A Christmas Story, no guns yet....

Well here it is, my official Christmas post. Michael arrived home at an ungodly hour on the 23/24th. We decided to go to Denny's and grab a bite. You would think that in the fourth largest county in the United States that their would be a few late night dining choices, but there's not. There is basically Denny's or Filiberto's (Mexican burrito shack). So Denny's it is. We spent about 30 minutes waiting to have our order taken. While we waited I managed to go through all of the napkins on our table blowing my nose. Michael decided he would help me with the paper route. Forty-five minutes later we were refueling and headed toward the paper distribution center.

We ran the route without a hitch and came home and went to bed. As soon as we woke up we had to straighten the house and wrap presents for that day. Our friends from MA came for a visit. I can't believe what a great dad Feightner has become. He couldn't believe how much weight I had lost. He kept telling me how beautiful I was. Needless to say it felt great to hear. We took them into town to get a gift for his sister for letting them stay with her. We went to Cost Plus World Market. I finally found the RitterSport(German) chocolate bar I was looking for. I can never find the cornflake one. I also loaded up on two packages of gummi coke bottles. I must have been hungry, because it's not like me to buy such junk.


Next it was off to find a new gift for my mom and Janie, since Janie had bought mom a digital camera. Of course, I had to take mine back. So even though I planned my gift and waited in line the day after Thanksgiving to purchase it, I was still the one running around on Christmas eve looking for a gift. Janie had suggested to me that her and mom wanted an outdoor fireplace. I thought for a minute and decided I didn't want someone telling me what to buy them. After much brainstorming we decided perhaps we had better look at the outdoor fireplace anyway. After about 15 stores, I was ready to rip my hair out by the root. Apparently every one in the Phoenix metro area wanted a fucking outdoor fireplace for Christmas. There were none to be found. I had started at specialty stores and had been whittled down to Home Depot and Target. When Home Depot says, "All of our stores are out of firepits." that is a serious problem.

Michael and I had made plans to meet Scott and Pam (his new girlfriend) at a local wing place. We were going to exchange gifts. Since I was giving some truffles, it was something we couldn't put off. On the way there we made one last ditch effort at finding the fireplace at Lowe's. Eureka!!! It paid off. It was a lot more than I wanted to spend, but Michael convinced me to buy the fucker and be done with it. We met up at the wing place. I gave Scott a box of handmade truffles, a Greenbay Packers pen and key chain, a Greenbay Packers key (to get cut for his house), and the Darkness cd. Scott gave me a very nice candle.

I went home with extra wings for Christmas. We had decided that we weren't going to have a traditional Christmas dinner. I think this came about because I refused to cook, funny how no one else stepped up. Anyway.....

Christmas morning we finished the paper route around 5:15. Michael and I both had a little wrapping to finish. Mom called and was ready to come over. I started scrapping the price tags off of my stocking stuffers. Jeezus, why do they have to put those things on in the worse places? After dissolving my fingernail from scratching I emerged to find the stockings over flowing and doughnettes in a basket on the counter. Yum! My spirits were high, I had only asked for about five things...

We started with the stockings. I went last. I like going last. I love looking at what every one else gets and their expressions on their faces. In my stocking I had the following:

One whole bag of hershey's kisses with mint
A soft fuzzy hat with earflaps (so I can ride my bike without getting frostbite)
Two pair of strechy gloves (one light pink and one black)
One box of Vaseline bath stuff (like Calgon)
A soothing sound alarm clock(think someone thinks I'm cranky in the morning?)
A massager with four spiky wheels that is pink and shaped like a fish
A loofah with a rubber ducky on it
A stick of black out (I'm assuming so I can wear it to baseball games, like my favorite player)
A baseball
A clip(like a hook) watch for my keys and stuff when I go walking
A whole bag of cheddar chex mix
A bottle of nail polish
A tube of lip gloss
Three yankee candle cranberry chutney votives


For Christmas I received:
Gilmore Girls Season One Dvd
Love Actually Dvd
A smooshy pillow
A basketball
An IU sweatshirt and t-shirt
A jump drive
A new pair of headphones for my MP3 player
A pedometer
All from Michael

A Dimondbacks t-shirt
A Pink Panther sweatshirt
A Diamondbacks plastic mug
A candle package of flowery scents
From my mom and Janie

A pair of happy bunny socks
A kangaroo magnet in a nifty basket weave case (it has the cutest little green man on it)
A box of pure ceylon tea
A bottle of Belvedere vodka
An ornament for my tree
A beautiful glass ornament
From my friends

A crockpot for me and Michael (yeah, I'd like to see Michael crock something other than shit)
Two hammock swings (one for the each of us)
All shared gifts

It seems like it was very fruitful, but you should have seen what everyone else got. Holy mother, I haven't seen that many presents since ummmmmm ever. Janie and mom exchanged a buttload that included a digital camera, a huge bottle of Oscar, a new cymbal for Janie's drum set, several boxes of clothing, and lots of other shit I can't remember. My god it was like spoiling your first girlfriend or boyfriend. I thought I was going to throw up.

Michael absolutely loved the things I bought him. I was so excited. I started to cry when he opened his Ipod. I'm sure he'll post his Christmas haul soon here. The things I bought Michael included:

An Ipod
A wavebird
A new comic book by the author he likes
A new comic book by the illustrator he likes
A coffee mug set, including one desk mug and one travel mug

I'm sure he'll tell you all the other stuff he got and the contents of his stocking.

The things I asked for were:
Gilmore Girls Season One
Love Actually dvd
A new pair of headphones for my MP3 player
A bottle of perfume
A small jar candle from yankee candle in cranberry chutney

Notice how all the things I really wanted I got from Michael. For me gifts aren't about quantity or cost, they are about knowing a person very well. It's about taking the time and effort to find something you think they will really enjoy. Yes, Michael did get quite a few things directly from my list, but he also bought several other things that I definitely loved, that I never even thought of asking for. A pedometer is truly a great gift for me. I would have never thought of asking for that. Also I later found out that Michael put the black out, baseball, hat and gloves in my stocking. Also a great gifts I that never occurred to me. Even my some of my friends did great. I loved my happy bunny socks, tea, magnet and carrying case. She thought out the things she knew about me. She must have remembered that I love socks and the happy bunny. She remembered I don't drink coffee, so she opted for tea, wonderful tea at that. They were very thoughtful gifts. I guess what I am saying is that gift buying should be done because you know a person will enjoy knowing you thought enough about them to buy them a thoughtful gift. Just knowing that my friends took time out of their own family/vacation to go and buy little ol' me something is enough for me. As for the others, and you know who you are. I request in the future that you not purchase me a gift because I gave you one. I bought you a gift because I was thinking how much I enjoy having you around, and buying a gift is a little token of that. I did not buy you a gift to get one in return.

In my life it's the little things that truly matter to me. One of the best things I got this Christmas was not at all intended to be a gift. One of my best friends (thoughtful as usual), just called me to make sure that Michael arrived home alright and to wish us a Merry Christmas. That is what is important to me. This year I received something I really needed. A good friend.