I love, love, LOVE Amazon.com.

(About 75%.)

Congrats!!!

20%, bitch. What's it to you?

*sweet smile*

I rarely (get to) brag about anything so neener neener neener!

Hurray! Well done!

My shopping is well in hand with just a few odds & ends to pick up: art supplies to go with a kid's gift, a baby present (granted, we haven't decided what to get, but the local toy store will have something awesome), and maybe a little something silly for The Fella (ditto, but substitute "comic shop" for "toy store").

But in the week leading up to Christmas, I do have a ton left to do at home for presents: making Chex mix and caramel corn, baking cookies, making cocoa mix, and so on. Almost all the non-perishable handmades, I made ahead of time, but some things really should be made last-minute.

I'm mostly done. We give and receive gifts from a shitload of people, not my preference to do so really, but that's how it's evolved.

So the main ones are done: husband, kid, parents in-law, my mother, SIL, SIL's boyfriend. All of those are multiples gifts/person, argh.

That leaves S., J&A+kid, G&R+kid, T&M+kid and T. Of those, we have S's, but no other. All the rest are being bought at the MoMA store sometime next week.

DONE. And it's even all wrapped and under the tree.

Having a week off a the beginning of December was a life-saver.

I haven't started. But...I did finish the paper that I was supposed to turn in in October, so that was a huge relief.

This is one of those times that I'm glad to be Jewish.

Finished with husband's big stuff. Will pick up stocking stuffers at Target & Wal-Mart in Florida. Got my sister. Mom bought Dad a big gift we'll chip in on (Jack Space bag, oo la la). But EVIL MOTHER, WHO WANTS NOTHING AND EVERYTHING AT THE SAME TIME? We got nuttin'. Sister was at the mall and I was online this afternoon, and we haven't found anything yet.

Yay Deborah! Yay Amazon!

I'm 100% done shopping (with the help of Amazon and MeFiJobs) for the people I see before Christmas. Sneaky cheapskate that I am, I wait for after-holidays sales to pick up the gifts for the people I'm traveling to see post-Xmas.

I'm completely done wrapping gifts for my son which I had to complete before he started winter break today: the slightest rustle of paper will bring him at a run. Still have to wrap gifts for SO, the cats, the dog and the crabs.

Tree is up, is partially decorated. Still haven't sent out cards, I might skip that this year. Definitely doing cookies this year, which we don't always do. Yay!

Oh, yeah. Ordered something for Mum from Amazon.ca but it hasn't come yet. Does that still count?

Also, there is a bit of a backstory to me bragging about this.

Today was perhaps the fourth or fifth time I've left the house since the road trip with Mum in July. It's only the second time I've gone out on my own. If I were to guess, I'd say I probably have a wee case of agoraphobia.

Oh, that does make it even more of a triumph! I suffered from agoraphobia briefly (part of the PTSD after a car accident), and it really makes every mundane little task so much harder, let alone big crowd stuff like shopping. Go, deborah! Be proud!

Buddha doesn't demand gift giving - unless it's to little kids on New Years Day and then it's just cash.

I do need to bake treats though.

100%. I do my Christmas shopping stupidly early. Like...this summer. I did buy my last thing last night, though.

I'm glad we're broke. I got my dad a shirt, my aunt a sweater, need to get something for my mom, and I can't say what I got TheDonF. That's it.

Did 100% of it in less than an hour Wednesday night. I love online shopping and having a small family! Also got all my mecha holiday cards in the mail today.

I'm sorry you're broke, (((Specklet))), but it does make it simpler (I've been there, too).

amro, no gift giving for Chanukah?

Also, we didn't do Xmas (and b-days and anniversary) the last two years because of my depression. It just ramps up for the holidays for some reason. Except this year is better, other than the agoraphobia.

[Don't know why, but I have made this Sharing Shit Night!]

These days, I treat every Christmas like I'm broke, whether I am or not. (Oh, and I AM, I AM.) Well, this year I splurged on lots of not-used books from our local bookstore, because our great neighborhood used-book store closed when the owner retired. But otherwise, I haven't spent much and have managed to make or find something cool for everyone in my big family, including all eleven kids.

Happily, most of my family embraces the same philosophy of gift-giving, so no one is disappointed. The Fella's family tradition is quite different, and when I tried to join into their gift exchange, I inevitably disappointed people and was disappointed myself.

I don't have all that many people to buy for, but I'm about 90% done. I still feel like I need to buy something more for my father, but if I don't find something without a lot of trouble I may just stop where it is (I've bought stuff for him, I just have a weird guilt thing going where I feel like I should spend more money). I'm also debating something else for ikkyu2, but again, I may just leave it where it is.

Wrapping is nowhere near done.

I have most things ready. I talked most other people into not doing presents this year (woo hoo!), but the nephews each got a gift card to a local bookstore. Thanks to my mom for picking those up for me.

I got my mom and my stepmother some yarn-related things from Terrapin Garden Farms.

My dad is getting a bunch of old photos that got left behind when he and my mom divorced when I was 8. He hasn't seen these in over 30 years, and many of them are family photos. I've scanned them all and put them on flickr, but have yet to send him the actual photos. They'll be late.

Not sure what to get my stepfather though. I did go and get a bunch of alcohol at the ABC store, but I'm not sure what he loves or not. I may just get him a nice bottle of wine somewhere.

Wrapping? HA HA HA HA!

amro, no gift giving for Chanukah?

Nope, Hanukah gifts are for kids and there are no kids in my family. I do have to buy Christmas gifts for some staff at work, but that's it.

I'm doing almost all of them next week because I just recently got a nice Christmas bonus and that's when I get to shop and actually have time to shop.

Nieces are getting to go to Disneyland and I'm buying dinner and presents for them there, I'm probably going to end up getting my parents and sister and everyone else gift certificates.

What to get for my writers and my co-editor, though... I already got something for my British TV and webcomics gal, I know what I can get for my movie reviewers and my co-editor, and I'm not sure what to get for my writing columnist but I'm sure some cash or a gift certificate wouldn't be amiss.

As for the members of the broker team I'm on, I got us all personalize dog tags with our team name, our date of incorporation, and a funny phrase the director of communications granted upon us. I thought it was rather a cute idea. Wish I could have gotten them made out of silver and/or something more nifty.

Stupid ongoing payroll concerns.

Hooray!