Doschicos, that’s awesome.
Done with S gifts. Besides the AAA membership, I got him a bottle of Tuscan EVOO and one from Portugal, a Mission Fig balsamic vinegar and a jar of variety of Spanish olives. I started looking for a nice pot or pan, but I really don’t know what he has or doesn’t have. Then I remember talking to him a few months ago about a Spiralizer and he said he’d like one, so I bought that instead.
Glad to be done.
I made a quilt for my partner in his college colors.
My daughter lives in Chicago, on the top floor of a 4 floor building and those stairs get higher every time she buys cat food or big boxes of cat litter, so I ordered her one of these: (I got the regular one with the removable bag)
https://upcart.com
They have the best customer service I’ve ever encountered, bar none and that cart can carry everything from groceries to an air conditioner up and down stairs with one hand! We also got her new Uggs & clothes. Youngest son got clothes that he wanted & a new dopp kit. The eldest son got a new personalized, travel organizer and some clothes. All of them got the usual PJs and slippers too!
Went a bit crazy in Ikea and got my wife some new knives that she wanted (!) along with a new sharpener, spice jars and racks too. Some books, and a pair of hiking boots in a great eggplant color finished off her gifts!
I still have a few more small things to get…Ugh!
That cart looks pretty good.
Dang I wish I had known about that when I lived on the top floor of my apt building without an elevator
Thanks for sharing that upcart… might be a great option for my mom!
Update on mom meets VR: she didn’t cry but she is having a ball showing me all the places in England that she used to go to including the haunted pub she used to live in. (Well she lived over it. Her grandparents owned it.) She’s shown me a lot of her family’s houses and where people got married and all that. She is very much enjoying it 
@Mezzo’sMama - we got an Upcart late last winter when we moved. We live on a second floor walk-up condo building. Actually from the street level to the landing that takes you inside the building, then from inside the building up to our unit is 34 steps. We use it about once a month or so when we do a major grocery shopping like at Costco. It is awesome, but don’t get too tempted to put more weight than they suggest! You start piling stuff up, thinking, “I’ll just add this, and that, to make my trip up the steps easier,” and before you know it, one of the front brackets collapses. It’s easy to snap back on, but it’s definitely telling you too much weight. I’d also recommend the bag attachment that comes with it.
OK, my massage therapist that I used to see, sold this contraption to my personal trainer, and after using it a while, he is loaning it to me as I’m going through some PT and intense chiropractic work. And oh, dear god… we just used it and it was amazing!
https://www.amazon.com/Rejuvenator-Professional-Therapeutic-Massager-Attachments/dp/B013NH4T3U
I’m generally adverse to gadgets that try to replicate body work that is generally done better by a real person, but this was the real deal. I had to stop after ten minutes on my back, as I’m getting a real massage tomorrow and don’t want to be too sore going into it. I think when this product first hit the market, it went for around $300; the MT sold it used to my trainer for $75 because her clients don’t want her using a machine - they want her using her hands, which I completely understand. I don’t want to pay for someone to use a big machine on me when I’m having body work done. So if anyone knows anyone who has some ‘difficult’ body parts that could use some coaxing by something that replicates massage, I’d highly recommend this.
@teriwtt= I got her the bag, the straps and the bungee cords along with the Upcart! She’s used it to haul an air conditioner down to the ground floor and to haul big loads from Costco and Target all the way upstairs. Cases of cat food and cat litter mostly…She likes that it folds down to take on the train or can be put in the bag and carried.
@Mezzo’sMama - when we bought it a year ago (it was on backorder when I first found it), the bag was not included. Is it now included? And yes, it folds down nicely - we keep it in our garage, which really has no storage.
@teriwtt - No, it wasn’t included, but they had a “CyberWeek Special” with the bag, straps, bungees , carrying bag and free shipping. The company has the most amazing customer service- package showed up in 36 hours, but minus the bungee cords, which they shipped out specially again. They answered promptly, within minutes, to my inquires, even in the evening too!
Happy to say the gifts to my son’s girlfriend seemed to be a hit. I got her two books - the first of the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries. They are set in Regency England and always feature some bit of history, also a bit of romance. Fun and she hadn’t read them. I also got her a book on the NYC grid. She’s interested in the history of urbanisma and took a course on maps. It turned out one of the chapters was written by someone she’s been in touch with for her own research. Finally I got her some leather gloves. They fit fine - and amazingly her own gloves had died the day before. DH got her a pair of socks with Westies. They arrived within 24 hours - after he asked her what her favorite dog was, and so in time for Christmas!
She got me great books too. I’d been saying I really wished I knew more about Indian history since I’ve been reading A Suitable Boy which takes place just after the partition. She got me a history and also another novel she enjoyed that covers the same time period.
The food gifts were a hit, their eyes lit up. Some treats they can cook, some dishes I made, per what each likes, but the sort they wouldn’t make from scratch. All with my new handy-dandy seal-a-meal.
S loved the gift of AAA! I think it was his favorite gift.
I renew our kids AAA for our peace of mind–both drive aging cars and I want them to have no hesitation having them towed. D has had her car towed several times already.
My daughter is in love with her new ukuehle (however you spell it).
I think I was successful, for my son I bought some of the Learning Company music lectures on dvd, my son loves them, and for my wife I got her a highly rated juicer:). I think my wife loved my funny gift, complete collection of ABBA albums on vinyl:)
Ooh, one of mine has a ukulele and loves it. Whodathunk?