I am very relieved because a [redacted] I ordered for my mom for Christmas NEARLY THREE WEEKS AGO finally arrived today. There was never even a shipping notification, so I’d all but given up hope.
Okay! Thanksgiving is over, and we can turn our attention officially to Christmas. As soon as I finish this large bowl of what Paul refers to as “Thanksgiving shepherd’s pie,” but he does it with a shudder because he hates shepherd’s pie, but I LOVE shepherd’s pie, anyway it’s diced leftover turkey and leftover gravy and a bunch of salt at the bottom of a bowl, followed by a good layer of leftover corn and maybe a little more salt, and then filled the rest of the way up with mashed potatoes; dust with salt and microwave it for awhile and eat it with a spoon. So good. I also had one of Paul’s homemade rustic rolls (chewy rather than fluffy), cut in half, toasted, buttered, salted, with a slice of cold leftover ham. I am so full. In about an hour I hope to have room for leftover chocolate-crusted pumpkin cheesecake.
I am working on more shopping, and I am going to show it to you on the premise that I am always mad curious what other people have bought, so perhaps some of you will be similarly curious. I have bought two more things for Rob and William:
(image from Target.com)
Under-desk peddler for Rob. (Or from Amazon instead.)
(image from Amazon.com)
Balance board for William.
It didn’t really matter which one was for which kid. Both kids have been more interested in health and exercise lately, and we are about to head into a snowy winter of continued lockdown; they will probably both use both items. But William is the one who’s been messing around with standing-desk-type options, so we thought he’d get more use out of the balance board.
Also, he’s already using the exercise bike I bought on the strong and, as it turns out, FULLY-JUSTIFIED recommendation of @Superjules: I put it in my Amazon cart when she first mentioned it several years ago, and then she mentioned recently that her husband is still happy with it several years later and I finally bought it. The price has been fluctuating WILDLY, as you might expect. I wish I’d bought it when I saw it at $135, because then it went to over $270; I bought it when it went back down to $155 and I figured the $20 difference was not going to kill me (though notice I still remember it weeks later). It is so surprisingly QUIET: I can be at my computer with someone on the bike behind me and I can hardly tell they’re there.
ANYWAY. William is already using that regularly and Rob is not, so I thought Rob might like to try the under-desk peddler instead.
And I bought this cute stripe hoodie for Rob when it was 50% off plus an additional 10% off and also still available in green (green is Rob’s favorite color), but it’s also cute in light grey:
(image from Gap.com)
And I got William this sweater when it was only $13, and I got the same sweater for Edward because it was so inexpensive and because what college kid doesn’t want to match their little brother:
(image from OldNavy.com)
I got this t-shirt for Edward because the cat looks like his favorite of our cats, the queenly little orange bitch-on-paws:
(image from Amazon.com)
And I got Exploding Kittens for Henry; it’s 50% off this week:
(image from Target.com)
I got Elizabeth the paper-making kit she’s hoping for:
(image from Amazon.com)
I’d had it in the cart but just as one of a number of ideas, so it was lucky for me she made a remark indicating that she was Very Much Hoping to get it.
I also got her a light box:
(image from Amazon.com)
I hope this is a good one, or at least a good-enough one. I always feel at a loss with art supplies. But I had this one in my cart already, so my hope is that it’s because one of you mentioned it as a good one and I tucked the idea away for later!
(image from Amazon.com)
Henry reads this Order of the Stick comic online, and he’s had the books on his wish list and they’re so expensive, and we got him a couple of them last year; this year when I was considering getting him another, I encountered the GAME. It might be no good at all, but I think he’ll think it’s really fun to receive—and it’s for 2-6 players, so he can play it on Sibling Game Nights.
Elizabeth had a couple of Old Navy pendant necklaces on her wish list and it was fun to get them 50% off so it was two for the price of one; she liked the circle one below, and also a rhinestone one.
(image from OldNavy.com)
I have bought whatever this is for Paul’s sister:
(image from Amazon.com)
She and I get along a lot better now that her mother is No Longer With Us. And she is happy being direct about gift ideas, and I am happy being directed, so now she makes a wish list and I buy from it and we are both happy. But I don’t want her Christmas to be 100% free of surprises, so I also made a note when she shared a picture of this shirt on Facebook months and months ago, and bought it for her:
(image from Amazon.com)
Next: BOOKS. I like to give each kid at least one book. I haven’t finished with this yet, but here are the three books I’ve bought so far, specific recipients undecided:
(image from Amazon.com)
False Knees, by Joshua Barkman.
(image from Target.com)
Stranger Planet, by Nathan Pyle. (Amazon link)
(image from Target.com)
Poorlier Drawn Lines, by Reza Farazmand. (Amazon link)
I believe I saw you comment about [redacted] on Twitter recently and I wanted to reassure you that I ordered many items from that store and I only received one shipping notification out of the 6 or 7 items I ordered but thankfully after waiting a very long time to receive the items they finally all came. How we my Twitter account is private so I knew that even if I responded to your comment with some reassurance you wouldn’t be able to see it, so I’m glad the item finally showed up!!
I get a weekly meal kit delivered to our house and in one of those was a gravy spice mix to add to a shepherd’s pie and my mind was blown! Like how did I not know having gravy in there would be so yummy?! I used to add some vegetable stock to the meat so it wouldn’t be dry but that’s it.
Onto gifts – so far I’ve only purchased books: for the kids aged 4 and 7 Happy Narwhalidays by Ben Clanton and Comic Kid Cat Club by Dav Pilkey. For my husband I chose Humankind by Rutger Bregman because he mostly reads non-fiction. Looking forward to everyone’s ideas!
I was just sitting here googling “gifts for 18 year old boy” and now this! Perfect timing. I’ve already bought sweaters, khakis, and an electric toothbrush, but he thinks clothing gifts for Christmas are “lame”, so I am still trying to find something else for him. I might end up getting some dorm-adjacent things, which he will also think is lame, but oh well. Being an adult is lame.
haha would love to see your list!
Favorite part: “I got the same sweater for Edward because it was so inexpensive and because what college kid doesn’t want to match their little brother.”
That under-the-desk peddling thing looks very intriguing! I wonder if my husband would like it? It looks better than a lot of the alternatives because it seems like it folds up easily, for storage. Hmmm…
I’d note that, unlike a regular exercise bike, 1. it is light and thus doesn’t hold itself in one place very well, and 2. the resistance is entirely friction (instead of a flywheel or magnets), such that if you’re pedaling slowly, it’s jerky (stops, you push harder, it goes all of a sudden, then stops). It is quite possible that if one had a floor it gripped well to, then there would be less of it trying to fly around, but the friction thing would likely be annoying in any event unless your preference is to pedal fairly rapidly at fairly low resistance.
(I had one; it did not work out well for me; I now have a recumbent bike that I love and that has over 4000 miles on it now, but which does not fit under tables, sigh.)
OOooh, which recumbent bike do you have?!?
It’s this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005OU4E1M/ref=pe_385040_30332190_TE_dp_1?pldnSite=1
(from before I was boycotting Amazon; no clue if it’s available elsewhere in general or for cheaper)
It is now not quite as quiet as it was (it started out incredibly, *bogglingly* quiet, as in “I could still hear birdsong through the closed [admittedly single pane] window while exercising” quiet) but also we disassembled it to move it and we have roaming herds of dust buffalo, which I assume can’t be good for it. Also, I mean, 4000 miles plus being disassembled and moved. And it’s still pretty quiet, like, “you can carry on a normal-voiced conversation, rather than having to raise your voice to be heard over it” quiet; it just has a very mild clatter to it now. We’ve had to tighten the seat maybe 3 times in five years; it gets squeaky eventually. The pedals have deep grip on them, which is presumably great unless you’re using it barefoot or in thin socks; so for our use case, I’ve added padding to the pedals (it’s all very sophisticated: one lost sock wrapped around each pedal).
I’d also note that the pulse function has some annoying aspects – every time you move your hands off the metal parts, or every time it thinks you do, it resets to 72 and sloooowly moves to whatever your pulse actually is, whether higher or lower than 72. So, if your pulse is 100, it may take a few minutes to get there again.) Also, check the size vs. your space, as for all exercise equipment.
The tension adjustment is great, though, and it’s a very, very smooth ride (no “sticking”), and it’s still quiet, even though it is not as quiet as it started Also, I mean, 4462 miles and it’s still doing just fine, which is something!
um, ham?
I am the EPITOME of fun. let me tell you. I hate toys because they take up space and the children rarely play with them at a level commensurate with what I paid for them. Also, plastic. Also – grumpy, that’s me.
Last year we did a ski trip, weekend in Vermont, we live in MA, holy $$$$$$$$$$ batman. The year before we did a long weekend in Chicago (which was actually longer and cheaper than the ski trip). I was totally getting in the groove of trips for Christmas and then…..well.
So, thus far, the children are getting: monogrammed bath towels (which is less lame than it sounds because my grandmother gave them to use as children and, so practical, with your NAME, I still have two of them. I’m 43). SOCKS!!!! One child is getting the Target blanket (I think) because her remote school locale is chillier than the other child who hangs in the kitchen with me, where I bake things and make it warmer. Pajamas! Maybe watercolor kits. And likely some books and maybe a lego. Oh, and the hubs is all “I want radio controlled cars!” so he evidently did that.
My parents will get them some fun stuff too.
I often find things on your gift ideas posts that will work for my 10-year-old, cat-loving daughter, including the pet stroller you recommended earlier this year (the biggest hit of her birthday), so I’m all for sharing.
I went through my list of everything I needed to buy/had bought/had received via delivery and discovered that except for a few stocking stuffers for my husband, and gifts for extended family, I’m basically done. Wut.
Also, I way overspent because pandemic guilt – more stuff is apparently the only way I know how to make a locked down Christmas magical for the kids. Interesting buys this year (i.e., not Legos or dolls/doll accessories):
-The Bad Guy series for my 7yo, which she’s been reading at bedtime with my husband. The toilet-type humor really appeals to them both, go figure. We can get these books from our local library, but she really loves to own books, so she can read them over and over. I bought from Scholastic through our school’s account and felt better about spending for something she could have easily accessed for free.
-This gorgeous reissue of the first four Nancy Drew books for my 10yo: https://amzn.to/2J72kpL
I also got her two used Trixie Belden books (from the 2003 reissue). Both were under $10 for the copies I ordered and arrived looking practically brand new. This child has a kindle and reads on the Epic app for class all the time, and still prefer physical books: https://amzn.to/36ebHwt
My husband has very little on his list this year, so I got him a robot vacuum, which he does not want, but really, really needs, assuming it works as well as the reviews suggest. Naturally, it is now $40 cheaper than when I bought it, but all my holiday shopping has been done under pandemic panic, and I didn’t want to wait and discover that everything sold out by Black Friday. Still, hrumpf: https://amzn.to/36ckZJe
Finally, this site is pretty cool: https://ohsayusa.com/
My husband likes to buy American, primarily for environmental reasons, so he had a few items from here on his list. I got him a cat dish (smaller than expected) and scrubber, and some kitchen tongs, plus a shot-glass-sized measuring cup. I do wish I’d waited a bit, because now they also have cocktail infusion kits, but since they don’t offer free shipping, I’m not sure I want to place another order for just one thing. Then again, cocktail infusion kits …
My MIL is getting the same light box for my almost 9 yr old. My MIL is an artist, and she recommended it over something my daughter picked out.
I am getting my teen nephew a camping stove and an inflatable pillow. He thinks he wants to camp with his friends (outside, supposedly social distancing) this winter and spring since they are not going anywhere. I’m not sure he will this winter but he’s the kind of kid that will eventually.
Before I get into gifts, I’m going to do a quick grocery report. I did curbside pick up at our large grocery store for most of the items on my list. I had picked up most of the stuff I needed for Thanksgiving on 2 in person trips earlier. The curbside pick up went well. They only had to sub 2 items. They were out of the store brand whipped topping so they subbed with brand name versions. There was a place for comments for each item. I did not add any comments this time because I did not have anything that could not be substituted. But obviously in the future I will make a note for those items. I then picked up a few items from the smaller, closer store in person. TBH, these were things I usually get there because I prefer their version.
Raspberry/Cranberry jello — while I won’t say it was a hit at our house, I really liked it and my dining companions did eat more of the jello than any other cranberry relish-y dish I’ve made or bought. I did make a layer with whipped topping. The recipe was really easy to split in 2. The other change I made was that I did not put any lemon juice in the non-whipped topping layer because I couldn’t remember where I put it. I found it in the fridge for the next layer. I used about 3/4 of an 8oz. container of CoolWhip for that layer. I looked up recipes online to see how they did the whipped topping layers. Unfortunately I put it in a bowl because I planned to un-mold it onto a plate. I couldn’t get the non-whipped topping layer out. Next year, I’m going to put it into a 8×8 pan with the whipped topping layer first. I’ve had some of the left overs each of the past 2 days. Thank you for the recipe.
Onto gifts… not a teen but I’m really excited about this. My mom loved the tv series Galavant. She tried to get the DVDs last year or the year before but it was only available to stream. But now it’s out on DVD/blue ray! My mom is going to be so surprised. I usually get her perfume or fancy vanilla scented soaps for Christmas. For my teens, each of them are getting a copy of Catherine Newman’s How to Be a Person book. I’m going to see if I can find face masks in some of their fandoms, along with tshirts/sweatshirts. My son wants a boatload of Switch games so that will probably be the bulk of his gifts. I need to get a list from my daughter. But I’ve been thinking about getting her one of those canine DNA kits. She really wants to know what our shelter dog is. He looks like a husky mix but mixed with what. The candy for their stockings is going to be from a local candy maker.
Check out lets make art for Elizabeth. It may be too basic, but they’re $15, youtube guided watercolor painting kits. A friend had even young kids do them and come out pretty good.
Thank you! Brill ideas. The cartoon books especially will be great for my laconic nephew. Will he like them? I don’t know, he’s fifteen. But it’s worth a shot.
Cartoons though, who wouldn’t love them? Only someone with a shrivelled raisin for a heart.
Shrivelled raisin of a heart. – so funny.
I am stumped on what to get NY nephew/godson. What do you get the kid that literally has everything? Sigh.
I clicked your link for the exercise bike but of course it’s for .com and not .ca so I went over and searched by the same title on .ca and while that particular one is out of stock, my search turned up a no-doubt-more-expensive version by the same company that is a recumbent bike with a desk surface. I don’t think I’d do office work using it, but I do like the idea of having a surface to put a tablet on to watch movies while I work out… I’ll let you know if I cave! My husband is currently looking for a decent elliptical so I’m not sure we’d need both.
If anyone in Swistleland has a recommendation for a good elliptical that’s not too expensive, I’m all ears!
Is the annual calendar post coming soon? I picked up the Hedgehogs! calendar for 2021. It’s my daughter’s 3rd year in a row with that one and it is delightful! I also do a family photo calendar for our main space that I’m going to have to work on soon, and last year my son wanted the same calendar for his room, but I think this year I may do a separate one of just pics of our dog and I’m pretty sure he’d love that.
My son (12) is getting one big gift (a game system) and a few small things so he has more than one package to unwrap, while so far I’ve gotten a huge bunch of small things for my daughter (14), none of which strike me as a “main” type of gift but I’m hoping collectively they’re good. I got her a Janet Hill print, some flannel pyjama pants, thermal shirts, a good watercolour set and more watercolour paper. I don’t think it balances my son’s entirely but 1) even though it’s not very “Christmas gift-y”, at her request I am getting new mirror doors installed on her closet, and 2) her birthday is a month after Christmas so I might go big for that one and get her a new phone.
They’re both getting those huge, sherpa-lined sweatshirts called “The Comfy” since they’re both home doing schoolwork this winter (and I asked for one for myself from my husband). I also got a couple of “family” gifts that were recommended here: Pandemic the board game, and two EXIT home escape room games.