The Ask The Readers Holiday Gift Jam continues!At a loss/not feeling it this year?Let the TN readers help!

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Hey Sars,

I need some help from the readership.I need some new nightgowns for Christmas and I’d like to point the hubby to the right spot.But I have a laundry list a mile deep on this one (no pun intended).They have to be nightgowns/sleepshirts, they have to be 100% cotton, they have to have short sleeves and a v-neckline….and cover my behind.I’m a curvy girl, which adds to the mix.They can’t have buttons or go past my knees — the way I sleep (like a crazy person) means I get tangled up in something too long, and the buttons just bug.

I used to buy them at Nordstrom’s but they seem to be out of the nightgown business.I do not want PJ top-bottoms.

I need some jammies, just not…actual jammies

Dear Jam,

I’d suggest Lands’ End or L.L. Bean; Lands’ End offers different body cuts on various types of clothing, which addresses the curvy issue, and if a given sleepshirt is knee-length, I believe you can order it in a petite and save some inches that way.

Beyond that, I defer to the readers, as I can’t tolerate a nightie of any kind (the whole thing will be in my armpits 20 minutes after I get in bed).

Hi Sars,

I’m suffering gift-giving block, so I was pretty happy to see The Vine tackling it!

The holidays are actually a pretty delightful time to be around my family, and I am super-excited to be coming home to spend four weeks with them (I’m studying overseas). We all really get a kick out of gift-shopping for each other; presents tend to be thoughtful or hilarious rather than extravagant, so the giving and receiving is warm and funny and sweet. However, this year I’m having a tough time shopping for my older brother.

Often, I buy him books; we’ve got similar if not identical tastes, and I can usually tell from skimming a synopsis and a few pages if it’s something he’ll like, and for the last few books I gave him or told our parents to give him, he expressed enthusiastic enjoyment.

However, he joined the Army Reserves this past fall, and he’ll be home for just two weeks before heading back to resume another three months of training. From our letters and conversations over these past three months, I know he can’t have many books there with him, and anyway, he doesn’t have much time to read, so the size of his reading pile is increasing faster than he can get through them.

Further notes: he’s also married, and they have a baby daughter. He misses both his wife and kid a hell of a lot. He digs science fiction and politics: before he left he was finishing up a Dresden Files book, and another by a journalist who’d been living in Pakistan. He doesn’t own an iPod, so audiobooks are out. I really don’t want to fall into the trap of buying gifts for my brother and sister-in-law that are actually just veiled gifts for my niece. (She’s getting her own presents from me anyway, after all.)

So I am completely stumped on something thoughtful to give him. Or rather, I’ve got part of a gift (some locally-brewed beers from the British town where I’m living), but I want something to round it off.

Maybe some of your readers have ideas on good gifts for sibs in the military, for whom time and personal effects are limited? Because our gift-giving tends to be modest and I’ve got part of his already, I’m looking for something that’s around $25 or less.

Army Guy’s Peacenik Sister

Dear Peace,

Would your whole family consider pitching in on a Kindle?Then he just has the one thing; he can download whatever he likes and it won’t take up any more room.I believe he can read magazines on it as well.

A phone card is not the most original gift, but he’ll use it.He could probably also use socks; it sounds like the stereotypical crappy present, but my understanding is that our men and women in uniform go through socks like Kleenex — so you might consider investing in some fancier, longer-lasting socks from a store like REI Outfitters.(Or just fill a giant box with regular sweatsocks…or make a jokey pedi-kit with a callus file, clippers, and some scented lotion.)

A box of food he likes but can’t get on the base would also work.My family is weird about institutional food, in that we all love it, so my dad ate like a king in basic training, but shit on a shingle is not everyone’s favorite, so you could hook your brother up with a bunch of candy, sunflower seeds, fancy mustards, whatever he craves and can’t get where he is.

When you look back at your emails or phone calls from him and remember what complaints or jokes kept coming up, you’ll find some gift ideas there (his issued toolkit/knife keeps breaking; he needs the fingerless gloves with the mitten “hatch” that pops over the fingers; decent UV-rated sunglasses or an eyeglass strap).

Current/former military folk, please weigh in on necessities — or luxuries — that you’d have used and had room for.

Hi, Sars.

I’m trying to find a birthday/Christmas present for my boyfriend (his birthday is December 19th), and I’m stumped.

Some facts about him:

• 51 years old
• 4 kids, all boys, from 18-27 years old
• HUGE sports nut, particularly regarding the Baltimore Orioles, the Baltimore Ravens, and the University of Maryland Terrapins (we live near Baltimore, in case you couldn’t tell)
• LOVES the space program, NASA, etc.
• mild geek: he’s currently an IT manager and used to be a computer programmer, enjoys Star Trek and other sci-fi, yet denies being a geek
• enjoys the History channel and the various Discovery channels
• does NOT watch DVDs, despite the above-mentioned TV viewing habits; any DVD I’ve ever gotten him is still in its original plastic wrapping, all these years later
• does NOT enjoy reading, which kills me, but…I’m probably not going to make him a book lover at this point

I think I’ve done okay in the past, but I’m lost this year.The best gift I ever got him was last year — a boating and baseball doubleheader from Excitations, which included a two-hour sail on the Potomac and then tickets to a Washington Nationals game.Even though neither one of us is a Nationals fan, both of us are huge baseball fans (though I like the Yankees), and it was just a wonderful, romantic day.

I’ve checked out the offerings on www.excitations.com, www.xperiencedays.com, and www.cloud9living.com looking for another “experience” gift like that, but haven’t really found anything.All he tells me is, “Oh, you don’t need to get me anything,” which…not helpful, dude.

Any suggestions?

Stumped

Dear Stumped,

Dang, I was all set to suggest The Encyclopedia Shatnerica until you said he doesn’t like to read…but that still might make a good “leave it on the toilet tank” gift.

Pajama pants or a watch featuring his favorite sports team; a gift package or season-ticket mini-plan with a local minor-league team (less expensive, more customizable to include his kids or friends); ballpark tours or sports museums…you could go bonkers and plan a combo-Christmas-and-birthday trip package to Cooperstown, with B&B and travel all taken care of.   Or go really bonkers and send him to space camp — or at least put together a trip to the Space Coast in Florida for late winter.

Readers, any other thoughts?

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