It's time for a Christmas contest. The Winner(s) are in.

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

Very fun contest. I have 2, I hope that is okay.

My great-grandmother used to go to flea markets and buy packages of tube socks that came with 6 pairs to give as Christmas gifts. She would give 1 pair per grandson/great-grandson. The thing was, on that particular year (1988, I was 10) the package only had 5 socks in it. I was the lucky one who got 1 tube sock for Christmas. :lol: My great-grandmother is still alive, but not doing so well. Me and my family still joke about giving each a single tube sock for Christmas.

My step-grandmother (stepdads mother) gave me a blue flannel **** and pair of light brown corduroy pants for Christmas when I was 16 (1994). The flannel was cool, but the corduroys, not so much. I told her that I loved them. So the next year when I was 17 (1995), she got me the exact same blue flannel shirt and the exact same pair of light brown corduroy pants. :lol: Unfortunately, she passed last year, but me and my dad (I call my stepdad dad) get a kick out of telling that story.

I collect Cincinnati Reds and Cincinnati Bengals.

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

3 years ago ( I was 33 years old ) my mother gave me a 10 pack of blank VCR tapes from Dollar General for Christmas so that I could record LOST. Absolutely amazing how far behind the technology curve she was. I had a TIVO system already, and it was the only actual gift I received since adults in my family only do presents for the kids.

Thanks for letting me relive the horrid memory and for the contest!!


Yankees,Jaguars

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

Four years ago, when I was 13, I had for some reason mentioned to my dad that riding a unicycle would be cool. This was like during the summer. Christmas rolls around and, to my surprise, there was a unicycle beside the Christmas tree. My dad got it for me kind of as a gag gift. My family laughed at it, but I was stoked! I was actually more excited about this unicycle than I was when I got my truck when I turned 16. I took the time to learn how to ride the unicycle (it took me about a month), and I now consider it to be the best present I've ever received. I even rode it around my city today while wearing a Santa Claus hat.
It's cool to impress my friends with it, and the chicks dig it A LOT.
It's also first on my list of things that I plan to take with me to college next year.

I collect ATL Braves,Falcons,Hawks.

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

Great Contest! I'm new here and love the site so far.

My wife's Grandmother gave me a bolo tie a few years ago. I am not from Texas and I don't wear anything that remotely resembles a cowboy. The funny part was, she said she saw it and it reminded her of me. My wife said the look on my face was priceless.

Cardinals baseball, Rams

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

Only recently have I gotten gifts I actually use/enjoy. Not saying that to be rude but my family has never been good with the gift giving.

Worst easily has to be when I was like 16...my aunt gave me a set of Lincoln Logs. Instead of saying anything rude...I simply asked her how she came up with what to get me. She told me she knew I enjoyed sports but wasn't sure what to buy. So, hence the Lincoln Logs. How is that for freaking weird?

I think the cruelest present I ever got was a fishing pole. Long story short...my uncle used to pretty much hate me(literally). He enjoyed playing rude and unusual pranks on me and my cousins. Luckily he is divorced from my aunt so I no longer have to see him. Ever. In any case...I was like 10 and for some reason...I always liked that movie "A Christmas Story". I wanted a Red Rider BB gun sooo badly! I was really fascinated with the whole deal. So he started revving me up in August about it and kept on the rest of the year about how he would buy me one. My parents even said he had asked them if I could have it and they told him that they were okay with it as long as I didn't shoot it until we went to my grandmother's property. So I go to my grandmother's home on Christmas eve. There it is...a package almost the exact same size and shape. Even had a square look to it. I was so excited.

So he made a big deal of it to make me wait for last after everyone opened theirs. Now this was at a time when our entire family was doing one gift per person. They all drew names so everyone had their person to buy for. This was the only present(except for the ones my mom and dad got me) that I would be getting. And he hands it to me and says "Merry Christmas". I picked it out of his hands and it felt awful light but I didn't really know better. I ripped it open and there sat one of those kiddie fishing poles. The kind you can get at walmart for $11. And there was paper wadded up so it would give it a wider and more square looking shape in the wrapping paper. He put some work into it.

I remember even my dad thinking it was pretty crappy to do to a kid. The following Monday...my dad took me to Academy and bought me one after he got home from work.

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

I grew up near the ocean, and since I was a youngster have been a big fan of whales! Especially humpback and orcas, since they are around the area where I grew up. I ended up going fishing in Alaska each summer and every year I see something with whales more memorable than the last. My mom is always amazed at the stories and pictures I brought back. They are so majestic, they just are so awe inspiring, if you really think about their size, their beauty, their place on our earth! The Whale!

It just so happened that there was a very famous wordwork artist that was getting very close to retirement (death, more like it). He was always very expensive, and, because of his declining health was pretty much done wood sculpting. My mom, however spent a lot of time early one year trying to get him to do one last sculpture. A sculpture of her youngest son's passion. A sculpture that captures the essence of a young boy, growing into a man, becoming one with nature. One with the sea. For this artist, a chance to bring a full circle of life into the connection between her son, and the natural wonder of the mammal kingdom: the whale!

The old man, aware of his poor health assured my mother that it would be done. He could not work as much as he used to, but, in time, he would make sure it would be done for Christmas. For, this, his last piece, being one that means so much to my mother and me was just the reason why he became an artist at all.

Months passed, and on Christmas eve we get a knock on our door. The old man stands in the doorway, humbled and weak, hands my mom the box, and without so much of a gentle conversation, we knew we were in the presence of greatness...the end of an era of one of, in our area, anyways, the greatest artists we've ever known. Tears in our eyes as we watched the old man shuffle off...us holding that boxed treasure, savoring every second.

Christmas morning, I opened that treasure, and this is what we saw:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

For those of you not familiar, this is a QUAIL....obviously my mom needed to enunciate better! :lol:

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

gwynn - hilarious!! :lol:

predator - holy d-bag uncle, Batman!

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

Keep them coming guys----I have laughed out loud on several of these.

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

Didn't have an immediate gift come to mind....try not to be too critical of any gifts and think I've avoided total train-wreck gifts for the most part.....but saw one of the responses about the Big Ben gift and hating the Steelers.....

so I guess I have something like that. My future father-in-law got me a Notre Dame "Play like Champions Today" T-Shirt for Christmas. He's a huge ND fan and knows I can;t stand them.

Fav. teams - Boston Red Sox and Miami Dolphins.

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

gwynn5453l4u said:

I grew up near the ocean, and since I was a youngster have been a big fan of whales! Especially humpback and orcas, since they are around the area where I grew up. I ended up going fishing in Alaska each summer and every year I see something with whales more memorable than the last. My mom is always amazed at the stories and pictures I brought back. They are so majestic, they just are so awe inspiring, if you really think about their size, their beauty, their place on our earth! The Whale!

It just so happened that there was a very famous wordwork artist that was getting very close to retirement (death, more like it). He was always very expensive, and, because of his declining health was pretty much done wood sculpting. My mom, however spent a lot of time early one year trying to get him to do one last sculpture. A sculpture of her youngest son's passion. A sculpture that captures the essence of a young boy, growing into a man, becoming one with nature. One with the sea. For this artist, a chance to bring a full circle of life into the connection between her son, and the natural wonder of the mammal kingdom: the whale!

The old man, aware of his poor health assured my mother that it would be done. He could not work as much as he used to, but, in time, he would make sure it would be done for Christmas. For, this, his last piece, being one that means so much to my mother and me was just the reason why he became an artist at all.

Months passed, and on Christmas eve we get a knock on our door. The old man stands in the doorway, humbled and weak, hands my mom the box, and without so much of a gentle conversation, we knew we were in the presence of greatness...the end of an era of one of, in our area, anyways, the greatest artists we've ever known. Tears in our eyes as we watched the old man shuffle off...us holding that boxed treasure, savoring every second.

Christmas morning, I opened that treasure, and this is what we saw:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

For those of you not familiar, this is a QUAIL....obviously my mom needed to enunciate better! :lol:

Click to expand...

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Now that's a good Christmas story!

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

In 2008 I celebrated Christmas with my girlfriend's family. Her cousin got me a gift which was unexpected to begin with since I didn't get her one. Even more unexpected were the contents - lentils. Yes, the edible seed thing. There was no reason for it because I'm not a cook that needed it as an ingredient (I get by using a microwave haha) or even a vegetarian. I thanked her for it since I had nothing in return anyway, but there were plenty of laughs and confusion from the rest my girlfriend's family on the way home.

I collect the Mets, Yankees, Knicks, and Giants. Thanks for the contest!

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

Me being a big SF Giants fan, my 86 year old grandma decides to get me a Giants poster only one thing was wrong... It was a New York Giants poster hahahaha. ::facepalm::

Favorite Team... SF GIANTS!!!

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

from a local card shop owner
Trevor's college card...

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

In 2007 my staff at work had a $15 limit polianna and the person knew I liked football and gift cards to wherever........so I opened it and received ONE PACK of 2007 Score football cards-ALREADY OPENED and a gift card to dollar general that was noted as $25.....I was like wow, $25? THANKS!!!! Well I went to the dollar store just to buy some packs of cards and disposable pans for catering and personal use, and there was $8.62 balance on the card.....I couldn't believe it....I got the balance of that person's balance....
Ryan Howard
Chase Utley
Derek Jeter
Tom Brady
Peyton Manning
Barry Sanders
Jerry Rice.....thanks

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

this is a good one:

although i celebrate hannukah, still got presents ha. so i was about 13 and opening presents and opening, i get to a rather heavier one and metal, so whatever it is, it has to be good. i start to rip and boom, six pack of sunkist. im like =0000, as im like that my dad tell me to go get him a glass and pour him some. HAPPY HANNUKAH =-D

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

Gwynn- Sorry, but that brought a tear to my eye. PLEASE tell me you still have it! HILARIOUS!

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

Alright - the contest is officially closed. This has to be the most fun thread/contest I have ever posted. I literally have laughed out loud a dozen times. I am going to read them over once more and I will post the winner.

Thanks everyone and Merry Christmas.

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

There's no way I can top the quail story. That's some funny S#@$%^!

My odd gift was a few years back. My wife handed me a present that was very heavy. I ripped off the wrapping paper and it was an old shoebox. Inside the shoebox was a splitting maul. Yep, the triangular chunk of metal that you hammer into a log to split it. I still have no idea why she thought that was a good gift. We do live in a rural area and I do split wood but really? A chunk of metal for manual labor! Merry Christmas honey, get your rear outside and chop me some wood!!!

Tom

I know... contest over but still a funny story worth sharing. I love this thread.

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

Just thought of another one. We used to do a pirate gift exchange at work. $10 minimum. I kicked in a $20 bottle of wine. You could tell by the shape of the packages that several people had given wine too. I drew a number in the middle somewhere. I figured the safe thing to do was pick a bottle of wine but not my own. I opened the wrapping paper and it was a bottle of Charles Shaw from Trader Joe's. For those who are not familiar with this line of wine... it's nicknamed "Two Buck Chuck" because it used to be $1.99 a bottle. Needless to say, no one stole my bottle of Chuck!

My Christmas Miracle, I turned a $20 bottle of wine into a $2 bottle of wine.

Tom

Re: It's time for a Christmas contest.

First off thanks for the contest!!

Here is the story, I own a 1964 VW I fully restored it and finished in 2004. It ran great and I had no issues with it at all. Christmas in 2005 my in laws obviously knew about my car, decided to buy me what they though was a thoughtful gift. I opened that package and found 2 jackstands and jumper cables. Not only was that the worst Christmas gift I have ever received to top it all off Christmas is my birthday. When I opened them my mother in law was like we thought you could use these since your car is sooo old and we know old cars breakdown alot. And my father in law was like I used to have one and jack stands come in really handy. MY CAR WAS PRACTICALLY BRAND NEW even though it was a 64. Needless to say I still have not used my jumper cables or jackstands to work on my broken down old car. I use the jackstands when I change the oil but only because they are there. I can change the oil without them. My car runs just fine to this day.

I collect Dodgers....and again thanks for the contest!! Have a great Christmas!!