Best gift you'll give this year

skcin · #1 12-20-2006, 04:07 PM

Anyone care to share?

This year, I paid for my mom's dentures.

Yeah, sounds odd, but she's been missing most of her teeth for a while (no, she's not from Kentucky, Michelle

) & couldn't afford dentures after my parents lost their business. The cost for dentures can range from $1200 - $3500.

So I hooked her up with the university dental school clinic & I am happy to say she can smile without embarrassment for the first time in a long time. I feel really good about that.

Other than that, nothing too exciting. Got Mark a weathervane for the top of our garage (we've been thinking about buying one, and I finally found a nice one that didn't break the bank on Ebay.) Brother got a Lowe's gift card since they just bought their first house. Dad's getting more Dean Martin Variety Show DVD's (he loves 'em!)

amber · #2 12-20-2006, 04:14 PM

The gift....of song. Wanna hear?

That is a great present for your mom. Tell me, what exactly do weather vanes do?

Oh, I'm not really buying presents. Maybe one for Khrista's kid. I want to get her one of those electronic drum things - they're small, about 2 ft. by one ft., and they have preprogrammed stuff, but also sticks that electronically make drum noises. You know. I wanted to get her something that would irritate the f*ck out of her mom by being really noisy...hehehe.

Naturally, my gift to my parents is that I am going to visit them. They are paying for my trip, though. If you only see your parents once a year, you can get away with this "my visit is my gift" b/s. You know, they're so fricking happy to see you for once, they get all excited, etc. Sweet.

Musicman408 · #3 12-20-2006, 04:14 PM

My gorlfriend a maserati.........

No I am giving my mom this really nice candle set thingy from Yankee Candle. Very Nice....

Much Love,
Ethan

estranged4life · #4 12-20-2006, 04:16 PM

Spent about $100 at Bath & Body Works for Deb's Xmas presents, Bought my older brother a very rare CD off of eBay (Damn thing has yet to arrive, But it is on its way), bought my sister-in-law a cool windchime (W/Parrot imagery) and bought "Burger King" gift cards for my niece and nephew (Along with gag gifts consisting of rubber buck teeth and boxes of macaroni & cheese and spaghetti...Hehehehe!!!)

My older sis is getting the last blanket Mom made (The brown earth tone 50 US State birds one...I have the sky blue tone one)

Lisa1769 · #5 12-20-2006, 04:19 PM

What a nice daughter! I took my son to UMKC School of Dentistry for his braces. They did a wonderful job and half the cost. They impressed me.

The best gift I'm giving goes to my mother also. My sister and I and our spouses and kids got together and had a portrait taken. She's gonna bawl, I just know it. I don't think she has a protograph of all of us together at all.
It'll be a kodak moment!

Edit: oh, and how could I forget, My sister and brother inlaw tickets to go see Lindsey!!!! And they get to take me, so thats an extra bonus!

hayley · #6 12-20-2006, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisa1769

What a nice daughter! I took my son to UMKC School of Dentistry for his braces. They did a wonderful job and half the cost. They impressed me.

Hey, that's where I got my braces! Hahaha! Nice.

I'm making my mom this:

It is made entirely of many, many, many of these:

Last night I spent two hours hand-sewing beads to the poinsettia berries to make them sparkle!@! She'd better love it. A lot. Or I'll cry.

Lisa1769 · #7 12-20-2006, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hayley

Hey, that's where I got my braces! Hahaha! Nice.

I'm making my mom this:

It is made entirely of many, many, many of these:

Last night I spent two hours hand-sewing beads to the poinsettia berries to make them sparkle!@! She'd better love it. A lot. Or I'll cry.

Woah, that looks like a very tedious job. Its very pretty.

How long ago did you get your braces? Tylers had his off for about 1 year. Who was your ortho. He had Dr Roth, loved him!! They had some nice looking men in there!!

hayley · #8 12-20-2006, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisa1769

Woah, that looks like a very tedious job. Its very pretty.

How long ago did you get your braces? Tylers had his off for about 1 year. Who was your ortho. He had Dr Roth, loved him!! They had some nice looking men in there!!

It IS tedious! Right now I'm sewing all the separate pieces on there. It's a job. I was an idiot for thinking I could (easily) do it in a month. But it'll be done. Thanks

It's been about ten years. I had mine on forever- they hated me, because I'd break everything. I'd have to get new bands every other appointment. And then I didn't wear my retainer. I wish I'd understood then just how much it cost and I would've been so much better about it. Going there was a great experience though, even way back then! It was such a great value, the doctors were all really friendly, and it was so easy to get an appointment.

Lisa1769 · #9 12-20-2006, 04:36 PM

I hear ya on the retainer. I practically had to beat him to wear it. But I guess he eventually won because he hasn't wore it forever. Damn Kids!

Good luck on the project!

skcin · #10 12-20-2006, 04:42 PM

Oh, yeah, I highly recommend going to a DDS school for treatment. Way cheaper (the dentures were $600 total, compared with the quotes of $1200 - 3500 we received in the community) and they take extra time with you to make sure everything's done right.

Amber - a real working weathervane tells you the direction of the wind. You know, those metal N/S/E/W arrows with roosters on top of them on barn roofs? Yeah, I got him one of those. No rooster, though - it's a Buffalo.

BTFLCHLD · #11 12-20-2006, 04:58 PM

The most expensive gift is sending my mom on a 7-night Mexican Riviera cruise. But, probably, the best gift for her is an electronic "deal or no deal"...that will get her bawling.

Very cool gift for your mom, Paula.

becca · #12 12-20-2006, 04:58 PM

I dug out some of the old records my brother and I grew up listening to and decided to try and make CD copies from them. Three were K-tel and in fairly ugly shape and had I known the expense and frustration I'd encounter in getting half decent recordings from them I'd probably never have started. Some had skips and awful scratches so I went on ebay to try and find reasonably priced better copies. I finally found all three for $2 but the person charged a massive amount of postage and then put the price of the postage plus records on the customs form so that I had to pat almost $10 tax and duty on top of that when they finally came to my door a month and a half after I paid the seller! I figured out each one ended up costing me over $10, not $2 and for k-tel records not much better than what we already had, but the real kicker is they were U.S. editions without some of the songs on the Canadian editions we had. So I still had to try to get some of the songs off our old copies we kicked around or used as frisbees or something like that as kids.

Well, I finally got all three done a couple days ago. The scanning of the covers was a ton of work too but man, do these things ever look cute, even if a few tracks had to be screened more than I'd have liked for clicks and pops. Luckily my fingernail managed to repair a few skips once I figured out exactly where the skip was. Girl record collectors rule I tell you!

I also did a fairly beatup old Nazareth record I know my brother loved. "Bad Bad Boy" had skips galore (I wonder who played the heck out of that track?), but I got an almost respectable copy made.

One last thing is I might make a slip-case for the k-tels, and maybe buy a real copy of his other most played '70s record the Fleetwood Mac white album of 1975.

I now feel a bit bad I haven't gone to a tenth of the trouble for presents for other people... and I worry the weather is supposed to be bad and he might not even make it home for Christmas. I will never make copies from k-tel records again though. Their kitschy appeal is pretty much gone for me now.

skcin · #13 12-20-2006, 05:11 PM

^ That? Is an awesome gift, Becca! I remember those old K-Tel records.

AliceLover · #14 12-20-2006, 05:18 PM

My favorite gifts I am giving this year are two home depot gift cards to my friends who are landscape fanatics. They are always at home depot. The thing I like about these is that they each come in these cases that look nothing like what you would put a gift card in. I spent 40 dollars each for them so they cost a lot. I can't wait to give them.

BTFLCHLD · #15 12-20-2006, 05:21 PM

nazareth...hairofthedog...I shredded that album.