xmas gifting odds and ends

1.) I am almost completely done. I need to buy M1 a bottle of prosecco or cava (shh, don't tell!), but I will probably do that when I go see Marcy this week, because there's a nice wine store near her office. Why/how am I almost done? Because I have done almost all of it online. I started out buying the things online that I could get free shipping on, but this morning I caved and bought a couple things that I had to pay exorbitant shipping for (you realize that I consider *any* shipping charge exorbitant, right?)

One of the things is something I know I could find at a particular store locally--I've seen it there, but didn't buy--but when I went to another branch of the same store, they were out. I was planning to go back to the original store today, but you know what? They could be out by now too. I'd have to call and see and have them put it aside for me if they do have it and then bank on the probably college-aged employee having actually done so. Plus, it'd take me a good couple hours. My time is worth $4.50 an hour, right? So I sucked it up and paid the $9 shipping, even though it physically hurt. Almost. Anyway, now I can do the stuff in the house I was planning to do last night before I got sucked into the inescapable vortex of my sofa and guidos.

The second thing I paid for shipping for was just pure laziness, though. I coulda got that in person without much trouble. But I'm okay with that.

2.) What do you guys think of the concept of giving someone a charitable donation for a gift? You may remember my ex-sister-in-law sent me and D that incredibly awesome Omaha steak gift package from her and the kids (and I guess her husband, but he's kinda inconsequential) last year. I was really surprised because we have not seen them for awhile--the kids are away at school, living their lives, and when they are home, they're busy, so it's understandable--though we email occasionally or send cards, etc. And I'm kinda of the opinion that now the kids are all grown up, we could cut out the gifting altogether. But it was a really generous thing to do and we did enjoy it.

So I'm thinking I should send her family something from us this year. But what? Then I was thinking maybe I could do one of those charitable donation things, like Oxfam America, where you can buy a poor family in Africa a goat for $50 or something. They're pretty Catholic, mostly (as far as I can tell) in the "good" way; my niece, especially, seems to be one of those earnest volunteer-to-help-the-downtrodden and save-the-world kind of young person. (Of course if she also pickets abortion clinics, I'm probably better off not knowing about it.) And when I did the walk for hunger, my s-i-l gave me a really generous donation.

But would it be like, okay, we gave you *meat* and you gave us this crappy charitable donation? Do people hate when other people do that? Maybe I should just send the kids a check. Sigh.

xoxo