The pleasures of giving and receiving

[dragon wench]

Okay kids, if you celebrate any festivities at this time of the year, what did you give and receive?

I gave my partner:
a gift certificate for a massage and spa treatment
a gift certificate from one of his favourite bookstores
a stylin sweater
a comfy, but stylish, 'flannel' shirt

I received:
a Samsung 17 inch LCD monitor (*grin*.. my games look soooo nice)
a very soft, cozy bathrobe
PJs


Much fun all round

[CopperWater]

The quote "It is better to give than to recieve" is true in Christmas and in Jail.
I got my mom a gazing glode-thing, my sister 20 bucks in a coffe gift card, and my dad a picture of a motorcycle that lights up and looks like its moving. I got a whammy pedal for my guitar, t-shirts, a baja, a rosanter guitar, cds, an ACDC dvd and an ACDC calender. Spoiled this year.

[Xandax]

The "best" thing I gave was to my grandfather...
Last time I wisited him he mentioned a movie he had seen back in the "old days" that the thought was the best movie he had ever seen.

I only got about half the title, but when I came home from that visit I went to work.....
thanks to a short time searching the web (good thing one is fluent in cyperspace) I came up with a possible hit for the movie, so I found a webshop and bought it on VHS.
When I handed him his present it was the exact same movie as he had talked about and he said that he had wanted it for 50 years, but didn't think it existed....

that simply made my christmas - being able to dig up a danish movie from 1937 and giving it to my grandfather who never in his wildest dreams thought he'd see it again.
Needless to say, but we spend the latter part of christmas eve watching that movie and he was moved.....
It was the best gift I've ever given, and I felt really good going to sleep that night

[giles337]

Actually my favorite gift this season was completely by chance running into an old friend who'd moved away, and was down in my city for 2 days on holiday. So random, and so happy. I always prefer giving to recieving, (as self-promoting as it may sound) as i like to think i'm a good gift buyer, and I always love seeing the looks on people faces. This year i recieved]

Hockey Stick
Hockey Shoes
Money


I gave
Books
CD's
Calendars
And everyone a pen with their name on

[Moonbiter]

It's a drag, but it's also a pleasure to give away prezzies. For me it's a bit odd, since I tend to give a lot more than I receive, coming from a culture where giving something RIGHT away is a sign that you actually know and care about the recipient(sp?)
¨
My mom got a zone free DVD player. I'm getting utterly fed up with her and my dad being so out of the new millenium, they don't even know how to send an SMS on the mobiles they've had for 10 years. I also got her a few books and a kitchen knife that she wanted.

My dad got wilderness stuff and books. Of all the people I know, he's the easiest target. I know him so well it hurts, so I always hit the spot with him.

The Stink, or my bro', as he's sometimes called (much to my fake distress) got ammo for his hunting guns, which set me back enough to ask the bank for a loan, but then again, I got him some books too. It's my firm beleif that if
I keep hitting him with books, he will eventually READ one of them. My mission in life.

My nephew got so many toys he actually turned blue on Christmas Eve and I had to use the Heimlich on him(Lego) and he's spent the entire rest of the festive season running away from me, thinking I tried to kill him.

My son.... He got a high tech SnowRacer and we've been trying it out all day. Why I pay money to the gym? Well, after having spent 9 hours dragging His Droolness up the slope just to watch him go WEEEEEEEEEEE... Oh, it's the thing,,,,

My Wifey... Well, she got what she deserved.. and so did I.

[Monolith]

I got the Godfather DVD Collection. Godfather 1-3, plus a DVD with bonus material made for this collection only and a stylish set of godfather-cards. I watched everything today - 520 minutes in total. I have a headache now. And my eyes are burning. But that was worth it...Godfather 1 is really one of the best movies I've ever seen.

Then I got a nice leather purse, some perfume and eh...I guess that's it. Well, I haven't got a present from my parents yet, so I don't know what it is...

I gave the book "Endlich Nichtraucher!" ("Easy way to stop smoking" is the original title, I guess) by Allen Carr to my sister and her husband. About two or three years ago I gave the same book to my parents who are non-smokers now...they gave that book to my cousin who stopped smoking as well...then the book disappeared, thus I had to buy a new copy for them...
Euh, well, that's it. I'm no "giver", you know...and no "taker" either...

[Tamerlane]

I love reading, music and movies so it wasn't too hard to pick something for me. I got a variety of stuff but the important ones were the ones from my parents and girlfriend. Parents got me the Dan Brown books (Da Vinci Code, Demons & Angels etc.) and my girlfriend spoilt me with a variety of gifts including the Nirvana Box Set and a rare Tool DVD.

I got my parents a framed landscape picture of a sunset over the water, my brothers Halo 2 and my gf got a fluffy teddy bear and tickets to a wine tour/vacation down south. We leave for it tomorrow, it was tough booking everything and calling her work as well as her parents to steal her away for a few days. We'll spend New Years Eve with a private 3 course dinner under the stars.

[Aegis]

Well, I got a lovely, black P-Jacket (to replace my old military grade fall jacket... Not fit for Canadian Winter ), some leather driving gloves, and some Brock-U wear. My sister and her boyfriend gave me this great chess board, with the pieces replaced with shot glasses...

[jopperm2]

I'm not particularly comfortable with receiving gifts, but this year wasn't too bad.

Gave:
Wife: Super-powerful handheld vacuum(I swear she asked for this! )
Also a pair of shoes and a new jacket, but she bought those with me.
Father-in-law and Brother-in-law: Both got Gift certificates to Hot Topic.
Mother-in-law: A light jazz CD, Some wine and cheese.
Her Boyfriend: This little foot spa thingy.. Gross huh? He owns a motorcyle shop and he stands on concrete all day.
Wife's grandparents: One of those Nativity sets that are carved from olive wood from Isreal.
Daughter: Lots of things.. Just a few.. Interactive hose that she can crawl in and out of, bath toys, Wiggles DVDs, Toy hammer that makes sounds when you bang on things, baby puzzles... Hmm.. I can't think of any more, there's tons of things though..

Received:
From Wife: Set of 3 huge stock pots, automatic steamer
father-in-law: Awesome Chicago Cutlery 3 piece Knife set
Brother-in-law: Heavy duty measuring cup set and egg whisk
Mother-in-law: Some yummy Garlic Pesto Oil in a nice decorative bottle with a pour spout, my wife and I also got a beautiful clock from them.
Family in Iowa: got a lot of lovely food products from the midwest that I miss dearly..
Self: I bought an instructional cooking book. (See a pattern here?)

[Galuf the Dwarf]

Note: I only seemed to have recieved more since I was easier to shop for. Also, each one of my folks got some stuff from each other (except for my grandmother, who really just recieved in her case) as well.


Gave -
To Dad: Everly Brothers CD (turns out he had it though; he returned it), laser level, 'Sid Meyer's "Pirates!"'

To Mom: '2005 Writer's Market' book, teddy bear and $5 gift certificate from Waldenbooks, internet router (part of a combined set from me and my brother)

To my grandmother: A small box of jewelry, a small box of chocolates, and a large bag of peppermints.

To my brother: 'Half-Life 2,' Iced Earth's 3-CD 'Alive in Athens' collection, 'Blue Collar Comedy tour' and 'Bill Engvall: Here's Your Sign' DVDs

Recieved -
- 2005 Dreamwave Transformers calendar
- Transformers Generation 2 comic trade paperbacks ('Dark Designs' and 'Rage in Heaven')
- Multitudes of pajamas/sleepwear (including a terry bath-/night-robe)
- Motorhead album: Bastards (LOVE IT!!)
- Megadeth album: Youthanasia
- Motorhead album: Overkill
- D&D manual: Frostburn
- Forgotten Realms manual: Magic of Faerun
And most of all...
- A Playstation 2 w/ Dual Shock controller and 'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' (DID NOT EXPECT THIS AT ALL! )

[Magrus]

Well, I love giving gifts for people but unfortunately about $400 dollars worth of my stuff was stolen/broken at the end of November and my friends and family told me they wouldn't accept any gifts I gave them because I had to replace all of it. I did for my immediate family get one small gift each though just because thats about all I ended up being able to afford after all my money went to replacing everything.

I gave...

-For my Mother: Season 1 Survivor Greatest Hits DVD (she's obsessed...interrupting her viewing pleasure is a sure way to have something thrown at you, she was thrilled beyond belief)

-My Step-Father: The Rundown dvd (he loves action movies and never gets to see them with my Mother around)

-My Brother: Starsky & Hutch dvd (big into comedy stuff and I knew he'd like that one) I also treated him to a night out with my friends to see he had a great time.

-My friend Kimmy: I took her out to lunch, and as she always gets upset with me for buying her things I offered her my services as her babysitter for the rest of the year at any time she needed me. She'll need that more than anything I do believe and was extremely appreciative.


I got...

From my parents:
-A DVD player, as my roommate broke my VCR and something broke my DVD drive in my computer and this summer my old roommate stole my PS2 so I had no way of watching videos or DVD's at all.
-A book, The New Spring, by Robert Jordan. I finished it in 2 hours on Christmas day (shortest book I've seen of his by far, just over 300 pages)
-T-shirt saying "Sarcasm, Just one of the services I offer" on it
-Cologn
-Hot Shots dvd
-Andes Candy's, Cherry flavored. (no clue whether it's known elsewhere, but the company started near here and they make awesome candy)
-Money

From my younger brother:
-Reversible Jacket (he got a job at a clothing store in a mall and got huge discounts this year.)
-Little Brother got me drunk, so nice of him, along with the extreme entertainment of him stealing my phone and leaving horrible messages on all of his old friends phones with it so I had to deal with them hung over.

Friends Rachel and Kimmy:
-Promise to get me drunk enough to dance for them soon. (long story)

Roommates:
-A failed attempt at making Rum Balls today for our gifts to each other led to creating pie filling and making a Rum Pie. VERY good, about 2 shots of Bacardi Raspberry Rum per slice.
-Deep Fryer (I made it a point to boycott my last employer and steal their business so I cook for the neighborhood occasionally and undercut their prices.)

Grandparents:

-Mothers Side: Cash to "Have fun with", wonderfully understanding grandparents. Funded my Rum Pie

-Father's Side: Money to buy a blender as shipping one to me would be ungodly expensive.

[Demortis]

i really didnt get anything or give anything, 1 becuase christmas has become to commercialized and that and i must be the hardest person to shop for. thers nothing out that really caught my eye for anyone to get me.

[jopperm2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magrus -Andes Candy's, Cherry flavored. (no clue whether it's known elsewhere, but the company started near here and they make awesome candy)

It is available elsewhere.. In fact the Olive Garden serves their mints.. Yummy!