Christmas 2013!

[superaielman]

Let us know what you got/any good gifts you gave, etc.

What I got:

70 dollars in Amazon gift cards
Two lottery tickets (Won 100 bucks)
50 dollar gas card
Hot sauce sampler
Key finder
Sandals
Slippers
Two wheel of time shirts- Loyal Loial and 'Let the Dragon ride again on the wheel of time'
Wheel of time playing cards- Ooooooo Elfboy! Time to play Hearts.
Keyboard

I'm happy.

[Lady Door]

I got lots, so much of it specially tailored to me instead of just stuff. I'm very happy for that! (Also a surprising amount of cash.)

I gave a bunch, too, thought not nearly as much as I'd've liked.

I did 2 Secret Santa exchanges (one for someone who runs a preschool, so lots of stuff for little kids, the other for a local art student so various art supplies), carefully bought tailored gifts for all of my local friends, got some fun and dedicated things for my best friend and her husband, something for my parents, Andrew's parents, both of our siblings, and Andrew, of course.

My favorite gift received was a "Best Princess" wallet with a picture of Luna. That must have been really hard to find!

My favorite that I gave was the reversible Zergling/Baneling plush for Andrew.

My most surprising gift came from CT! I hadn't realized she was going to send me a package, and I love all the things that were inside it. Thank you, CT! <3

(Andrew also bought me a copy of Diablo III. I know that game is done and over for most people, but I <3 that franchise and hadn't had a copy of my own so we could play together.)

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Pooled Christmas exchanges with family, so there was actually a sizable haul. I got:

- A new leather belt for my suits;
- A black tie;
- A long-sleeved formal shirt;
- A commemorative art book with exclusive stories from one of my favorite comic books;
- A new travelling suitcase;
- A new suit (this one I bought for myself);
- A new pair of slim fit jeans (also bought for myself);
- A wine bottle holder support.

I may buy another pair of shoes afterwards as well.

Tangentially, celebrating Christmas becomes more and more awkward by the year.

[Sierra]

Given:

-To the elder sibling: Arkham Horror, Nier
-To the younger sibling: The World's End, Voices of a Distant Star, a history book

Received:

-Persona 1 (PSP)
-Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
-Princess Mononoke
-The World's End
-Some shirts
-A weird fish sculpture
-Weights
-Money

A relatively modest haul (which I approve of--for years I told people not to get me anything, without success). Of course, it looks that way until I tally the checks up and it's like $1,500 (it will all go in the bank as usual). Also some of the stuff from my sister didn't make it through the mail in time. I wonder if that is my socks (the only thing I specifically asked for). Or it could be Satoshi Kon movies. I'd settle for that.

[Lance]

* BioShock 2 (XBox 360)
* Batman: Arkham Asylum (XBox 360)
* Witchblade: The Complete Series on DVD
* The X-Men Trilogy on DVD
* X-Men Origins: Wolverine on DVD
* A new laptop cooler
* A 12-month calendar of dragons
* A miniature Dirt Devil vacuum
* A miniature food processor
* A super tacky coffee mug shaped like Yoda
* A set of 6 cool-looking shot glasses
* Assorted practical gifts (air fresheners, soap, lint rollers, shower curtain, etc.)
* Assorted candies and snacks
* Some savings bonds from my grandmother


Sooooooo...as you may or may not know, my cousin and I have an ongoing tradition where we try to make each others' gifts as absurdly difficult to open as possible. Over the years, we've incorporated barbed wire, Plexiglas, plastic wrap, fabric bags sewn shut, spray foam insulation, fishing wire, sand paper, and a slew of other dastardly obstacles. Well, last year my lame and uncool cousin decided that he was going to be lame and uncool and not carry on the tradition. He said that he just doesn't have the motivation or the time to do it anymore, and he's fresh out of ideas anyway. I managed to convince him to do it for one more year (this year) since we started the tradition in 2003 and I wanted to see it last for an even 10 years. He agreed, and the 2013 gift wars were scheduled to be our last battle.

He got me BioShock 2 and Batman: Arkham Asylum. He placed each game in their own large Tupperware container, sealed them shut with rubber cement, placed them in a big plastic five-gallon bucket, filled the bucket up with spray foam insulation, sealed the lid on the bucket with rubber cement, and wrapped the bucket with an entire roll of Cellophane.

I kept things a little more simple. I got him a set of 12 Final Fantasy IV bead sprites (Cecil, Kain, Rydia, Rosa, Edge, Yang, Tellah, Cid, FuSoYa, Edward, Palom, and Porom) and wrapped them individually in regular wrapping paper...and then I hid 11 of them throughout my parents' backyard. (My mother grows a lot of plants, so the backyard is a great place for a scavenger hunt.) I gave him the first bead sprite (Cecil) and a flashlight, said "Good luck," and sent him on his merry way so he could look for them in the darkness.

It was a close race, but I managed to unwrap both of his gifts in the time it took him to find 10 of the 11 hidden bead sprites. (He missed the one on top of the shed. Tee-hee.) Even though his method of booby-trapping my gift was more creative, I got to my gifts first, so that means I won! I'm sad that our decade-long tradition is over, but it was fun while it lasted.

[Hunter Sopko]

Gave:
Mom- A VHS-DVD converter, so she can put all our old home movie stuff on DVD, some Christmas ornaments, some Universal pins (she collects them)
Sister- $50 to Express, The Big Lebowski on BluRay, some Christmas ornaments

Brosef gifts are still on their way ;-;

Movies:
Pacific Rim
Wreck It Ralph
Skyfall
The Hobbit
Jurassic Park (on Bluray)
Looper

Game of Thrones Season 2
It's Always Sunny Seasons 6 and 7

Games:
Tales of Vesperia
Bioshock Infinite
Mass Effect Trilogy
Dragon's Crown
Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD
Xenoblade Chronicles
The Last Story

$20 PSN card
1 year PS+ membership
Timequake and We Are Who We Pretend to Be by Kurt Vonnegut
A Bailey's gift set
A mix 6 from my sister (Oaked Arrogant Bastard, Scaldis Belgian Amber, Fort Collins Chocolate Stout, St. Peter's Cream Stout, Eggersberg 23, St. Bernardus Christmas Ale
A replica Time Magazine Mirror "Are You A Lebowski Achiever?" from The Big Lebowski (Also from sister)
Clothes and Jeans
Candy
Scratch off tickets (Won $21 this year)

[Meiousei]

2DS
Pokemon X
$20

That's from my mother. I was supposed to get stuff from the rest of the family, but in my sleep deprivated mood, I didn't call in time, so I spent it alone playing Pokemon X in my makeshift couch bed.

[Shale]

-A Fourth Doctor bathrobe
-Lawn gnomes wearing Eagles and Phillies gear
-Throw pillows shaped like NES cartridges
-Two half-pound Reese's peanut butter cups
-A whole bunch of chocolate
-A poster of the "Pandorica Opens" painting from the fifth season Who finale
-A set of dress-up Jesus magnets. Including a WWJD necklace, which I find endlessly hilarious.

Given:
-The Bigger Blacker Box and fourth expansion for Cards Against Humanity
-The Shining and Doctor Sleep
-A Wizard of Oz theatrical poster
-A custom-made Ms. Pac-Man cell phone case

Not a big haul this year, because we spent most of the holiday budget on a new home theater setup that I've been putting together all week. Can't wait until it's up and running completely.

[Twilkitri]

- Wii U bundle with NSMBU, NSLU, and Rayman Legends
- Volumes 2 and 4 of 100 Bullets Deluxe (already had V3)
- Volume 4 of The Goon Show Compendium
- A shower radio
- Some money
- Some chocolate

[superaielman]

A:

-Throw pillows shaped like NES cartridges

These are getting stolen the next time I'm up in DC.

B:

-Two half-pound Reese's peanut butter cups

They're real, and they're spectacular.

[Lady Door]

A:

-Throw pillows shaped like NES cartridges

I gave a pair of those to my brother. The best part is what they are: Retro Video Game Pillow set.

[Grefter]

[metroid composite]

We're keeping gifts relatively small this year.

A used purse, but this one with actual backpack straps so I don't need to put it inside of another backpack.
Another EDH precon (Marath, Will of the Wild)
A grilled sandwich maker, which I'm not sure I'll be able to use.
Some cables, as I don't have an HDMI cable for my PS3 to TV, or the right cable to connect my computer to my TV (it has an older monitor-in, but not the newer style of monitor-in).

Gave: oven mitts, work gloves, a blender, and several copies of the card game Love Letter (I really like it, and want to get my family into it; apparently I bought the Japanese version of it which has much stupider rules for the 7, however; first turn autoloss is dumb).

[VySaika]

Jenna's family goes overboard for christmas as always. Since Jenna specifically goes batshit crazy with buying people things and our money kinda comes from the same account, I don't get people much myself.

Given
Cookies, to various folks. Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip cookies this year.
Radiant Historia and SMT Strange Journey(to my sister)

Recieved
4 DnD 3.5 books I didn't have: Complete Psionic, Dragon Magic, Dragon Compendium Vol 1 and the Players Handbook 2(I had this one before, but it was stolen a couple years ago)
Kirby Anniversary Collection(Wii)
Tales of Xillia(PS3)
Guided Fate Paradox(PS3)
Like 7 shirts from Jenna's mother, all in patterns and having designs on them because she is sick of me wearing nothing but plain colors. <_<;
Applets and Cotlets(delicious candy that I cannot freaking find anywhere around here. Closest thing we get to Turkish Delight over here in the US)
A proper stand mixer. This will come in handy.

Of amusing note, Kiernan got a 3DS game for christmas....without having a 3DS. Of course his birthday is next week. So when he opened that one, he kinda laughed and went "SPOILERS!"

[Grefter]

I got a fan, a bag of tools, some food, some money that helped pay for DL con this year already and an IOU 1 steam game because someone didn't know what to get me.

I gave the gift of hope this year.  In that I hoped the presents I ordered at the start of there month would arrive, I hoped that when I rang about it and they said they had back ordered stock causing them to be delayed that they would arrive on time.  I hoped that when they delivered on the 23rd they would drop off at the post office.  I hoped she that didn't happen that I could pick it up from the depot on the 24th.  When I found out it was on a truck again already I hoped that I would either get home on time or the authority I emailed through to deliver without signature would get through on time.  When the driver ignored that I hoped that I could get a lift to the depot that is on hitherto other side of the city.  After that happened I got to go to my parents all happy that it all worked out for the best.

Now I get to hope that when I ring up about the $80 worth of the $130 worth of purchases that didn't get shipped somehow either is reimbursed or sent, because the package came with no shipping list, my order online shows as Completed and the package lists it as package 1 of 1.

That said the 2 Nerf guns that did make it were loved and everyone forgot that I even got them Carcasonne.

[Sierra]

What the heck is Guided Fate Paradox.

*Cid looks it up*

That sounds pretty odd. Let me know how it turns out!

[Hunter Sopko]

Now I get to hope that when I ring up about the $80 worth of the $130 worth of purchases that didn't get shipped somehow either is reimbursed or sent, because the package came with no shipping list, my order online shows as Completed and the package lists it as package 1 of 1.