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    • I got my daughter for a two-week stay and my son for a quick 33-hour visit. Two dogs playing well together and a cozy fire.

      I'd call it a pretty damn good Christmas.
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard
    • As a bonus, my boy got me a cornhole board set and my daughter got me a charcuterie serving board set. Now I can host cornhole & cheese parties in the new neighborhood.

      I gave my daughter an REI gift card last night around 10:00. It was spent on sale merchandise by 11:50. :P
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard
    • I don't really participate on gift giving or encourage others to do it since all the kids in our extended family are adults. Back when I used to give gifts I always felt under tremendous pressure, it ruined the whole holiday for me. So one year I announced to everyone that I was done giving gifts, yes I still love you but I won't be giving you anymore gifts and suggest you don't get me anything. For a couple of years I still got stuff but eventually everyone realized that I was serious. Doing that was the most freeing thing I've ever done. I can now enjoy the holiday and company of family and friends.
    • We used to do what we called a "chinese Christmas". All the relatives, adults only participating, get together and bring a gift $25 limit. Guys bring a man gift, girls bring a lady gift. All gifts wrapped. First person picks a gift and unwraps it. Next person either gets to steal that gift or pick another. So if your gift is stolen, you pick again, but not your gift that was stolen. This continues until all gifts have been unwrapped. At that point you keep what's in front of you. It's pretty fun. We used to have about 30 or so people in the game.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • jimmyjam wrote:

      We used to do what we called a "chinese Christmas". All the relatives, adults only participating, get together and bring a gift $25 limit. Guys bring a man gift, girls bring a lady gift. All gifts wrapped. First person picks a gift and unwraps it. Next person either gets to steal that gift or pick another. So if your gift is stolen, you pick again, but not your gift that was stolen. This continues until all gifts have been unwrapped. At that point you keep what's in front of you. It's pretty fun. We used to have about 30 or so people in the game.
      I cut and pasted that to someone whose family I think would really get into that.
      2,000 miler
    • jimmyjam wrote:

      We used to do what we called a "chinese Christmas". All the relatives, adults only participating, get together and bring a gift $25 limit. Guys bring a man gift, girls bring a lady gift. All gifts wrapped. First person picks a gift and unwraps it. Next person either gets to steal that gift or pick another. So if your gift is stolen, you pick again, but not your gift that was stolen. This continues until all gifts have been unwrapped. At that point you keep what's in front of you. It's pretty fun. We used to have about 30 or so people in the game.

      Aka.....dirty santa.....nasty santa....white elephant....yankee swap....

      I got new down pants from Ben @ goosefeet.
      Does it count if you bought them for yourself??
    • Muddywaters wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      We used to do what we called a "chinese Christmas". All the relatives, adults only participating, get together and bring a gift $25 limit. Guys bring a man gift, girls bring a lady gift. All gifts wrapped. First person picks a gift and unwraps it. Next person either gets to steal that gift or pick another. So if your gift is stolen, you pick again, but not your gift that was stolen. This continues until all gifts have been unwrapped. At that point you keep what's in front of you. It's pretty fun. We used to have about 30 or so people in the game.
      Aka.....dirty santa.....nasty santa....white elephant....yankee swap....

      I got new down pants from Ben @ goosefeet.
      Does it count if you bought them for yourself??
      Yes, hey that is the one person who can always come through and get you what you really want.

      I don't pretend to know enough about quilting, just like my wife doesn't about backpacking. We are both much happier that way, without wasting money on "good intentions". :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Muddywaters wrote:

      I got new down pants from Ben @ goosefeet. Does it count if you bought them for yourself??
      My wife has a book of children's Christmas stories from when she was growing up, which has a story we read every year about Mr Camel who hated Christmas because none of his animal friends ever liked any of the presents he would give them. Then Mrs Camel pointed out that he always gave them things he wanted instead of thinking of things his friends would want. In the end he found that when he thought of others instead of himself, he found Christmas gift giving to be so much better. So in our house, anytime you buy something for yourself, we call it a Mr Camel present.
    • odd man out wrote:

      Muddywaters wrote:

      I got new down pants from Ben @ goosefeet. Does it count if you bought them for yourself??
      My wife has a book of children's Christmas stories from when she was growing up, which has a story we read every year about Mr Camel who hated Christmas because none of his animal friends ever liked any of the presents he would give them. Then Mrs Camel pointed out that he always gave them things he wanted instead of thinking of things his friends would want. In the end he found that when he thought of others instead of himself, he found Christmas gift giving to be so much better. So in our house, anytime you buy something for yourself, we call it a Mr Camel present.
      Whelp, I cameled up pretty good this year. :D
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • odd man out wrote:

      Muddywaters wrote:

      I got new down pants from Ben @ goosefeet. Does it count if you bought them for yourself??
      My wife has a book of children's Christmas stories from when she was growing up, which has a story we read every year about Mr Camel who hated Christmas because none of his animal friends ever liked any of the presents he would give them. Then Mrs Camel pointed out that he always gave them things he wanted instead of thinking of things his friends would want. In the end he found that when he thought of others instead of himself, he found Christmas gift giving to be so much better. So in our house, anytime you buy something for yourself, we call it a Mr Camel present.

      I hate Christmas because of gift giving. It ruins it. Weeks of life are spent agonizing over gifts , often for people you really dont want to give a gift to. It wastes precious vacation time too. Online shopping is awesome though.....by comparison to what a hassle it used to be







      My mom and dad always bought *most* of their own gifts for themselves....gave each other 1 surprise gift. Wish my wife would go for that......
    • Muddywaters wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      We used to do what we called a "chinese Christmas". All the relatives, adults only participating, get together and bring a gift $25 limit. Guys bring a man gift, girls bring a lady gift. All gifts wrapped. First person picks a gift and unwraps it. Next person either gets to steal that gift or pick another. So if your gift is stolen, you pick again, but not your gift that was stolen. This continues until all gifts have been unwrapped. At that point you keep what's in front of you. It's pretty fun. We used to have about 30 or so people in the game.
      Aka.....dirty santa.....nasty santa....white elephant....yankee swap....

      I got new down pants from Ben @ goosefeet.
      Does it count if you bought them for yourself??
      I’ve been looking at down pants, mostly the ones from Mountain Hardware. What did you get? 8 or 20D? Baffles? Fill?
      Lost in the right direction.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Traffic Jam ().

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      We used to do what we called a "chinese Christmas". All the relatives, adults only participating, get together and bring a gift $25 limit. Guys bring a man gift, girls bring a lady gift. All gifts wrapped. First person picks a gift and unwraps it. Next person either gets to steal that gift or pick another. So if your gift is stolen, you pick again, but not your gift that was stolen. This continues until all gifts have been unwrapped. At that point you keep what's in front of you. It's pretty fun. We used to have about 30 or so people in the game.
      JJ, where I come from that is called a 'Yankee Swap.' My family has a big party and does that every year (well, except this year).
      I guess they decided to call it something else in the South :)
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • So my gifts were only peripherally hiking related.

      This canvas mushroom bag my wife got me for my mushroom forays, but it should be handy for grocery shopping to...


      and this metal enameled bird cup...


      Only problem with the bird cup is that it is for European birds. So it is not going to up my birding game unless I travel to Europe. Come to think of it, not a bad idea.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • IMScotty wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      We used to do what we called a "chinese Christmas". All the relatives, adults only participating, get together and bring a gift $25 limit. Guys bring a man gift, girls bring a lady gift. All gifts wrapped. First person picks a gift and unwraps it. Next person either gets to steal that gift or pick another. So if your gift is stolen, you pick again, but not your gift that was stolen. This continues until all gifts have been unwrapped. At that point you keep what's in front of you. It's pretty fun. We used to have about 30 or so people in the game.
      JJ, where I come from that is called a 'Yankee Swap.' My family has a big party and does that every year (well, except this year).I guess they decided to call it something else in the South :)
      Most people I know in the south call it Dirty Santa.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • So I have to tell you a funny thing about my wife, she loves enameled cups like this because she claims they make her drinks cold.


      No matter how much I try to tell her about the thermal conductivity of metals and heat transfer and all that she will not hear of it.
      Everything just 'tastes colder' in these cups because the cup makes her colder.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • IMScotty wrote:

      So I have to tell you a funny thing about my wife, she loves enameled cups like this because she claims they make her drinks cold.


      No matter how much I try to tell her about the thermal conductivity of metals and heat transfer and all that she will not hear of it.
      Everything just 'tastes colder' in these cups because the cup makes her colder.
      I would say if it makes her happy, let her roll with it. :)

      If it was one of my children (espeically younger ones) I would follow the science and continue to try to explain it. But I doubt your wife is ever going to be taking an exam or anything like that where it will really make a difference.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • IMScotty wrote:

      So my gifts were only peripherally hiking related.

      This canvas mushroom bag my wife got me for my mushroom forays, but it should be handy for grocery shopping to...


      and this metal enameled bird cup...


      Only problem with the bird cup is that it is for European birds. So it is not going to up my birding game unless I travel to Europe. Come to think of it, not a bad idea.
      Scotty, if you're a bird watcher let me suggest you read a book called The Big Year. I forget if it's fiction or not (I read it years ago) but it was a fun read that I enjoyed. I also don't remember the author. Turns out there's a movie too.


      Here's some info.....The Big Year is a 2011 American comedy film starring Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin. The Big Year was directed by David Frankel and written by Howard Franklin. It was based on the 2004 nonfiction book The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik. The book followed three men on a quest for a Big Year - a competition among birders to see who can see and identify the greatest number of species of birds in North America (north of Mexico) in a calendar year. The actual men were Sandy Komito, Al Levantin, and Greg Miller, who were chasing Komito's prior record. The film uses the same premise with fictional characters.
    • LIhikers wrote:

      Scotty, if you're a bird watcher let me suggest you read a book called The Big Year. I forget if it's fiction or not (I read it years ago) but it was a fun read that I enjoyed. I also don't remember the author. Turns out there's a movie too.

      Here's some info.....The Big Year is a 2011 American comedy film starring Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin. The Big Year was directed by David Frankel and written by Howard Franklin. It was based on the 2004 nonfiction book The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik. The book followed three men on a quest for a Big Year - a competition among birders to see who can see and identify the greatest number of species of birds in North America (north of Mexico) in a calendar year. The actual men were Sandy Komito, Al Levantin, and Greg Miller, who were chasing Komito's prior record. The film uses the same premise with fictional characters.
      I'm not a birder but I saw the movie and enjoyed it.
      2,000 miler
    • LIhikers wrote:

      IMScotty wrote:

      So my gifts were only peripherally hiking related.

      This canvas mushroom bag my wife got me for my mushroom forays, but it should be handy for grocery shopping to...


      and this metal enameled bird cup...


      Only problem with the bird cup is that it is for European birds. So it is not going to up my birding game unless I travel to Europe. Come to think of it, not a bad idea.
      Scotty, if you're a bird watcher let me suggest you read a book called The Big Year. I forget if it's fiction or not (I read it years ago) but it was a fun read that I enjoyed. I also don't remember the author. Turns out there's a movie too.

      Here's some info.....The Big Year is a 2011 American comedy film starring Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin. The Big Year was directed by David Frankel and written by Howard Franklin. It was based on the 2004 nonfiction book The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik. The book followed three men on a quest for a Big Year - a competition among birders to see who can see and identify the greatest number of species of birds in North America (north of Mexico) in a calendar year. The actual men were Sandy Komito, Al Levantin, and Greg Miller, who were chasing Komito's prior record. The film uses the same premise with fictional characters.
      The husband of the woman that I jobshare with is a big birder. I'm betting that he already knows about the book and movie but, just in case not, I copied the info and emailed it to her. I'm going to check if the movie might possibly be available in On Demand.

      Well, just checked and it is available On Demand to rent for $3.99 so I'll wait until my husband is up and we can watch together.
    • LIhikers wrote:

      IMScotty wrote:

      So my gifts were only peripherally hiking related.

      This canvas mushroom bag my wife got me for my mushroom forays, but it should be handy for grocery shopping to...


      and this metal enameled bird cup...


      Only problem with the bird cup is that it is for European birds. So it is not going to up my birding game unless I travel to Europe. Come to think of it, not a bad idea.
      Scotty, if you're a bird watcher let me suggest you read a book called The Big Year. I forget if it's fiction or not (I read it years ago) but it was a fun read that I enjoyed. I also don't remember the author. Turns out there's a movie too.

      Here's some info.....The Big Year is a 2011 American comedy film starring Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin. The Big Year was directed by David Frankel and written by Howard Franklin. It was based on the 2004 nonfiction book The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik. The book followed three men on a quest for a Big Year - a competition among birders to see who can see and identify the greatest number of species of birds in North America (north of Mexico) in a calendar year. The actual men were Sandy Komito, Al Levantin, and Greg Miller, who were chasing Komito's prior record. The film uses the same premise with fictional characters.
      LIHikers,
      The movie "The Big Year" finally popped to the top of my movie queue. I'm sure the book did a better job converting the interesting / strange obsession of birders, but I thought the movie was fun too. Thanks for the recommendation.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • I saw that movie. My wife is a bird watcher. So on our walks, I will turn around to find she had stopped some time ago to watch a bird so I have to double back to find her. This is why our walks cover a half a mile per hour. She says it's some warbler she can't ID. I say it's small and brown so it's a sparrow, let's go. If it's large and brown and in the water it's a duck. Otherwise it's a Red Wing Blackbird. That covers about 90% of the birds I see. I'm not of a plant person.
    • I'm not a plant person either. I can just about tell the difference between grass, a bush, and a tree. That"s why I'm not allowed to cut the lawn at home. My wife plants flowers anyplace and Unless the have a flower at the time I can't tell, so the flower plants get mowed down. My motto is "if it's green and grows, cut it with the mower."