Okay, here we go;
From my parents
- A Nikon Coolpix L830 camera (main present)(asked because I don't have my own decent camera and I have a number of trips and things to museums and such in the future, and I'm away from family so I can't borrow my dad's camera)
- A carry pack for said camera
- Guardians of the Galaxy BluRay
- Assassin's Creed: Unity for Xbox One
- Lounge pants (pyjamas)
- Socks
- A Borderlands T-Shirt (Strip the Flesh, Salt the Wound in a "Keep Calm and Carry On" style)
- A Borderlands Claptrap Gentleman Caller model
- An Xbox One rechargable battery pack and charger.
- History of A Song of Ice and Fire book
- 1,411 QI Facts book
- Pokemon Alpha Sapphire for 3DS
- "The Chase" Boardgame (kind of a joke present, we like our quiz gameshows)
- £15 iTunes voucher
- Nivea wash set
- Chocolate (Mars Selection Box, Ferrero Rocher, Chocolate Coins, A large chocolate Starbucks coin, other pieces)
- A Hot Chocolate Gift Set (Includes White Hot Chocolate and a nice mug to replace mine which I broke recently)
- Heroes The Complete Box Set
- Living Language: Dothraki - Learn to speak Game of Thrones Dothraki book + CD
- A Scarf and Winter gloves
- Shake'n'make Ice-cream set
- Build your own Bumblebee Transformers 3D puzzle
- Spectacle Cleaning & Repair Kit (Useful, my new glasses are notorious for the screws coming loose and falling out, with the lens)
- Other smaller little novelty items
From my Aunt/Uncle/Cousins
- A pack of Nivea Wash items
- A cheap novelty "Bullstuff button" - Makes quotes calling things Bullstuff when you press it
- £10, because she couldn't find anything else.
(I'm rather disappointed with these gifts. My Aunt & her family are on a good income. She wouldn't phone my mum to ask for gift ideass (she would've been told to get me Pokemon which I would've been happy with). She gives herself a budget of £30 to spend on each of my and my 2 brothers (her only nephews or neices). She gave less than £20 of actual items to two of us, and my elder brother had £30 of equal tat. Both of my cousins also work full or part-time on a decent wage, and neither were involved in buying anything.
They live in a city (Oxford) and have easy access to goods, of any quality. Both my cousins work at a Ralph Lauren shop, and my younger brother admits he likes their clothes. They both get them on sales and with employee discounts up to 25% off. They didn't even send him a pair of socks or a cheap shirt, which they have done before.
My mother sets up presents for my cousins from us, and gave £50-60 to each of them, there being only two of them. All of the items given were carefully chosen to suit them.
My Aunt has never really put any thought into gifts to us, her only biological family besides her children. This year was the worst effort she's ever put into it however. She has in fact only bought us gifts out of familial obligation. It would've been nicer if she'd just sent us £30, rather than purchase absolute crap. She's upset my mum quite a big over it.)
From my younger brother and his girlfriend (now fiancée)
- A nicely packed bag of chosen chocolates and sweets;
-- Orange Creme chocolates
-- Ferrero Rocher
-- Dolly mixture
It's been a really nice Christmas, ignoring the insult from my Aunt in her complete lack of care.
My brothers and parents have also all gotten really nice gifts too, and we've had a good time.
My younger brother has gotten engaged to his girlfriend (today), which isn't great news in our opinion, but is at least nice for them.
They're only 18 (my brother being 18 and 1 month), both at College (highschool), and both with only a part-time job at her mother's tea-shop.
And they've only been going out for about 9-10 months.
It's a little rushed, and kinda silly, since they don't have plans to get married for some time soon. We'd rather they didn't get engaged, since it's a bit of a distraction from their studies, and my brother really does need to focus on his studies, and he's not a great student and he needs to study in order to get to where he wants to go (becoming an actor). Both are budding and, if I may say so, talented actors with a passion for Shakespeare and Stage theatre (My brother proposed via a message of a sonnet and writing in a gift of a complete works of shakespeare he gave to her).
So overall, it's been an unusual Christmas with it's ups and downs.
But I've absolutely loved being back home, and getting away from a lot of people at uni. And also not having to cook for myself.
