What the Folk!

This is a spot to tell us what special (and maybe not so special) gifts you received this Christmas.

I'll start out with a goodie - my daughter gave me 3 months of movies from Netflix. How cool! I'm finally moving into the 21st century, and first on my list will be Tongan Ninja.

The next gift was one that came to my daughter, but because it was so special, I wanted to share it with you.
Amy got home from her performances at Universal Studios Christmas Eve, and her boyfriend Kevin said that something had come in the mail with no name on it. Both of their names were on the package, spelled correctly, and there was a return address but no name on it. When they opened it, they found two t-shirts with the word LOVE on them, and as Amy unrolled hers, $500 in $20 bills fell to the floor!
It gets weirder - Kevin's Mother and Sister got the same present!

Obviously they suspected a family member, but they couldn't name one who had that much money to give as presents. And what faith they had the money would in fact get there at all!

The other strange fact was the return address - when they looked it up, they checked to see if they knew the person who lived there - there were several names listed as occupants, but the first one's name was...Kevin Larsen, spelled the same as Amy's boyfriend's name!!!

It seems to be a gift given in the true spirit of Christmas - by someone who wanted nothing in return. And at this time in their lives, they really could use it. So whoever you are, thanks for making my daughter's Christmas extra special.

So now it's your turn - tell us what you got!!

Wow, I wish someone would give me $500 in cash. Wonder if they will ever figure out who the generous anonymous gift giver is?

My gifts this year: a couple of gift cards, the new Harry Potter dvd, a new duvet cover for my bed. Most of the stuff I picked out myself, so I knew I was going to like everything. My sister got me a digital tuner for my uke, so now I know for sure if it's in tune or not.

Ooh, I can't wait to hear if other folks got uke-related gifts, or maybe even ukes!!

WOW! What an amazing gift. VERY special.

We didn't exchange gifts this year. Instead I participated in adopting a needy family. And I paid for a plane ticket to come see my folks. So I'm their present

Oh but this one IS kind of good. My dad hates Christmas. He grew up with alcoholic parents and there was a lot of yelling, crying, drinking and strangers around at Christmas. Part of that is that he HATES Christmas music. Well almost all day he let my mom and I listen to Christmas music. He even put it on special himself. I know how much that took for him and it was very much appreciated.

Gifts come in many different ways, don't they? Those things you did are very special, Em, and mean so much to the people involved.

Good for your Dad, Em. You're right, it probably took quite a lot for him to do that, but what a nice gesture!

Emafer, that is very very special.

Nancy, is it possible that Kevin himself sent the gifts? Like Amy's Kevin?

My favourite gift is the one I gave my sister - Gumby from the 80s! 99 episodes!

I got two dresses, some beautiful bracelets, pyjama shorts and a necklace.

I got some really great pressies, though none directly uke related.

Hubby gave me a new camcorder (which is indirectly uke related , as I have wanted one for the past six months in order to make better uke vids )

I also got a Moomin mug from my daughter , a diabolo from my inlaws (chosen by hubby, who knows I am a kid at heart ), a book on 'lost' American history, Bochox (chocs) and a Statue Of Liberty rubber duck from my best friend , an iron (which I was actually quite happy about, because I've managed to forget our iron on a trip to Sweden some years back) and a lovely pair of pyjamas from my boys:) In addition I also got some money , which will go towards getting a clip-on tuner for McKenzie (and the new and fab Kala I will get for myself when I get my first pay in January )

I got a shih tzu ornament from my boss. A snowman ornament and a bit of candy from our secretary. A jar of really good pasta sauce from the other groomer I work with. And burts bees goodies, and pumpkin cake mix from Red. Clients also brought in lots of cookies and treats for the whole staff. None of my regular clients booked over Christmas, so no presents just for me this year. They all got in just before December.

Also got things 7 dvds on the rapture from family and a 38 page letter from family but I don't count those as they were given in sort of hurtful way.

We had a cookie party at work on Christmas Eve. I think I tried a little bit of everything but the best by far were these chocolate chip cookies and when you bit in to them, a center layer of warm, gooey caramel oozed out. When no one was looking, I stashed away 10 of those in my purse. You know, so my family* could try them. Big thanks to whoever made them.

*I

I also received lovely Christmas cards from many WTFers, an awesome secret santa gift from closet jemainiac, and one of my friends made me 3 Christmas mix CD's. We don't have a lot of family nearby so we don't do the gift exchange thing but I did buy a red, hardcover Moleskine planner and the new Broadcast CD, as a gift to myself.

My wonderful hubby has listened to me bemoan the loss of tv watching in the kitchen. (I had a b&w 9" countertop tv/radio) Of course it stopped working when we went digital and so now I hardly hear any news and I really miss it....I spend a lot of time in the kitchen making meals, baking, doing dishes, etc. (We don't have a dishwasher)
So he got me a 19" lcd hd Flatscreen TV that he's going to mount on the wall!! I was I've already considered taking it back for something smaller but he insists it isn't too big. He's going to hook up the cable to it, too.
I asked if I should move my recliner to the kitchen, lol.

So I love that, of course.

My bro got me an Amazon card so I could pick my 2nd uke- yay! We have a big family and exchange so I got a lot...not gonna list it all. Some faves are- Dexter calendar, Hypnose perfume, Fright Night DVD (one of my faves), a very cool creepy gargoyle that lights up and says some really creepy shi, Starbucks gift card, Barnes and Noble gift card, Supercool t-shirt of George Washington where you can see an x-ray of his skull thru his face. Jack Skellington long-sleeve tee, Bath and Body Works stuff.

Seeing Jake open his gifts from us and Santa and be so happy....it makes us happy. He still believes. Seeing him and Tom playing Super Mario Bros together on Wii last night was cool.

Oh, and for fun my cousin Brad (he of the dark cherry fudge) got me 3 boxes of "goodies:" BBQ and cheddar cheese flavored larvae (big mealworms) and box of Cheddar cheese crickets. Also, a sucker with a scorpion in the center. Urg.

The little kids surprised the heck out of me! They clamored for the worms once they saw us eat one, lol! I couldn't hand them out fast enough! They tasted like hollow cheetos.....
The crickets I refuse to try. So far. Same with the scorpion. No uh-huh.

But they're neat. Reminds me I need to get another Archie McPhee catalog.

We had a lovely XMas Eve and Day. Just have to get together with my bff and her kids so they can exchange gifts with Jake and then Christmas will officially be over.

nancy, whoever was the gift-giver...that was a very cool thing to do!

delirium...I'm sorry about that letter. Set it aside and out of your mind, if you can. 7 DVDs about the Rapture?? Um, wow.
I hope you and your bf were able to have a relaxing holiday and that you were happy.

I thought of all of you here and hoped everyone was having a good holiday, however you celebrated it!

Less than a week and it'll 2010! Can you believe we're a decade into the 2000's already?! It flew by, for me at least!

It's ok Laura. I burned the letter and tossed the dvd's. I mostly slept for much of the day as I've had a cold and have been running a fever. Which being sick was actually a blessing. BF talked me into talking to my family when they called as it was "Christmas". They read me the riot act over a video card I made for them. I just could not force myself to care too much as I felt like crap, so it just washed over me. I think I even fell asleep at one point. I watched Bad Santa for the first time as a friend mentioned it. I kind of knew the story through word of mouth, but I enjoyed it. Drifted in and out of a few other movies like A.I. Feel better today as I slept so much the past two days. Congrats on the kitchen tv that rocks!

Here's a few pics....

XMas Eve at my aunt Joy's...that's Jacob in the red holding up a DS game, I believe: (cousin Brad on the sofa next to his wife, Amy)


Little ones opening...that's Tom in the tan shirt w/ stripe sleeve, my bro Jeff to his right and his gf Patti next to him.


These are at our house after aunt Joy's. It's just us, Mom and Howe, Jeff and Patti. This is Howe, Mom, and Emmie:


Howe opening his Doo Wop: (He really liked it, yay!)


Jake slightly happy, lol:

{{{{{{delirium}}}}}}

You did a good thing making them a video card, if they can't accept it in the same spirit, then poop on them.

I sure hope you're feeling better. I'd have you over and we'd watch whatever you wanted and eat leftover XMas stuff and talk and laugh if I could get you here.

Wow what a generous gift your daughter got, Nancy! I'm really happy with the money I got (mostly from a generous uncle) but I don't know what I'd do with myself if I received $500!

That's a nice thing for both you and your dad to do for Christmas, Emafer.

Great pics, Laura! Aww Jake looks incredibly happy!

For Christmas I got clothes (mostly jumpers), fancy winter coats, DVDs, CDs, money, handbags, cosmetics and jewellery.

Delirium, I'm sorry you got that from your family but I'm glad you've moved on from it. I hope you get well soon too.

Thanks Venus! I'm feeling almost better today.

I would love that Laura! Sounds like a blast That picture of Jake is funny, that is a very happy boy with his Mario Kart game!