Surprise Christmas

Each year, I buy less and less surprise presents. And I'm okay with that.

It was so easy when I was a kid and I could make an ornament or spend my allowance on something random from the Dollar Tree, and it was considered cute that I tried. Now, things are more complicated. What size neck does my Dad wear in shirts again? Does my sister think ankle boots are cute, or would she rather a gift card? Lotions smell different on every person; does my mom want the brown sugar scent or the apricot one? What do I (a hopelessly girly girl) know about shopping for my sister's ju-jitsu trainer boyfriend?

Enter: The Family Gift Message Board

That's right. My family and I have gotten to the point where we make it crystal clear what we want for Christmas, even posting on an online message board uber-specific possible gift ideas. The message board is our version of "Shopping for Dummies", and while our method of buying gifts certainly won't be the center of a Charlie Brown Christmas special anytime soon... it works for us.

Still, it's kind of funny reading through our particular lists, especially the side comments we write in to clarify. For your reading pleasure:

A few of my mom's wishes:

* tan wrap around sweater (Kohl's has a nice one)
* black boots (sorry guys—Bethany already got me these)
* Body and Bath Works Jasmine Vanilla body lotion (aromatherapy)or brown sugar and fig (I think you can order the latter online)

A few of Dan's:

* A new golf club ("Christen, we could go to Golf Galaxy to pick this out...")
* Core Performance Golf: The Revolutionary Training and Nutrition Program for Success On and Off the Course By Mark Verstegen, Pete Williams Pete Williams
* a leaf blower

Perhaps my favorite of all is my dad's list, which brings specificity to a Hall of Fame level! I mean, he even gave ideas of stocking stuffers!

Black belt (1 ½ inch wide, size 34)
Brown belt (1 ½ inch wide, size 34)
Stocking stuffers: dress socks (black) [I know ask for these each year, but I couldn’t resist]; airborne, travel size toiletries
Kangol Wool 504 Cap (black, size medium)

Yeah, it may not be a surprise, but I was able to order his gift in under five seconds.

Fa la la la la La la la la!

Don't think that I'm any better just because I didn't post my own list. This is my blog, so I can choose not to include my choosiness. But guess who sets up the message board every year...
Back to the gifts, can you guess which one I chose for Dan??

Even if my husband hadn't actually driven to the store with me and picked out his own present, he would have been able to guess from the hilariously obvious wrapping. Need another hint? I'm sure you don't, but here's what I caught Dan doing earlier today:

I wouldn't have been surprised if he had called out "Fore!" after hitting his imaginary ball. A man's gotta practice his stance somewhere when the weather is frightful outside. :)

Why am I writing to tell you all this? Well, Dan's sister Emily through a wrench into my safe, Christmas shopping world this year.

She declared "Surprise Christmas".

You see, his side of the family may not have a psychotically-organized message board, but we still always e-mail one another with a few ideas every year. Emily decided she had had enough with giving each other gifts that we had requested. She wanted surprises and encouraged others to do the same. Dan and I were sneakily able to wrangle a few hints from his mom and brother about what they wanted, but no matter how many times we e-mailed, we had nothing on Emily or her boyfriend.

It took forever (FOR-EVER) to find her and her boyfriend gifts, but we finally managed and I'm pretty happy with what we finally picked up! And I have to say that while the whole "surprise Christmas" concept won't ever fly in my family, it definitely got my creative juices flowing. I found three hilarious gag gifts for people and even hand made one of my sister's gifts, which embodies an inside joke we've had for over 20 years. I'd love to share, but she (occasionally-every-blue-moon) reads my blog, so it will have to be later.

After all, it is a surprise. :)