I wondered what great presents everyone has for those they love and what everyone wants for Christmas.

The things under the tree that I love most are tiny little tricycles that look like bicycles for the babies (a boy two and a girl 17 months).

The boy's bike is primary colors and the girl's is pink. She'll love it. She's already such a diva.

I got the big kids a lot of things. But one of the things I like best is one of those little guys with a parachute for my daughter. When she was 3, I got her one and explained that you throw it up in the air, the parachute opens, and the guy comes down. I overheard her telling her sister "You throw the guy up in the air and he opens a pair of shoes then he comes down." It's a family story that we will laugh about again when she opens it.

I'm getting a puppy.

smile

Last year we drew names for Christmas, and decided to do so again this year.

Just so happens... I received my grandson's name, he's 15.
He called right away with his Christmas wish list.

On the list was a amplifier for his guitar. Any of the Nightmare Before Christmas...shirts, hoodies, caps, figures, movie dvd.
DVD of Corpse Bride, found out it doesn't come out until the 27th of Dec., plus any figures...shirts, etc.
Shopping this year really seemed like I was shopping for Halloween...instead of Christmas.
Pricey items...go figure.

Top of the list is a 92 Honda Prelude.

He still has another year to go on the car, it's not exactly in the $200.00 limit.

I asked Santa for some Old Navy jeans...just love the way they fit, plus whatever else he might want to bring down the chimney.

Whatever he brings will be just fine with me.

The present I truly enjoy giving is the one to the Fredericksburg Area Food Bank.
I pray not one family goes without food durning the year... especially the Christmas season.

I got my 3 year old nephew Clifford The Red Dog DVD's. He loves Clifford. My daughter and I always get each other a whole bunch of gifts. Some are little stocking stuffers, but we end up with lots to open. The family teases us about how long it takes us to open our presents. Last year we got each other gift cards to places we enjoy like where we get facials, the book store, the nail salon, etc. It worked out great. We were using Christmas gifts for months. We are going to do that again this year. I got my son a mall gift card and some clothes. We do more and more gift certificates every year. It's so much easier as far as running around, standing in line, wrapping and guessing sizes. They don't need to be exchanged either. We try to gear them toward the person and what he or she likes. We do a lot of restaurant ones.

Not sure what I'm getting my husband yet. Last year, I got him an Ipod. He loves it so much, it will be hard to outdo that one. I think I am going to get him a membership to the Y and if I can, some Red Sox tickets. He's retiring the end of this month and wants to join the Y again and he will be able to go to day games.

As for me, I already have my present. My new computer with a 21" monitor. I love it. It will seem strange on Christmas not to get jewelry, but I went practical this year. (He'll probably still get me a piece of jewelry.) There are some interesting looking presents under the tree already.

Louisa

Smile, what breed puppy are you getting?

Brenda, I love Gap jeans also, they do fit good.

Louisa, I bought my son an iPod and he said it was the best present he's ever gotten. Now it needs a battery.

I'm giving my son and wife a Lowes gift certificate, but I did buy them something fun too. Have you ever seen those scrap metal lawn sculptures? They are usually an animal and I found one that is a boxer and they have 2. My DIL is into gardening and I hope they will like it. I bought my grandson a remote control dinasaur - he's 3.

I really don't have many people to buy for, just my son and family, a nephew and a few friends. All of the adults exchange names, but I think we're going just take a generic gift to give.

Daisygirl

My husbands IPOD came with a charger, which is what we take with us when we go on vacation so he can use it on the plane, etc. His son bought him the dock for it. He hooked that up to the tv and keeps the Ipod on the dock when not in use. That keeps it charged up at all times when we are home plus the music that's loaded into it comes through the stero and the tv somehow. I had it coordinated so others got him Ipod related gifts, such as gift cards for Itunes. His sister and nephew bought him the Bose headset. He uses that instead of the earbuds that came with it. The sound is incredible. I brought the Ipod, charger and headset on vacation with us and he used it on the plane and when he went walking. Now he wants a thing that attaches to his cassette player in the car so we can listen to 3500 of his favorite songs while we are on a road trip. Yeah.
Louisa

Louisa, my son has one of the originals and they had a problem with the battery. Now it will cost $100 to get if fixed!

Louisa, aren't you and your hubby mod? When I think of Ipods, I think of the kids. My sons have them. I remember Lynnie's hubby has one too.

Smile, I thought of you last night while wrapping gifts. I ahd all these white gift bags and I used red tissue paper with them. I thought they'd look good under your tree! Tell us aobut your puppy...

My puppy is a yorkie. The step son you all prayed for when he had tick fever is married to a girl who somehow got given a registered yorkie. She bred it and it had puppies. I thought the mother was cute so Dan bought me one for Christmas.

We visited to make the final selection last weekend and the one I'm getting came right to me and snuggled up the whole time we were there. Not afraid or anything. I think it already knew me.

It was also a way to get some Christmas money to that neat little family without actually giving it to them.

I'm looking forward to it. It's so small and we live on an acreage so I worry that it might sneak out and disappear, but...

No name yet and it's a girl. We have Phatt cat who is male and I was trying to even things out around here. Any name ideas welcome. Chatty suggested Bitsy.

smile

Smile, someone in my town was selling Yorkie pups (they are SOOOOOOOO adorable!!) starting at $ 1500. Is this a typical price? If so, that was some gift someone gave your DIL.

I loveeeee Yorkie's. I had one named Tuffy. She thought she was the toughest kid in town. She attacked a German Shepard that lived next door. That didn't end well for Tuffy. She survived... and wanted to get a piece of him again, but I managed to stop her... Lord, that Tuffy. I had forgotten all about her. She is in doggie heaven right now. Probably hunting down a GS...

JJ

I've been thinking of names for Asia, the foster I have now. I think Daisy and Asia are getting attached and I'm thinking about keeping her, except that she eats poop - ICK! No doggy kisses from her. Anyway,one of the cutest names I've heard was Helen for a Bulldog. I like people names for dogs. If you like fashion, Coco is a good one, too. And I am seriously considering Condi for Asia, since she is a woman I admire. I try to stay away from the names of people I know personally.

Daisygirl

JJ,
I kind of like Tuffy for a small dog.

A friend once had a tiny chihuahua (sp) named Killer. It had a little tee shirt with Killer on it. I think the dog thought it was a killer too. Funny.
smile

I actually had another one at one time named Missy. Don't know what it is about those double letters, but anyhooo...I think next animal I get will be more than one. I'm thinking about a bird like Sammie, AND a dog, AND a cat....

Why does Old MacDonald come to mind?

JJ

My sister had a toy Yorkie that weighed in soaking wet at 5 pounds and he thought he was a giant guard dog. His name was Tiger, cute as could be. My two little Yorkies are Reeta & Rosee. Janis is going to be so happy by the amount of love these little dogs can bring to us (all dogs really) I am so happy for her, way to go big Dan!!!

Gee Daisy, that hardly seems worth it, which is a big problem with all this high tech stuff in the first place. You can buy an Ipod shuffle for $100, or is it the Nano one? There are so many now. New ones come up so fast, the old ones get outdated just when you get used to them.

Dotsie, we are very mod I guess. He loves anything to do with music and he is so into that Ipod. I'm the computer geek. I have trouble with the remote control for the tv, but I can do most anything on the pc. He can't use the cell phone. That one's mine too.
Louisa

Louisa, I can totally relate the the remote comment. One night, Ross and I found ourselves hoem alone so we decided to watch a movie on the big screen in the basement. We were all excited and set up down there and what do you know? We couldn't figure out how to work any of it. There were so many remotes and we couldn't get a dang thing to work. We gave up, went upsatirs on watched don the smaller TV.

The kids came home. We told them of our dilemna, took our son in the basement, and sonny boy said, "all you do is hit this."

Now I know how to use the TV but not the rest of the mess.

Tell me about it. I was babysitting Lea the other day and right before my son left he said, "oh Mom, here are the remoteS for the TV." I said, "forget it. They look like the inside of an airline cockpit." He said, "Well, if you need help, ask Lea." EVERYBODYYYYYY is a comedian!

Of course later in the afternoon, Lea goes over and cuts off the TV. I'm thinking, "now how in the heck am I gonna get that thing back on." She then goes back over and turns it back on. She's one.

JJ

I remember Mom and Dad getting their first answering machine. Mom kept asking me how to use it when I visited. I was like...what's the big deal? All you do is push this and listen. Now I can totally relate.

I have several friends in their seventies and boy are they ever technology challenged. I'm always having to try to get them out of some computer mess and it's so frustrating because they simply do not 'get it.'

One of their daughters was trying to teach her Mom and Dad to use their cell phone. She said, "Mom and Dad are the Helen Keller of technology." I laughed because I understood exactly what she meant.
smile

I don't think my mom would do well with a cell phone, but she sure has calling cards down pat.

Never mind all this technology stuff with eletronics, remember trying to go from curlers to blow dryers and curling irons? The first time I had my hair cut into a style that could be blown dry, I thought I would never get the hang of that thing. I thought I would spend the rest of my life in curlers.
Louisa

Don't even mention hair curling irons to me. I burnt my poor head a hundred times and finally threw the stupid thing out. Notice I said it was stupid, well it couldn't have been me????

How about the curlers that you can roll your hair up in and don't need any pins to hold them? I think they are velcro or something. When one of them suckers gets caught in your hair........

Chatty, does that mean you don't like electric curlers either?
Louisa

My Father was 78 years young when he decided he wanted to learn how to "surf the web" and chose me to teach him..of course he wanted his very own computer because he figured I would set it up and he would be off and running...so off we went to Circuit City the very next morning...bought a nice PC..a desk,a chair...the whole 9 yards...he was feeling a little left out because all of his buddies at the golf club were constantly sending each other jokes thru email and he wasn't included. So I get it all set up and loaded..and he sat down in the chair and sat back and folded his arms behind his head..and said.."Ok..I'm ready...I want to visit some of my old army buddies.."..so I began to explain to him about search engines and i could tell he wasn't listening...he waited for me to finish and said..."I'm ready"..i said ..Ok Daddy...here is the search engine...type the name of the person in the box and click 'go' "..he looked at me incredulously...and said"You never told me I had to type!!!"...and then stormed out...later...my Mother and I realized that he thought the internet was like going to Disneyworld...he thought all he had to do was sit back in the chair and he would be magically transformed into another world called the internet...he never touched that computer again!!!

That's a riot, Avalon.
Louisa

My father was a real character Louisa...in fact you if looked up the word "character" in the dictionary I bet his picture would be next to it!!!

I can just picture him waiting for the pc to take him wherever he wanted to go like a ride : )
Louisa

He might have been the perfect candidate for having voice-activated software on his computer...then he could just tell it where to take him and it would.

Eagle...I'm hoping he is in a place now where he can have some face to face reunions with his old army buddies...he had a long , very full life...and he truly was a real "character"...I miss him with every breath that I breathe!!!

Oh Nancy, I'm so sorry. I forgot about your Dad. I feel the same way about my Dad...they probably know each other there...

I hope they do Sharon...you know it's funny...but I could hear my father's deep chuckle when I was typing that story about his computer experiences yesterday...I actually turned around in my chair when I heard it!!! I can feel him all around me this week for some reason...

Nancy,
I enjoyed reading this and feel the same way about my Daddy. I miss him every day. I also feel his presence here with me, and even sometimes I hear/feel something and turn around quickly thinking someone is there... of course there never is, but in my heart I know it's him, his spirit, or whatever there is after death.

I love the computer story. When Daddy and Mother were both sick, I moved in with them for a while. My company set up a computer in their home and allowed me to work out of there. It was great. Mother/Daddy said they wanted to learn so I began teaching them. Mother caught on pretty quick, but Daddy didn't. Remember he was in the early to mid stages of dementia. He sat down one day and said, "oh yeah, I know how to do this" and he started just banging on the keyboard! Over and over before I could stop him. I almost swallowed my tongue!

I reached for his fists and said gently and slowly, "Boy Daddy, they just can't make a machine you can't conquer, can they?" And he smiled and said, "Nope, I'm too smart." And with that he got up and left the room never to touch it again. Thank you Lord. LOL!

JJ

JJ...it's so nice for me to talk to you girls who understand and empathize because you have journeyed the same road as me with regards to our parents...how very wise of you to appeal to your daddy's still intact male ego with regard to the
"machine"...he probably felt so smart (even through his dementia) I'll bet he even had a bit of a swagger when he walked out of the room...
Thanks so much for sharing that.. (((HUGS)))

You all reminded me of my Daddy. We miss him so much at this time of year. For thirty years, we celebrated Daddy's 'last Christmas.'

Every year he used all kinds of devious methods to make sure we all showed up for Christmas, but sickness and near death were his favorites.
Right after Thanksgiving he would get Mama busy cooking while he developed symptoms. All of his body parts would suddenly age. He would develop an ‘old’ heart, ‘old kidneys.‘ and an ’old belly.’ If he got really desperate, it might spread to his ‘old bowels.’
Sometimes he would add a few years or even a decade to his age. He would be a young sixty-two or a spry seventy right up until Thanksgiving then all of a sudden he would age eight or ten years. In his early sixties, he would begin with, “Now girls, you know anything can go wrong when a fella’ gets seventy years old...” or when he was in his seventies “Now girls you know when you’re eighty years old any little old thing can kill ya‘....“ If we tried to correct his age, he would say, “At my age, them numbers don’t mean nothing.” then he would punctuate it with “Now girls, you know I ain’t got long.“ I’m telling you, this could be my last Christmas.”
Around the first of December, he would call us long distance and start the conversation with, “You know girls, I’ve been having this awful pain in my 'old' heart and my 'old' belly just ain't what it used to be and I think my 'old' kidneys are about to fail."
If anyone said, “Look Daddy, the doctor said you have the heart of an eighteen year old” or “Well Daddy if you’re really sick, you need to see the doctor,” he would immediately begin to wheeze into the phone. Gasping for breath, he would add forlornly, “You girls just don’t know how bad my old heart is. I’m telling you, this may be my last Christmas.”
He would go into elaborate descriptions of various aches and pains, palpitations, and other symptoms he had seen on TV. And he loved to tattle on Mama. He would say, “Your Mama just doesn’t care about my ‘old’ heart, kidneys, belly, etc. I’m nearly dead and your Mama doesn’t even care. You better get home and take care of me.” Eventually he would declare, “I’m telling you girls, this could be my last Christmas.”
When Daddy had sufficiently consumed us with guilt and terrified us that he might drop dead, he would put Mama on the phone to corroborate his near death experience. But Mama would rat on him. She would say, “Your Daddy’s just wearing me out. He expects me to wait on him hand and foot. And there’s not a darned thing wrong with him either. He’s just trying to drive us all crazy.” Then she would weaken and add, "But we are expecting you all home. You know this could be your Daddy's last Christmas."
Daddy really got into the spirit of giving, but he did it all by proxy--He sent Mama shopping. She chose the gifts, and the Levis Daddy always ordered for the son-in-laws. They had have button flies and he had to personally inspect every pair . He would check the sizes and measure the seams to make sure they were exactly right and if they had any dangling threads or crooked seams, he sent Mama right back to the store to exchange them. Sometimes Mama would return those jeans three or four times before Daddy got exactly what he wanted. And if the jeans didn't fit exactly right, he was not above telling one of the son in laws that his butt was a lot bigger than what he claimed.
The whole time Mama would be cooking herself into a frenzy. Daddy would see things in the paper and say, “Why don’t you try some of that stuff?” or if he saw something on TV, he might yell at her in the kitchen, “Mama! You better watch this. This woman is cooking something good. You ought to cook some of it for Christmas.” If she objected, he would remind her, "You know this could be my last Christmas."
As soon as Mama had cooked a ton of food, got Levis that met Daddy's approval, and wrapped all the gifts, she would begin to decorate. Daddy helped her put up the artificial white tree in the living room and he put on the lights. Then he sat back and watched as Mama put on all the old ornaments and a few new ones if she found them on sale.
Daddy would bring in the other decorations and watch Mama put them up while they waited for us all to arrive. Absolutely no amount of discomfort could deter Daddy’s plans for a big family Christmas. Year after year we traveled with screaming kids on crowded planes and over ice coated highways just to get home for Daddy’s last Christmas.
When we were finally all there, Mama would have decorated every inch of the house with Santas and snowmen and in its special place on the coffee table would be the creche she painted in porcelain class. The dining table always had a color scheme that included matching plastic plates, napkins, and dinnerware and Christmas lights were everywhere.
The table overflowed with food, and several other tables would be consumed with deserts. Pies and cakes and fudge and every sweet thing known to man would be piled on every level surface.
Mama always refused to cook breakfast on Christmas day so by afternoon, we would all be starving. Daddy would be complaining about how his ‘old belly’ was absolutely rusting out and how Mama was starving him plum to death, but Mama never let us eat until everything was just perfect.
When she had everything exactly right, we would all circle the table and hold hands while she said the blessing. Daddy was a Christian by Proxy. He sent Mama to church and told her what to pray about.
As soon as the blessing was over, we would gobble up the food like the starving Chinamen Mama always reminded us of if we didn’t eat everything on our plates.
When we had eaten ourselves into a near coma and cleaned the table, we would all collapse in the living room for a little rest. That's when Daddy would launch into a tirade about the funerals he had attended during the year. He loved funerals and as he aged, he attended more and more of them. After a huge dinner loaded with tryptophan and dozens of deserts, we would all fight unconsciousness as he sermonized about the importance of what he called ‘a decent burial’.
If he noticed anyone losing Consciousness, he would launch into descriptions of his own funeral. He preferred a red white and blue color scheme and he thought anything on a casket involving wood was tacky. He said wooden caskets were for guys trying to be cowboys. He wanted a well padded casket that would support his ‘old back.’ And he wanted strong metal handles because at some funeral he saw a handle come off the casket and fall onto the floor. He said it would be plum pitiful for something to fall off in the middle of the service. Eventually even Daddy would wind down and we would all nap to the tune of his snoring.

For thirty years we celebrated Daddy’s last Christmas. And we still do.

(Sorry for the long post-just lots to say I suppose)

smile

[ December 13, 2005, 04:02 PM: Message edited by: smilinize ]

Oh Smiles... I can't thank you enjoy for allowing us to share 30 years of Christmas with you and your family, by proxy. Too long? Not at all. How could anyone put a length on cherished memories?

I really felt like I was there. I've never met you or seen a picture of your Daddy, but I have this image in my mind of him. A sweet, lovable, man who adored his family. They were everything to him. Priceless.

JJ

JJ said it all. I felt like I was there listenming to his storys and watching his eyes twinkling with all the attention he was getting. Thank you for sharing, he had to be a special man after all he produced YOU!

Smile...I also felt like a part of your family.
It's so nice to visit with some one else's family, especially durning Christmas.
Thanks...for allowing me to visit.

I bet he smiled a lot...

Thanks girls for allowing my memories. As I'm sure many of us do, I miss my Dad so much during the holidays .

My Dad looked just like Santa without the beard. He was very 'round' and about seventy, he suddenly got snow white hair and he laughed a lot. He loved being teased when his belly shook like a bowl full of jelly too.

At Thanksgiving Mom, my sister, and I along with all Mom and Dad's grandkids and great grandkids were together. As we always do, we told funny stories about Dad and when someone said he should have been there, one of the grandkids who is now a man with kids of his own said, "Gramps is here." And he was.

smile

[ December 14, 2005, 02:22 PM: Message edited by: smilinize ]

Sweet, Smile,

And have you heard that pretty song about having someone near for Christmas who has gone? I hate to be maudlin, but it applies............

Search

And again,

I just read your story about your dad. You are talented. But besides that, how great was your dad? I can just know him by your words about him. Wish I could have known him............What a cutie - belly aches and all...Got what he needed tho' didn't he? Smart fella......It shows in you.

And Avalon, JJ,

(I'm obviously reading backwards) How poignant your thoughts. I just wish I could know them all...What sweet memories you have. Thanx for sharing them. It helps me to know that the memories are still alive. We just loved these people, didn't we? And they loved us. What more can be said? Nothing.

Search

smile, thanks for sharing. I might add that when it comes to having the family to your home, you must take after your mom!

Smilinize, that was a great story! I, too, felt like I was there.

Smile,
I just read it and that was a wonderful story . thanks for sharing .

Thanks Searcher....you are a doll!!!