Karen Foley
Lynn Raye Harris
Ellen Hartman
Diana Holquist
Samantha Hunter
Shirley Jump
Dee Tenorio
Jeannie Watt
I Did It!!
I finally did it. I got him this year, hoo boy! For the first time ever, my hubby is getting a Christmas present before he can buy it for himself, dagnabbit!
For the last seventeen years of our relationship, my husband has learned the joy of Christmas in slow, slooooow increments. See, they didn't do holidays or presents real well at his house. No one was really interested. Then he met me, who is comparatively a Christmas Elf. It's been some rough training.
See, he doesn't expect presents. But he does enjoy a good sale. I can't begin to tell you how many years I've looked long and hard for something for him, then he comes home with whatever it is I've gotten into the closet without him knowing. One year, his brother helped me out and we were sure we had him. Even MY hubby wouldn't go shopping for himself on December 22nd!
He did. Came home and showed me the great deal he'd found on the thing he'd been waiting for.
Suffice it to say, he's been on a Dec 12th shopping embargo ever since, unless it's for food.
And really, he's gotten better at the holidays. It's been a joy to watch him, but every year, I do my best to find him something special. Something he'll love. And this year, dang it, I GOT him. I found something he's been looking for over a year, and it's was nowhere. It was on eBay, new! It's been ordered, paid for, and it'll be here before Christmas. This time, he's gonna get surprised whether he likes it or not. He's gonna open his present and be totally, completely thrilled about it. Even if I have to beat him over the head with a frying pan.
So what about you? Do you have someone that's notoriously hard to shop for? Or difficult to keep a surprise from?
»
Yes!
Mike is tough to buy for. In some ways, he's easy, because he's easy to please and happy with just about anything, but if you want to buy him anything larger, you know, a "main" gift, it gets a lot harder because most of his hobbies are technical and expensive, and I don't know what to get. I bought him something nice for his b'day in a few days, and I hope he likes it, though I already told him if not, or if I just got the wrong thing, to return it and get what he wants.
It's very hard to buy for people's special interests, even when people buy stuff for me with sewing, unless it's something I have asked for specifically, I usually end up with things I can't use... Unless they are sewers, too, and know what's useful.
For Christmas, though, it was easy this year, since we both just went and bought what we wanted (my sewing machine, his guitar-building equip) and we're just buying small stuff for stockings, so that was good...
Sam
I got lucky...
in that he said he didn't want anything this year. (Don't worry, he knows that won't deter me.) I'll make him cookies and overfeed him as expected, lol. He says if he gets an inexplicable amount of money, though, he's buying me a PS3. I'm all right calling that a stocking stuffer, lol.
OH YES
My older brother is especially hard if not impossible to buy for. You can't even give him a gift card because he'll put it in a drawer and forget about it. So he usually get a small joke gift and money (gift cards have an expiration date, money doesn't).
Yes...my mother
My mother is difficult to buy for in a slightly different way.
She is very busy, takes on everyone else's problems, and it's pretty much impossible to get her to just relax and enjoy herself. Which means she doesn't have any hobbies and what little things she does enjoy, she doesn't have and/or won't take time for. Asking her what she wants means a list means a list of the cheapest things she can think of (because she is always conscious of our limited budgets). Seriously, she asks for things like dish clothes, etc. She enjoys pretty decorations, so that would be a good option... except she's continually having to cut back due to storage issues. It's very frustrating.
My BIL...
kinda resented Christmas presents. He didn't make much and always felt that if he gets a present, he has to give one. We had a deal, I was allowed to give him boxes of cereal. Not real thrilling to give Holiday Cap'n Crunch, but it did make him happy.
Men are SO weird, lol!
Dee
My husband is the same way
He always shows up a few days before any celebration, with THE GIFT in tow. And, dang it, he's usually found it for a better bargain!
ani
Seee!!!
I knew someone would understand. Yes, there is that "good sale" bit to add insult to injury, lol. He still doesn't get why I get so upset about it, but he indulges me. :)
Dee
Congratulations, Dee!!! I'm
Congratulations, Dee!!! I'm surprised you haven't employed the frying pan before this, lol. And congrats on finding the thing he's been looking for. Is anything better?
LOL
I reserve the frying pan for when tears absolutely won't work, lol. I'm not a crier by nature, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. :)
As for better, well, as sure as I am that I've got him, I've still got until the 25th to be sure. (He's sneakiest when I least expect it.) Then I'm going to go with "nope!", LOL!
Dee
Cuuuuuuuute!
And good for you, Dee! As for someone who is hard to shop for... :P My entire family. :X Including myself. (As in, I'm never quite sure why my family gets me the majority of presents I get because... I've told them I don't want it? :X)
I always ask my sister what she wants, and it's tough to surprise her because she'll tell me one thing, and only that thing. My dad never says what he wants but we generally know what he likes... buy my mom is the wild card. For a few years she wanted orchids. For EVERYTHING. So we got her a lot of orchids - Christmas, birthday, mother's day, you name it. Now... we're still trying to find the perfect gift.