Santa brought a big lump of coal. I got stopped at airport immigration and barred from leaving the country because of a problem w my passport. I missed my flight to the US.
US Embassy is closed until Monday, so i won’t even be able to start sorting it out until then. 
H surprised me on the 23rd with tickets to the Sound of Music. He asked for the 2 best seats available. It was almost a romantic evening…He got the 2 best seats…they just were not together. But we got to meet for glass of wine during intermission 
Santa brought my daughter from the Midwest yesterday and is bringing my son from California tomorrow. (Santa runs the airlines, doesn’t he?)
I couldn’t ask for anything more.
@oldfort said
Good heavens, oldfort, do you mean at WORK?
I need to change professions. In my line of work, if you get a Christmas gift from a co-worker, it’s usually a candy cane. Not that this isn’t appreciated, but you can buy a lot of candy canes for the price of a cashmere sweater.
@GMTplus7, that’s lousy. Hope it’s sorted ASAP!
I got the Pebble Time watch I wanted (knew it was coming but love it all the same) and a bunch of diving stuff (real gift is a week off work with almost nothing hanging over my head, and 5 weeks with DS); DH got a sous vide thingy (not sure if he likes it or not, but that’s just him); DS got a surprise Kindle Fire tablet, a bunch of t-shirts he wanted, and gift cards for pizza and Steam games.
The hit of Christmas was the elaborate Zelda costume sis made (HOURS of detailed machine applique) for my niece.
Spouse and I don’t get each other gifts. I guess we are too practical or too cheap.
H gave me a gold rolo link bracelet with a monogrammed round disc charm. Love it - D must have assisted on that one. S and D gave me a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and my favorite perfume Caleche.
Back from our family celebration - we had a lovely evening. D used her new dishes and flatware (wedding gifts) and the meal was perfect. H got all these Snickers bars with slogans on them and we were laughing so hard. They say things like SPACEY, FORGETFUL, CONFUSED, and the one that H put in his own stocking was CURMUDGEON. Fun! I did get some dog walking boots. I love them!
Sending good wishes to you, GMTplus7. I hope it all gets straightened out quickly.
Our family gift for the last few years has been a vacation. Right now we’re in Charleston SC!
I got a pound of french chocolates, a flower pin/hair thing from Hermes (Im not sure what it is!), A book about Yitzak Rabin, and a book about the fed. And sunglasses. oh, and a cold. yay.
Wealthy but cheap sis gave me an old basket that I’d seen at her house, filled with almost expired ersatz "gourmet"items that she had culled from gift-baskets-past.H said: "hey, nice big basket of F. U. "
Well, now you have the perfect gift to give her next year, musicamusica, and with luck ALL the contents will be expired >:)
S gave me a beautiful outdoor wire/metal plant long stand that he found at a local resale shop - he restored it as his first DYI project ever! It’s adorable. New home for my herbs this summer!
Kids also gave me a turquoise/gold necklace and a membership to our local running club.
S’s fiance gave us a game - “Wits and Wages” - hope to play later!
My younger daughter got me a tow hitch cover for my car that says “Powered By Dragons” :D.
New hiking boots, a leaf blower (yep, I asked for that) & a gift card to my favorite store… to which I have already visited today & spent. Gotta love after Christmas sales. :-bd
Oldfart, is "Bobbi Brown lip gloss " blue?
^^Too soon, and uncool to speak ill of the dead.
Not blue, or I would be suspicious she bought it for herself.
No joke, today D2 encouraged me to get a coat she really liked because she is hoping I would wear it a few times and forget about it. I have been known to do that.
Donation to american refugee committee, donation to International refugee committee, donation to Doctors without borders, tickets to Star wars, bar of chocolate… It was a good haul. None of us needed or wanted stuff so we went with charity donations to some stellar organizations.
Lost account, you’re a guy, right? So you might not know that there is a makeup artist named Bobbi Brown. Not the same as Whitney Houston’s daughter.