Author Archives: Swistle

New Year’s Eve

I saw a suggestion online that New Year’s Eve was a good day to go through your Facebook friends and do some editing. I went through mine, but didn’t have anyone to edit. I did notice I am now up to four Facebook friends who are…er, no longer with us. I do not want to delete them. But this is a new situation to figure out, as we get older and more and more of our Facebook friend list is…In Memoriam.

Speaking of New Year’s Eve: in Times Such as These, I can see going either way on New Year’s resolutions. I can imagine someone resolving to Take Action (Postcards to Voters! letters to Congress! the midterms!!), or I can imagine These Times serving as motivation for resolutions about getting physically stronger. I find myself on the side of I Can’t Face It. If I WERE going to make resolutions, they would ONLY be the small and/or fun kinds: like, I can sort of imagine resolving to spend five minutes on the exercise bike each day OR I can imagine resolving to subscribe to a monthly sticker club or learn to make a new cocktail—things like that. I’m not going to do even those small/fun resolutions. But I cannot imagine resolving to do anything harder or less fun.

Another year gone, and I can’t believe how many years of our lives have been dominated by a cruel fool. It has been good at least to go through it together, and to have hope of a different future. Let’s continue to stick together, and let’s keep two bottles of champagne in the fridge: one for the new year, and one for that special day. Onward into 2026.

Obituary Declarations; Coworker Gifts; Gigantic Cabinet Humidifier

10 Replies

I am continually surprised by how confident many obituary writers are about what has happened after the death of the loved one—not even just the confident assertion that the loved one is definitely for sure in the good place, but even more specific declarations such as “was met at the gates of Heaven by her mother, sister, and beloved terrier Angela.” My friends, we do not have that level of detail about the intake process.

It is less than a week until Christmas and I am not going to panic. Today I sneaked my Secret Santa gift into work, and also passed around the Trader Joe’s giant foil-wrapped coins I bought everyone. I liked the mini spatula idea best, but I searched multiple stores and couldn’t find them at a reasonable price or in multipacks; I think I needed to plan further ahead. Another idea I considered was dividing a easy-native-wildflower seed mix into baggies, but I (1) left that one too late as well and (2) was a little unsure about the logistics. Also, some of my coworkers are in apartments, so the framing would have to be stealth-planting, and I actually don’t know much about that. Should I make seed-balls? I don’t know. It started to seem like A Lot. Probably mini spatulas are more my thing, or seed-ball kits someone else put together.

Paul bought a gigantic cabinet humidifier for the house without discussing it with me. It is like having a couple of large fans on, and I am experiencing noise fatigue. Also: it woke me up before 4:00 this morning by cycling on and off every few minutes. I would start to drift back to sleep and then the fan would vroom back into life; I would start to drift off again, and the fan would shut off abruptly into silence. Eventually I unplugged it, but at that point there was no hope of getting back to sleep. Paul investigated and found that the water bin wasn’t installed quite right. I feel like when a huge loud appliance encounters an issue, it should not KEEP LOUDLY TRYING EVERY FEW MINUTES FOR HOURS. I FEEL LIKE AFTER A COUPLE OF UNSUCCESSFUL TRIES IT SHOULD SHUT THE HELL OFF AND FLASH A LITTLE ERROR LIGHT OR SOMETHING.

Ten Days Until Christmas Somehow Already

47 Replies

Suddenly it’s ten days until Christmas and as usual I feel caught off-guard. Most of it will get done “automatically,” in the sense that stress and necessity will drive me to, for example, wrap all the presents sometime between now and Christmas, and I don’t feel as if I need to actively plan for that.

But also: I still need the small coworker gifts (sometime between 2022 and now I stopped using a hyphen in the word coworker, and it made it nearly impossible to search for that post), and I don’t have any good ideas this year, or at least not for anything I can get here in time. I can fall back on the “festive baggie containing a cocoa packet and a snack-pack of cookies and a foil-wrapped chocolate,” so that’s fine, stress-wise, but it would be nice to think of something more fun/interesting. On Wednesday I’m going to Trader Joe’s; maybe this year everyone gets one of the giant foil-wrapped chocolate coins. No one cares. Anything is fine.

I also need to buy a Secret Santa gift for one coworker, and I do have an idea for that, but I need to go to a physical store to get it, and it might not still be there (I should have bought it when I saw it) (it’s a cozy blanket) (I’m not saying it’s a fresh original ultra-personalized idea, but I AM saying this is a blanket that was fought over at a swap where no one ever swaps because everyone is worried about hurting everyone’s feelings) (I did not win it, and I KNEW I wouldn’t win it, so I surreptitiously took a photo of the fabric tag and I TRACKED IT DOWN and bought myself one) (it’s a Nido Notte throw, if you’re interested) (I found it at HomeGoods/Marshalls). If I’ve waited too long and the blanket is gone, I am screwed. …No, I am not screwed. Everything is fine. She doesn’t truly deep-down care what I buy her. I can pick anything, even a bad gift, even a gift-manufactured-only-to-be-a-gift, and it will still be fine.

And I’d like to buy something for Edward’s infusion nurses. We see them every 4-6 weeks year after year, and my favorite is to bring in a couple of big shopping bags of individually-pre-wrapped snacks (cookies, crackers, chips), and individual canned/bottled coffee drinks, and candy, all of which they can keep for themselves or put in the break room or whatever. Edward is going for an infusion this Friday, so I need to get that together by then.

And we have connections to a kid who could use a boost, and I am trying to figure that out. By kid I mean a 20-year-old, a classmate of the twins. Elizabeth alerted me to the kid’s situation; the situation is both dire and hopeful. I think I can summarize without violating privacy, by saying this is a kid who came from a conservative Christian household that had become increasingly abusive, and the kid has escaped, but it meant sacrificing both home and college. The kid is doing an impressive job figuring things out on their own: job, rickety used car, various places to stay—but you’re an adult, and you can imagine trying to pay bills with an entry-level job, and you can imagine trying to live in a great-aunt’s/cousin’s/friends’ guest room but not wanting to overstay that welcome. It’s hard to find just the right care package that says “Gosh I wish everything was different for you,” so that’s not the goal; the goal is to say “Hi, here are some baked things at a festive time of year OH GOD I WISH EVERYTHING WAS DIFFERENT FOR YOU and also here are some festive candy canes and a lip balm and a peppermint hand lotion PLEASE BE OKAY and some jolly mittens and warm socks!!” Also I am going to figure out a way to send some anonymous cash.

This feels like an awkward segue after that last paragraph, but I tried to rearrange and that was even worse (“I need something for this desperate kid, and also a Secret Santa blankie!”), and I do still truly wish to know what is still on your to-do list. And if you have any ideas for my coworkers. There are nearly twenty of them, so I am looking in the $2-3 range per person, which is a difficult range for satisfaction and joy, so I am aiming merely for holiday good will and festive gesture.

Wall Calendars 2026

23 Replies

This is a very pared-down version of the post I used to do. I used to have lots of fun looking for a lot of calendar options for lots of different people/rooms (the kids’ rooms, the kitchen, next to my computer; also gifts for various people). Then that stopped being fun for unknowable reasons, and the kids lost interest and I started needing only one calendar just for my kitchen (perhaps these were the unknowable reasons), so I decided to stop doing the calendar post entirely—i.e., no calendar post at all, because who wants to just look at only the calendars I’M considering for MY KITCHEN? Then I started doing a post of just the calendars I’m considering for my kitchen. And now there’s been another step down, and this post is basically “Which of the calendars I’ve bought in previous years for my kitchen will I buy again this year for my kitchen?” Onward:

(image from Amazon.com)

Feline: Terry Runyan cat calendar. I’ve had this one either once or twice before. I liked it and might very well buy it again.

(image from Amazon.com)

Esté MacLeod calendar. I’ve had this one either once or twice before. I liked it and might very well buy it again.

(image from Amazon.com)

Kate Heiss wall calendar. I had this one in 2025. I liked it and might very well buy it again—except that I feel a resistance to having the same calendar two years in a row. But I still want to put it into my cart and think about it.

(image from Amazon.com)

The Illustrated Animal Kingdom calendar. The main thing that stops me from buying this very satisfying calendar a second time is that I can’t tell if this is maybe the exact same set of pictures I had last time. It’s certainly the exact same cover. (I just compared notes, and I can’t say for sure because the one I had in 2024 only shows ten of the pages on the back—but eight of the ten from 2024 are duplicated on the 2026 calendar.) Also: my grocery store has this calendar for $9.99, so I am not sure where Amaz0n gets off selling it for $19.73. Being able to buy it from my grocery store instead of from Amaz0n is a point in its favor.

(image from Amazon.com)

Joyful Landscapes calendar. I keep adding this to my cart each year, then feeling funny about it and removing it. Theoretically it’s what I like, but. I guess it feels as if it is trying too hard to be what people like me would like.

(image from Amazon.com)

Colorful Landscapes calendar. Same deal as with Joyful. I keep thinking “Oh, this is extremely my thing!,” and then having second thoughts. I guess I must feel seen but in a bad way.

(image from Amazon.com)

William Morris calendar. Basically wallpapers. I have had several such calendars and they have all been surprisingly satisfying and peaceful.

(image from Amazon.com)

Flora & Fauna calendar. I mean, basically that is what I want. Flora. And/or fauna.

(image from Amazon.com)

GuassLee cat calendar. I have not had this calendar before. But I do have this cat.

(If you want to be calendar twins with me this coming year: I published this post, and then proof-read it and tested all the links, and while doing so decided on the Esté MacLeod.)

Taking the Christ Out of Christmas

21 Replies

Hi Swistle,

I feel like you would have a good response for this (future blog post??), and would absolutely value your thoughts here.

I think similarly to you, I had a Christian background, and (maybe not similar to you here!) in turn I kind of had a Christmas Smugness. “We only celebrate the True Meaning of Christmas in this household! Sure, we will exchange gifts and prepare Christmas brunch and enjoy the speckles of Christmas lights on neighbourhood houses…but it is because of Right Jesus Reasons, not because of Commercialism and, um, Other Secular Reasons.”

And now (for the last few years, actually), the Christian faith doesn’t resonate with me or my husband anymore. While that generally feels GOOD (it is freeing to be able to disengage with faith that doesn’t feel right anymore!), I maybe need a re-frame around Christmas?

Instead of True Meaning, I am left with “I guess we do this because it is fun?” I don’t know, it just feels shallow, compared to the concept of TRUE MEANING! Did you go through a similar transition or thought process? Find beauty in Delight for the Sake of Delight?

Thanks for any thoughts and guidance you can provide, if you have the capacity to do so. :)

With gratitude,
Maureen

This email arrived well over a year ago, and I’ve had it open on my desktop ever since, periodically re-reading it and hoping an answer will start composing itself in my mind.

It’s definitely an issue I struggle with, more some years than others. Sometimes I will get a kind of bottom-dropping-out feeling, a nauseated “Wait: are we doing this just to do this?” Like, are we just spending all this time and money in order to spend the time and money? Why am I putting a tree in my house?? WHY DO WE SPEND A WHOLE MONTH ON THIS EVERY YEAR???

Like your family, my family growing up used to do all the “secular” Christmas things, but because they were twisted together with religious observation (special church rituals and sermons, special at-home Advent rituals, setting up a nativity scene, sending cards with religious sentiments, etc.), it felt as if it were all part of the same REAL Christmas celebration. Particularly because we were in that subcategory of Christian families that rejects the whole Santa story and only tells the Baby Jesus story; and we celebrated “the secular part” of Christmas on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day.

I am still working on what to do now that I’ve untwined those two parts of Christmas. I don’t mind telling you that I miss the special church things: the pastor each week gradually setting the scene and telling the story; the discussion of the Advent season; the lighting of the Advent candles. I miss the candlelight Christmas Eve service. I miss the feeling that it’s ABOUT something. I miss the nativity scene. Some of your kind souls are rising up to tell me I can still participate in those things if I want to. And I know I could. But it wouldn’t work for me. It would be like getting a divorce and then, for comfort, sometimes pretending to be married to some random man: going to a stage set designed to look like a home we might share; having fake conversations with him about bills and our imaginary kids; sitting together at a table eating a pretend meal.

What I have tried to do, and it’s a work in progress, is build a new Christmas structure that supports itself without having to lean on the Baby Jesus. I guess it’s kind of like saying YES, we DO do this just to do this. I haven’t done any good research on this myself, but my general understanding is that the original holiday was a festival for the winter solstice, and some celebrations involved some deities and some didn’t, but the real reason seems to have been to have a big happy lit party in the darkest part of the year. That’s a cause I can get behind. Christians came along much much later and made the holiday about the birth of their own deity, but we can just Let Them, without doing that ourselves.

This whole thing reminds me of how I had to reconfigure Valentine’s Day. I was disappointed every year for decades, and at some point I thought, “Wait, why do I keep letting Some Unenthusiastic Guy determine how my Valentine’s Day goes?” I shifted my entire way of celebrating: I leaned away from the romantic vibes and into the love-of-all-kinds vibes; I made it more about giving things to the kids and to my friends and coworkers; I buy myself a pretty heart-shaped box of chocolates if I want one; I drink my coffee out of a heart mug all during February; I decorate my little pre-lit birch tree with heart ornaments; I think of it as a time to get some pink/red/hearts into all that dreary white/grey/slush, and as a happy little holiday helping us to make it through that last part of winter before the bulb flowers start coming up.

I’m working on doing something similar with Christmas. I’m trying to focus on the fun I have sending/receiving cards; the fun I have shopping for other people; the many opportunities for generosity; the opportunity to spend time together; the beautiful lights on the beautiful tree; the seasonal Trader Joe’s stuff; the Christmas puzzle; drinking coffee out of a Christmas mug every morning; listening to Christmas music; getting an amaryllis bulb (thank you to my mom’s friend Donna for starting us on that!) and a fun advent/countdown calendar and pine-scented hand soap; dressing my Pokemon Go avatar in a Santa hat and giving her a reindeer buddy; etc. Not just the STUFF of Christmas, even though this absolutely looks like I just made a list of stuff, but more about the feelings connected to the stuff and the meanings behind the stuff: the rituals, the generosity, the familiar symbols, the familiar recipes, the reaching-out-to-others, the remembering-others, the happy glow in dark cold times. The feeling that everything is extra-special this month.

And we’ve gradually been changing some of the rituals we grew up with. We’re having Christmas on Christmas Day morning now, which has been a refreshing reboot. We go on a Christmas-lights-viewing drive every year on Christmas Eve. We’re adding new rituals, such as buying gifts for a couple of kids through a local charity program, and going each year to a tree raffle that raises money for charity, and also sending checks directly to charities. (I know they get a lot of money at Christmas and could use help throughout the year; my feeling is that they can chuck that extra Christmas money into savings and withdraw it in August if that’s when they need it. It feels good and glowy to give money at Christmas and I’m keeping that.) We donate groceries to food pantries, and I like to include packages of holiday cookies and holiday teas. We’ve added lots and lots of Christmas movies and TV episodes to our rotation, and we watch them for most of December. I’m working up to it gradually, but I’ve been THINKING about maybe going to a Christmas concert or performance each year. (I get so overwhelmed with ticket-choosing/buying, driving, parking, the iffy weather conditions making everything more complicated.)

And so on. Each year I’m trying to weave in more things that make Christmas feel meaningful and special. It doesn’t have to be Baby-Jesus Special: it can be special in itself. It WAS special in itself, BEFORE the Baby Jesus; it can be special in itself, after.

Christmassing; Non-Target Gift Cards; Razors That Use a Plain Old Razor Blade; Cat Cabin

41 Replies

I am getting Christmassing done LEFT AND RIGHT. I have the cards out on the dining room table, and I am chipping away at them. (I LIKE doing cards, but only if I do them in batches.) Yesterday I did my big Trader Joe’s trip, where I buy a bunch of their holiday items for stockings and also to have on hand to add to other gifts: I like to add one of their one-pound chocolate bars to the gift card for the mail carrier; last year I added one of their cute small tins of those long tubey cookies to a Secret Santa gift that seemed sparse; when a kid had a friend stay with us for a couple of days during Christmas break, I had a little giftie to send home with them; when a co-worker unexpectedly gave me a little gift, I had a selection of little gifts on hand for giving them one back; when I had an impulsive coffee date with a friend, I had some treats to put out on the coffee table.

What I’m trying to tell you is that I vastly overdo it: those exciting successes of earlier years mean I am UNLEASHED in the moment. I buy EVERYTHING. Then I end up with quite a bit of extra. But also: there are seven of us here over Christmas break, so we can eat anything I don’t end up giving away. Also this year they had GIANT gold-wrapped chocolate coins, $2.49 each. GIANT GOLD-WRAPPED COINS.

This year I had an especially fun quest, because Paul’s sister mentioned the following things: (1) that she LOVES Trader Joe’s and the nearest one to where she lives now is four hours away; (2) that she’s always questing for interesting flavors of crackers and chips; (3) that because she is a vegetarian and also someone who has trouble keeping weight on (I know we might usually hate this, but it hugely helps that she is so medical about it—like it is a reason for concern, not a reason to tee-hee and preen), she eats a lot of nuts and seeds for the calories/nutrition. Well. I don’t know if you have a Trader Joe’s near you (THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED POST), but they have a whole aisle of interesting nuts and seeds. I bought her every weird flavor I could find. Peppermint yogurt almonds! Chili garlic cashews! Caramel coffee almonds! Pumpkin-spiced pumpkin seeds! Plus pumpkin-cranberry crackers and a couple other kinds of crackers that came in small packages. These are not all going to fit in the large flat-rate box.

Plus I got an amaryllis. And a bottle of Cedar Balsam room spray. And peppermint hand soap. It was a festive trip, and I came home a little buzzed.

Hey, so, every year I get Target gift cards for various people: it’s pretty much down to the mail carrier and the UPS guy now, but this used to include, for example, the kids’ karate instructor, or a kid’s piano teacher, or my physical therapist. Now that I am mad at Target (that understates it, but this is supposed to be a festive post), I don’t know what gift cards to get. What I liked about the Target card was that someone could get groceries and other necessities, or they could get fun stuff and gifts, depending on their financial situation. (I’m totally willing to give cash, but lots of professions are not allowed to accept cash?? for some reason?? even though they are allowed to accept gift cards??? I don’t get it but I am trying to follow the rules.)

Amaz0n doesn’t seem better but maybe it is. Wa1mart doesn’t seem better but maybe it is. I’ve seen those Visa gift cards, but I don’t understand how they work, and some of them seem to expire and/or have fees. Maybe a card for one of the local coffee/doughnut shops, but that feels harder to spend, and a lot of people who DO go to coffee shops are loyal to a particular place. Maybe the local grocery store, but that doesn’t feel festive; but it’s also low-risk that they can’t/won’t use it. I do know people can pass on gift cards to others (and lots of charities accept them as donations, including our local food/clothing pantry), but it would be nice to increase the chances of pleasing the recipient. If you too are mad at Target, and you have a few gift-card recipients on your list, what are you doing about that?

While I have you here, do any of you have experience with the kind of razor where you replace the blade yourself, and not with a designed refill-head but with a plain old cheap razor blade? One of the kids would like to try that out. I suspect he will end up learning why people buy the multi-blade replacement heads, so I don’t want to spend a lot of money, but I think it’s a fun thing to try so I do want to buy him one. Maybe up to $20?

I know cats vary considerably, and one cat’s favorite toy is another cat’s no thank you, but I impulsively bought this cardboard cat gingerbread house with my last Chewy order, and it has been a hit with ALL FOUR CATS (I sprinkled cat nip on the floor of it to help with the introduction):

(image from Chewy.com)

They sit in it! They scratch in it! They play in it! They get huffy about whose turn it is! It makes a delightful Christmas decoration and photo op! I bought it on sale for $11 and when it starts to wear out I will be looking for another sale cardboard house to replace it.

First Purchase from John and Hank Green’s Good Store

7 Replies

I am doing online Black Friday shopping today, and soon I will take a break to make a Leftovers Bowl: cut-up turkey followed by gravy followed by corn followed by mashed potatoes, microwaved; side bowl of cranberry sauce; also a dinner roll.

But I have just made a VERY SATISFYING purchase, and I want to tell you about it. A couple of my children have put items from Good Store on their wish list: this is a store started by John and Hank Green, and it is sustainably-sourced and fair-trade and 100%-proceeds-to-charity (ELEVEN MILLION dollars donated so far). Here’s more about how the store began and how cool it is, if you want to read more (and also see how cute they are).

But I don’t mind telling you that I struggled with the prices in spite of myself: I KNOW it costs more to buy good and ethical things, I KNOW it costs more to be a small good store instead of a giant evil conglomerate—and nevertheless I struggle. Edward wants the socks, but I see a single pair of socks for $15, and I KNOW that is a righteous choice and that the price supports not only charities but artists—but I just saw a three-pack of decorated socks marked down to $9 at Old Navy, so. Or, like, Henry wants to try the coffee. It’s ethically-sourced AND supports charity—but it’s $25 for a 12-ounce bag, and I usually buy 10 ounces of Café Bustelo for $6, on sale for $5, which would be $6.00-7.20 for a comparable 12 ounces. I am not always thrifty, but I am overall financially-careful, and it leads me in directions both valuable and not.

In this case, it led me to a struggle with prices, EVEN THOUGH these were the items on the kids’ wish lists and EVEN THOUGH the money would go to good products and to charity and EVEN THOUGH I wanted to support/encourage all those things! But two bags of coffee for FIFTY DOLLARS?? That’s a huge percentage of the child’s gift budget! A 6-pair sock subscription for SEVENTY-FIVE dollars?? That’s Main Gift money!!

It turns out all I needed was a sale. For Black Friday there is a GIVEGOOD25 code that takes 25% off—AND I used it multiple times, AND I used it for a sock subscription, AND I used it on a bundle (if you buy multiple things in a “bundle,” you get 10% off). I had not expected it to apply to subscriptions or bundles. So I still spent a fair amount of money, but I felt MUCH MUCH BETTER about it. Here is what I bought, if you are interested:

I bought Edward a 6-month sock subscription, plus I bought two MORE individual pairs of socks (cat and mushrooms/crystals) so that I could wrap those with a card mentioning the subscription. The subscription ($75) plus two pairs ($30) should have cost $105, but instead cost $78.75. I’m not saying that’s inexpensive; I’m saying it came back across my Well Worth It threshold.

(image from good.store)

I bought Henry the Coffee Lover’s gift set, which is a bag of coffee plus a travel mug; this was a fun discovery because I already had the coffee ($25) and the mug ($30) in my cart for him, so this saved $5 even before the 25% off. I’d wanted to get him TWO bags of coffee so he could try both flavors, but I also wanted to buy a bag of coffee for someone else, so then I bundled two more bags of coffee, which saved 10% (another $5 before the 25% off). Just Henry’s portion would have been $50 for the two coffees plus $30 for the travel mug, $80 in all—but with the coffee/mug bundle saving $5, and the two-coffee bundle saving another $5 ($2.50 of which applies to Henry’s gift), and then the 25% off, it came to $54.38, assuming I have had enough coffee to handle that math. Again: I am well aware this is Expensive. But the discounts took it into my Willing range.

(image from good.store)

And I bought the vinyl sticker set, which I will cut up so that Edward can have the sock-wearing Dots and Henry can have the coffee-drinking Dots. $6 turned into $4.50, but I would have been happy to spend the $6.

(image from good.store)

I feel almost high about this. Sometimes what I really need is to get over the hurdle of making my first purchase, and I REALLY DO want to support this company, ESPECIALLY since my children want to support it with their gift budgets.

There was an opportunity to sign up for a link to give people $10 off if it was their first time making a purchase (it also gives me “dots,” which seem to be store credit for future purchases, which will help me get over the hurdle the next time I want to shop when there ISN’T a Black Friday sale—not that that’s YOUR job to remove that hurdle, I’m just saying it’s a nice byproduct); I don’t know if it can be combined with the 25% off, but if you’re going to make a purchase anyway, try it and see if it works and let us know: https://oken.do/vr4xphy9

Gift Ideas Day Five

13 Replies

I have three authors whose books I will pre-order unconditionally, and one of those authors is Catherine Newman, and she has a new book out:

(image from Amazon.com)

My sister-in-law pre-ordered me a copy, and I pre-ordered myself another copy (on purpose: I wanted two). I encourage you to buy ANY of the things I mention in these posts from stores other than Amaz0n—but this is a situation where I SPECIFICALLY recommend NOT buying it from Amaz0n, because Catherine Newman put out a special indie-bookstore edition where the copies are not only signed but also contain extra material, which makes it an EVEN BETTER gift. Both of my copies are from independent bookstores.

I bought these little quartz/crystal/rock(??) hearts on impulse during a Bad Time, and I feel a little emotional about them even though they’re not my usual thing, and maybe you will too. They are nice for scattering into stockings. I will mention that the temptation to put one in my mouth and swallow it is…considerable, so perhaps be careful when doling them out.

(image from Amazon.com)

These are nice to give out to friends/colleagues on Valentine’s Day, too.

Similarly, I bought this little set of crystal ornaments last year to put on my little pre-lit birch trees this year, and I am excited to try them out:

(image from Amazon.com)

I do not feel tempted to swallow these like pill capsules, as I do with the little stone hearts.

The extent to which I do not need more notebooks cannot be overstated and yet:

(image from Amazon.com)

Maybe you know someone else who loves mid-century modern AND needs a notebook.

I should have mentioned these Plus Plus building kits when they were on sale for $7, but that was back in January when everything seemed so dark and chilly and like it would never be Christmas again. You can throw economy to the wind and spend the extra $3, or you can wait until they go on sale again and put them aside for next year. There’s a Christmas tree:

(image from Amazon.com)

and a wreath and candy cane:

(image from Amazon.com)

I have been buying these each year for the kids we “adopt” through a local Christmas gift charity—though this year we’re not giving these, because one of the kids is too young. I will put them aside for next year.

I cannot–CANNOT–justify the purchase of $10-each plastic plates. And yet…my parents indulged my craving for these French Bull melamine dinner plates (French Bull link) on my last birthday, and I have used them nearly every day since with great joy:

(image from Amazon.com)

After we moved to a 200-year-old house and I was always cold (unless I was way too hot), Paul bought me this electric seat-warmer for my computer chair and for my rocking chair:

(image from Amazon.com)

It worked very well for my computer chair EXCEPT I kept rolling over the wire accidentally, until eventually I broke it. It works better for my rocking chair, where I can’t rock on the wire (because Paul installed a little hook on the nearby wall for the wire). I use the supplemental warmth CONSTANTLY during the cold months, like a lizard on a hot rock.

Gift Ideas Day Four

15 Replies

I bought this Biology Is Bigger Than Binaries t-shirt for someone on my gift list, and I might buy one for a second person on my gift list:

(image from squidfacts.net)

The same place has an eel-facts advent calendar (frog and crab options too), if that sounds like it would be right for you or someone you know.

(image from squidfacts.net)

I bought a Disregard the Constabulary t-shirt for two people last year and one person this year:

(image from Amazon.com)

I bought three cookbooks from Paul’s sister’s wish list. The Potato Book, by Poppy Cooks:

(image from Amazon.com)

PlantYou, by Carleigh Bodrug:

(image from Amazon.com)

and The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook, by America’s Test Kitchen:

(image from Amazon.com)

She added that last one to her wish list after seeing it on my wish list, so I’ll bet we’re buying each other matching gifts this year!

Paul came to me with an important announcement: there is a Lego set that looks like our baby tuxedo cat, who is not a baby anymore but a big 2-year-old, and yet we still call him The Baby because he looks roughly like this:

(image from Amazon.com)

I said, “…Do you need that for Christmas,” and Paul said, “…No. …Maybe. …No.” If I DO get it for him, I will definitely get the separate (WHY WOULD IT BE SEPARATE?? THAT’S LIKE MAKING THE EARS SEPARATE) whiskers set, and maybe the lighting set.

I’m waiting in hopes that this Pluffle set will go on a good deal, and I can put it in the kids’/niblings’ stockings:

(image from Amazon.com)

We got a large amount (all one color) of this at the library for the sensory play table, and I am trying to think how to describe it. It’s like little teensy cheese-gratered shreds of memory foam or fabric, but then when you squeeze a handful of it, or move some of it, it has a surprisingly wide-spreading collapsing/moving effect that’s a little creepy. And it looks as if it might feel unpleasant to touch, but it doesn’t.

This is a great little flashlight! I bought one for Paul, who was sick of digging out his flashlight for a small task to find that the batteries were dead.

(image from Amazon.com)

If you have a charging station, you can leave it plugged in and then it’s always ready for a task or for an emergency.

Edward, who is interested in game design, has asked for the book How a Game Lives, by Jacob Geller:

I don’t know anything about it—but if someone in your life is interested in game design, perhaps they would like it too. And it was only published a week ago, so probably they won’t have it yet!

I’m looking for bookends for Henry’s dorm room (or else a small bookshelf). Maybe dragons, maybe cats:

(image from Amazon.com)

I feel like this is the sort of thing where I might stumble upon the perfect thing in a consignment shop.

I recently rediscovered Paul Mitchell—a hair product line I loved in the late 1990s when I was heat-styling the hell out of my hair. I especially liked The Conditioner, a leave-in product. I bought a nice big bottle of it at Marshalls/TJMaxx, but since then I’ve enjoyed sending travel-size bottles to my similarly-aged friends for their birthdays. The wee bottles would also make good stocking stuffers:

(image from Amazon.com)

I don’t heat-style my hair anymore, but this is nice for tidying frizzies, and for feeling as if I’m doing something nice for my hair before I put it up into another ponytail/bun.

I have this goose/duck bag in my cart waiting for me to think of the right person to buy it for:

(image from Amazon.com)

Maybe YOU know the right person.

I wish I needed another notebook, but unfortunately I have a literal drawerful of them.

(image from Amazon.com)

Thayer’s toner is one of my favorite things-I-put-on-my-face-in-the-hope-it-is-doing-something, and I like to buy the cranberry-orange scent as a festive stocking stuffer, to use in the coming year for Tiny Secret Festive Season:

(image from Amazon.com)

It says “trial size” but it’s a nice size bottle (travel-size more than trial-size), and I like the spritz feature for when I am suddenly perimenopausally heated/flushed and need to mist myself like Blanche Devereaux.

My dad liked this Star Trek shirt. Maybe your dad would like this Star Trek shirt:

(image from Amazon.com)

Do you like postcards and are you considering getting a rose tattoo but can’t decide on one so you’re looking for inspiration? THIS ROSE POSTCARD SET MAY BE FOR YOU! (I have it and love it, and have not yet decided on a tattoo):

(image from Amazon.com)

I’m getting this Carhartt beltloop keyring for Henry:

(image from Amazon.com)

I’m also considering getting him a Carhartt duffel, after he came home on a recent college break CARRYING ALL HIS THINGS IN HIS HANDS, DROPPING THEM ALL OVER THE PARKING LOT

(image from Amazon.com)

(He got very into Carhartt after working a summer job on a landscaping crew.)

Gift Ideas Day Three

12 Replies

Someone mentioned these fidget things (I am remembering it was Suzanne but let me know if it was you instead), and I bought two. I collect stocking stuffers throughout the year, so it’s hard to know who has how much of what. When I’m organizing all the stocking stuffer stuff near Christmas, I’ll give the fidgets to whichever two stockings look understuffed. The kids all pretty much pass around all the little toy things anyway.

(image from Amazon.com)

I am having a silly problem, and it is this: I like to let my hair air-dry for awhile before I put it up, so I bring a hair elastic (actually one of the kind that look like a loop of phone cord) (oooh, actually that’s another good stocking stuffer idea)…

(image from Amazon.com)

…downstairs with me after showering/dressing, and put my hair up later at my computer. Then I need to go back up to the bathroom to check it in the mirror, using a little extra mirror so I can see the sides and back; but often by then Paul is in the bathroom, and I need to leave for work so I can’t wait around. This is such a long and boring story. Anyway, all I need is another little mirror to keep at my desk, and then I can check my hair in any OTHER house mirror. But this is a silly little problem NEAR CHRISTMAS, so this pretty little peacock mirror is going in my Christmas stocking:

(image from Amazon.com)

Also it is a nice upgrade from my upstairs-bathroom accessory mirror, which is an old empty Cover Girl powder compact.

Priorities is an interesting getting-to-know-you game, and I think it works best in a group where people know each other in different ways: where some people are MARRIED OR DATING, some people are SIBLINGS, some people are PARENTS/CHILDREN, some people are IN-LAWS—so I think it would be perfect, or possibly catastrophic, as a holiday get-together game.

(image from Amazon.com)

One person is “It,” and that person secretly ranks five randomly-dealt cards (which say things such as “broccoli,” “France,” “new socks,” “the ultra-wealthy,” “licorice,” “amusement parks,” “glitter”) in order, favorite to least-favorite. Then everyone else argues about what order they think that person secretly chose. You get some interesting discussions going, and you have to decide which players you think might know that person better on the topic of, say, “traveling light”: his GIRLFRIEND or his SISTER??, etc.

At the kids’ colleges, people are playing this ridiculous clothespin game. It seems like the whole game is that you try to secretly clip a clothespin to someone? Anyway, I bought these rainbow clothespins:

(image from Amazon.com)

I bought one set to distribute among stockings, and another set for myself: we use clothespins as bag/chip clips, and these are prettier than the plain clothespins we’ve been using.

I have a kid who (1) files his nails and (2) likes Keith Haring’s art, so this Keith Haring nail file set is going in his stocking:

(image from Amazon.com)

I bought this set of multicolored charging blocks for stocking stuffers:

(image from Amazon.com)

It would be distressing that there were only four nice colorful ones, except that Henry is in a phase of ALWAYS choosing black, so that’s all set.

Do you have people in your life who are losing their minds over the current attempted takeover of the U.S. government by far-right Christian nationalists and/or fascists? They might enjoy this collection of essays by A.R. Moxon:

(image from Amazon.com)

I have purchased it for half a dozen people so far.

Elizabeth and I were searching for something else when we happened upon this giraffe frame, and she immediately fixated on it. “What kind of picture would you put in it??,” she wondered. “WEDDING picture? GRADUATION picture? BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND?? Picture of someone feeding a giraffe??”

(image from Amazon.com)

So I bought it for her. She can figure out what kind of picture to put into it.

I am in favor of politically-active nail polish, and also I like this color:

(image from Amazon.com)

Last Christmas, Henry wanted some work boots. I chose these, with some nervousness (it can be difficult for a middle-aged person to know what will be cool to a teenager):

(image from Amazon.com)

And they’ve been great! He’s been wearing them for nearly a year and even as they’ve gotten a rough breaking-in (he is NOT careful with them, and wore them to walk to school in the snow/rain), they’ve continued to look good (in, as you’d imagine, a more broken-in way).