Christmas presents!

[DearBuddha]

So ''tis the season, and hopefully you''ve all got a nice lead on presents. I wrapped DH''s gift and promptly teased him with it, mostly because I''m beyond excited to give him his gift this year.

I HATE basketball and almost always complain when it''s on tv. I jokingly refer to myself as a Celtic''s widow. DH lives for the Celtics (even going so far as to spend an obscene amount of money to go see the Cs play the Lakers in L.A. during their ''08 championship). DH keeps trying to convince me how great the sport is, and to a minor degree, it bothers him that I don''t get into it with the same passion he does. Needless to say, I''m the absolute last person you''d expect to willingly go to a basketball game.

Well, I''m going. Because that''s what I got him for Christmas. Celtics tickets, pretty close to the court. I think he''s going to be pretty psyched, not only because I''m supporting his addiction of choice, but because I''m willing to give it a go myself.

This got me to wondering what other people are getting their sig. others for the holidays. Do you guys put lots of thought into the gifts you give, whether big or small, or do you find it easier to just pick something out from an Amazon wishlist?

 

[Keepingthefaith21]

Ah DB.. I too am a Celtics widow.

And a Patriots widow.

I''ve always been a Red Sox fan so we saw eye to eye on that. After years of DH being obsessed with the sports, I have gotten into the C''s and P''s as well. I actually really enjoy football - it took me a while to learn the sport but now that I understand what''s going on I enjoy watching.

I will tell you what got me into the Celtics was actually going to a Celtics game. It was such a great experience and I had so much fun that I started to watch the games willingly. You''ll have fun - and who knows, maybe it will get stimulate your interest in the sport so you aren''t a widow anymore

Since we just finished paying for our wedding and honeymoon, we are not going big with gifts this year. I got DH some simple gifts: a few books and video games he asked for. Once I have recovered from the cost of the wedding, I will get him a new home theater system - but that is on the back burner until the spring.

 

[Lilac]

It''s Hanukkah now, so every night we''ve been giving each other presents (this year we chose to do a whole bunch of small presents rather than one big expensive present - we don''t want to spend too much right now). I got DH two books he *really* wanted (and he was so excited when I gave them to him - he was shocked that I remembered him mentioning them because he only said he wanted them once about a month and a half ago). I bought some board games for us to play because he keeps saying he wants more games for us to play. And I got an over-the-door basketball hoop for him because he always loved those in his parents house when he was younger. Haven''t given him all the games or basketball hoop yet but I''m really excited for that because I know he''ll love them! And we always give each other handwritten letters or cards on holidays - but we''re saving that for the end of Hanukkah because that''s what we look forward to the most.

I try to think about what he wants and pick out things he''ll really enjoy rather than just getting gifts off a wishlist. I like thinking about the recipient of the gift (in this case, my husband) and trying to pick out the perfect gift that will make him smile. It''s not about how much the presents cost (I got him Twister for just a couple dollars, but he''s said he wants to play it with me for the last few YEARS so I knew he would love the thought behind it) - it''s about how much he''ll enjoy them and how much I''ll love giving him something to make him happy!

 

[Smurfysmiles]

We''re getting each other a bunch of small gifts too. We both remember being excited on christmas seeing a big pile of presents to open. It''ll be fun to have that same excitement again! Mostly just books, cds, movies, small things like that Maybe an avalanche jersey if he''s lucky

 

[jcrow]

this year we are gifting only what will fit in our stockings + we''re doing the advent calendar [for the first time!]. the advent calendar is fun because he filled the odd numbers for me to open and i''m filing the evens for him. opening a gift or watching the other open a gift is something we look forward to to each day. i think we''ve also decided to go on a babymoon instead of doing a larger, non stocking/advent calendar gift to each other.

 

[DearBuddha]

Keepinghthefaith21: I love the Patriots; it was the inverse for DH and I, meaning I turned him into a Patriots fan. While, mostly it was my family, but he''s a big football fan now. Unfortunately, neither of us are big Sox fans (we like them just fine, we just prefer sports with a bit more passion-GO BRUINS!)

Happy holidays!

Lilac: Happy Chanukkah! I love the story behind Twister for you guys. DH and I are like that, except with Trivial Pursuit. Of course, he gets peeved that he never wins

.

Smurfyimproved: Happy holidays! I love watching my family and friends open their gifts; I put a lot of thought into each gift so it''s always representative of what that person loves, so knowing I''ve hit a home run when they open the gift is my favorite part of Christmas.

jcrow: My family does the small present thing, and DH''s family does the one big present thing. Both sides do stocking stuffers, which admittedly I love more than the others, because both sides get creative about what can technically qualify as a stocking stuffer (i.e., jewelry, event tickets, homegoods, ect...). Also, what''s a babymoon? Good luck with it, whatever it may be

 

[wishful]

We just bought a house so this year we are doing X-mas on a budget.
DH is into cycling..(so am I but not as much as he is) and I found him a cool book on custom bicycles.
He does most of the cooking so I got him a subscription to Food and Wine magazine. Got him some fun "guy" DVDs (Borat, Bruno and the Hangover)
I''m also getting him a new set of clippers - he shaves his head and his clippers are old and falling apart. And I found him a cool camera for a good deal. It''s a Vivitar 8.1megapixels and it has this cool vintage look which makes it different.
I also got him a cell phone case for his iPhone.
Oh and some movie tix I won at our work X-mas party..those go in the stocking.

 

[Haven]

My hubby''s a huge Patriots fan, too! (And we live in Chicago . . . always have.

)

I love reading about the gifts everyone is giving to their hubbies.

DH and I are exchanging handwritten letters to each other the last night of Chanukah, per our usual tradition. I love reading them, and I usually end up crying while writing mine, and reading his.

 

[Bliss]

I had a heck of a time finding DH a gift this year because he doesn't want or need anything. It is really stressful! I got him an extra large Tumi laptop case with whiz bangs for long international flights and a cashmere sweater from Bloomingdales. I think he'll like both, but one never knows! The hardest thing for me is waiting to give DH his gifts. I always want to run home and say, "Guess what I bought you?"

Next year, I will have to be more creative!

Haven, I am loving the idea of exchanging handwritten letters. That is the best gift of all.

Can we steal this idea? That is absolutely beautiful.