Always super happy to see all of my family.
Noteworthy was that every gift I gave this year was either made by me or bought/made locally.
This year will be exciting but will also be quite busy for me but as always I am excited to see what I am capable of accomplishing. :tup: Hope everyone has a great Holiday season!
we did pretty good today…
i did well in the gitft exchange despite drawing early numbers with some good moves 
We got some good stuff for the kitchen and Nintendo Wii for the kids as well as a grip of toys and some clothes that i wont actually return.
looking forward to a couple more days off and hanging out with family some more.
Had a good holiday season with our new daughter. Next year she will appreciate it more then we will. i have some plans for next year, new addition to the house and the family. i would really like to save some more frigging money next year, collectively we spend over $8k a month on shit (bills, vacations, baby stuff, college fund, spending money, groceries, home improvements, etc.)and would like to get that down. next year I need a project car, i hoping to get a muscle car, looking for a old Impala, caprice… We will see.
I’m a fan. Had to do the typical “spend what little money I have on things people won’t want.” Also received gifts that were nice of people to buy, but again they didn’t need to waste their money on and I have no want/use for.
Taking a different step this year though, instead of just putting the things I don’t want in a closet as always, I’m going to ebay and give away, and put toward stuff I actually do want. not psyched that I have so little free time as is, now I get to spend hours returning, listing on ebay, shipping, for the few things I did get. Would be much better if we could just get together and eat drink and be merry
we should have a christmas gift swap thread…
***EDIT
i have a star wars mug / hot chocolate set and a pair of $50 gift cards… one for dynamite one for garage… not sure if these stores are in the US. They’re girls clothing stores in Canadian malls… my wife will use them but it’s not her preferred store so on the trading block they go
I got for xmas:
A box of luna bars.
5 air fresheners.
A bag of pistachios.
A 20 dollar gift card to the Lexington Co-op.
I probably wouldn’t trade any of these things though.
I do not care much for receiving presents anymore. Now I would much rather have people buy something cool for my kids.
And to be cool, it will need to be something that will last more than 1 week of “toddler use”
ex. My 5 y/o son now has an 18" Tony Hawk bike and a ramp to ride it over. His 3 y/o, 12" Tony Hawk bike is strong enough for me to ride. (and I do)
So, I have a set of unopened training wheels for an 18" bike to trade…
My wife totally loves Christmas I think I spent over 2k this year lol. For me I don’t care as long as she is happy. Plus I enjoy giving people things they could use and enjoy. We don’t give stupid gifts, if I can’t find something just for you you’ll get a gift card.
I just hung out with the wife and dog it was great, very relaxing. Flights home where stupid expensive and I had to go to the artic circle on the 26th so here I am. Bing how far from Peace River are you? LoL
you want my star wars mug set dont you
i’m going to ship it to my cousiinin San Fran who’s a big star wars dude
spent xmas eve with the girls fam, xmas with my fam, then relaxed with her.
instead of giving each other gifts, we are going on vacation. im not big on all this consumerism…
Hosted a party at my place, bought a bunch of stuff for my parents (Pandora stuff, Kuerig and Kindle Fire) and very little for everyone else. I enjoy being able to spoil my parents and they deserve it. I got a few neat house things from the wifey and her parents (grill, kitchen stuff/appliances) but other than that, it was very low key. I don’t find joy in exhanging gifts like I used to. :dunno:
Had a good time in Buffalo with the wife’s family. Glad to be home, though. Sad I didn’t get to see my family at all. Sad to be back at work today.
We made some wedding-photo related stuff to give to the family as gifts. Her dad booked us all a trip to go white water rafting this summer. Really excited about that. Other than that, just exchanged ornaments and small gift cards and stuff.
We’re not kids anymore, no need to buy each other shit we don’t want or need.
Christmas just isn’t as exciting these days as it used to be. Although, it’s a great time to spend with family and friends. I am sure that will all change when I start having some kids. I really enjoyed spending christmas with my niece last year.
Just had a quiet day at home with my wife and son. Relaxed and enjoyed a relaxing day with them. Out of all the stuff everyone got my son, he liked the ribbon on the boxes the most LOL!
We would have loved to make it back to NY to visit family and enjoy the holidays with everyone, but the cost was prohibitive. My In-Laws got us a SW gift card, and we used that to buy tickets to come back to visit in Feb (at 1/3rd the cost for airfare than at Christmas time).
the airfares this season were insanely high
Im Chinese so I dont celebrate Christams. I’ll be at the casino with the rest of my people.
I heard your people out there banned happy hour and drink specials…that makes coming home look all the more attractive.
I don’t know why this seems so funny, some of my Jewish friends all go to the movies for Xmas and fulfill that stereotype too.
I just wish I could convince family members to stop with the gifts already. How do you guys do it? It’s great when you’re a kid and actually need stuff, but it gets old when you’re just trying to buy gifts every year for people who say they don’t want anything. I hate shopping for gifts, I hate trying to spend even amounts, I hate the stupid people out shopping. I always realize I forgot someone or didn’t buy enough at the last minute. My cousin manages a WalMart and had to deal with some 27yo woman punching a 70yo greeter lady in the face on Christmas eve. It just needs to end. I know it’s needed for the economy, but I want to opt out. Problem is if I do, I’ll still end up with gifts and will feel like a shit when I don’t have any to give. I like Thanksgiving more because my whole family gets together, and it’s like a shortened Christmas without gifts or pressure. Yeah, I’m a grinch, but I really loath everything about this holiday except Christmas lights and family, the rest can go.
I think the best way to end the gift giving is to mindfuck them with homemade gifts, Gift basket? Birdhouse? Maybe gradually just buying less and less each year?
I gave my entire family rubber chickens one year. No labels, played dumb… hilarity ensued.