Wanna know what goodies you all got :)

a flat screen t.v., a new digital camera, 5  leyland cypress trees, lots of chocolates YUMMY! a special christmas c.d. from a very dear friend, recipes & cash :)

One exhausted dog after a night of revelry.

We instituted a one-gift maximum in our family this year and it was supposed to be a token gift -- inexpensive. It turned out great! Very easy to manage around the Christmas tree. Very little paper and wrapping to dispense with at day's end. None of us needed or wanted more stuff.

Having said that I did get a cashmere sweater (which I've already worn), a jacket from Anthropologie (that I'll wear New Year's Eve) and a book about Bob Dylan. Lots of bottles of wine and champagne and boxes of sweets were brought by our Christmas Eve guests.

I recommend the minimal Christmas where you spend your time and money on the get-together instead of on stuff.  It gave us more time to eat and take a long Christmas day walk.

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

PS2. Which was a pleasant surprise. It's a slim 2nd generation version. The perfect size for a dorm room.

Also, a DVD set and soundtrack from some weird television show.

Logic Hat Online- logichat.org

I got a couple of DVDs:

- Rush in Rio, a concert CD.  Amazed that it could be found in Australia as Rush have never toured here, never been promoted here and are virtually unknown here.

- The Australian Rules Football Grand Final game featuring my beloved Geelong Cats winning the nation's highest sporting prize!!

- I also got a new footy (Geelong Cats of course), since my last one has been kicked to death over the past couple of years, generally getting at least 1 outing a week.

This was a "no gift year" for the adults in my family, so I was pleasantly surprised.  I also cheated and got my wife a beautiful pair of dual-leaf, gold earrings.

The kids were the main recipients with a virtual truckload of presents, the best of which was a Nintendo DS-Lite console each.  Thankfully I managed to find a store of all the games so far...which is over 500!

Cyba, you don't live in Geelong, do you?  A mutual friend of both mine and Rebel's is a Geelong boy.  In fact he is currently there although he now lives in LA.  He sent me photos a while back of the football team and a bunch of face-painted fans.

Who knew?

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Susan - no, right over the other side of the country in Perth...

I used to live near Geelong when I was a kid and so have followed them as my football time ever since...

It was a low key holiday for the adults.  My niece probably got 4 times as much as all the other kids and the other kids got quite a bit...that being said, I got a nice casual sweater, dress shirt for work and two gift cards.  I also got some lip gloss and a candle in my stocking....yes my mother still gives us stockings even though I will be 30 next year and my siblings aren't far behind.  I am debating if I want to use the one gift card for Twin Peaks ST 2 and a few DVDs or for an adapter for my desktop to hook up the cable...the more I think about it, the more I am leaning towards the soundtrack and DVDs...

The best gift I got...this WONDERFUL cold.  It's the gift that keeps on giving....I think I need more Nyquill... 

Let's see, DVD included:

      Rome,  Season 1 and 2

     Family Guy cool party box set with all episodes included. It also had poker chips, a deck of cards, and ping pong paddles.

     Kissology, Volume 3

     South Park, Seasons 9 and 10.

and a Zune; I settled for the 8 gig model and love it.

Thanks Santa

My Mom actually got me the Mondo Cane collection for Christmas. Once again, reminding me why she is the coolest Mom in history. Jess got me a Wii with Wario Smooth Mooves and the Back to the Future DVD set (FINALLY!). I got her Super Mario Galaxy for our Wii and one of those new ipod nanos.

All in all,  a very good Christmas.

-Req 

I hate to be the party pooper, but the only thing wrong with the latest gen of wiis is they are bloody difficult to mod.  The earlier versions, you simply banged in a wiikey with a few solder points and you were away.  This new one they've made really difficult, so good luck finding a modder who'll do the job.

BTW, tried the new Godfather:Blackhand Edition for the wii and it's pretty good.  Imagine using wiimotes to rough shopkeers up, throw them against a wall etc in order to extort money, not to mention car chases, shootouts, bribing police etc.  It's got the music, characters and some storyline from the original movie too.

We set a limit this year spending-wise; I stuck to it and my other half didn't...so I was also bought a Wii.  I also got some books I asked for:

a biography of Frankie Howerd

a biography of Charles Hawtrey

an autobiography called Shanghai Tango.

I also got a Mighty Boosh boxset and Carry on Columbus on DVD.  It was the last one I needed to get and couldn't find it anywhere, but my parents managed to source a copy from Australia.  Bless 'em. 

My theory by A. Elk, brackets, Miss, brackets. This theory goes as follows and begins now. All brontosauruses are thin at one end, much much thicker in the middle, and then thin again at the far end. That is my theory, it is mine, and it belongs to me, and I own it, and what it is, too.

Ange's Odyssey

Well since I bought my Wii last year when they first came out, I definitely didn't get one of those this year.

My family has gone the route of Susan's, where we limit ourselves to one gift per family member and keep it simple. (which we found makes the gifts more thoughtful and less like "OH! I need another gift for so-and-so...this'll do!") So all of the things I received this year were modest and lovely and very much appreciated. And YES, the lack of insane cleanup from paper and ribbons was awesome. :) I think one of my fave gifts has to be the delicious Turkish Delight body butter from Flange that I CAN'T STOP SMEARING ON MYSELF. (Flange - your package is going in the mail this week. I suck. I know.)

Next year we've devised a slightly modified plan of action, wherein we will give each other one simple gift, then each donate a portion of our excess holiday cash to a charity of our choosing and use the rest to adopt a family in need for the holiday. Very much looking forward to that.

All in all, it was definitely a wonderful holiday. Got to spend time visiting family the weekend beforehand, then had some friends over Christmas Eve to share the GORGEOUS tamales our neighbors make for us every year (we feel extraordinarily guilty each year because we know how much work goes into making those tamales, and all we have for them are the cookies, candies, and fudge we've made). Christmas day was awesome because we didn't have to spend half the morning opening gifts, so we lazed about in our pajamas and ate toasted pannetone and sipped brandied coffee, and then took a great early afternoon walk through the local park while the roast cooked. That night we ate, drank, and then played the new electronic version of Life that my dad had bought for the family. Seriously the most relaxing holiday ever.

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

Rob - Oh, I love ROME!! GREAT SERIES! Looking forward to The Tudors starting up again at some point (I hope they got their episodes taped before the writer's strike).

Let's see, Kelly and I went a little bit more this year than we normally do.

Some DVDs, including Arrested Development series (YEAH!)
Some books
A couple of computer games (Call of Duty 4 and Crysis)
A New Wedding Ring (Kelly always wanted to get me a nicer ring when we got married so she has now)
A new digital camera - Canon 40D - hasn't arrived yet but will this week! I have an old Canon Rebel which I haven't used in years once we went to the digital age.

Kelly's parents were out of town last week, and my parents are in town this week, so we're going to have another round of gift-giving and gift-opening today.

Jordan .

I am a difficult person to buy presents for Usually I buy things on my own but I really enjoy finding presents for other people.

This year I received sweet presents ,not many as my family is very very small.

My kids are finally old enough to start buying presents for me so they joined their money and bought earrings (in my fav black colour)and also perfume"Halloween"which I also like.It is very nice to have presents  from your kids!!!

Another present was from a very special person in my life who always knows what I want and finds very interesting things for me,this time it was DVD which I enjoyed a lot.

And finally some little presents from the people I work with,here in Spain we have a kind of tradition before X-MAS to exchange little presents and we call this game"INVISIBLE FRIEND",you have to guess who is this,it is funny.

That is all...Oh no..The last present was from ME.I bought a new car!

Well, i must say that I was a VERY happy camper this year for Christmas. I got everything that I want this year, except for one thing, and that won't come for a little bit. Wonder if anyone can guess what that could be?

Anyway, what I got:

Harry Potter Book Box Set (all seven volumes in a Harry Potter Chest)
DVDs
CDs
New Wedding Ring for work (TOTAL surprise. my original one had posts on it and it was always catching on gloves or gowns or patients, so Jordan got me one that I can wear to work, although I might be replacing my original one with this one. LOL)
NG subscription (i've wanted that for a long time)
table top water fall
Gift Certificates
and my best present of all...

a KING SIZE BED!!! More room to romp in for sure

Sheets and a mattress topper for the bed

Not sure why we decided to go so extravagent this year. I think it just sort of happened.

We did however, as part of work, adopted a family for Christmas, so we spend some money on that too. I hope we can do the same next year.

Kelly

How Do You Live Your Dash?

Check out the Kids' blogs:
The CaleBlog and the Zoe Blog

a trip home to see the fam and the new little members of it in Albany and Canastota

a tea press and lots of teas 

the new TP CD

a tactical backpack

egg nog soap from Silk Road

pink angora socks

a black microfiber long sleeve

a psychology/science of scent book

Jordan, I'm looking forward to The Tudors starting again too.  It's worth sacrificing any historical inaccuracies for such a good looking cast

This year I received mostly books and DVDs I had asked for:

Books: 'Strangers on a Train' by Patricia Highsmith, 'Lady Oracle' by Margaret Atwood

DVDs: 'The Prestige', 'Big Trouble in Little China', 'Ghost World', '12 Monkeys'

I also received an Amazon voucher for Christmas and my birthday and I'm looking forward to abusing that.

Everyone seems to have a Wii!  I'm starting to feel like I'm missing out  

~ 'I will give you my finest hour, the one I spent watching you shower' ~

A Paddington Bear doll, whose tag reads 1981...so he has been well loved and is nice and worn.  His home is on the bookshelf on my side of the bed. :) (From Eric's mom) 

Doctor Who series Three DVD set (From Eric)

Doctor Who series three ST, plus a rockin' set of Who playing cards (from Flange)

My grandmother's old bread pans (from my mom)

Pink t-shirt sheets (from Eric's mom and dad)

And a case of Play-Doh from Eric. :)

Lucy Westenra

Yeah basically you have no choice now but to buy a wii - the planet is divided into those who have...and those unfortunate few who haven't!!

WII OWNERS - check out this website where I've bought the accessories I needed for my wii at a fraction of the normal cost, and shipped for free:  www.dealextreme.com.  It's a wicked site with plenty of gadgets and things.  Most curious wii accessory so far is for Zelda - a 4 swords and shield set which your wiimote plugs into.

Lars gave me a lovely golden watch with diamonds (fake of course) and I love it!!! He also got me black underwear. Mmmm. I gave him Chanel egoiste Platinum and this oil and vinegar set (bloody expensive stuff!!!)

Mom gave me my Kenzo d´ete parfum, Clinique masacra and BF facial cream.

Also got a vacum cleaner, a blender so I can make more smoothes this year, Harry Potter 7 in Danish (already have the English version) 

Ditte 

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."