Fess Up! What did you get this Christmas that just isn't quite what you expected?

Merry Christmas Carole!!

Yeah my mom is a trip when it comes to Chritmas gifts. Every year she asks what I want and I tell her and every year she gets me (And hubby )same thing,
Me Bath and body works stuff(Very nice, but you know) And hubby a sweatshirt. This is EVERY year! I have enough B&B stuff to open my own chain.
Hubby has sweatshirts from 3-4 years ago with tags still on!
We started giving them to goodwill. (Size is usually wrong)
Gotta love my mom.

One of my sisters bought me a set of reading glasses (which I used last night). Another sister made me pose for some pictures with a pair on, which my family apparently found very amusing. I'll try to post the pic when she sends it to me.

My wife got us two tickets to see Phantom of the Opera in row 4! How awesome will that be?

Meanwhile, my older sister, who lives in Los Angeles, for some reason got me the box set of Superman movies. At no time in my life have I ever indicated I wanted something like this; it's almost like she doesn't even know who I am! She also sent a gift receipt, so I'll be exchanging it for something I actually DO like.

I even put up a wish list on amazon.com (just like she did last year) with items ranging in the "used" and under $5 range. I even have "Self Editing for Fiction Writers" on there, something any writer can use! Nobody even glanced at my list as far as I can tell.

Oh well. Phantom's gonna rock, though.

Oh, and my wonderful wife gave me an MSN Smart Watch! Welcome me to the 21st century!

Merry Christmas to all, and my all your book sales be high!

allen

probably for the first year, everything was great. even the sweater my mother in law traditionally buys me was wearable! (That's a first.) And I needed more socks.

My mom got me sweaters. Lots and lots of sweaters....I rarely wear sweaters.....O well. The rest was nice.

Hubby bought me two video games. Not a bad thing since I play games all the time, but these two in particular made me go "huh?"

First one, I have already.

The second one is the expansion pack to one I don't want to play (it's online...enough said).

I simply looked at him and sighed. Tomorrow, they're going to charity.

The Spouse Thingy gave me a Bose speaker thing for my iPod. Totally unexpected, and totally awesome.

Funniest thing...a friend sent me a Catapult toy. A hand sized plastic thing that launches tiny little plastic kitties. We had more fun flinging cats across the living room, watching our own cats try to catch them.

Kath - my brother (age: 16) recieved that exact same toy. It is wonderful. He also got a marshmallow shooter, from me. That was a mistake. He hit me in the nose with it.

Most unexpected: A kimono. I am not Asian, nor is anyone in my extended family. It is my absolute favorite gift.

We opened presents yesterday. I got a couple I definitely wasn't expecting. I got $100 from my dad which is shocking because we haven't really been on speaking terms for the last year or so.

I also got a homemade bead necklace from a guy on my step-dad's side of the family (I'm not sure how he is related to this guy). From what I understand this guy is "special", if you know what I mean, but that's not why the gift was unexpected. I've never met this guy and this is the first time he has ever given me a present before. Even though it isn't really the best looking necklace, it was still very nice of him to make me one.

We (kids and us) opened our gifts this morning and I got some sweet little things from my children - a shiny brooch, a little "hugs for mom" book, a cinderella cd (I love the movie) and a new hat with fur-like trim (pretty)

But last night at my family gathering, my sisters gave me a few um...interesting things. The most interesting was a bright red (almost orange-red) sweater - that was very large - with a huge white snowman on the front. Technically Christmas is over now, right? When am I supposed to wear this? Just for fun I put it on today and the kids laughed like crazy.

I wore it at home today for a little while but when the ornaments get put away, this sweater is going into hibernation with them.

My mother-in-law got me and my husband a greeting card. Nothing inside, just a card. That's it. It was thoughtful, though, and that's what counts. I'll put it up with the decorations and put it up next year, too.

My mom got me the two things I asked for - a quilt and a new coffee grinder (big, expensive KitchenAid one). The surprise, that I didn't expect, was three new sweaters that I actually really REALLY needed. I haven't had new clothes since last Christmas. She bought my husband a denim shirt/jacket thing he'll probably never wear, 2 pairs of jeans he really needed, and (yet another) Redskins long sleeved t-shirt. I swear, if we ever have a call to go anywhere "fancy", I'll be dressed to the 9's and my husband will have jeans and a Redskins shirt on.

The most unexpected gift was probably the coolest one. My wife ordered for me, having done a thorough hunt and finding it, a Jolly Roger model set, with full riggings and everything. I've never put one together before, but I very much want to. And now I get to! Huzzah!

I also got a bunch of movies and learned interesting things (GLancing at the cover of Back to the Future, I exclaimed "These were made by Bob Zemeckis!" and everyone else gave me a blank look...) I got some soundtracks, which is a good thing, and some wonderful books: An illustrated copy of The Silmarillion (Tolkien), a book that takes all the Norse mythos and organizes them chronologically so they tell a story, the Unauthorised Biography of Lemony Snicket which is, thus far, hilarious. Some other stuff my poor brain can't recall right now.

And I got to spend it with all of my family. I got to hang out for an evening with my wife and my sister and play Trivial Pursuit, which is one of the finer joys in life (unless you're watching my sister and I interact, and then its creepy and you wish you were elsewhere).

All in all, very good Christmas.

September skies said:

We (kids and us) opened our gifts this morning and I got some sweet little things from my children - a shiny brooch, a little "hugs for mom" book, a cinderella cd (I love the movie) and a new hat with fur-like trim (pretty)

But last night at my family gathering, my sisters gave me a few um...interesting things. The most interesting was a bright red (almost orange-red) sweater - that was very large - with a huge white snowman on the front. Technically Christmas is over now, right? When am I supposed to wear this? Just for fun I put it on today and the kids laughed like crazy.

I wore it at home today for a little while but when the ornaments get put away, this sweater is going into hibernation with them.

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Wear it june!!

Extra Prezzie

We received many cool gifts. I got several books and games, and people did use my wish list.

At one point, I opened what was obviously a paperback book. I didn't recognize the title and looked to my husband to explain what it was. I thought perhaps he'd found something for me on his own. He looked surprised and then realized that it was a book meant for one of our Secret Santa exchanges; I had someone else's gift. Oops! He'd put it onto our pile unlabeled, so when we did the exchange, it never made it out from under the tree.

But the person in question did get enough presents, and her birthday is coming up soon. I guess we know what she's getting!! LOL.

Hmmm....I got absolutely nothing. Does that count?

SpookyWriter said:

Hmmm....I got absolutely nothing. Does that count?

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awww....was it by choice (e.g. religion?) or just the way things happened? If it's the latter, send me your address and I'll ship you a really nice bright-red sweater with a picture of a giant snowman. LOL
I'm sure others might send you a thing or two too.

I got some Burt's Bees skin care products from a male friend of mine but so did our other friend who is also a girl. I think he just didn't know what to get us. The products are really nice but I have very oily skin and the stuff he bought was made for very dry skin. So I can't really use it.

My wife got us two tickets to see Phantom of the Opera in row 4! How awesome will that be?

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Almost as awesome as going to the world premiere of the LoTR musical in Toronto in March...



(And Evita in Kitchener in Feb. BTW, I've seen Phantom. I loved it.)

Maybe we could start an online exchange where we put up the things we got that we don't want / can't use / dislike. I've got a few things I can contribute. <heh>

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My hubby can use those 34 waist 32 length pants yours can't, Carole...

I got a book: Letters to a Young Novelist. I know my dad doesn't want to admit I've grown up yet, but my eldest child just turned twenty.

And did I tell you I also got tickets to a show?

I had only put some movies on my Christmas list (including a couple of the Star Wars movies), and I actually got them all - that was unusual.

My son got a Mr. Potato Head for his birthday last month and I made a comment that I'd never had one as a kid growing up.

Among other things, my wife gave me a Darth Tater (Mr. Potato Head dressed like Darth Vader) - it was wrapped in the box with Star Wars Ep.2&3 DVDs. I wasn't expecting that. He's going to have a place on my desk next to my Gandalf action-figure from LOTR

Happy Holidays everyone - and Happy New Year.

I got a very nice pair of earrings from howie, but I'll prolly return them, so I can pretend I got two gifts! lol. Happy New Year to all of you!

September skies said:

awww....was it by choice (e.g. religion?) or just the way things happened? If it's the latter, send me your address and I'll ship you a really nice bright-red sweater with a picture of a giant snowman. LOL
I'm sure others might send you a thing or two too.

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Not by choice, but by design. I sent my son home to be with family, sisters, etc. and so I am alone until he returns. For some reason, I woke up at 4:00am all excited but then realized I didn't have a tree or any reason to get out of bed.

Oh well, maybe next year. Don't worry, my gift was all the family together for the holidays.

Actually, all my presents were disappointing. I usually wear large t-shirts but the one I got was way too large, and the sticker that says it's XL is sewn on it, a ugly white blotch in an otherwise black t-shirt. Also, it says life is a wheel. What does that mean? -sigh-

The other was not as disappointing, it was a board game. I haven't played it, so I can't tell. However, I wasn't expecting Santa to leave presents under the tree at midnight, especially since I am 16