I also have found that I don't always remember to put stuff that I want on the list. I know that I've spent a little while today just trying to remember some of the items that I know I wanted to put on the list but which I have obviously forgotten. I know that if people could figure those items out, they would make better gifts than nearly anything else on the list.
I do, however, prefer receiving a gift over cash, as I tend to just put cash towards mundane bills. In fact, the Christmas money I received from last year almost exclusively went to one of my daughter's spring semester books and fees.
Looking back over this entry, it seems extremely self-serving. While it was the nature of the topic of this post, I didn't want to imply that I am overly selfish ... especially if it means I get fewer gifts.