Best Christmas gift you'll be giving.
 

We'll have to do another thread next week about "best gift received", but for now, let's do this one. I am one of those people who honestly really does love giving more than receiving, so:

1) What's the best gift you got for somone this year? It doesn't have to be big, or really expensive. Just special - the one you're most excited to give.

2) What's the best gift you got for someone - ever? And why?

1) I bought hubby The Duke's of Hazzard Season 1 on DVD. Cheesy - yes. Really, really cheesy - of course! But HE is going to LOVE it. It's a huge part of his memories growing up, he still makes references to the show (well, they're mostly about Daisy, but whatever...)

I bought "America: The Book" for my sister-in-law. I don't even know if she's heard much about it (they don't have cable), but I know she'll find it hilarious. She loves to read & as soon as I perused my brother's copy, I knew she'd love it.

2) Hubby collects Labatt beer stuff & he had been searching for this motion bar lighted sign for years (it's like one of those pictures where the water looks like it's moving.) I found it last year on ebay & didn't have to give my right arm for it, so I bought it. He was thrilled.

Last year, one of my coworkers and I were talking about books, reading, the Bookmobile & stuff about when we were kids. She mentioned that she loved a certain book so much growing up called "The Top of the Pizzas." She had one ragged old copy & the book was now OOP. So I found it on the net & gave it to her for Christmas. Now, I knew she'd like it, but holy sh*t! She about peed her pants, started jumping up & down, called her husband, ran around showing everyone at work. I won't ever forget her reaction, and how great it felt to make a person so happy with so little.

This year I put myself on a real budget, and the gifts that I did get aren't particularly unique but some stand out more like:

• A mini Christmas tree with mini ornaments for my grandfather in FL which he LOVED.
• A little Dubya doll filled with catnip for my cat! LOL
• A remote controlled mouse for my cat.
• A Guns n Roses unauthorized documentary for my brother (which I hope doesn't suck).
• NESN's new Red Sox video for my brother.

Well this wasn't cheap but I figured it was worth it...

I bought my mother a digital camcorder.. She's going on a trip around the world for two months and I figured as it's a once in a lifetime trip she should capture a few memories. (Thanks to a certain Ledgie for giving me the idea. Also thanks again to the same Ledgie for making me broke now!!)

I also bought myself (does that count?) a new electric shaver because I've decided to go clean shaven again after a couple of years with some fluff on my face and I'm sick of using razors..

:wavey:

1) What's the best gift you got for somone this year? It doesn't have to be big, or really expensive. Just special - the one you're most excited to give.

I have two.

My mother is a big Lucy fan, so I got her the new "Lucy and Desi Scrapbook." They had it for you to look at in Barnes and Noble and it's awesome. It actually resembles a scrapbook and you can remove and read the different "scraps," which are reproductions of actual Nielsen ratings lists and photographs and a bunch of other stuff.

I got my best friend a pair of leather pants as a gag because he's always riding me about mine and how he hates them. :laugh:

2) What's the best gift you got for someone - ever? And why?

Every year I buy coats and bring them to homeless shelters and give them to people who need them, so I think those are the best gifts I've given.

I am not giving anything special this year.

I got my little cousins both gift cards and I got one something from Old Navy and one Bath and Body Works lotion.

I got my friend a gift card to Filenes and just some stocking stuffers.

I got my Dad the most stuff of course. I got him 2 shirts, 3 blankets/throws(He was complaining about his the other day. If he only knew how many he was getting.LOL) Dunkin Donuts gift certificates, A Dunkin Donuts Mug, a flashlight. I just need to pick up on Wednesday a box of chocolates and some Dunkin Donuts coffee. I think I might get him a pair of gloves, too

That's all I really need to get. I have nobody special in my life so I guess I save some money.

I can't talk about all the badass gifts I bought just yet, 'cause some of 'em are Ledgies, I'll let them post later what I got them....but I think my kittie got the best gift of all this year- of being able to urinate again. Three days in the kitty hospital, all jacked up on morphine with a catheter in his weiner, an IV in his paw, one of those cone thingies on his head, and $700 later, he'll be fine. This all happened Thanksgiving weekend. No "if he were my cat, he'd be dead" jokes please. He's my baby, I'd do anything for him. I just did. :nod:

Or pay off your Mac debt! :thumbsup:

Me either. We are not big gift givers here. We just like to sit around and eat and watch Christmas shows.

I would have to say my mom is getting alot from me this year~~a blue polar fleece robe, navy blue lounge pants and top accented with light blue flowers, an angel from artist Jim Shore's Heartwood Creek series~she's the summer angel, lo-carb chocolates from Russell Stover, a nesting doll I picked up in NYC and some stocking stuffers.


Best gift ever given wasn't a Christmas gift but a birthday one to my mom~~a mother's ring.

Ok I forgot to add that I did make a few packages for some Mac friends of mine including a few Ledgies. ;)

The last of which was mailed yesterday. The mailers look like gift wrap. :nod:

I love to send packages for friends. :D

My grandmother isn't really doing well lately. A couple years ago my grandfather died right after Christmas and last year she moved from Louisiana back to Michigan, which is where all her/our family is. Ever since all this happened, though, she hasn't been doing well... she's starting to go downhill mentally. She hid one of her car keys somewhere and now she can't remember where she hid it and when we're talking to her on the phone she'll totally change the subject. The other day she called my mom at work to tell her it was snowing. :( But a while ago she said she wanted a CD of me doing a couple songs for Christmas and it's going to be a little late, but I would really love to do that -- and do it well -- to send to her. I really don't know how much longer she'll be around, but if I can make a difference in her life, however small, with music... it's the least I could do.

Last year's gifts for my mom were cool. She and my grandmother both are all about practicality so I try to find things that they can use and last year my mom's mixer and her coffeepot died within weeks of each other. So when my dad and I went shopping we got her a new mixer, a new coffepot, and probably some other stuff I can't remember... and she opened it on Christmas and she had no idea what was coming. :)

Easy...
 

The list of gifts purchased for a disadvantaged child who may not have had a joyful Christmas...

Brian j.

Last year, My friends neice and her 3 small children, plus some other family kids, were staying at my friends house cause they lost their apartment. My friend doesn't believe in buying things for christmas, the consumerism and all. I agree with her, but I was home for Xmas, so i went and bought and wrapped some presents for them so they'd having something fun to open and such. That was satisfying.

The best gift I ever gave was taking an underprivleged little 6 year old girl shopping for winter clothes, and seeing her face when santa called her up on his lap and gave her the barbie computer she's always wanted.

For my lil one this year, I bought her a barbie camcorder. I think she's gonna love it! That's one of her big ticket items this year. I'm sure she'll have me in my jammies more then once on video.... :o

I bought my sister-in-law a Dooney & Bourke handbag. Every time we have gone shopping for the last 8 months we had to go to the handbag department so she could covet them. Last night we had my nephew's birthday party and somehow the subject of Dooney & Bourke came up. She said "I'll never own one, but man, I love those purses!" I cannot wait to see her face when she opens the package!!!!

The best gift I ever gave was probably the several times I have bought gifts for children from the Angel Tree. Unfortunately I didn't do it this year, but next year I'll buy double.

Aw, I'm so glad he'll be okay. I'd also do anything for my cats.

I haven't decided what the best gift I'm giving is this year. Probably something for my daughter. But I'm too tired to think about it. I have to head out to Target now to TRY to find something for hubby. He's too picky.

Carol

I'm glad he's okay too, my Mufy was in the kitty hospital for 3 days early this year, he was so small and I was so worried about him. He just wouldn't keep food down. This was right after he was neutered so I think he picked something up there. After a barage of tests they found virtually nothing, just some fluid in his belly with some bacteria. He probably had some infection. Anyway, this cost $1300!!!

They require half of the money down before you can even leave your pet, I was so shocked. :shocked: But he is totally healthy and has been ever since. If I hadn't brought him in he probably wouldn't have made it since they can dehydrate fast. It was so sad visiting him in the hospital but he is such a trooper! He was swatting at passersby by the end which was when we knew he would be okay, :D

My cat was a little bastard to all the people at the vet - hence, the steady morphine drip so they could work on him. They were wonderful! And I felt so bad that he was being a meanie. They told me not to worry about it - it's the cats that are the sweetest little (spoiled rotten) angels at home that are always the meanest at the vet. When I finally got him home, he was SOOOO happy to be there! He's my little purry-monster! :p

P.S. I had to take him to a 24-hour place since it was a weekend. I took him there once before after he'd gotten into a fight and his neck was bleeding profusely. They were so good w/ him, that I'm making them his primary care vet from now on! Incidentally, he wouldn't even have had the urinary tract problem if I hadn't listened to my former vet. They were more concerned about his weight than urinary tract health (that food makes them gain weight). So, at their insistence, I switched his food back to low-cal - and look what happened! I hate them now....

Little purry monster!!!! sqeeeee. so cute. what was wrong with him, anyways?

I just added a ps to my last post - and there's more at the beginning of this thread. He got the best, and most expensive gift this year. :lol:

oh, so did he have urinary tract blockage from ash in his food?

Yay!!! I'm so glad that a certain Ledgie gave you that idea (coz it's a very good one), oh dear, your'e broke? Hmmm...I'm not sure that was such a great one, but just think ..you'll get to relive their whole journey when they get back.
The best present I'll be giving is lots of love to someone, who unfortunately can't be down here with me at Xmas....damn it!

Yeah, and magnesium. Why don't they make a low-calorie, urinary tract health food?

I probably spent about $200 on all the gifts I gave or will be giving this year. I bought my nephew a few physics and science books. I built a computer for my buddy’s daughter and the rest of the gifts were crossbred and grown with loving care. Frosty came early this year. :nod:

I was talking to a friend yesterday about all he’s going through with gift giving and we laughed so hard I was in tears. He works hard and tries to save money the kids will need to further education. Unexpected things pop up that can be expensive and he tries to think ahead. He spent about $1,500 on his 3 children this year and was pissed.

He said “Look at all that sh!t wrapped over there. While I was wrapping it I thought man this really sucks. Some fat a$$ mythical son of a bitch gets all the glory. I work hard all year and spent countless hours shopping for all this crap. I was wrapping it and writing from Santa on the cards for what? The kids will tear it apart and fight over it for 2 weeks until it gets broken. All I get is the Santa shaft. Every year I get bent over for a good screwing by some fat a$$ slug that takes all the credit for my hard work.”

Of course he used some salty language I couldn’t type here, but we laughed so hard my stomach hurt. You folks with young children sure do get a good screwing this time of year don’t you? When the kids come tearing into the room with gleaming eyes screaming “Look Santa was here.” You know some of them get a thought in they’re head if only for a few seconds. That thought being…Look at all this wonderful stuff Santa gave me. Man my parents sure do suck. :lol:

:lol: :laugh: :lol:
When i was 3 -4, I pestered my mom with so many questions/arguments about Santa and the feasibility of Santa that she finally just said "there is no Santa!!!" so, I never got Santa gifts after that. but really, i had never gotten santa gifts before that, either, cause there is no santa. It's all the same gifts.
anyway, it didn't really matter. I didn't care about santa, as long as i got presents.

They were actually glad when he started getting playful like that because he was very depressed for he first day or so. Poor guy. They pretty much fell in love with him, hehe. He really loves people, especially those he hasn't met, he is very gracious with guests. He tries to kill me every day but if you come over to meet him, he'll be sweet as pie! Haha, I call him a little bastard all the time.

I'm glad your cat is doing well now, Livia. It's so heart breaking when they suffer!

Tell me about it! I don't have kids, so he IS my child.

My former next-door neighbors adopted the neighborhood stray cat, Blackie (in addition to the 3 dogs, 1 cat and rabbit which they already had). They wanted me to keep him when they moved, but there's NO way I will ever have 2 male cats in the same house, my cat will not allow it, which I told them. So after they moved and took Blackie w/ them, they brought him back to the neighborhood 'cause they decided he "wasn't adjusting well" to their new house. I was SO pissed off at them for doing that. To me, that's like abandoning a child. So, I fed him on their front porch since they haven't sold the house yet. I wanted the realtor and whoever was seeing the house to KNOW that a cat lived there. I put an ad in the paper and within 3 days, found a new home for him. He's beautiful, black with green eyes, and a real sweetheart. If I didn't already have a cat, I would have gladly kept him. The person I ended up giving him to had just had his cat killed by coyotes. He renamed him Plato (a MUCH better name). But the point of the story is, if you're going to take on the responsibility of having a pet, then see it through. Even if you no longer want the pet, take the 10 minutes I took to place an ad online, rather than dumping them on your former neighbors, or even worse, dumping them off at the pound where they'll end up being put to sleep. Mean people suck. :p

They totally suck. There are 3 strays by my office that I feed every day. Some *sshole must have dropped them off here, I've seen them around for months, since they were really small kittens. Now they're about 5 mos. There was a deep freeze the other night though and when I went to feed them today hardly any of their food was gone. I hope they are alright. I wish I could take them in but they won't let me near them and I can't take 3 strays into my apartment. Also, no one will take them. The shelters do not take feral cats and the animal hospital will put them to sleep :shocked: So hopefully they are okay!!!

Mufy is also my baby. And he's my roommate's boyfriend! :laugh: He sleeps with her most nights, little brat.

My feline militants...
 

are fine, Warm & comfortable...They (The 5 metalhead kittens-Pip, Token, Butters, Tweak & Rerun) love the floor furnace, They love to sit in front of it when it kicks on & stretch out like a sunbather :lol:

We'll probably keep all 5 of 'em since I don't trust people to take care of pets, So the other 3 cats (Ace, Jr. & Shioban) will just have to get used to Patches and her "Motley Crue" of kittens.

Brian j.

:laugh: Your little fur kids rock! You must post a pic at some point! My Mufy loves to stare at the tree or sprawl out underneath it. The way he lays makes him look like a king!

Here: Send this link to your buddy. It will put him over the top! :D

Sadly i totally relate to this. :confused: Last year my daughter (then 7) had the gumption to ask me, "How come you don't get us anything? Don't you love your children?" grrr.

I think this is actually the last year she will sort of believe in the whole Santa thing, the jig is up. Tne big kids on the school bus have dropped the 'it's your parents' bomb. However part of her seems to want to still believe so i haven't really come out w/ the truth yet. Xmas does lose some of the magic when kids stop believing. I guess my son still will, but w/ my daughter's big mouth, who knows.....


I can't think of anything too extraordinary that I'm giving. I did send extra $ and some gifts to the little 3 yr old girl we sponsor in Ecuador, and a few days ago I got a written update of how she's doing, w/ a family picture of them included, so that was a thrill. I love knowing that our little monthly contribution/any extra $ for special occasions goes so far over there.

My little 'plug' for anyone who may have ever pondered sponsoring a child-- Christian Children's Fund is a fantastic, well-run organization-- for the cost of two pizzas a month, you can really make some little kid's life so much better. Well worth the effort.

-Lis

um, I think they do. :confused:

Okay, that is wack! I'm going to put up a website, pieceofsantasbeard.com and sell off "Santa wiskers". Good grief!

Done and done. :lol:

putty cats.
 

I am so glad you putty is ok, Livia. I adore cats..dogs too but I just have always had cats. Speaking of mean people sucking...I had this beautiful long haired, gray kitty who loved to hunt in my yard. One afternoon I pulled up and he was on the ground with flies around him. I realized he could not move his back two legs and was trying to walk but basically just dragging his backend. I was horrified, picked him up carefully and drove him to the hospital. He was Xrayed and the vet felt someone had kicked him and broken his pelvis. I questioned whether he could have been hit by a car and he felt he had not, nor had he fallen from say a tree. He said his lack of other injuries and the one big bruise on his side, along with the broken pelvis led him to believe that he had been kicked. The doc told me he had seen it before, it was not all that uncommon. I WAS MORTIFIED. and heartbroken. Who could kick a sweet, gentle, loving animal? I know he probably walked up to this person , purring and rolling on the sidewalk, wanting to be petted, but instead was used as a soccer ball. UGH. Needless to say, he had to be put to sleep because his bladder was ruptured from the broken pelvis and he would never have had control over it again. Heartbreaking and totally uncalled for. I will never forget having to kiss him, rub his little ears, and tell him goodbye, KNOWING they were going to put him down. Poor thing just looked at me with such trust and it broke my heart. Anyway, mean people do suck.

That is so awful. I think only someone who is abused themselves must do these kinds of things. I remember a few years ago here in Rhode Island a young person set a cat on fire. :mad: yes, on fire. It was all over the news here and the cat ended up being OK. I don't know what happened to the girl that did it but she was a minor so most likely nothing was done to her. :rolleyes:

This summer, some sick fockers around here were tossing kitties out of cars and overpasses on the freeway. They never caught them, but it did stop eventually. Okay, no more kitty cruelty stories, I can't take it! :distress:

Do they really make a low-cal urinary tract health food? When I mentioned it to my vet, she seemed like she hadn't heard of it. My kitty's on the prescription-only Science Diet right now...I'll be taking him back for his followup exam shortly...I'll ask 'em again about that food...

Omigod, I'm literally in tears over this. Bless you for taking care of the kitty, I'm sorry he didn't survive. :( :mad:

I got a Louis Vutton bag for $49 yesterday for my friend Jamie. I almost **** when I saw how cheap it was. I don't care if it's last season or not, it was a f*cking steal. :laugh: