feared playing it on an inferior turn table would ruin it.  It took a while but I finally found a local man with a home-based business and recording studio who would digitize the albums to CDs.  I didn't want to risk mailing the album so I hand delivered it.   When I wrapped it, I put it in a larger box with a note on top telling him my gift was a trip down Memory Lane.   He loved it and has been playing it repeatedly.  Amazingly, after 25 years, he still knew the words to the songs.

Another special gift was four CDs to the husband and three kids of the same CD.  Their musical cousins had finally recorded a professional CD and I hid this information from the family.  On Christmas morning, they all opened their own copy at the same time.  I can't wait until both families are back together again in March because there willl be some serious musical jamming going on! 

Anyone else have the pleasure of giving this season? 

[Clara Bow]

I gave my mother and stepmother in law team purses and wallets that they went crazy over, my brother loved his gifts, dad loved his...I batted a thousand for sure.
The best was DS seeing all his Santa stuff, his eyes were as big as dinner plates and he didn't know where to look first...it was awesome!
Hope you feel better soon, I'm nursing the chest cold also and wish I had some Tussionex, but I hate to go to the doctor. May I reccommend hot tea with lemon and honey and a nice mug of soup? Oh, and a vaporizer...there's nothing better than a vaporizer...

[Clio]

My special gift this Christmas was to my parents.  We lived in England in the 80s, and they really enjoyed a TV show called "Fools and Horses".  We had been talking about that program a few days before Christmas, and my dad said that they had looked for the DVDs here, but had been unable to find any.  I did a search online for the inventory at local locations of a chain bookstore, and found a store fairly close by that had one of the DVDs in stock.  So on Christmas Eve, my sister and I drove out there and picked it up.  The looks on their faces on Christmas morning were priceless!  They were shocked that I was able to find it.  They've done so much for me my entire life, so it felt so good to do something for them. 

[weirdfae]

I got my SO's brother a zippo with the helmet of his favorite football team on it. It only arrived yesterday, so it was a late Christmas present. I came home from a rough morning at work (we were packed, I'm a dishwasher so I came home almost an hour later than normal), and found it had come in.

He hugged me and told me he loved me. Turned my bad day around in flash, just seeing his reaction.

I love finding the perfect gift.

[Scritzy]

After hearing Chip lament (or do I mean whine) that his golf game has gone to hell in a handbasket, I was very happy to give him a gift card good for six golf lessons.

I designed a really cute greeting card in which to tuck the gift card, too, if I do say so myself.

My other fun gift was a for Maranda — she's the girlfriend of my friend Catarina's oldest, my "adopted nephew" DB. I gave Maranda a hand-knitted fluffy green scarf, a Yankee Candle gift set, some handmade soaps and a hand-deocrated picture frame, complete with a picture of her and DB. Seeing the delight of the girl (who has only met me once, but adores me as a fellow Johnny Depp fan) opening that bag full of goodies was priceless.

[ShadesOfGrey]

I love giving Christmas presents!!!

My absolute best memory this year was of a gift to a family friend (of my BF's family).  This woman always goes the extra mile to speak to me at large family gatherings (I used to be pretty shy with his family), and translate for me (they speak Albanian) in group settings.  She remembers things I tell her about my life and always asks about my family.   She also gifts me every year (last year and this year).  This year, I wanted to get a really good gift for her since she is always so kind to me.  She had just re-done her bathroom before the holidays, so I purchased two decorative handtowels and a washcloth that matched her decor, hoping she would like them. After I had given them to her, her daughter told me how she had looked at those exact same towels and had considered purchasing them, but had decided to wait a bit.  I was sooo happy that she had something that she really wanted (rather than a 'token' gift) and was really able to enjoy for her new room.  Even if these hadnt been the towels she wanted, her reaction to my gift (she is a very well-mannered woman) was more than enough to let me know she appreciated the thought. 

[Venus193]

I gave my college buddy a pair of butterfly chairs with the Playboy rabbit head on them; he's been living like a student since his divorce and there are no decent chairs in his living room.

For my former boss I bought tickets to two of the Metropolitan Opera movie theatre live screenings.   For another friend, DVDs of Dan Curtis' TV films of Dracula and The Picture of Dorian Grey; the Frankenstein Legacy Collection for her husband; the first three Harry Potter films for their son.

Among the things I sent to the etiquette-challenged friend of the Regifting thread was a body wash called Happiness from Bath and Body Works; she went nuts over it.  Also a DVD of a Hammer vampire film she doesn't remember ever having seen and a bottle of Caswell-Massey's Lilac, which I already know she adores. 

Two cats on my Christmas list already sent notes for their toys, sent (of course) by my cats.

[hkkatie]

When my older siblings were young (before i was born), my parents had season tickets (is that what they're called? lol) to the opera. They absolutely loved it. But pretty soon they had 8 kids and couldn't afford it anymore. So this year all of us kids chipped in and bought them an opera package (I think for 5 shows) and 5 gift certificates for them to go out to dinner before each show. They work so hard and never spend money on themselves, so I know they were really happy about this. Unfortunately I wasn't there to see them open the envelope, but when I talked to my mom she sounded really excited about it.

[Venus193]

Hkkatie, where are you?  This is a great story!

[J.D.]

Great thread topic! This is my favourite part of the holidays.  I'm so lucky and blessed, and I love being able to share with people and let them know I love them.

As always, it was mostly books for my family this year - nothing makes us happier than unwrapping gifts and each ending up with a big stack of books by the end.  But I do like to search for just the right book, something I know they'll really like.  I got my mother "For One More Day", by Mitch Albom, since she loves his writing, and "Secrets From The Vinyl Cafe", by Stuart Mclean for my dad. (I don't know if anyone else here listens to CBC radio, but everyone in my family does, and we all love Stuart!) I also got my mother a little Burt's Bees gift pack, since she loves their products.  My dad was quite excited to unwrap the scarf I made him, which was wonderful. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.    I also brought them cookies and homemade turkey soup - they don't need me to bring food, and in fact, they're still supporting me while I'm in school. But I like to feed people, I guess I get that from my mother.   My best friend, sadly, has had an aweful year. She's really struggling with depression, and is having serious trouble doing even the simplest things, like cleaning her apartment or cooking/ eating.  So, I brought her a batch of soup, a new hand-knot scarf, and a batch of cookies. Chocolate macaroons might not be very good for you, but she's started eating again. 

Food actually seemed to be the theme for the gifts I gave this year.  Our group of friends had it's anual turkey dinner on Dec. 15th, but because so many people couldn't make it, the four of us made up plates, loaded into the car, and delived food to all of our friends who had to work that night.  I'm also off work right now, and have nothing to do but bake, so everyone got cookies too!

[Gileswench]

I adore my beloved, but he is one of the worst people in the world to shop for. Most of the things he wants are either insanely out of our price range (think grand piano), ridiculously obscure, or of a technical nature that I don't entirely comprehend. What's more, I sort of felt my default gift for him wouldn't be as appreciated this year because he's started complaining that he never has time to watch the DVDs he's already got. It would have made things so easy if I could have just gone out and gotten him a season of Red Dwarf or The Avengers!

Oh, and gift cards are no use because he never actually uses them. They gather dust until they disappear under a stack of something and are never seen again.

So I was out one day doing some Christmas shopping when I saw a book in the window of the local bookstore that caught my eye: The Unrealeased Beatles.

Now my beloved is a Beatlemaniac of the first water. If you asked him what John Lennon ate for breakfast on August 12, 1963, he could probably tell you. He knows what sort of mics were used in the studio when they recorded Please, Please Me. He can tell you which songs don't have Ringo playing the drums. And the list goes ever on and on. But I knew he didn't have this book. When I was told the author was still on tour promoting it, I knew it was recent enough that it hadn't been rejected for being a rotten book by someone who didn't know what he was talking about. I grabbed it...and then I agonized every day until Christmas morning.

Not only was my beloved unaware the book was out, he found things he didn't know in it! First he went through and checked on things he knew the story on, and soon he was breathing in wonder: "this guy really knows his (expletive deleted)!"

(boogies down in delighted triumph)

Oh yeah, that felt gooooood!

[hobish]

Mr. HGish is impossible to shop for, too ... if he wants something he just goes out & buys it. This xmas i made my first foray onto e-bay & found a Ryan Howard (Philadelphia Phillies) batting practice jersey for him at a really nice discount. He loves it. I love seeing his face light up when he puts it on.