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IMPORTANT UPDATE: My contact form has not been sending me emails. Please comment on this post instead, and I will reply to you via email.
I’ll be putting together a holiday gift guide to be published during the first week of December. While it will include some of the things I purchase for my loved ones, I am also happy to include items I receive from companies to give out, as well. (There will be full disclosure for the products I receive in compliance with the FTC guidelines that take effect December 1.) My plan is to list each item with a picture, a brief description, and a mention of who I will be giving each gift to. This ensures that I’m keeping it personal. If I do receive anything for which I don’t have a suitable recipient, I will be donating it to Toys for Tots or a similar charitable program. I’ll describe the people I’m shopping for to see if your company can fulfill a gift-giving need!
The Gift Recipients
TJ
TJ is this blog’s namesake. He’s currently 4 years old, in preschool, and loving it. He is a very active little boy who is too smart for his own good. He has been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, and he is currently in both occupational therapy and physical therapy. One of his biggest challenges is that his left side is far weaker than his right side, and the two halves of his brain don’t work as well together as they should. TJ has sensory issues, as well. He hates tags in clothing, loud noises really bother him, and he is a pickier eater than I am. The only thing he’s asked Santa for this year is LEGOs, specifically Batman and Star Wars. I’m also on the hunt for a Netbook for him to use and a kids digital camera.
Tom
Tom is my wonderful husband, age 30. Like me, he’s a bit of a homebody and a geek. He’s far geekier than me. He loves Godzilla and Star Wars. He works in tech support for a VOIP company, and he has quite a collection of things to play with at work. His office is quite cool. He is an online DJ who loves tech gadgets. He is also the cook of the family. We love to go out to eat together, so restaurant gift certificates would alos be appreciated.
The Grandparents
There’s my mom, my dad, Tom’s mom, Tom’s dad, Tom’s stepmother, my two grandmas, and Tom’s grandma and grandpa. Four of them live within 15 minutes of us. The rest of them live a fair distance away. They all love photo trinkets with TJ’s picture on them. My mom washes her dishes by hand, despite her arthritis, and has forbidden me to buy her a dishwasher. There’s nothing saying I can’t give her a dishwasher if I don’t buy it, if Whirlpool or Kenmore or someone wants to offer one up. My parents and my mother-in-law see TJ a lot, but they rarely get to see their other grandkids, as our siblings live out of state. Airline vouchers, anyone?
Joe, Meghan, and Avery
My brother and his family live in Georgia. They’ve gone through a rough time. After dealing with both adult out of work for quite some time, Joe finally got a good job with New York Life as a financial advisor. This did not stop the bank from foreclosing on their house, so they had to find an apartment. They could use some home decor to spruce up their new place. Avery is a year and a half old, and she is a total girly girl who actually sighs with pleasure when she hugs the clothes in her closet. She also loves Nick Jr. They also have a cockapoo named Ruby.
Sean, Kathy, and Kyle
Tom’s brother and his family live in Michigan. Sean works as an engineer for GM’s hybrid division, so he’s always under a lot of stress and doesn’t get to spend too much time with his family. Kathy is a real type-A personality, but she’s had more than her fair share of health problems recently. She is hypoglycemic and has fibromyalgia. Some terrible drug interactions that came about due to other medical problems had made her unable to function properly for several months. Kyle is four years old, a few months older than TJ. He is a very bright boy who loves imaginative play. Sean has been trying to get him interested in golf.
Josh
My baby brother is going to college at SUNY Fredonia. He’s a big geek, too, and last I knew he was double majoring in English and Computer Science. I’m not sure if he’s more interested in system administration, database programming, or white hat hacking at this point. I honestly can’t remember. He’s a good kid who is a member of the service fraternity on campus. He’s a tech geek who loves gadgets. He’s built his own computers for several years now, and he lives on Woot.com. Sadly, as a poor college student, he rarely gets to buy the cool things he’s drooling over.
Jillian
My best friend is in her 30s like me. She has fibromyalgia and some other stuff going on that resulted in her graduating from college just this year. It is a terrible time to find work now as a recent college graduate. I’m trying to help her break into becoming a personal assistant/event planner. She makes amazing things out of chocolate, and her parties are always phenomenal. She could use cookware, chocolate making supplies, organizational tools, and other stuff to help her launch her business. She could also use a new plus-size business wardrobe. Her dog Gryffin is her baby.
Don, Laci, Gavin, and one on the way
Don is Tom’s best friend. They were each best man at each other’s weddings. Don is a former Marine turned civilian IT expert. I was Laci’s matron of honor at their wedding. She is currently pregnant with baby #2. She is also going to school and working for the AIDS Council. Gavin is a few months younger than TJ; he’ll be turning 4 in December. They don’t get nearly enough time together as a family, so anything that can help them enjoy their time at home with one another would be great.
Zack, Ali, and Roary
Our friends are a few years younger than us, and they just moved here from Arizona. Ali is a local, but Zack is a transplant. Ali loves creating her own SCA and period costumes. She is quite a talented seamstress. She is also a crunchy granola mama, and proud of it. Zack recently got accepted for a grant that allows him to start a new job training course with a guaranteed IT position at the end of it. He is an avid gamer of all varieties. He built his own custom gaming computer. He also works as a part-time editor for a publisher of role-playing games. He was our gamemaster for an awesome Dark Heresy campaign, which we’ll be resuming after Tom wraps up our Star Wars campaign. Gift certificates to buy gaming stuff would be awesome for him. Their daughter Roary is 3 years old and not currently in preschool. She is the proverbial princess – and sometimes dresses the part, since her mother is so talented at costuming.
Christina
In case you’d like to give me a gift that I can enjoy, well, I guess I wouldn’t turn it down! I’m 31 years old. I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Thankfully, I have a wonderful psychiatrist who has me on a helpful regimen of medication and talk therapy that keeps me mostly able to function. I’m still working on the organizational skills I need to run my copywriting business, Phenomenal Content. When people ask me what I want for Christmas, I honestly don’t know. I’ve recently won some jewelry, and I realized I don’t have any awesome accessories except what I’ve received as prizes. I really want to buy myself a new Dyson vacuum cleaner and re-carpet my home (original flooring) with carpet tiles. Frivolously, I am also trying to put together a costume for my Dark Heresy character Ophilia Midkiff. Yes, I am that big of a geek. I’ll have to craft many of the pieces, but I’m also looking for a kickin’ black corset made out of leather or PVC, some long black gloves that look like they could serve as armor, a black leather belt with a skull buckle, and some shiny black leggings that would look suitable with my armor. I also need a Nerf gun that I can convert into a replica bolt gun.
How to Get Your Product Included
If you would like your product to be included on my 2009 holiday gift guide, please leave a comment below. I will contact you with my mailing address and any other additional details you may need.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: My contact form has not been sending me emails. Please comment on this post instead, and I will reply to you via email.
That’s me: Christina Gleason. I’m a writer, editor, and disability advocate. I'm a multiply disabled autistic lady doing my best in this world built for abled people. I’m a geek for grammar, fantasy, and casual gaming. I hate vegetables. I cannot reliably speak, so I’ll happily conduct business over email or messaging instead.
