Gift giving

I know I've been MIA and I apologize... life has been so busy!

As some of you may know, we got hit with a freak snowstorm a few days before Halloween. It was a lot of snow.

There are actually 2 cars in this picture, believe it or not. And since both have bald tires, we were pretty much stuck at home. So much for our night out.

But the snow definitely made me start thinking about Christmas and gift giving (already!)... and I decided that it was time to brief my family on how we would be handling the holidays and general gift giving from now on. I sent my closest family an email explaining about how we are trying to only support the purchase of previously owned items and how we don't get trash pick up so we would like to avoid anything coming into the home that creates any trash. This also includes wrapping paper, which generally is not recyclable. Not only that, but second hand items are cheaper!

Yesterday was my oldest son's 14th birthday (even though I'm not really old enough to have a child that age), and I simply wrapped his gifts in newspaper:

Why not? There is tons of it all around us and it's free and recyclable. And as they say, it's what's inside that counts.

As for the gift... well, I finally caved and decided it was time for my electronic device deprived teenager to have a little fun so I got him a sony PSP. I found it used on ebay and 2 used games to go with it. He was more than thrilled and could have cared less if there are a few little scratches on it. Not only that, but I probably saved $100 or so.

Anyhow, I'm sure that I will have much to share with you as we actually get closer to the gift giving season. And since the snow is melting and we are returning to fall again, I will put this thinking on hold for now.