Talk about a random topic for the blog, huh? The other day I was recharging some batteries for my Nintendo Wii-mote, toothbrush, and wireless mouse and I thought to myself, “You know, this battery recharger and these rechargeable batteries are pretty damn handy.” And that got me to thinking about how I came into possession of the batteries and recharger. It turns out that they were a Christmas gift from my Mom a few years ago and I’ve been using them at least once each month since then.

So that had me thinking about some of the best Christmas gifts that I’ve received in the last few years. I’m not going to go through the trouble of defining what “best” is for this blog entry, but you’ll get the picture as I go on. “Best” probably has something to do with the utility of an gift, but I’m not defining the word.

The rechargeable batteries and recharger are a very handy gift and one that I use every month. What I also like about this gift is that it saves me a ton of money since I happen to have a bunch of electrical items that use batteries. With rechargeable batteries and a recharger ready to go, I really don’t have to purchase batteries any more. It’s great!

My Mom gave me a Fossil watch a few years ago and I love it. Not only do I love it, but I’m constantly getting complimented on the watch with everyone saying that its boxy style not only fits my wrist, but matches my clothing style, too. I really like that watch and it’s probably the best one that I’ve ever owned in terms of quality, too.

One of the girls that I work with gave me a green striped tie last year and I really like it for a few reasons. First, it’s a quality silk tie and it was the first green tie that I added to my collection. For a guy whose favorite color is green, you’d think I’d have more green ties, right? Second, the tie goes well with my black dress shirts, white dress shirts, and yellow dress shirts so I get a lot of use out of it. Being able to wear the tie with a variety of different shirts and styles definitely adds to its utility factor!

Last year or the year before (I can’t remember), my younger brother gave me a small shop vacuum. Now, I haven’t had many opportunities to use the shop vac, but I did fire it up a few times and I have a bunch of projects that really do require the use of the shop vac in order to be completed. For example, the trunk of my Honda Civic is packed with little bits and pieces of “stuff” that you can’t really pick up and take out (it’s a long story – we’re talking piles of rusty nuts and bolts and pins and pebbles and all of that type of little stuff). When I get a chance to finally clean out that trunk, I won’t be able to get the job completed without the shop vac. Plus, I always wanted a shop vac when I was in college – and now I have one.

Last year my older brother and his fiancée gave me a new leather wallet with my initials engraved on it. This one’s interesting because I was shopping for a new wallet right before last Christmas and I really couldn’t find one that I liked (I’m partial to the Fossil brand and I didn’t see anything that I liked in their lineup at the time). However, getting a personalized wallet from my brother and future sister-in-law was a great way to take an otherwise simple decision out of my hands (because I would have unnecessarily agonized over it). And the wallet is pretty durable and stylish, too!

A few years ago my Mom picked up a Black & Decker toolbox for me and it’s another one of those items that I use regularly. As I’ve begun to build up a small tool collection, now I have a place to store everything. Any guy living on his own in a post-collegiate/post-graduate school atmosphere can tell you that he probably has a bunch of tools in a bunch of different places. Well, with the toolbox (which I dip into at least once each month, if not more) I have all of my stuff in one easy to access convenient spot.

And I can’t forget the wireless presenter that my Mom gave me a few years ago. If you’re wondering what that is, it’s more commonly known as a “clicker” for when you’re showing PowerPoint presentations to groups. So as you might imagine, I use this clicker twice a week when I’m teaching my classes. It’s great and allows me to pace the room while I teach.

It’s hard to say that some of the other gifts that I’ve picked up over the recent years aren’t among the “best.” For example, one of the senior staffers at my office last year gave me a handy little screwdriver kit and I’ve probably used it ten times in the last two months while a buddy of mine is borrowing my electric screwdriver. Also, my Mom is good for picking up some books for me each year and I absolutely love reading through them (though I haven’t gotten through as many in the last year as I planned). I also pick up a few gift cards each year and who doesn’t love being able to use those gift cards to pick out their own “stuff” from the stores?

Anyway, now that I have this thought out of my head I guess it’s time to start building my Christmas list for 2010… 🙂