aeraen

A 2 gig SD card for a good price would be nice.

I would make sure I paid seperately, though. And don't call him "honey" in line

Yep, I started today. DH always climbs up on the roof to put the lights on the gables... if he waited until closer to Christmas he risks slipping right off the roof. But I never light them until Dec 1.

An Ipod and a bass guitar. However did you guess that I have teenagers?

Store bought... I've always hated the picture cards (personal opinion, I'm sure most people like receiving them). I usually buy my cards at the after-Christmas sale the year before, and start signing them around October or early November. Sometimes I include pictures of the kids or the family from one of our trips, but if I don't have any particularly good shots I just skip that part. School pics NEVER turn out for my kids, and we stopped buying them.

I would stay away from the scrapbooking if she works at the store... she can likely buy whatever she wants at a discount, and you are likely to only duplicate whatever she already has. Of course, the idea of an inexpensive little gift basket with a gift certificate for her own store is a good one. Then, when she sees a good deal or a new and unique item, she can go for it. I also like the movie passes. I got those for my teenage neice this year. I also went to the manager of the theatre and got some popcorn boxes (free!). I am going to put some filler paper in those, a package of junior mints, jujubees and twizzlers in it along with the movie passes. Then I will wrap the whole thing. My teenage daughter liked the idea so much, she is doing the same thing for her friends.

For years, DH and I piled each of their gifts up in the bedroom and took a look at whether the piles LOOKED even. They didn't really know the cost of the items, or even count the actual number, but sometimes one or the other had items that were perticularly small, and it made their "haul" look like less. Then we just bought something big, cheap and bulky, and the kids never noticed. Sometimes, also, we would look at the piles and take something away from one and tuck it in a closet for another day if their "haul" looked uneven. The kid eventually got it, but just not at Christmas.

I always tuck the actual receipt (not a gift receipt) in an envelope in with the gift. Anyone who received a gift from me knows that I would far rather they took back anything that they didn't like for any reason and get what they WOULD like. There is nothing worse than spending my hard-earned money on something that will just get kicked into the back of a closet. By the way, I have run into situations where I did not get the credit for a gift receipt in the amount that the giver said it should be for... and I had nothing to argue with. Could be the giver was "over estimating" the value of their gift, or the store was underestimating it. I will never know, but I figure my recipient is safe with the actual receipt. If they are just plain nosey and open the envelope just to see what I actually spent, oh well.

My heart goes out to all of you who have had to deal with such pain and heartbreak at a time when it seems the whole world is basking in happiness. I've had some "somewhat-less-than-the-Waltons" Christmasses in my life, but there was always something to be happy about. *raises her glass* Heres to all HAPPY CHRISTMASSES to all of you from now on (and to a few good bargains before that!)

When my dad was alive, he made life incredibly easy. Begining on Christmas Eve and all through Christmas day, he and step-mom had easy to prepare, eat-as-you-wish-type food ready. When we came, we came. No "must be here at this time" and "need to have the whole family together" drama. The tree was, up, the music was on, the gifts were waiting. Just show up on your own schedule. And we needed it, since my parents were divorced and my mother lived alone, we had THREE sets of parents to visit. And my in-laws were anal about having the whole fam-damily together in peace and harmony at EXACTLY the time they wanted us to. Usually that was right in the middle of the day, leaving no time on either end for comfortably visiting others. Fortunately, my mother was just as relaxed about it as my father was, so we just squeezed them in around the monster-in-law's command performances. It never caused fighting between DH and myself, since it drove him as crazy as it drove me.

Leaving the rest of the shoppers to wonder just exactly where did you leave the baby!

Like Home Depot had anything worth getting worked up over anyway?

Just yesterday, my 12 year old checked his allowance account (we don't just hand him money, we keep an account on the computer and add or subtract like a bank). He was unusually delighted at the amount of money he had ,and I almost felt disappointed at his attitude. Later, though, he called me in his bedroom and showed me the Christmas list he had for the family, HE WAS PRE-SHOPPING ONLINE for all of us! He had a $20 item on his screen that he wanted to buy for Dad. So far he hasn't asked us for anything for himself so far, but is absolutely giddy at the prospect of buying for his family. My teenager has a job this year and is already looking through the store she works at for ideas for the family.

Check out Midwest Airlines. They have several non-stop, direct and connecting flights each day. They are NOT a low-fare carrier, but they do have good web sales. And, if the fares are equal, give Midwest a try. They have extra wide leather seats and, best of all, they serve warm chocolate-chip cookies fresh out of the oven...right on board!