Christmas - Owings Mills,MD

Well, this is always a challenge for me.
My husband is a notorious "non shopper" yet every year, magically, beginning in November, he starts "picking up stuff that he needs" randomly.
Real examples so far in 2012:
"Oh--picked up some new socks today.."
"Found 2 Champion sweat shirts at Sears wen I stopped to get this cool tool I needed..."
????!!!!!
It makes it almost impossible for me to get anything for him not to mention all of the family members asking me what he wants or needs.
Sigh.
It has begun.
I have no idea. Maybe a gift card to the Harley-Davidson store.

Last year I gave my husband tickets to see one of our favorite comedians in San Francisco on New Year's Eve, he loved it and we had a blast!
I think experiences are even more fun than things :)

Around this time I start to "stalk" my husband and really watch what he does and figure out what he needs. Asking is just pointless.

This year he is getting (not all from me):
A cheese cutting board
Northface black jacket
New set of wine glasses
Nice quality duffle bag and toiletry bag set with monogram
Beer bottle opener iphone case (because I think its funny!)

He is incredibly hard to shop for.

I just got him a Chase Utley (phillies player) signed picture framed with the 2008 world series ball. (for our anniversary) Sooooo... for christmas i think socks and underwear are good ;)

What kind of things does he enjoy ??"
My guy unfortunately loves video games so I was thinking of the new Call of duty, I think that’s what it’s called and some new cordless ear phones, so when he plays online he loves to move around like he’s really there. Right now the ear phones that he’s using are broken and he duck taped back together...Kind of funny :)

He just bought a laptop - when he came home with it I said, "Merry Christmas!" I will still get him some small gifts though. I just bought him a 1 hour massage for $30 on a Groupon type site. He loves massages ever since we had one on our honeymoon. I am also getting him some accessories for his laptop. I found a cooling fan thingy for like $5 on a closeout site. Also, got him a funny coffee cup - he loves coffee mugs. A funny t-shirt to work out in. Hmmm, come to think of it, other than the massage, everything else is computer themed! Cool, I like themes! :)

I make sure my sons pick out something for their Dad....& my DH has them do the same for me. We rarely exchange gifts as a couple, preferring to focus on everyone else. Oh, but I do fill his stocking with lots of really good stuff.....

To be honest, I clicked on this to see if I could get some good ideas. I have asked some of the guys at my work for some suggestions since they are dads/husbands too. The most realistic answer I got was something made by the kids. Apparently Lowes has do it yourself kits for tool boxes/birdfeeders/etc that the kids can put together for Dad.

As for what we are going to get him....probably the same boring thing I do every year. A gift card for a boat rental to go fishing. And I will probably register him for the flounder tournament in April. It's boring, yes, but that's his "screw the world, I need a day for me" place to go hang out and de-stress.

I try to encourage him not to get me anything and most of the time we don't get each other anything. It's always from the kids and not each other. Unless I see something that is inexpensive that I know he wants/needs.

My husband is getting a years gold membership for xbox live, Battlefield 3, a new wallet, a new Christmas ornament... and that's about it ;) We're REALLY not doing much this year!!

Stealing the wine idea, by the way :)

I'm getting him personal training sessions at the gym (he asked for it!) and DVDs of This Old House tv home repair show. I usually end up getting him socks and underwear too and oddly enough he likes that too.

I really want to get him a nice handcrafted leather money clip/card holder. He is using a binder clip right now!

A table top Zen garden/sand thing. And a Bonsai plant.
He likes those things. Though he is of another culture.
It is peaceful for him.

I previously got him:
a nice cheese cutting board/knife set.
He likes those things too.
He loved it. From Amazon.
- A shirt for work
- Video games
- Photo T-shirt with the kids photo on it, from www.vistaprint.com or www.kodakgallery.com
- a Fondue pot
- specialty gourmet foods, in a basket I made.

1)seasons 1-4 of Breaking Bad on DVD (our favorite show, and he kept mentioning during this last season that this was the ONE show good enough to buy) has already been bought/paid for (season 4 was preordered, waiting for it to arrive)
other gifts that are up for consideration, but I haven't made up my mind yet on which one(s) I'll do this year:
2)a new ipod
3)a nice watch
4)a couple books (he loves to read but he's gone through all the non-chick books we own already)
5)a great date night "somewhere" (gotta look and see what's going on in December/January)
6)a bike (he's been mentioning going bike riding A LOT)---we live in a town that is famous for bike riding, but we don't have bikes yet.
7)good binoculars for bird watching and "playing" while on our nature walks in the preserve
8)gym membership or kung fu classes (he's been wanting to do these)