Inspecting the mouth of a gift horse

One thing you should know about me, is that I love to give gifts. And not just any gifts, but super-duper-well-thought-out perfect gifts. Sometimes I make myself crazy trying to think of the perfect thing for the perfect person (it has literally kept me up nights before lost in thought). It's how I show you my love! It doesn't matter how much (within reason) or how little it costs; for me it's all about that smile on your face when you open it. Making sure to let you know just how much I care. This year (if I do say so myself) I think I really rocked it. I have several gifts I'm *really* excited about giving, the bogus part of which is, I can't post about them here since so many of you read my entries and will know what those things are! Nothing like ruining a good surprise. The one thing I can say, is that this year I'm a theme kind of girl, so expect your prezzies to capture a story. That, and I found uber awesome stocking stuffers for Brad, which are generally a really hard find for me. I'm putting a of lot time, effort, and a whole lot of myself into Molly's gift, and someone in the Zawacki family is going to get a very loose and silly interpretation of this year's required "Winter accessory" item. That's half the fun!

While I'm on the subject of gifts though, I wanted to throw out there some ideas for replacements as gifts. As I said, nothing excites me more than to find the perfect thing for the perfect person. BUT. I also believe we in general have too much "stuff" these days and should focus on doing more and having less. One thing my Mom's family has done for many, many years, is that instead of the adults exchanging secret Santa names or setting a price limit, we exchange family ornaments. So with 5 brothers and sisters, each family brings 6 ornaments (don't forget Grandma) and leaves with 5 very different ornaments (Grandma gets a free pass)! In the early years, all the ornaments were made by hand too, including the year after my grandfather passed away and the ornaments my Aunt Marcy made included dried flowers from his wake and his memorial card enclosed in a glass orb. I may not have been quite old enough to appreciate it fully then, but boy, do I see the significance and thought in that now. Plus, who doesn't love opening the ornament box every year, associating memories as you hang your favorites on the tree? Speaking of ornaments, check out a few of my very favorites below.

Giggling Santa, Birthday Ornament, Picture locket, and Roni-roo!

Another idea that I really love is the "adopt a family in need" gift. I worked for a company in my previous life (hehe) that would adopt the same family over Thanksgiving and the Holidays, and every employee would volunteer to bring food items for the family's holiday meal, gifts from the family's wish list or donate money so that gift certificates could be purchased for those items. I even got the pleasure of delivering those goods for a few years. It took me out of my comfort zone for sure, but made me feel really good about helping a family in need and smiling knowing that those kids in the family who had been through a really rough patch in life, would at least wake up to a happy Christmas.
So in the spirit of giving, I encourage you to think outside the box where your Holiday gifts are concerned. Re-think the unthinkable, the why does Johnny need another toy and the Uncle Phillip needs an electronic mug warmer because?? Especially this year in these tight economic times, sometimes the homemade gifts are the best ones. Make your loved ones coupon books, offer your time and talent, volunteer for an organization as a group, serve meals at a soup kitchen, even just spending time together with your loved ones talking about why you're thankful over a good meal. Whatever you choose, use your imagination and get out there and just DO it. I promise you'll feel rocking well into the New Year.