What did you get for Christmas?

[Locut0s]

Yes it's an overly consumerist holiday and the point really should be family, friends and loved ones.

But who's kidding sometimes it's nice to get a thing or two

[NYC_SKP]

2. I got to find a great xmas video of favorite song, spend time with GF and her son and his GF.

These are the best things I got, the only material thing was an electronic gift card from far away sister.

Best part, this video:

[Locut0s]

3. Time with your GF and others sounds great...

Cool vid, was it filmed locally?

[Iggo]

18. Weirdos!!!

[MarcPierre]

59. I got

Hi to Happy Christmas day again This year i got good gift. I hope that you also.

[NYC_SKP]

63. Yes, it was a very good Christmas this year!

Welcome to DU!

[hermetic]

4. I got a bottle

of Tangueray and some tonic water from a neighbor. I'm It's a nice buzz. Merry merry to you.

[Locut0s]

5. Jin and Tonics just happen to be my favourite drink!

Gone overboard with them a few times.

Sounds like quite the buzz indeed.

[madinmaryland]

30. Careful, you might end up with chin in tonic.

[Locut0s]

43. Lol. I ended up with chin in garbage pail a couple of times...

With a bouts of memoritus selectivus to go along with it

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. A kind and generous soul

put a Nook Color under my tree

and Mr. Dixie built another computer....another Linux flavour, I forget the name.
it has the tiniest speakers that can rattle windows, for my music files

He mumbled something about sharing the 500GB engine, but I did not hear that.

The BESTEST present, however, is that my dear family( including the fur children)
and my good friends are all healthy and happy and doing well.

Merry Holidays, DU!

[Locut0s]

7. Family is always the best present!...

Regarding the Linux distro. Was it Ubuntu, knopex, mint, freeBSD, PCLinuxOS??

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. Mr. dixie sez..........

Mint Maya.

He tried to explain all that stuff to me, my eyes glaze over.
We apparently have 3 puters running Ubuntu,and now the Mint Maya has joined the family, on a testing basis.

[Locut0s]

42. Cool. Mint is actually based on an earlier build of Ubuntu...

Mint has become very popular of late. I'm currently running Ubuntu dual booting with Windows 8 for gaming and other needs.

[B Calm]

8. My best gift was spending time with my granddaughters.

[Myrina]

9. Nothing.

Not a call, a card, an email, no gifts, no invites ... I'm a fairly pleasant person by most accounts, come from a big family, give of myself & my time volunteering and donating to various causes, groups & random acquaintances who I know could use anonymous help ... so I must have been a really monumental asshole in a previous life to be so totally and completely forgotten EVERY DAMN HOLIDAY. And it's been like this as long as I can remember.

[Locut0s]

10. So sorry to hear that...

That really sucks. The holidays can be a really rough time of the year for many. I can relate to feeling lonely and unloved. I know it doesn't make up for much but for what it's worth we care here. You are appreciated, accepted and always welcome here!

[LisaLynne]

14. I'm sorry.

I feel like that a lot of times. I know we don't really know each other but if you want to vent, you can always PM me. I mean that.

[LeftofObama]

12. A GPS Watch.

I love to run and I've had my eye on this watch for a long time. My brother and sister in law bought it for me. I don't know how they figured out which one I wanted, but here it is...

[magical thyme]

13. at one job I won a $5 dunkin donuts gift certificate

the company does drawings, so not everybody gets anything and then some people win multiple things. Frankly I think its cheap and sucky thing to do. Our boss gave us a chocolate bar.

At my other job, I got the gift of a water buffalo via the heifer project. That made me happy, as it is a significant gift and a valuable one. Some very poor family will be able to grow 4x as much rice and get milk and cheese from their water buffalo, which was given in my name.

I gave myself the early gift of a new, lined raincoat so that I won't be getting soaked any more and end up with all my various sweats and jackets hanging up over the heating vents.

I was going to give Dahli and me a joint gift of a companion pony for her and a future riding and breeding pony for me, but that had to be postponed.

Jakey and Luna each have an additional coat and rubber-footed socks due to arrive on Friday.

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. every Christmas for the past 4years

I donate to Kiva.
this year I was able to find a woman in Louisiana who got a Kiva loan for her small business, she had been wiped out by Katrina and family has no job for awhile now.
There is actually a DU group on Kiva, I found out.

[Iggo]

16. Gift cards (SBux, Guitar Center); Gloves for smartphone use;

A book with 100 blues licks; big bag of Smarties; Pepperidge Farms Nantuckets; Ernie Ball Regular Slinky 10's (2 sets); a desktop foosball game; and (my most favoritest gift of 2013) one of these jobbies...

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. Iggo...what is that phone thing?

[Iggo]

20. It's an "old school" telephone handset for use with a smartphone.

I already got a bunch of laughs walking up and down my street talking on it.

Reactions went like this: First look, double-take, laugh.

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. Oh..lol, I can see that would look funny.

and to think, I thought I was in tech heaven when, back in the day, I could get a 15 foot cord for my wall phone
in the kitchen.

[NJCher]

35. very funny

My spouse met the guy who is marketing those things in the U.S. and he told me about them. Cracked me up when I first heard about them.

I can imagine why you are getting the the double takes on that. If you think about it, it really is very funny.


Cher

[Tobin S.]

21. The best Christmas gift I've ever gotten.

A new bed from my mother-in-law and father-in-law. They gave it to us a few weeks early and it is wonderfully comfortable. I sleep better now than I have in years.

I also got some gift certificates to some local fine restaurants and several gift certificates to the book store where I buy my college texts.

We have yet to celebrate with my mom and step-dad. I guess that's an advantage of being married and also having your parents split up. You celebrate Christmas three times.

[nomorenomore08]

25. I think you and Iggo win the thread. It's a tie.

[Tobin S.]

26. I'll share the honor :)

I've been very fortunate to have people in my life who care for me a great deal and who have enough resources to be so generous. They are actually the best gifts.

[mokawanis]

23. Heisenberg t-shirt and Los Pollos Hermanos fry batter bucket with Breaking Bad stickers inside

and a solar powered ipod charger I can use on my hiking trips.

[NightWatcher]

24. Thomas and Friends wooden train table, sets, and engines

Technically, my daughter got them from Santa but she'll need help setting them up and playing with them.

[nomorenomore08]

27. Best Buy gift card - already mostly spent on 3 CD's and a record - Barnes and Noble card,

Starbucks card (only $10 but it'll buy me a couple lattes at least) and from my folks, a bunch of clothes and a nice new Sony PS-LX250H turntable. Books and music are two of the most important things in my life, so I really scored this year.

[orleans]

52. my turntable died the other day. where do you get a turntable? n/t

[nomorenomore08]

56. Not sure where they got it but the same model is about $80 at Fry's, I think...

[elleng]

28. An onion!!!

Making chicken soup on this home-alone afternoon, off the cuff after reviewing my '09 request for DU C&B Group suggestions.

Had a leftover carcass, picked up carrots & dill at grocery store yesterday (after waiting in LONG line,) so began a few hours ago, after discovering NO ONION in the house!

Not to be deterred, I headed to grocery store, discover its CLOSED!, imagine that!

Another car in the lot, I'd volunteered to check the open/closed status, told the woman driver I'd hoped to pick up an onion for chicken soup. She said "I've got onions in my apartment, you can have mine!" OH MY, HOW nice! She lives in community adjacent to grocery, I follow her, and she gives me a HUGE onion!

Back home, and soup cooked, and tasted pretty good!

Merry Christmas, y'all!

[madinmaryland]

31. Interesting. We had turkey for dinner and after cleaning up, I threw the carcas in the crockpot.

Just seasoned it with powders (celery, onion, and pepper). Think I will add some minced garlic and carrots, since you mentioned that. Should have some nice stock tomorrow!!

[elleng]

34. Nice, mad!

[NJCher]

37. I love fortuitous gifts like that

While material goods are terrific, I love stories like this.

It's the "magic" of Christmas.


Cher

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

79. If I had any onions I would give you all of them.

But I don't have any because I hate them.

[elleng]

81. Oh thank you, Ocelot!

[Boxerfan]

29. To Quote some ritch biatch..."This is Hard"

But at least its fun!

I bought this as a family gift-and its actually working out very well. I'm having a hard time getting past 22... My youngest pictured has gotten to 40 something.

The Perplexus Epic.
Ok-umpteenth try on a photo link-I can't get it to work.
It is a manual puzzle-clear ball with a maze inside that small ball bearing rolls on. Google has images & I tried-have no clue what the eff is up with Flickr.
Very complex with 125 sections to complete

[fizzgig]

32. i am posting from my new kindle fire

Wearing spongebob jammie pants, new zombie slippers and a narwhal shirt. Also got some kitchen stuff, candy, a hoodie with a t rex barfing a rainbow and other odds and ends.

Merry merry, friend

[dixiegrrrrl]

64. I have to say

your outfit sounds divine, sersly.
Jammie pants should be the national uniform.

[fizzgig]

66. they should be the national uniform

I like the way you think

[Paulie]

33. I got to snack on cakes and cookies

With only a quarter of the usual admonishments. I haz a happies.

[Marie Marie]

36. A nasty cold.

Felt it as soon as I woke up this morning. Hope everyone else faired better.

[Vashta Nerada]

38. A new Doctor: #12

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x18uq36_matt-smith-regeneration-to-peter-capaldi-11th-doctor-s-regeneration-to-the-12th-doctor_shortfilms

Link contains a huge spoiler.

That's all I got.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

39. Nothing.

Just the way I wanted it. But I was included at a nice family dinner today, and I think I seriously persuaded many of my dinner compatriots to do/donate more to our less fortunate. So it was an all around win.

[NJCher]

40. I received the gift of tolerance from 3 cats

I've been grooming my 3 cats for a gift since July. So today I looked at them and said, "OK, give it up. Where's my Christmas pres?" They just stared at me with their 3 little Christmas collars intact and I realized that was my present. In years past they claw off their lovely red plaid collars with bow ties on them. This year they left them on. I was so happy.

Well, you do what you can when you're a cat with no credit card.

I had one gift that was incredibly appropriate (cat-related). ESP story. It's a long story, so don't click if you're not up for a read.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/122015974

I also received cash, experience gifts (ethnic restaurant visits), and a glass triple-boiler to fan my passion for cooking.


Cher

[Walk away]

41. Well, I received over $2,000 from clients along with their thanks and...

appreciation. That is a record for me, especially since 2008. Two bottles of my neighbors fabulous wine, a can of my cousins awesome cookies and lots of kisses from my spoiled dogs.

[Locut0s]

44. Wonderful gifts everyone!..

I wasn't sure if I should post what I got or not. I feel kind of guilty considering I've been spoiled far too much compared to many. I deleted my first post cause of this. Suffice it to say I've done well. If interested I can actually post in detail.

It sounds like most of you had a fantastic and loving Christmas. And for those who did not.

[Broken_Hero]

45. A few things,

an assortment of Magic the Gathering cards, slippers, tools, comic books, and a DC New 52 Black Adam action figure(its flippin sweet).

[Locut0s]

47. I've been thinking of getting into comics off and on for years...

Would you say the new 52 is the time to take the blunge? Given that it's a reboot across their entire line. Marvel has done something similar I understand.

[Demo_Chris]

46. Nothing, but that's what I expected :)

[Locut0s]

49. Here's wishing your business is successful in the new year! :D

[Demo_Chris]

50. Thanks! Just need to get through the winter and then things are looking very good. nt

[IrishEyes]

48. A Large Check

I also got some small gifts like a pen, mug, socks, yarn, little notebook etc.

[applegrove]

51. Dvds, books, handsoap &lotion

[LadyHawkAZ]

53. A grandson

[oregonjen]

68. Awwww, Congratulations!

Born on Christmas?

[LadyHawkAZ]

70. Christmas Eve

[BainsBane]

54. My mom knit me a really nice hat

but still has to finish the matching cowl. She made beautiful things for everyone. I also got a Ninja blender, an Amazon gift card, cookies my niece made, Frango Mints, and some ear muffs that connect to a cell phone. The best gift was a conflict-free Christmas dinner where everyone enjoyed each other's company. Even the little ones got along well. Years ago holidays could be pretty stressful in our family but fortunately everyone has grown out of that and figured out how to get along with one another. It's really nice.

Edit: You haven't lived until you've seen a 1 1/2 yr old dance to the Wheels on the Bus while playing his brand new maracas. Now that was cute!

[laundry_queen]

55. I'm going to sound like a spoiled brat

but I was frustrated this Christmas. I got a lot of good things. Expensive things. But nothing on the list I asked for. My mom makes a big production of getting me to give her a list and then proceeds to get nothing on my list, which irks me because I often put things on my list that I NEED, not that I want, as I'm a single mom. My mom doesn't 'believe' in buying 'needs' for Christmas, and, so, I get a lot of crap that I don't need, but that my mom thinks I want. For clarity - I'm broke, under the poverty line single mom of 4, full-time student. My parents have a net worth of well over a million dollars. So I get nice stuff. Just nothing that I need. It's kind of comical really. When you hear of those kids of single parents having iPads and DS3Ds...blame their rich grandparents. If you see me getting a pedicure and eating gourmet chocolates - blame my rich parents.

But, OTOH, I had a good time hanging out with family and with my kids and especially my SIL...who is the one sane adult I can talk to. The food was great too. So we did have a nice time

[mnhtnbb]

57. I hear you and understand your frustration.

Glad you had a nice time!

Have you ever told your mom how you feel? Do you take things back
and ask for store credit so you can use resources for things you need?

[laundry_queen]

58. No, I wouldn't dare

talk about it with my mom. I'd surely be accused of being spoiled and ungrateful. I was taught, growing up, that anything you receive should be received joyously and any kind of complaint means you are not worthy of a gift and shouldn't get one. That, and openness is frowned upon in our family: directness = rudeness in my mom's eyes. Plus, I'm sure I'd receive a lecture on budgeting that would imply that if I'm so hard up for money I can't enjoy my Christmas gifts then maybe I'm irresponsible with money and shouldn't receive any until I learn how to deal with money.

I've never thought to ask for store credit for the gifts, but because I don't have gift receipts I'm not sure how I'd go about it. I'd definitely rather have grocery money than a pedicure, that's for sure. I should call those places and ask. Not sure if I can do anything with the shoe store gift card - I got a lecture from my parents about how I'm not allowed to spend the gift card on my kids, that I have to spend it on new boots for myself. And they will ask to see the new boots.

The bottle of wine I received that I consumed after all the kid were in bed has been a nice escape from real life tonight, however. Oh, I didn't drink all of it, LOL, just a couple of glasses. It was a rare treat.

[mnhtnbb]

65. Ouch. Sounds like your mom has major control issues--and has been quite

effective at squelching you with guilt induction methods. That's really sad,
but having grown up with a Republican mother who also had major control issues,
I can identify.

Glad you enjoyed your wine!

[fizzgig]

72. i ask for needs most years

this year it was a new heater fan for the car. it's chilly in there without heat. we also got a gift card for groceries, which is a godsend because my husband is out of work right now and i've been stressing over how to live just on what i make. i get a few wants, but husband and i don't have much money and we use it as an excuse to get what we need.

but i'm glad you had a good day

[a la izquierda]

60. A crock pot for my office...

A mortar and pestle, and a ninja prep blender from my husband. A scarf, new slippers, and gloves from my MIL, two pairs of lounge pants, and a bunch of money.

I'm off to DC for work this weekend for a week, and I may treat myself to a massage before the new semester.

[Rowdyboy]

62. A top of the line kitchen aid mixer which I desperately needed! Way cool

[polly7]

67. My friends got together and gave me a flat screen tv.

It may have something to do with forcing them for the last ..... forever, to watch movies and sports on my little one they've been hating.

And I got a bunch of other stuff .... waaaay too much.

I'm spoiled!

[Locut0s]

80. Cool what model TV?...

Yeah I'm spoiled too. I got an Ipad Air and $700, among other smaller things

[polly7]

82. Whoa ... good for you:)

My tv is an Insignia. I know nothing about them, but the picture is very clear and sharp ... it's quite a difference. Usually, we just do small gifts, so this was really a surprise. They assured me they got a super deal but I still feel a bit bad they spent all that money.

[Chan790]

69. Quinoa.

Also, books (which I finished already), Money (went right back out the door) and Amazon gift cards. (Interview clothes rather than neat shit I really want.)

[Blue_In_AK]

71. I got Bose noise-canceling headphones,

Last edited Thu Dec 26, 2013, 05:51 PM - Edit history (1)

A new purse, new redwing slippers, a sourdough cookbook, a calendar, and base layer top and bottom for the cold (the fancy wicking kind). My daughter made us some homemade blueberry syrup for our Christmas morning waffles in a pretty little cruet.

We really had a very nice holiday marred only by the fact that my daughter's youngest and favorite cat suddenly dropped dead for no apparent reason which she only discovered when she went home between breakfast and dinner (she lives in the other half of our duplex). Of course, she was devastated and there were a lot of tears. My guess is he had an undiagnosed and asymptomatic heart problem, but she couldn't help but blame herself. That just put a little cloud over everything, but we plied her with a lot of wine and she managed to enjoy the rest of the day.


Oh, I almost forgot -- a $100 iTunes gift card.

[Hayabusa]

73. A lot of video games

including Assassin's Creed III and IV, God of War series and Europa Universalis IV. A King Tiger model for my wargaming, along with a $75 gift card to my local game store. My uncle, aunt and cousin got me, my mom and grandmother $15 gift cards to Walmart, which I bought A Dance With Dragons with. My mom also got me a trade paperback copy of The Longest Day.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

74. Got job..maybe two...

Got a place to stay and a Studio Apartment in Jan! Thanks to a DES agent that knew someone ( this lady deserves BIG Kudos for thinking out side the box to help me!), I have a payment plan to get my Collage Transcripts!

Yup!!! My cup runneth over this year and into the next!

As I have said many times in other post, THANK YOU DU FOR ALL THOSE GOOD VIBS!!!!!

[LWolf]

75. I got

tea, chocolate, a pair of gloves, and some nuts. Edited to add, because I almost forgot....


A Barnes & Noble gift card!!!

[Mr.Bill]

76. From my Daughter and Son-In-Law

tickets to see Kathy Griffin in Napa in February.

[bigwillq]

77. Clothes, sneakers, boots

Health and beauty items. Alcohol.

Santa was very good again!

[riderinthestorm]

78. A vintage Coach messenger-style purse. Got it at Goodwill for $14

Since we clean and deal with leather riding tack all the time I knew my husband could clean it up for me.

Turned out beautifully. He wrapped it all up in a nice box. Perfect.

My mom got me theater tickets. My girls gave me sweet framed "selfies".

We've always kept the gift giving to a minimum - even for the kids. I love that we've managed to dial down the consumerism to a bare minimum - its made my life so much easier

[Generic Brad]

83. Not a thing - but that's ok

We've been saving up our money for an awesome winter vacation. That is our present to each other.

[Locut0s]

84. Nice. Where are you going? nt.

[Generic Brad]

85. I am Hawaii bound

It's been 29 years since I lived on Oahu, so I expect things have changed quite a bit since then.

[Locut0s]

86. Aww no fair take me with you!!...

Last 2 family vacations have been to Hawaii. I enjoyed them so much that a lingering fantasy of mine has been to build some type of life around being able to move there permanently.

[WinkyDink]

87. I'm going to be honest here: My husband is in a psych ward right now for dementia. I asked

him (because his situation pretty much put the kibosh on "exchanging gifts&quot what he would want for Christmas, if he could have anything.

He said, "You."

Yes, Virginia, it IS "the thought that counts."

[Jesus Malverde]

93. Beautiful story...nt

[UTUSN]

88. I survived. n/t

[eShirl]

89. $24 and a few cards.

[MrMickeysMom]

90. A composter bin!

It's gonna sit in the garage until the snow melts, but it has two "bins". I can't wait to continue my quest for sustainability of table scraps and garden materials this next year.

Other than that, I bought my husband a portable turntable to play all our old LPs, and got some good LL Bean snow boots.

Oh, and socks…

[csziggy]

91. Another completely useless present from my in laws

"Salts of the World" a selection of various "exotic salt: Alaea Hawaiian Sea Salt, Sel Gris French Sea Salt, Himalayan Pink Mineral Salt, Flor Bianca Mexican Sea Salt, Murray River Australian Rake Salt, and Yakima Applewood Smoked Sea Salt.

While the salts themselves are interesting, the six separate containers are sealed in two layers of heavy plastic.

At some point I might have considered trying a different salt than the standard types sold in American supermarkets - right now I have Morton's, kosher, or ice cream salt in the pantry and I did buy a Celtic coarse sea salt in the effort to find a salt coarse enough to work in my salt grinder.

But I would NEVER have bought or asked for salt in this level of impervious packaging! At the moment, with limited use of my left hand and thumb, I can't even attempt to get into the layers of plastic. I'm considering leaving it sealed and re-gifting this thing to someone at some point in the future. Probably to someone I don't like....

[Arcanetrance]

92. You know what I got for xmas