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Christmas Wish List

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I know it's still early, not even December yet, but we've already started making lists here at home.
Years ago our family started a silly but practical little tradition in our household. We each made a Christmas wish list and stuck it up on the fridge with a magnet; you know, where you stick anything and everything you're too lazy to file away but too afraid to lose? This system worked for us. These lists have been helpful, even if we've ignored some of the more outrageous suggestions...a pony, their own bedroom, a spare set of keys to Mom's car. Now that the kids are grown and live some distance away, we post these wish lists in e-mails. It has provided us with much fun and thought and helpful ideas over the years. It has also cut down on the number of stupid Christmas sweaters I've had to endure wearing.
Of course we all know that this season isn't about the material gifts we both give and receive.
So, just what is on your paddler's Christmas wish list?
 
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Nothing concrete except health. Its been a rough four months and going downhill. I just hope to be able to take a canoe trip in 2015. Surgery today will tell the fate.
 
Christmas is a commercial entity carefully orchestrated to part you and your hard earned money through guilting and temptation and my only wish is for others to see that. Saying all that I can't help but to be caught up in the good spirit of Christmas. The gift giving part of it should go away.
 
Christmas is a commercial entity carefully orchestrated to part you and your hard earned money through guilting and temptation and my only wish is for others to see that. Saying all that I can't help but to be caught up in the good spirit of Christmas. The gift giving part of it should go away.

About 5 years ago I told everyone that I wasn't going to be giving presents for Christmas or birthdays any longer and that they shouldn't feel the need to get me anything either. The holidays have been much more enjoyable since.

Good luck, YC. I try not to take my good health for granted but I get the feeling that's impossible until you have to deal with poor health.

Alan
 
Holy, bunch of scrooges here. I give presents to the people closest to me, and I take a lot of time planning and picking them out. For me, it's a gesture of love, a material demonstration of your feelings for someone.
 
Holy, bunch of scrooges here. I give presents to the people closest to me, and I take a lot of time planning and picking them out. For me, it's a gesture of love, a material demonstration of your feelings for someone.

But why do it at Christmas? While I don't do it all that often I do still give presents. They just aren't related to any holiday or occasion. Like you said, it's for someone I really care about and I put some real thought into it or build them something. For me, when it came time for Christmas shopping, it was more like a chore.

There are people I know who love Christmas shopping and picking out just the right gifts for someone. For them it's a pleasure. I'm not one of them. It's something I need to do on my own terms.

Alan
 
Sure, I give stuff all year too, but trust me, being married three times makes one strongly aware of the importance of recognizing important dates, like Valentines Day and Christmas, lol.
 
Christmas is a commercial entity carefully orchestrated to part you and your hard earned money through guilting and temptation and my only wish is for others to see that. Saying all that I can't help but to be caught up in the good spirit of Christmas. The gift giving part of it should go away.
I have a sweater with your name on it. Lightly worn. VERY lightly worn. What's your size?
 
Alan, I have tried the same thing. Kids are 15 and 16 and make it explicit that they are to buy me nothing. If I want something I'll go out and get it. I treat them well all year and don't need to go into debt to remind them that I love them.

I'm not a scrooge, I love the good spirit of Christmas and the whole holiday season
 
I didn't mean to open a commercial Christmas controversy here, but what the heck, I'll rock and roll with it. Believe it or not, I'm anti commercialistic. New phrase people. Try to keep up. I've kicked and lectured hard against all this money grabbing spirit killing materialistic world. Some of it has sunk in to our kids. Thankfully. Our gift giving throughout the year is time shared and burdens lifted, not who got what from whom. Birthdays are low key, a cake or cupcakes and candles, much laughter, and a few little trinket gifts. Nothing ever to go ga ga over. No bank accounts ruined. Ever. Out of financial self preservation and my ongoing "too much materialism" rant, Christmases are the same. We give gifts, but no-one's getting a car, a fur coat, and puleese can we forget about the freak'n pony! My wife and I adopted the "stocking gift exchange only" for each other many years ago. They're large home sewn stockings I admit, and will fit books and jars of jam, but not a fur coat or a toaster oven. The rule applies : If it doesn't fit in the stocking, then keep the receipt and return it. This has morphed over to our kids. Even though we still exchange small things with them (I received a compass, socks and books last year; thankfully no sweaters), they most look forward to their stockings. "It's our turn" to welcome kids and spouses and SO's for a sleep over on Christmas Eve. BYOM Bring your own inflatable mattress. A couple new additions to our family are eager to get in on the stocking thing. "Oh Mom? Can you sew a couple more stockings? We'll fill them no probs, we just need the matching family stockings. Big enough for jam, chocolate and books" e.g. Our youngest has recently adopted a dog, from the animal shelter. It's a lovely timid creature, and we all adore her. One of our little gifts to our daughter this year is an old nut cracker shaped in the form of a dog. Wag the tail and crack a nut in its jaws. Ha! A flea market find. Our challenge over the years has become NOT to find, buy and brag about the biggest most fantabulous gorgeous gift, but to find - buy- and give a thoughtful fun thing. Or socks.
 
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Not to poke the collective hive
pokenest.gif
, but canoeists have always been known to be a frugal bunch! I didn't feel the least little bit guilty when my wife gave me that beautiful Browning .308 BLR for christmas. I felt


Likewise, when I bought her those really nice snowshoes last year, she didn't complain to Captain Planet, she was like


Gents, spend money on your ladies! Buy them outdoor stuff so they can go with you. Merry Christmas!
 
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Nothing concrete except health. Its been a rough four months and going downhill. I just hope to be able to take a canoe trip in 2015. Surgery today will tell the fate.

I sincerely hope surgery goes well for you, Kim, and you can be on the mend.

Along that note, my Christmas wish is for time. It's really the only thing I need more of.....


I'm on the fence about the gift thing. While I can't get in line with my MIL's "Santa-worship", I don't have a problem with thoughtful giving - and Christmas is an occasion to remind us of it's value. My wife and I get some pleasure out of keeping the season in mind throughout the year (beyond the faith aspects associated with it), and often act on opportunities to save a special "find" for one who would really appreciate it come Christmas. Most of those finds are at yard sales and other bargain places, and yes, some will be made by our hands also. Actual Christmas shopping....we don't do much of that anymore.
 
Jeepers Brad, I got to keep my eyes on you all the time don't I. I go to work and come home only to find out that you started another controversy. Over Christmas no less. I'm going to stay home from work tomorrow just to make sure that you don't start any more trouble.

Kim, best wishes for renewed health to you. My internal organs seem to be working OK but I feel like I'm falling apart otherwise. I think I need a rebuilt skeleton with grease-able joints for Christmas.
 
My Christmas wish is for you to regain your health and make at least one more trip up this way.
 
Jeepers Brad, I got to keep my eyes on you all the time don't I. .

Dear Rip;
I learned my lesson from last time, after I lost my job as Canada's Ambassador to Finland. The pay was lousy, they kept paying me in euros and axe handles. The euros I've been spending at the local Canadian Tire. The axe handles I've been whittling down into something useful...hockey sticks. I'm wishing now they'd sent longer handles. Oh well. It seems trouble just kinda follows me around. Know what I mean? BTW, you caught me by surprise tonight. Normally because of you and the stuff you say, I sit at my laptop without a shirt on drinking my coffee. I got complacent tonight, and didn't even see it coming. Here ya go and make me spill my danged coffee again. The good news is, our dish washer works great at making my whites whiter without any water spots. The bad news is my wife prefers it if I keep my shirt on, especially when company's over. Looks like I'm gonna hafta add shirts to my Christmas wish list, cause I never know when from outta nowhere you're gonna make me laugh, and waste perfectly good coffee all over a perfectly good shirt. I'd sit at my laptop drinking coffee in a number of my Christmas sweaters, but I've promised them to Red. I'm pretty sure he'd like to keep them clean and sparkly.

My real best wishes are elsewhere. And I know they're not alone.
 
Just as an aside and have no intention of derailing the thread. After I had my almost but not quite heart attack in July and my cardiac artery roto rooting, I would up on a bucketful of meds.. Not quite enough for the hated Sunday-Saturday old persons drug container, but enough. I had one that caused bleeding everywhere. Bruises everywhere.. I know you all are guys but you might have heard of Auntie Flow. For three months the B*** never left. I couldn't do anything much..walk three miles or tote a boat without feeling faint. So all my trips were day trips or kayak trips that did not involve portages.. or one canoe trip that involved hubby pulling the overloaded cart. Seems like I was losing half a gallon (2 liters of blood) each week due to being on Plavix. Plavix is evil. If you are ever introduced to it beware. It masquerades as your friend. It might be your hit man.

Three weeks ago I made Plavix homeless. I think I will feed the leftovers to the mice under the house. But Auntie Flow held on but more feebly. She is not supposed to be in my house at my age. So I had a procedure to find out why the bi*** is still here. Turns out that there is a non life threatening cause. that can be remedied with medication and the cause does not start with the letter C. (and why do those annoying Cancer Treatment Centers of America) pop up everywhere at a time like this?

Now I have hope for a solo next year.. The Lows trip wasn't going to work for me even if the weather had been balmy.

I think that you may have had enough of Brad and my contributions to sexual literature. Not exactly titillating

I suggest for him this on his Christmas list.. the pothead one
http://www.7bucktees.com/product-category/t-shirts/paleo-primal/coffee/

as far as Mem and his dancing Santa.. what else would we expect from a member of the Smokin' Igloos?

Now as to Christmas gifts.. I like them to be spontaneous. Hubby needs a list but also subscribes to the "buy it if you need it when you see it" I hate lists.. They remind me of "honey do list" jars. We're too old to get kerfuffled about this so often we label September 6 or April 20 to be something even though its not a birthday or Christmas. He got a table saw in Feb for his birthday and a router last week for Christmas.
 
Yeah. Okay, I get it. Not everyone shares my forced optimism, particularly at this time of year. Shorter days, longer nights, more jingly commercial crap than you can shake a stick at. I'm not a slave to that crap, any more than I'm an optimist. I live in a hole under a dark cloud 24/7, trying to see "the silver lining". When Christmas comes creeping up the calendar, I try even harder to see any bright side throughout these shorter days. I don't dare succumb to the shadows. Last night while babysitting our young grandson, I said to my wife "I don't remember all this fun, listening to our own kids happily gurgle and bubble crawling under the table while we sat eating dinner?" She said "You never noticed. You were always stressed and grumpy." The look on her face told me all I needed to know. Those were the bad 'ol days. I've been trying harder in recent years. I'm still in a darkish hole under a darkish cloud, but most days I can see sunlight somewhere. I've found it's worth the effort. If not for me, then for the ones I love around me. They no longer have to put up with a stressed and grumpy guy. Even though I don't string lights around my door and eaves troughs, I still find something around Christmas time to believe in, and it ain't commercialism. I'm not trying to beat anyone up around here over Christmas lists and presents. No religious conversions attempted going on here. I'm just pushing the boat out of Peace and Joy, and hoping it still floats. You don't have to salute it or even notice. It's just my way of dealing with this stupid hole and that stupid cloud. If I've pissed off, offended, or bored anyone...I'm sorry.
I'm moving on today, wishing good health to everyone everywhere. Like I said "...this season isn't about the material gifts we give and receive." Now I'm gonna go rake some leaves under a dull grey sky. The clouds may be dark, but the fallen leaves are crimson, gold and brown. Maybe that's part of the silver lining to raking them? I'm gonna go find out.
Peace and goodwill...year round.
Brad
 
Love ya Brad. Next time you're in the dark place holler, I'm in there somewhere too. Maybe between the two of us we can find our way out. And I'm tired of being a drag to my fam so I'm trying some forced optimism as well. Dave
 
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