All About the Giving

It's a strange thing, I'll be honest. And I have *no* idea exactly when it happened, but I completely agree with that old adage "It's better to give than receive". These days I'm not terribly fussed about what I get for Xmas but, I just can NOT wait for my fandamily to open the gifts I bought for them!

This year was a *giant* lesson in restraint. On top of the xmas gifts, I also had gifts for each of them from Peru! Oh, and there was that minor matter of ordering The. Best. Gift. Ever. for The Peeb and Button back on the 27th of October and then waiting for it to arrive by post.

Thank goodness Daddio arrived early at The Cottage and our xmas morning didn't deviate much from tradition at all (post divorce and all).

Admitedly I couldn't wait till xmas morning for the Peru presents, so I made them open those on xmas eve, when we were all finally together :) I got Daddio some Pisco. And then on New Years, I taught him how to make proper Pisco Sours, which were divine! I got Mom a gorgeous colourful cushion cover. Seriously, I so wanted to keep it for myself! And the Peeb got a tradition Peruvian Chullo from Alpaca wool :) And a knitted monkey finger-pupper, for novelty value. Haha.

So, you still wondering what The Best Gift Ever was? I had a 1000 piece puzzle made for them from a photo I took of their kitty Panda. Poor boy, was knocked over by a car in Sept at barely a year old. The Peeb was near devastated. But, the puzzle came out *brilliantly* and was worth every cent. She adored it (as I knew she would) :) And with the help of a few friends, she got it finished in a mere 3 days!


Daddio got a few of the JD Robb books missing from his near-complete collection. And (as is practically tradition!) a Jeep shirt. I got Mom an awesome metal Elephant (she has a thing for them) and some placemats. Might sound boring, I know, but they are very funky (and look perfect on her dining room table) and she was using magazines before :P

And me... well I got some awesome stuff :) I got cash from Daddio & my grandparents (perfect!). I also got one of the Bunny Suicide books from Dad - haha. I got the most awesome "Glad to be a Girl" girl from Mom :) (it's supposed to be holding a pot plant) And exactly what I asked for from The Peeb: Justin Bonello's Cooked in Africa. Bliss :)

It was a truly awesome day. We followed our own personal family traditions to a tee: The rest of the family came down to the Cottage for the day, we ate and ate and ate a delish cold lunch, had a very boozy trifle for dessert and took our family photo. Perfect :)