I realize that gift-giving tends to be one of those "to each his own" type of situations, but in my family the tradition has long been to spend more time thinking about an appropriate gift than to spend money. (We don't go for the "flashy, impress-me" gifts. Frankly, most of us, our interests are outside of that realm - for me, for example: give me a book I haven't read yet or a couple 50-g skeins of sock yarn and I'm happy).

I admit a little dismay, hearing the man from Overstock.com interviewed, when he said that a person could "complete the gift shopping for a family of five in 15 minutes." That doesn't seem to be the point to me - buying some anonymous "Woman over 30" gift or "teenager" gift and knocking it out as fast as possible.

I've received a few "anonyomous" gifts over the years and will petulantly admit they are not as fun as a gift that's picked out with the recipient specifically in mind.

Lynn linked to a list of 101 Christmas gifts under $10. (Though I think some of those, like the nightshirt, might exceed $10 for some people). Still, they are fairly simple nice ideas - a lot of them, like the gourmet coffee or the muffin mixes, being consumables, and therefore something not needing to be stored. Some of them come from vintage shops (always a plus). And some of them you make yourself. (The book of, um, "Naughty" coupons. Though you'd have to be very sure that the recipient would be amused by that and not too embarrassed...probably not the ideal gift for a spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend if you do the big, extended-family gift-opening thing)

Oh, and on another note: I think I am going to wait until tomorrow to deal with the dishwasher issue. I have 20 some ecology papers coming in that will demand my time and concentration for grading, and I think being concerned about whether I bought the "right" model or if I spent too much will eat too much into my concentration for grading them.