TOP TEN TOPICS: CHRISTMAS GIFTS GIVEN AND RECEIVED

I'm going to break the rules a bit, because I don't really know how to rate anything. I'll just list everything.

Given
For Brother #1) I gave him a skateboard video called "Inhabitants". It's pretty wicked, and he likes it.
For Brother #2) I was stumped for ideas, so I got him a bottle of ameretto (spelling? it's almond liquor)
For the Mother) Again, I was kind of stumped, I got her some fancy wine glasses.
For the Father) I got him a double disc Traveling Wilburys CD.
For a friends: 1) Pitched 60$ in to buy a wii. 2) Iron and Wine CD. 3) Random books for the rest.

Recieved
I was extremely spoiled this year:
Parents - Winter Jacket (I still have to pick this out)
Parents - Beatles Anthology (This is wicked, it's about 12 hours long.)
Brother - Button up flannel shirt
Brother #2 - Skateboard deck (the brand is "chocolate")
Parents - Heart of Gold DVD (Neil Young documentary)
Friend - Flaming lips CD and Mario Galaxy for the wii
Other friends - Some random books, including a bob dylan biography which is pretty cool.

Of course there was some other stuff like chocolates and random stocking stuffers. In the stocking I got some wicked dish towels, and a dust pan.

Since this is a top ten topic, I'll tell about a gift that had nothing to do with me. It was from my dad to my mother. My mom is in love with horses, always has been. She owns two horses, so my dad had one my moms friend (who is an amazing painter) paint my mom's two horses. It cost him 700 dollars or something like that. But he did good, my mom loved it so much she was actually in tears. She said "Oh, how nice..." and then broke down crying. That's the happiest I've ever seen anyone about a christmas present I think, so, #1!

What I got:

-A brand new PC I got days before christmas
-The Orange Box

What I gave:

My mom- some chocolate
My sister - an ipod
My friend-A copy of half life 2, from the extra copy in the orange box
My grandfather-A new hat
My 2 uncles-Some t-shirts

I couldn't get much for my family cause I was pitching in for this new PC :-[

Gave:
Invited close family and friends out to eat at Ruby Tuesdays, and I paid half the bill. My cousin didn't get around to giving people gifts so she put in the other 50%.

As for what I got:
-$50 gift card for Borders
-Fridays gift card for $25. Spent it already. The Ultimate Mudslide was delicious.
-I took my sisters old monitor because she got a new one and I replaced my even older one with it.
-$20 gift card for California pizza kitchen
-Watch
-Yellow shirt
-Blue sweater
-Black jacket

I think that's it. Can't do a top 5 for given as I only gave one. I didn't do top as I didn't know what to rate them.

The other day I got my mom a rather belated Christmas present. She picked out a watch she really liked at the mall and I bought it for her, so now I don't have to worry about feeling bad about that anymore.

I don't have ten things I'd put on my list. Christmas was on the lean side this year, since we were visiting my sister and brother in Alabama and wanted to carry everything back ourselves.

Given:

A Hello Kitty iPod case
I don't have a picture, but it's pretty rad if I do say so myself.

A Final Fantasy Tactics Trading Arts figure of Balthier
Balthier is the best character in Final Fantasy XII and he's basically Orlandeau with a gun in Final Fantasy Tactics. Also, he has a totally sexy voice. This figure does him justice.

Received:

Nintendo Wii
Putting aside all the doom and gloom about the future lineup of games, I'd still be pretty happy with the Virtual Console stuff. I've already purchased $30 worth of points as well as a Classic Controller!

Super Mario Galaxy
Oh man, this game is so awesome. Playing games on a new console after Christmas is always great, but getting to play Super Mario Galaxy after Christmas was nothing short of pure bliss. I think it was a perfect Christmas game. I never expected to love the soundtrack to a Mario game, but man. There are some pretty great songs in Super Mario Galaxy.

Phoenix Wright: Justice for All, Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations
I picked up the original Phoenix Wright shortly before all the hype really started going and I loved it, so naturally I wanted to get the second game when that came out. However, I was focusing on clearing my backlog, so I never got around to buying it. I wasn't even really conscious of the fact that the third game came out. With all the things I had to worry about recently (Christmas stuff, school stuff, money), I'd completely forgotten about getting the Phoenix Wright games. Other games ended up being higher on my priorities list, like Bioshock and Mass Effect, which I'm only now getting around to buying.

Enter my friend, who had moved away a few months ago. We don't keep in contact since he doesn't have an internet connection yet, but he does text my other friend. I guess he knew I'd never get around to picking up the second and third games, so he got me both for Christmas. I didn't expect him to get me anything at all, since he moved away. Money was very tight for him when he lived here, so his gifts were generally (and understandably) on the sparse side. The fact that he got me both of these games completely blew me away. I didn't feel like rating my gifts, but this would be number 1 simply because it was unexpected and thoughtful.