I would like to whip some potholders up for quick Christmas gifts. Thanks GM

I have three of these brothers. Christmas is always a fun time. (Not.) Does he have Netflix or Hulu Plus? You can give him several months of streaming video, if he likes to watch TV. A "luxury" brand of something he uses often? Like gourmet coffee or chocolate or nachos? If he has a favorite movie or TV show, something related to that? I knitted one brother a Doctor Who scarf last year and he loved it. Even though he's not into gadgets, what about one of those emergency radios? The ones with a flashlight and charging port, that run on batteries but can also be hand-cranked. Nearly everyone has power outages at some point, and needs some emergency gear. Two places I've found good gifts for my brothers: Restoration Hardware and ThinkGeek. Check out RH's gift section--look at the stocking stuffers. There are a lot of ideas there. ThinkGeek does have a lot of techy stuff, but there's some useful home gadgets there as well. In addition to a cat hammock that my cats just love. (Would he like a gift for the cats?) It's a good place for outside-the-box gifts. Granted, he is probably not going to want the Zombie Apocalypse Garden Gnomes, but they have a lot of iPhone and iPad accessories, desk/office stuff, and a lot of things related to coffee and bacon, which a lot of guys seem to like.

DH is the last minute shopper, and spends the season grumbling about the lost meaning of Christmas. So shopping is pitifully painful for him. He absolutely abhors it, and wants for nothing from anyone either. ( I know, Bah-Hum-bug) One year, he actually beamed as I was opening the 2 gifts he chose for me! I was so excited for his excitement for me, if that makes sense!!! All the family was gathered around because they all know that my poor DH just is NOT the shopping kinda guy. All eyes were on me as I opened the first gift. It was a seer-sucker bathrobe. That's not so bad, as we are in Florida and I run hot anyway, so don't need a warm, plush, heavy robe. But when I tried it on, something wasn't quite right. It took a few minutes for me to realize...this is a MAN's robe!!! No darts to accommodate the breasts, and no curve at the waist. The belt was hung at my butt-level!!! His response: "Well, the ladies robes were too cutesy-wootsie for you" (I beg your pardon?) Second gift, same Christmas! Perfume, all wrapped in the store paper.... Halston....."Por Homme" "I told them to wrap up the Halston...I thought it was for girls!" (Thanks, I was feeling pretty macho at this festive time of year.) Nevertheless, the greatest occurrence of that precise moment, was my dear brother, who howled with laughter at DH's foibles! We still look back and laugh at that one!!!! And understandably, after that catastrophic embarrassment, DH has reverted back to being bah-hum-bug...he just can't get it right! Poor thing! (I buy my own stuff and say Santa delivered it for me!)

Ours were the arms & legs toys. Although they are thinner than the booda, they weren't so thin that a normal dog would destroy as quickly as old gal. I did ask about the booda bone because they are very sturdy, and vet says no. I guess you have to make a judgment call as to whether your dog will gently chew the toy vs. my old gal who destroys anything you give her. I think his concern for me is that should old gal have an obstruction at any point, there would be no surgery option. We have found only 5 toys in 12 years that she hasn't destroyed. The Kongs are great, but there are only a couple of styles, we have balls that look like a world, a very hard rubber bone and the "chill pill" which was a Christmas present from my parents (they have 2 labs and know the potential for destruction by my old gal). The feed store where I buy their food will give me a call now and then when they want to try out a toy, the litmus test is old gal. LOL The real treat is a marrow bone, cooked 10 minutes in the microwave, marrow removed and rinsed. All three each get one during the summer months when they can be outside to chew on them. They are a real mess. The dogs go nuts. They know what they are when they are on the counter and then cooking in the microwave the group is circling. I will say they are very oily,and from the stains that they've made on my deck, I wouldn't want that on my carpet in the cold months. I also wouldn't give it to a puppy under 6 mos. since it may upset their young stomach. I have a great number of those old marrow bones in the "toy bin" that are now licked clean and they seem to be what my guys will pick out rather than a toy. There are times where I see chipping and at that point I take them away. I try to buy the thickest marrow bones offered at the meat department. If there are no really thick ones, I take a pass. I definitely don't keep bathroom or any other area rugs with fringe. They would be gone!