all wrapped up

well, i've done my celebrating and eating (and more eating) and taken my little sabbatical from checking websites and social networks that really shouldn't be a part of anybody's christmas celebrations, so i thought i would pop back in to share a little of how my holidays were constructed

my brother has already revealed his intentions of never paying for wrapping paper ever again, and he supplied me and my girlfriend with some wonderful presents this year, including a magnetic black knight who now adorns our fridge (in four pieces)

of course, it is the giving that is more important than the receiving, and i think that i managed to undertake all of my christmas shopping without breaking the bank (if you ignore the bundles of money that we must have spent stocking up our food and drinks cupboards in preperation, which still remain, for the most part, well stocked)

this has meant that i have been in and out of charity shops and picked up a number of good quality bits and pieces in order to keep costs down, not only that, but i had a part in handmaking a gift and a couple of soft toys that were given as presents, not only has this given me pleasure to do, but it means that these presents were unique and thoughtful and were appreciated as such

and for members of my family, that i tend to only see once a year and do not really have a great insight into their tastes and preferences, i would be a fool for spending a fortune on shit that they may not even like and may end up given to charity.

so instead i go straight to the charity shop with the intention that if they really are not keen on it, the charity shop will have benefited twice

the board games went down well one year, as did the books that i bought (well, i presume so from their reactions anyway)

this was was perhaps not quite so successful.

it seemed a natural progression to buy them all CDs.

like i've said, i do not know their tastes and preferences, so i instead searched high and low for some music that i would like to recommend and perhaps turn them onto.

by now, my cousin's Bowie loving husband will have opened his Robbie Williams CD.

my cousins seemed thoroughly uncertain of Artful Dodger's All About The Stragglers and George Martin's In My Life collection of Beatles covers

Artful Dodger Mini Mix :)

and i'm not even sure my aunty and uncle even thanked me their respective presents of Macy Gray's On How Life Is and Dashboard Confessional's Places You Have Come To Fear The Most

after taking out the CD and perusing the inlay booklet, he still seemed none the wiser (and no more grateful)

he did mumble a little while later that it was a shame that he did not have a dashboard to get it working on....


oh dear, better luck next year i guess...