So my side of the family in recent years has adopted a pretty good system of having the adults (and spouses/partners) pick names for our Christmas gift exchange, and our only obligation for the adults is to get one $25 gift for the person we pick. (Kids still get gifts from everyone so believe me there is still lots of fun shopping to be had!)
About the gift exchange though, I learned the hard way that it's not how much the item costs you, it's what you SPENT! In other words I last year got my specially selected brother a really nice dress shirt that normally sold for $50 but sort of let it slip that I'd gotten it for $18. You see being able to spot bargains is usually something that gains kudos in my family, but NOT with this $25 Christmas gift exchange. I was actually $7 in arrears and boy did I ever hear about it! (Ummm, mom doesn't read this blog does she guys?)
Anyway we picked names this fall when most of us were assembled in MN. I got my brother Neil who happens to work for Sears as an HVAC repairman and he gets a discount when he shops at there. That made it a no brainer. Before I even left MN I picked up a $25 gift card and left it for him with my mom who is sort of our all purpose utility arranger/gift wrapper/organizer.
So when my sister's boyfriend had dinner with Su and me in DC tonight so we could do the gift handoff" (he comes to DC every December for work and we traditionally send stuff back with him and get our stuff) he had this big grin on his face. "You're gonna love this" he said. Out came a $25 gift card from--you guessed it--Neil. And it was from Sears. I was so reminded of that "Oh Henry" story about the woman selling her locks of hair to buy her husband a watch fob while he sold his watch to buy pins for her lovely hair. (Hey...wait one minute here. Do you think that Neil had to pay a full $25 for that card with his Sears employee discount? "Oh, moooommmmyyyy!")
So all's well that ends well. I can get the Land's End stuff that Sears sells that I wanted anyway, and Uncle Neily can get whatever his heart desires. I guess we could have cut out the "middle man" and told each other to just not get each other a present. But it's way more fun this way don't you think? Merry Christmas baby brother and thank you! (And just in case your wondering, our "secret Santa's" never stay very secret for long. We're sort of talkers so suffice to say that Neil and I knew we had coincidentally picked each other pretty early on.)
Oh, well, off to sleep I go. I'm taking a Project Management course this week and am almost done with my Master's Certificate. I think I'll buy my graduation present at Sears! Happy Holidays everyone. Hasta la proxima! -Monica
P.S. Shhhh....if you see Susanne, tell her not to look in the front hall closet. No reason...
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