what did everybody get?

[SDragon]

turin, in english-- or at least, in america-- we call those gift certificates. hope your party was fun!

kindling, as a non-smoker who enjoys lighters, my advice is this: if its a nice lighter, treat it as if you got a nice trinket. if its a cruddy disposable, be glad they didnt spend much on something youll never use.

[Velox]

The Invader Zim DVD Boxed set, and Oddworld: Stanger's Wrath. It's kinda funny, I usually buy more gifts for myself in a normal month than I get on Christmas. I'll chalk that up to having a job and the lack of girlfriend to spend money on. Hooray for video games.

[Darkxarth]

I got two DVDs (Duke and the Great Pie War, Veggietales, and Hudson Hawk, starring Bruce Willis), the last book in one Piers Anthony's series (haven't read any of the first six), the sequel to a book written by Donald Westlake (which I haven't read, but are both probably good since I like other things he writes), a Young James Bond book (I enjoy those kinds of books, they're very light, and can be picked up and set down without remorse), generic gift #1 (from three different sets of grandparents), a gift card to Books-a-Million, two little gift cards to Best Buy, a used copy of Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1), and an iPod Nano.  I don't know how much I'll use the iPod, but since no one had any idea what I wanted for Christmas (I didn't either) I can't complain.

Now, the last few things I got are very odd.  I will endeavor to explain why I got them in a moment; they are an extension cord holder, two small magnifying glasses, a tube of Fraise Lip Gloss, and an inexpensive wristwatch.  Now, you can open the button below, or you can content yourself with the fact that I got Strawberry Lip Gloss for Christmas, and make up your own explanation, your choice.

[spoiler=Long, Involved Explanation]My Mom and Dad are divorced, have been since I was small, so I would have two separate Christmas' right?  Well, that would be the case but my Mom's parents are also divorced, meaning I have two sets of grandparents on my Mom's side, and one set on my Dad's side.  That in and of itself isn't maybe as odd as I might think.  It means I usually spend Christmas Eve at one grandparents' house, Christmas morning at home, and Christmas evening at another grandparents'.  We used to spend the 23rd at another grandparents' but that sort of fell apart a few years ago, and now they just stop by the week before Christmas with cards and wish us all a Merry Christmas.  Anyway, that maybe isn't so strange, my Mom's parents/stepparents live relatively close, one set is 5-10 minutes away, the other is 30-40 minutes away.  Not a problem. My Dad's parents, however, live 6 1/2 hours away.  Slightly more problematic.  However, we usually leave at noon on Christmas Day and get there at 7:30ish (they're an hour ahead, stupid Indiana).  Now, this year we decided to go up there before Christmas, it was the only time the whole family could get together.  This is because my Dad has 4 sisters.  One older sister, a twin sister, and two younger sisters (also twins).  His older sister has 5 kids, 4 boys (3 girlfriends, 1 boyfriend) and 1 girl (who also has a boyfriend).  His twin has 6 kids, 5 boys (3 wives, 2 girlfriends, and one granddaughter) and 1 girl (1 boyfriend).  His younger sisters have, together, 3 boys (2 girlfriends) and 3 girls (1 husband, 1 boyfriend).  Now, even though not everyone showed up, and not quite everyone brought their boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife, there were still over 30 people there at once.  My grandparents knew this would be the case (they have a big house, luckily) so they devised a new way to give everyone presents.  They had three plastic boxes, each filled with an assortment of green, white, and red gifts.  Green gifts were for girls, red gifts were for boys, and white gifts were for either gender.  Everyone got a plastic bag with his/her name on it, and we formed a circle (from the living room, through the den, through the kitchen, and back to the living room) in reverse alphabetical order of first names.  I was 3rd from the end.  Anyway, we all started marching, aunts, uncles, cousins (and their respective other halves), my Dad, and me.  The deal was, as we passed the boxes, we would take 1 present, (whichever color we wanted) and move on.  Well, by the time I got there, the first box was less than halfway full, but I managed to find a red present (the extension cord holder I discovered later).  It continued and I ended up with two more white gifts.  Anyway, no one had opened them yet, and our grandparents said we could trade, but it had to be before we opened them.  I had something that felt like a minature ladder (the cord holder), a bag of what I was sure was candy (I don't eat much candy), and something relatively flat that I was intent on keeping.  I managed to trade my cousin the bag of candy (which I was sure it was) for a little gift that looked like a diploma or something.  The gift was white (supposed to be for either, remember), however it turned out to be a tube of Strawberry Fraise Lip Gloss.  Not even lip balm or chapstick, it said Lip Gloss.  Androgynous my butt.  Anyway, the flat package turned out to be two magnifying glasses, and I had the extension cord holder.  My Dad gave me the watch he got in one of his red packages (he doesn't wear watches, apparently).  That's how I ended up with Lip Gloss, an extension cord holder (my Man-gift), two magnifying glasses, and a wristwatch.

In an unrelated note, I am now crafting a laser gun out of two magnifying glasses, an orange ladder-like object, and some duct tape.[/spoiler]

[So-Keher]

a brand-new macbook with intel core-duo and 1GB ram
thats about all worth mentioning, it pretty much trumped my entire christmas budget lol

[SDragon]

SB, i had two possible explainations in mind, one of which was completely different then what you said, and the other was almost exactly like what you said, except for being considerabley less long-winded...

[Soup Nazi]

I got candy, and ugly sweater, a winter hat, and a globe. I think my cat made out better...he's still playing with the little toy mice somebody got him. Oh, but somebody at work got me a really nice watch...I think he wants to jump my bones though...

I also got a hang-over, hit on obsessively by my sister's mother-in-law while her husband scowled at me (that was both awkward and fun), and I got to smoke people in Madden Football.

I bought people really nice stuff though, like a Wii, a DVD player, a remote car starter, a nice bottle of scotch, and a bunch of $100.00 gift cards to places they really enjoy (like Best Buy, Borders, and Lord and Taylor). I also bought everybody I know a $20.00 gift card to Dunkin Donuts, because who can't appreciate that? I won the annual popularity contest.

-Peace-

[Sarandosil]

A set of towels and a cheap swiss army knife knockoff :p

Wasn't expecting anything at all, so that came as a surprise. It's a nice towel set too.

[Elven Doritos]

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Gamecube, iPod Nano, and a bunch of graphic novels, among other things.

I managed to snag a copy of Absolute Sandman. You can never takes it from us, my precious.

[Captain Obvious]

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Gamecube, iPod Nano, and a bunch of graphic novels, among other things.

I managed to snag a copy of Absolute Sandman. You can never takes it from us, my precious.

Lucky! I wanted a nano and GN's, but got neither (bought some cheaply on boxing day though. gotta love 40% off). And i already have all the sandman trades so i can't justify buying the absolute to myself. I hate buying stuff twice.

[Elven Doritos]

Deluxe leatherbound glossy-paged goodness, digitally-recolored and with additional "director's cut"-styled content in the back.

I also got a regular version of DKR, Green Lantern Corps: Recharge, Flash: Rogue War, and Identity Crisis.

[Jharviss]

Ummm...

Together, my brother and I got a Nintendo Wii, two controllers and two memory cards, the Legend of Zelda, Madden 07, Red Steel, & Ramon's Rabid Rabbits.  Of course, it's staying home when I'm at college so I'd say he got the better end of the deal.

I also got two pairs of boxers, two pairs of socks, a steering wheel cover, two packs of gum, Pirates of the Caribean II and X-Men III on DVD, and, well, I think that's enough.  That was my Christmas - pretty damn good if you ask me.

[Fullmetal_Alchemist]

I didn't really get anything for christmas, but I had a great time looking up at the stars on the 24th, 25th, and New Year's Eve. I did get some D&D books. Magic of Incarnum and Heroes of Horror. Just what I wanted
Just wish I could have gotten my mother something, but she said "No, I don't want anything." I could tell she was lieing. The next copule of days later we had a fight. My mother kept saying "I didn't even get a thank you on christmas!"
Well, I just had to say "Well, I could have gotten you a gift, but you said NO!!" So I ran away and started to cry in my bedroom. Pretty mature for a 14 year old, no?

[Alexei]

Belated, but hey, I just joined.

I got an ungodly amount of chocolate, about a dozen books, some aftershaves, clothes. My girlfriend got me the Rocky DVD boxset (awesome). Of course, the best qualified person to buy gifts for me is, well, me. I bought myself an xbox 360 with five games.

It was an awesome day.

[Jharviss]

You bought yourself an XBox 360 with five games?  Wow, talk about the season for giving, eh?

[SA]

I got some DVDs, books, clothes, lots of cash (with which I will buy Untold Armies), and someone preordered Final Fantasy XII for me.  I spent about $350 on Christmas gifts, which is a lot when you're 17 and unemployed.