O Christmas Tree

Yeah, I'm back at it... again. Probably will be until after Christmas. Right now it comes in bursts. I'm trying to figure out what to get people for gifts that will be useful, fairly practical, yet fun or at least something they'll like. I'm trying NOT to be so practical that they know exactly what they're getting.

For years my DH had not one iota of excitement for Christmas. Why should he? Every single year his mom would get him a pair (maybe two) of jeans, a t-shirt, and maybe a flannel shirt. This is his "uniform"... we tease him. It's what he wears each and every day. BUT this does not mean, even if he needs them, that it is an appropriate gift. For one thing, she wouldn't even buy him the jeans he liked - only bought him something 'inexpensive'. Then he had to return them every year if he wanted to get something he liked. I would hate Christmas too, if that was the way it worked year after year.

I broke that mold (thank goodness!). Now I think he still dreads the spending of money, but he enjoys Christmas more than before. He at least has a bit of a chance of a surprise.

I try to get the kids (all grown) something fun, if not a little practical, and I still do stockings for all of them where I put all kinds of little silly things. They always know they have a huge orange and a huge apple coming in the stockings... probably some chapstick... and at least three of them like candy (one son doesn't, so he gets other strange things). Then I find odds and ends that seem to agree with their personality. This is fun for me to look for little inexpensive things that can be surprises.

Sometimes I actually make them something. One year I made them all huge afghans. They'd all liked the one I'd made for DH, so they all got to pick out their own yarn and I made them all and had them ready to open for Christmas. That was a nice one.

Part of the fun for me is just figuring out what to get them... then trying to find it. Sometimes that is the hard part! I'm not one that has the time or patience to wander stores aimlessly until I find something that strikes my fancy. I want to know what I want, then hopefully, be lucky enough to find it in the first or second place I look. I do have a hard time i-net shopping, though, unless I've seen the item "in person" first. Then I can purchase over the i-net fairly confidently. I'm a hands-on shopper, though, and want to make sure before I buy that it is the right size/color/shape/ whatever. I'm not crazy about the crowds in the stores, either. It goes along with my anti-social nature.

Well, that's all ... I'm just musing out loud (or not, as the case may be).