Christmas

We had a great Christmas. Everyone did a pretty good job of giving what I like to refer to as "a crapless Christmas." This means not using little cheap junk to fill in when you couldn't think of anything else to buy. One of our well-meaning family members grabs on to the idea that you like something, then runs with it for the next 10 years. I am not kidding. The problem is that she buys a whole bunch of things centered around that interest, then doles them out over many years. By the time eveyone's tastes have changed, they've stopped collecting a certain item, or they just really don't want any more of that particular item. My husband stopped collecting a certain item years ago (and never really wanted to collect little statues of the thing--just enjoyed taking pictures of this item, visiting them when on vacation, etc.) Yet the family member is still going strong and giving him at least one of these items each year. This year it was a candle made in China and we put it directly in the donation box when we got home. Don't mean to sound ungrateful but there's no room for it and we're concerned about polluting our home with lead.