Your Christmas sounds A M A Z I N G ! Getting back together with family and the new additions.....wow...score! I'm so happy for you! You made new friends, got a little cash on the scratch off.....great gifts....great company.....your living a good life! I'm happy for you!

I don't get into the holidays anymore so it was an ordinary Saturday for me.

I did get gift cards from coworkers, chocolates, and peanut butter cookies.

So day was OK for me.

It was nice. DH, DD and I visited my dad in the morning. He's slowing down noticeably now, sleepier for more of the day. But he managed to wake up and really enjoy our company, and I'm pretty sure he still understands who we are. We have a little ring-toss game we play with him that gets his blood moving, stimulates his hand/eye coordination, etc. So that was good.

Later in the day we gathered with siblings/families for meal and present exchange. One of our fun activities there was everyone brought their favorite candy bar and secretly put it in a box. Then the box was opened and we all guessed who matched what candy bar. Silly but good cheap fun.

Ok.

Christmas Day is always a bummer for me because I love the season so much, when its over I get really down. I worked Christmas eve night, cooked all Christmas day and then went back to work. I already had gotten my presents: Cookies and ornaments, an inflatable buddy the elf for my car, a garden hand tool set,, a 50 dollar walmart gift card and a 25 dollar Starbucks gift card from various sources at work. My SO got me the ridiculously high priced foot massager that I have wanted for years and new tires for my car, but then he refused to open any of his presents because he wants to get me more stuff. Its so silly. I got exactly what I asked for. And I got it early so I am not sure why he feels that way. Whatever. I am not going to argue with him about that. He got some presents early too. I got him an iPad and a new bag to take to work and some clothes,all given before Christmas. I watched Christmas movies all night at work in a desperate grasp at holding on to the Christmas feeling. It was almost completely dead all night long, so I basically made a bunch of free money,since I barely had to do anything save show up and stay awake. Went walking after midnight while listening to Tim Burton read "A Christmas Carol" and now I am pouting because I miss Christmas already. My moms Christmas party is today and I did all the cooking for it but I am not really looking forward to it. Its never very festive.

Jasdip - did I read that ticket correctly? You won $10,000?

I helped my son and his fiancee move from his college apartment to his new apartment in the KC suburbs on Christmas Eve and then they spent the night at our house. He cooked breakfast Christmas morning and then we unwrapped presents and stockings. They left about 11:00 to go to her brother's house.

Then we went over to a friend's house and visited with his family in the afternoon. We had to do some cow herding to move our herd into a different pasture that still had some grass left for them to eat. The weather was in the 60s so we hung out by the pool and had some adult beverages and then grilled some KC Strip steaks and shrimp for dinner.

LoneJack.....NO, I wasn't the grand winner. I won $50.

We managed to get the pudding to Rome in one piece....

It was Christmas?? Just kidding. I stayed home and cleaned house. I have company coming after the first of the year. My house doesn't require a hazmat suit, but strange how bad it can get in 9 months, since Jody died. I haven't done any deep cleaning since then, but I have a week, and I think I can get it whipped into shape by then. I was going to go to Lufkin to eat. Went to a new Mexican restaurant with my friend that I made that likes thrift shops and eBay, and they were going to be open on Christmas day, and the food was really good, but any time you leave home, when you live out in the country, the day is basically shot. So decided to save my gasoline and just go next time I have to go to town to buy horse feed.

Jasdip - OK I see that now. There were 3 of the $50 spots. I thought the italics on the $10,000 meant you won that. I don't buy scratcher tickets for myself but I put $20 worth in each of my son's and his fiancee's stockings. She won $14 and he only won $1 so it was a net $25 loss. Last Christmas they won over $150 between them.

A few years ago my brother gave everyone a bunch lottery tickes. We had so much fun scratching off the different games. In the end, the fun was the prize! You’d think that we’d have a least a $5 winner, wouldn’t you?

The last five years or so have been years of changing traditions, and this year was no exception. I don’t mind a little change-up, and we kept the ones that my family really identifies with Christmas, but I miss some of the old and wonder what the new traditions will be. But in a good new one, DS#1’s gf joined us for Christmas Day brunch and gifts. She’s quite lovely, smart, and delightful, and I hope that continues. And i was glad to not be the only girl!

Amylou, an inflatable Buddy the Elf for the car? Like, life-sized to ride along in the passenger seat?? I would love that! Elf is our tradition to watch while we decorate the tree, I just love that movie. (My son tells me that Roger Ebert’s review says that Mary Steenburgen is the only actress who could accept her husband’s out-of-wedlock son into her home, and make you believe it.)

We rang handbells Christmas Eve, what a beautiful service. When the congregation sand ”Angels We Have Heard on High”, the ”gloria” brought tears down my cheeks. The choir, the acoustics, just made it so glorious and the unity touched me.

Movie count:

Elf, 3 times

Christmas in Connecticut, 4 times (and the short that comes with the DVD, Star in the Night) (one big reason to watch CiC: I love Liz’s apartment and John’s farmhouse)

It’s a Wonderful Life, 1 time (I found it streaming only once, and commented about that, so DS gave me the dvd on Christmas, and it has both the remastered version AND the colorized. And DH gave me a double-feature with the remastered version as well as Christmas in CT!)

Miscellaneous holiday movies 2 (you should have heard DS and DH giving the plot of every miscellaneous holiday movie ever made, based on the formula, they are a riot).

A Christmas Story, A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 0 times! I can’t believe it! Better get cracking on those today.

Family came to our house, just 4 people, and I was so thrilled to see them all.

I struggled with food prep as my oven isn't working so I was using the toaster oven to cook for 6, and it wasn't a perfect presentation.

Played Bird Bingo and Trouble with the grandkids. When they were younger, you had to remind them each time it was their turn. No more, they play fast now!

Grandson made fresh orange juice and guacamole. The dog opened his own gift, ripping the wrapping off to get the toy. We all laughed.

I got an air fryer as a gift and must now figure out how to work it.

I'm happy for everyone who had a good day, especially Jasdip, and Annie, sorry you were "down," but recovered. The holidays can be a rollercoaster.

I'm usually "busy bee," but after everyone left I just sat on the sofa and read.

I wish I had your Christmas. Not so good here after we lost power on the 23rd. It was just us, not the neighborhood. DH just had hernia surgery that day and was to take it easy for 2 weeks or he would tried to fix it himself. He had been waiting for 6 weeks in pain, so took the date close to Christmas. Didn't know we would a power outage too.

Called PG&E, our electric company, and they sent out someone to check it out that night. DH, who is a electrical engineer, told the guy what he thought it was because it happened before. Our neighbohood has buried wires 4ft deep. They are 50 years old and are in the bare earth, not in plastic pipes. Last time it was a break ìn the wire. They had to find it, dig 4ft down and splice it. Always happens during the rainy season when we get a lot of rain.

They needed a crew and special equipment, so made an appointment for next day, Dec 24th, 8-12AM. No show, so lots of phone calls back and forth. They promised to come out on Christmas. Because we had problems with power outages, 2 years ago we got a whole house generaator and had it piped directly to the propane tank. It works great and nice to have heat (30's at night), cook, watch TV. The only drawback is the cost of propane. DH figured we were spending $50 a day in propane cost.

To make a very long story short, the crew showed up at 7PM. Somehow they did a temporay fix because the meter showed one line was good and one was bad. So put the whole thing on the good line until a crew can come out and dig it up. DH explained the whole thing in great detail to me but I am not an electrical engineer so don't get it. I am just glad we have power and it is not costing us $50 a day.

And icing on the cake is I didn't get any Christmas gifts. Not even one. We exchange lists of what we want, but I couldn't think of anything. After 44 years I was hoping he would come up with something, but I should have known better.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Mine was the usual family Christmas with the cranks and cranky. Highly stressful and tiring, but OVER!!! I'm looking forward to flying home and seeing my friends on New Year's Day. That will be my true Christmas.

Wonderful...Grandsons are home for a few more days, so more hugging and laughing to come. :)

I am blessed. Hope everyone had a wonderful time, and is safe and well...and please be careful.

Jasdip, your Christmas sounds wonderful! Woohoo! on your lottery win👍🏻💲

I had a great time, too. It was my daughter, son-in-law, husband, pets and me. We had a lot of fun and plenty of food.🥰

I had a very nice day. Did as grand kids asked and walked in their door as the court house clock started to chime. That meant it was time to open gifts. had a nice light meal at around 11:30 and then came home (about 1pm) went back at 5pm for a nice dinner and as the snow(that started Chirstmas eve) and snowed all day started sticking on the road about7pm I left . got home just in timr bsfore It got to bad for me to drive. it is still snowing and we have about 6 inchs. It has been 90 some years for snow on Christmas day here, and this much snow is rare for us .I shall now just stay in my house and enjoy looking out the window at it falling from the sky.

I had Christmas eve with middle daughter and family. Christmas evening with oldest daughter and family. Youngest daughter was last week so saw them all just not together. Old traditions are about gone for good but new ones are taking their place and that's ok.

It was wonderful. Our 27 y/o daughter and her boyfriend are here from Dallas for two weeks, as they can still work remotely anywhere. No snow here as yet, but our mountains and many pine trees keep it scenic. We’ve spent the last few days together cooking, baking, laughing, talking and watching our favorite Christmas movies. BF’s mom (who lives just down the mountain from us), BF, and our daughter made everyone homemade tamales. And so, we had them, along with my homemade red chile sauce, Caesar salad, green chile rollups, and my homemade biscochito cookies for our semi-traditional New Mexican Christmas Eve dinner. My hubs made a Beef tenderloin with a wine reduction and juniper berry sauce for our Christmas dinner. Along with several side dishes, I made individual Winter-Spiced Molten Lava Cakes with rum and candied ginger-laced vanilla ice cream for our dessert. After dinner, we lit a fire in our family room fireplace and watched ”Home Alone 2”.

Today, the Day After Christmas is our carved-in-stone day to do absolutely nothing but relax around the tree . . . and, I’m doing a fine job of it (LOL)!

Lynn, lovely room.

It was our average Christmas. Too much food, gifts and wrapping paper all over the floor, laugher and family. I started packing up some Christmas decorations today, but I ain't going to do to much packing because I have the two grands while my daughter works. I'll get it done this week before we leave on Thursday.

The appetizers

This was taken after after a lot of it was cleaned up.

We had a very nice but trepidatious day as it was snowing-not the norm around here. It is hard to enjoy yourself when you are expecting the power to go out any moment and you have a rib roast in the oven which the generator will not support. The power outage held off till nine. Then it was no power and unusual cold-eek for the water pipes in the pumphouse. etc. We just did get the power back (knocking on wood here) So we have a ton of snow-very Christmasy but as grownups you dont get to enjoy it. And we had a slight propane leak at the tank yesterday-they say due to the unusual cold. Sigh. Today we were supposed to be taking gifts to the family meeting which we were not going inside for but that was out of the question with road conditions what they are. So it goes.

My Christmas is today. Spent all day cooking, baking and cleaning. I hurt everywhere. My daughter worked till late last night and had to go back in this morning. Around 1130 she told me she was dead. Poor thing. Hopefully her boyfriend will drive here. We were going to play games afterwards, but we may skip that this time.

My Christmas was boring, after 6 hours of undecorating, my husband slept from 3-7 and then back to sleep at 8 so I watched Back in time for dinner which I read about the boards. I did really enjoy that show.

Christmas was Great!!!....especially now that's it behind us ....... ;-)

Looking for to 2022 Being Good for We & You!

All's well that ends well. We had guests coming for dinner, and I was shocked to find that our small turkey was not completely thawed after 3 days in the fridge when I started meal prep. I managed to get that under control, and things went well. I am recovering from the kitchen marathon today, enjoying leftovers.

My Christmas day was good. The 3 of my children who live nearby came with their spouses and my one grandson for lunch. Then we exchanged gifts. I kept the lunch easy. I bought some ox roast and buns for sandwiches and made a raspberry topped cheesecake and pasta salad. My daughter and DIL brought sides too.

Tomorrow my son who lives 200 miles away is coming with his wife and 2 children. Everyone will be back for supper, which they are providing, and they will stay a couple days.

It was wonderful but got off to a shaky start. It was touch and go for awhile if I would be having any guests on Christmas Eve. I was imagining packing take out Italian seafood dinners for 3 families. Covid is racing through the high schoolers in my area and one of my granddaughters is no exception. Results of the Covid test came in positive on Christmas Eve morn. All my daughters and their families come to my home Christmas Eve afternoon, so it was a big uh oh. So after much back and forth, to the dismay of her son, daughter #1 decided that her family would stay home. I had some at home tests on hand so when daughter number 2 arrived, we opened the garage door and had a covid test tailgate. Her family including 2 teens tested negative, so in they came. Daughter #3 and her family tested at home and were fine. The Covid family picked up a generous care package and their stockings as well as the pajamas and cabin socks gifts. We all got a laugh when my ailing granddaughter asked that I include the book I got her. She knows me well and joked that she knew one of her gifts was a book. Apparently I am predictable. The cousins facetimed most of the day.

Today the weather was perfect for opening gifts on daughter #1' s deck. We had a good time. It was not our usual Christmas and I hope not to start a new tradition but we prevailed. Grateful for the resiliency of my daughters and grandchildren.

Thankfully, my granddaughter has very very mild cold symptoms and in normal times probably would not have paid them any mind. She has had a rough week. Wisdom teeth out last Friday, Covid symptoms beginning on Tuesday. In 50 years, she will have something to write about it in response to a most memorable Christmas thread.

We hosted Christmas for my family on the 24th. 30 people, so it was a houseful. I decided to change it up and not have a sitdown dinner. Instead we had appetizers and desserts—and plenty to drink. Everyone brought something and I had hot apps coming out every so often. It was a lot less work to prepare, and everone seemed to enjoy grazing. I was exhausted the next day—felt like I was run over by a reindeer—so thankfully we had a low key day planned. Everyone had been vaxed and boosted and I had masks available and hand sanitizer everywhere. Best part was seeing our two new family grandbabies together for the first time. They were so adorable and enjoyed playing with our furbaby.

This was/is one year that I hope never to experience again.

I had my Remicade infusion on the Thursday-23rd.(its for Crohns & RA)

It was a week later than usual due to my nurse having to have booked off for Covid reasons....so, I was in major agony with the RA...couldn't move to save myself.

Anyways, due to this newer variant passing thru, and my not being able to be vaccinated, our Christmas get togethers were cancelled.

It froze rain here all of the 25th and into the 26th, so, no one could have travelled anyways.

All in all, it was an awful day and not one I ever want to relive.

I'm sorry Ont-Gal, that you had a horrible day. After cooking and cleaning all day yesterday I ended up sore and then when we sat down to eat, I started having leg cramps. I apparently didn't drink much during the day and was dehydrated. I still managed to have a decent time, despite them. We played a few rounds of a card game after dinner. I'm still sore from all the work yesterday. Everyone took home leftovers, but I still have too much food to deal with. I'm going to freeze a lot of it but next year I'm going to do something else. I don't know what yet. It's too much work for this old lady.

Eh. It came and it went. No in-church Christmas Eve service this year again. At least my decorating made it seem more like the holidays.

We had a good Christmas. DD came home from med school for winter break, that made Christmas more cheerful.

Our almost-out-of-quarantine DS and family called to thank us for cards and gifts. (A nice check for DS and DIL, Santa Spending Money to be spent on others for both grands, plus our portion of costs for an iPad for DGD and a diving computer-thingy for DGS -- who has one more test before scuba certification, much delayed by Covid everywhere.) They donate to Chicago Food Depository in our names every year -- same between us and DS's in-laws. Our best gift is all family having weathered the plague with only minor symptoms. (Unfortunately, DIL's miserable anti-vax sister, DH and two teens have arrived in their sphere, so we won't SEE anyone until some time has elapsed after they go home, post-New Year's.)

All quiet here with needed rain today. Lows in the teens coming next weekend. Just

bracing for post-holidays plague numbers, then hoping all will *finally* level out by Spring. We'll keep the table trees and various ornaments up until we take down the door wreath after New Year's.

I have my monthly infusion against MM Wednesday -- a rare trip out of the house, as DH does our shopping and errands. We're stocked with novels from the library. Abt tech comes this week to adjust rubber door (weatherstripping? flashings?) on new Bosch dishwasher. It works, but I have to compress these to get it to start. Dishpan hands improving already.

Happy New Year to All!

It was different,

.We developed a severe window leak

on the 23rd. I called a restoration company who said they would be here in an hour.

Due to heavy rains and flooding plus nightmare traffic I called them to wait until the 24th.

They brought humidifier and blowers and did a temporary fix.

Christmas day until 5 PM was nice.

Blue skies.

Didn't last long and the strong wind and heavy rain returned.

Hope the rain and wind dies down, Carol. Hope you all stay safe.

Mine was not what I planned. As always, I put a turkey with a bacon blanket on it in my turkey roaster. And a smoked ham in my slow cooker. The usual mashed potatoes and veggies and stuffing. We no longer make all the extra side dishes or salad because nobody eats it anyway.

My son and his son's mother broke up in July, so opening gifts this year was later than usual because she wanted to see their son Christmas morning. After she left (yes, my son has custody right now and hopefully it stays that way), my kids all came over. All double vaxed and my son and grandsons pcr tests came back negative (they were exposed a week previous and I wouldn't let them in unless I knew for sure they were negative). My grandson opened his gifts from my daughter and my husband and I, then we opened ours. That's when my day went in the toilet. Buying gifts is something I enjoy doing. As our kids get older, it does get harder. But I managed to find something for everyone. My oldest son said, "I went to the mall with gifts in mind, but it was too people-ie so I went home". He did this 3 years in a row. My youngest was exposed to Covid so while that was his excuse he said avoided the mall, he did come into the store I work in to pick up a rapid test kit for his girlfriend and stopped at the Starbucks in the Safeway next door for coffee. And my husband: "I didn't know what to get you". He got me.............. nothing. Not a thing. For the wife who does it all around the house and now feels so unappreciated I went to bed after the gifts were done and I slept for 2 hours while they all ate dinner and cleaned the kitchen. They were all gone by the time I got up. They usually stay until 10 or 11. They were gone by 5:30.

It's the first time in 40 years I did not eat a turkey dinner Christmas Day. I will probably not host the dinner next year. I'm hurt. I feel used and unappreciated by most in my family. Don't feel bad for me: I'm not asking for it. I can feel sorry for myself. LOL

It was a good Christmas, all my children and grandchildren were able to share the day with us. I am glad to see I am not the only one who has a husband who is clueless about gifts. You would think after 40 years of marriage he would know some of my likes. He did get me a couple of gifts that I hadn't picked out and did well. Some years at Christmas we go shopping together and he buys what i find I like and we have a good lunch together.

Mine was simple because we don't buy gifts at all. We go to my daughter's house three miles away and my son and his wife came as well and we spent the day grazing. We decided years ago NOT to have a big dinner because we just have had one a month before at Thanksgiving. So I roasted a chicken and we had chicken sandwiches, shrimp, cheeses, mac and cheese, meatballs (from Beyond Burgers as none of eat meat) and desserts. It used to be a mad house with everyone giving and getting multiple gifts so as soon as grand because adults, they get none either. Much simpler. We all have what we want and if we don't, we buy it. I'm all for simple. (Plus my husband was a clueless giftgiver)

While my Christmas wasn't particularly joyous, I'm so sorry that some of you had horrible days (@Ont_Gal and @WittyNickNameHere ;)).

Apparently, I was exposed to the Omicron on Christmas. I feel horrible.

Bored-I think we just might be twins...I have the same most of the time useless family too-you aren't alone.

Functionthenlook, I’m intrigued by the white gloop with the green bits floating in it. What is it?

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK. The green is lime sherbert and the white is foam from the reaction to when you pour in the lemon/lime soda. There is also fruit punch in it. There was supposed to be Hawaiian Punch green fruit punch in it, but I couldn't find any in the stores so I had to use the red .

Our Christmas was more low key than any other. We have 3 adult children, 2 boys and a girl. The oldest boy lives about 9 miles away, the youngest boy is 70 miles away, and the daughter is 800 miles distant. None of them traveled this year. We took our oldest boy out to dinner and that was the extent of our festivities.

My home place is about 400 miles south of me and in the past, I have traveled there for Christmas and got caught in a snowstorm on the way back. My sister and 2 of her sons live there. About 5 other acquaintances are there also, but were not close friends.