Christmas Lists
I should be clear up front that I am *not* soliciting gifts with this list; rather, I'm just trying to have one spot where my family can go to find out what kinds of things are on my wish list (year-round, not just at Christmas time). The dilemma I've always had at birthdays and Christmas is that pretty much anything I wanted that was under $200 I'd already bought for myself, and anything over $200 was too expensive to request of anyone else. This year, however, I realized that there are a few lower-priced items that I always want or need but that I'm often too lazy to shop for myself, or that I buy in bulk once or twice a year, and as goofy as it sounds, I'd love to unwrap my favorite shampoo or a 12-pack of my favorite lip balm on Christmas morning.
So here's what's on my wish list this Christmas:
1. ~H2O+ Mint Ice Shampoo and Mint Ice Body Wash, both of which appear to be out of stock on the ~H20+ website at the moment. I bought sample sizes of these for my post-partum hospital stay and then got hooked. I stocked up when the ~H20+ store at the King of Prussia mall closed and they sold their entire stock at 50% off, but I'm now down to a single bottle of body wash in the closet.
2. Natural Ice Medicated Lip Protectant. I haven't been able to find this in any brick and mortar store in a couple years, so I usually order five or six of them when I order our replacement HEPA filters from drugstore.com. The site stopped carrying the filters about six months ago, however, and for some reason it feels weird to order just the lip balm, so I'm running low. Even if I weren't, however, I can never have enough of these; I have one in every coat pocket, in every bag and backpack, in the car, in the stroller, on my desk, and in my nightstand, and several of them usually run out at once.
3. Anything from my Amazon.com wishlist, especially the higher-priority items. (I just discovered that my favorite tea, for example, is available—in bargain bulk, no less—from Amazon, so there's no need to list it separately here.)
4. I can *always* use a Starbucks card (though I love the coffee, I already have a large stock of beans at home, so those I don't particularly need—it's more about the daily hot or iced drink, plus a Vanilla Milk for The Beaner). I also spend a ridiculous amount of money at Gap, Gap Body, and Baby Gap.
As for what The Beaner might like for Christmas, I've started an Amazon wish list for him, too. At the moment it mostly has books and Thomas trains on it; I'll add other things as I think of them, though I (and probably even he) would have no objections if he only received books for Christmas. He got a lot of great toys for his birthday, and I think it'll be a while before he tires of playing with any of them.
UPDATE: We all LOVE the battery-powered Thomas engine Al gave him for his birthday; it tows all the other wooden cars behind it (or pushes them in front) and makes for the cutest little train scene. Thomas is having trouble pulling all of the cars himself, however, so I've put a battery-powered James on his list. I've also added some sticker books, as he loves looking at and playing with the one sticker book he has now.
Al has made a couple Christmas requests, but as his list is quite short at the moment and I want to reserve the right of first purchase, I won't repeat what he's requested here. If he comes up with a longer list, I'll post it. :)
UPDATE: I'm still reluctant to post any of the gift ideas I have for Al. (He always claims he doesn't really know what he wants, so how could I possibly know? BECAUSE HE TELLS ME what he wants, all year long, and I write down what he says. I also check his nightstand for pages he's torn out of TIME magazine; sometimes they'll have reviews of books or products he's interested in on them. (The books I get from the library whenever I can, though.) These are his real wish lists: the one I keep track of, and the pile of pages torn out of TIME. The wish list he keeps on Amazon.com is essentially irrelevant because it's horribly out of date (he already has most of the items on it).
Here are a few hints, though: Al loves shopping at Home Depot and IKEA, and he's not a fan of knick knacks or clutter. He likes gadgets, but they have to be specific gadgets that he's taken a fancy to; you're better off not guessing here. He's a big fan of Bill Clinton's. He likes politics, sports, and travel. He's a Pittsburgh Steelers and Boston Red Sox fan. He's in need of a bike helmet (I'm not buying him one because he'd need to try it on to make sure it fit, but a gift card to a place that sells bike helmets, such as REI, would work). He loves watching television and DVDs, but at the moment he's got more DVDs than he can keep up with, so he's imposed a moratorium on buying any more.