I always seem to write something and the morning thread pops. Like oh well. Merry Xmas from the soon to be in the rear view Falwell U!
2.
Baud
Merry Christmas everybody. I’m still disappointed the Mayan thing didn’t work out, but since we’re still here, let’s make the best of it. Be sure to gloat loud if you’re with wingnut family today.
3.
Linda Featheringill
We got a little bit of snow last night, so we have a white Christmas morning, anyway. It’s already starting to melt. Sigh.
However, there is a BIG fir in the back yard and it looks like a painting by Currier & Ives. The big old shaggy thing looks very nice.
I got a robe, which is totally a little old lady present and I love it. I also got a mini Lego Buster Posey, which reminds me that I don’t have to be a grownup when I don’t want to. And the earrings I got from Slipstream Blue are awesome–my wife loves them!
Merry/Happy $WINTERHOLIDAY, y’all.
5.
Raven
RIP Charles Durning. 3 Purple Hearts, Silver Star and fine actor.
@Raven: Dang, this has been a tough couple of days for good veteran (in all senses of the word) actors; first Jack Klugman and now Charles Durning.
Santa dropped off a couple of gift cards from family members, which are much appreciated when you’re a nameless faceless mid-level guvamint bureaucrat. Thanks.
7.
MikeJ
Dear theatre operating people: please print tickets at an appropriate size to fit inside a jewel case. Perhaps even offer them in a jewel case with show specific artwork for a nominal charge. This would greatly please people who are still wrapping presents at 4am on xmas and think that handing people an envelope is a tad déclassé.
I’m now trying to figure out out how to form a bunny out of wrapping paper in lieu of a jewel case. Or not, due to my horrible lack of origami skill. It would be a good way to go for somebody with talent. And less tendency to procrastinate by babbling on about wrapping techniques instead of actually wrapping anything.
So how early is it socially acceptable to start the mimosas?
8.
JPL
Merry Christmas all. Last night a dense fog set in and later today we are suppose to have strong storms come through. I hope everyone stays safe and enjoys the day.
We watch a movie on xmas from the comfort of our living room. This year I got Arbitrage.
@Raven:
What a wonderful man. He acted a lot and I thought he was a remarkable character actor.
He did a tv short movie where he had a vision that a plane crashed. It was really good.
Safe home.
12.
Boudica
Since my husband and teenaged children won’t be up for 4 or 5 hours, I have to wait. But here in drought-stricken north Texas we are having a whopper of a thunderstorm…so Merry Christmas to us. And Merry Christmas to all of you.
13.
Phylllis
Gloomy with a dense fog warning here. Hubby gave me a lovely sterling silver filagree pendant.
I really liked that. I saw it in the theater without knowing much about it and was pleasantly surprised. Watch for Angel from The Rockford Files (Staurt Margolin) as a grizzled lawyer/fixer!
15.
mai naem
Merry Christmas to all.
I have to admit when I heard Jack Klugman had died, I thought he had died years ago.
16.
max
Light fog, snow slowly melting. No idea what I got until later this afternoon. (And I find that I don’t care all that much anymore – I got something, but no big deal.)
Just made the stuffing and it’s in dutch oven (with a lid on) on the front porch as there is no room with all the pies (apple) and cakes (cheese) and cookies. Menu for today – English Xmas: Roast Beef with Yorkshire pudding, Punchnep (turnip and potatoes puree), Spiced Cabbage (in my version, leafy green cabbage, red onion, red apples, cinnamon and pepper), horseradish sauce for the beef, (French) brown gravy for the stuffing, or possibly the other way around for those people so inclined. Nothing complicated.
It dawns on me that I don’t have any bloody Port. Goddammit.
Goose for New Year’s and tamales somewhere the fuck in there.
max
[‘Right. Off to finish well-wishing and the back to stove.’]
Meeting a friend for the Christmas mass at St. Thomas Church (Episcopal). St. Thomas’ has a choir school and does a high mass. Then my friend and I will have lunch but we just look to see what is open. We might go to a movie after lunch.
Haven’t bought myself anything for Christmas yet… lol, so I don’t what my present is. I’m thinking a tablet so I can load how-to craft videos.
19.
dmsilev
This afternoon, my parents and I (and the dog) will be heading out to Christmas dinner at the house of some old and dear friends. Cooking is proceeding; I have some orange zest infusing its goodness into hot cream right now for a chocolate ganache, soon to be transformed into ‘dessert’. My mom will be making a fancy salad later today, and then our contributions to dinner will be all set.
20.
chopper
don’t celebrate xmas but still got up early to make cinnamon rolls from scratch. bread later.
21.
Origuy
I saw Durning’s Tony Award winning performance as Big Daddy with Kathleen Turner as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. That was in 1990.
This sucks. I’m at my Dad’s with my youngest sister. My other sister and her family were supposed to come down, but she’s got strep throat. Looks like they’re not going to make it. Her daughter is starting to get sick, too.
22.
RobertDSC-iPhone 4
Just a gift card to GameStop. I bought the new (used) Mac for myself.
The new Mac has somewhat stabilized itself. Now I’m loading software onto it & waiting for the external monitor adapter to show up in the mail.
My niece & nephew & I had a nice moment lady night. We watched the light saber duels from Star Wars together. They loved that. My nephew in particular is jazzed for Darth Maul, so I’m digging all of my old Maul stuff out of storage for him. Good times.
23.
gelfling545
My nephew gave me Minerva McGonnagall’s wand. I find that even in my 60s I can still be totally 10 years old.
Putting the dressings together, cornbread and Cajun sausage for one, turkey and white bread in the other. I will be in and out of the kitchen for a couple of hours, cranberry sauce, my famous green bean casserole (fuck all you haters!), a rice stuffed boneless chicken for the big dinner. Garlic mashed potatoes.
Amazing how much punishment my old skin had absorbed, especially since Tristan liked to hug it with all four legs like a starfish opening a clam. When this one has its time up, I’ll go back to DecalGirl… this was the easiest install of a skin, ever.
And now that I’ve said this, there will be an ad appearing. Look for the discount! Merry Christmas!
26.
PurpleGirl
Found at The Mahablog and purrfect for Balloon Juice:
Good tidings we bring…view and share to help feed homeless pets through January 2, 2013! Happy Holidays from all of us at the Iams family! Brought to you by Iams dog food, Iams cat food, Helen Woodward Animal Center and Talking Pets
27.
mir13
Merry Xmas Juice Crew. Kids up at 6:15. Unwrapping, assembly, and they’re gone off to play. Leaving Mrs. 13 and I bleary eyed, but still too awake to go back to sleep. So, Java (make mine a double, Barkeep), and prep for brunch with my peeps, Obots all. As we are a mixed couple, we had Xmas eve with her peeps who are gun-totin’ rednecks. But there is no teasing them about election results because, well, packin’ heat, that’s why. To their credit, aside from the rare FB posting, they don’t do wingnut, and we haven’t talked politics since I shut their Union bashing down by merely pointing out to them that their neighborhood (hell the whole fuckin’ town) would be an empty field, or a GM landfill if not for the Sit-Down Strike in ’37. Like Cher with a paff on the back of the noggin, I am sometimes.
Listening to Cocteau Twins and Tame Impala, and groovin’ on the White Christmas here in the Land of Terry Camp ( who knew that Journalism still existed?). Don’t believe the hype, everyday we’re getting better. Peace.
28.
General Stuck
Santa brought me a lump of coal. haha
29.
JPL
Mrs Obama calls a few children on Xmas eve and one child was not concerned about Santa visiting. He wanted her to visit and did not seem to take no for an answer.
NYTIMES link
hilarious!
RIP indeed. Read the NYT obit today, especially the harrowing WW2 memories which, he said, he was able to release partially in his acting. Quite a biography the man had. I saw him first in either Tootsie or The Sting, can’t remember which. Fine actor, and from the obit he sounds like a deep, complex, fascinating man.
31.
arguingwithsignposts
Merry Christmas Balloon Juicers! Whatever happens today, at least you’re not on an NRO cruise!
32.
Amir Khalid
@SiubhanDuinne:
If it was at the cinema, you probably saw him in The Sting first. That movie was released in the 1970s. Tootsie is from the early 1980s.
33.
Elizabelle
Merry Christmas.
Cancelled plans to drive south to visit my sister and her family; my mom took ill with the flu that’s going around and she can’t travel (and needs some TLC).
Loving the quietitude, even while I miss the teenagers’ present-opening marathon down south. Had been planning to see “Skyfall” with them.
Took a long walk at sunup, drinking coffee now. Mist has cleared; we have a sunny and warmish day in Northern Virginia.
It’s a great day in Obama’s America.
34.
Thor Heyerdahl
Dealt with an 11-month old nephew at 445 AM screeching louder than a firetruck and puking up milk at levels that would make Mr. Creosote jealous. 30 minutes of singing and cuddling as his mom & dad got him ready to take to the clinic to check him out.
Definitely not a Christmas I’ll be forgetting any time soon.
Merry Christmas to my favourite blog and commenters!
35.
Elizabelle
Jack Klugman and Charles Durning exit stage right the same day.
They might like that, wherever they are.
I can’t even remember what I first saw Chas Durning in, but he’s always one of the best things about anything he touched. Think I saw him in a play; trying to remember what.
36.
nancydarling
@arguingwithsignposts: I, too, am grateful not to be spending time with “those” people.
My kids are still asleep—it is not yet 7 o’clock here on the west coast. We spent most of yesterday in San Francisco. I swear it was the happiest place on earth. I didn’t hear one sour note. Since I now live in NW Arkansas, the diversity one finds in CA is a visual and auditory feast. All races, nationalities, languages, ages! I live in a very white bread place.
I am making a turkey breast roulade in my son’s very minimalist kitchen. I made the stuffing yesterday and the 3-citrus cranberry sauce the day before. We decided unanimously on “no dessert”. There is no temptation to have pie for breakfast on the 26th with this rule.
Blessings to all of you. I love this place. Sometimes it is all that stands between me and the insanity in the world.
37.
NotMax
Have an itch to watch The Dead again, a film high on my own little list of Xmas movies.
38.
Felonius Monk
Merry Christmas to all B-Juicers. Relax and enjoy the day for the battle resumes tomorrow.
That’s exactly why I’m confused, because I’m pretty sure I didn’t get around to seeing The Sting until several years after it was released. I did adore his lovestruck old dude in Tootsie.
I am listening to “A Chanticleer Christmas” on NPR right now. Knockout music, whatever your views on the holiday itself. Later, I’ll be dashing through the fog that JPL referenced to do stockings, tree, and dinner with my cousins, but I don’t have to leave for a couple of hours. I suppose I should get up and shower, though. Okay, as soon as Chanticleer are done making music.
@NotMax: That’s a beauty. A fitting capstone to an incredible career for the director.
41.
SectionH
Merry Christmas everyone!
Her parents have taken my granddaughter back east to Ohio for Christmas at the maternal grandmother’s. So it’s just me, Mr S and my aged aunt. Which is fine, esp. as we’re all recovering from various intensities of the Plague which has laid so many low lately. Mr S is going to roast a chicken later, but that’s about it. There will be belated celebrations with The Kids when they’re back and we all feel like it.
But just so I could get into the real Christmas spirit, Ms Layna the purr monster did her duty and woke me before 6 so she could get her present. More better cat food! Yay!! Goog grief, cat, still waiting for sunrise here.
A FB friend who lives in Lubbock just posted a photo of his house and yard covered in the 1″ of snow they got overnight! Enjoy any precipitation you get, I guess, and stay safe.
43.
gogol's wife
Merry Christmas! Looking forward to reading this thread after I’ve woken up.
44.
Schlemizel
Santa brought me a gout attack and my very first UTI – which the Dr. said could be common since I have to self-cath everyday.
Yes, every day in every way, I earn my nym.
A sincere wish for a merry Christmas to all of you celebrating today & a warm & wonderful new year to each and every one of you . . . except the kitchen tool
45.
mir13
@General Stuck: Hopefully it was clean coal so we can blame Obama. What the heck, we can blame him for being a Muslin on Christmas. Why does he hate Little Baby Jeebus? :•)
Why, indeed.
46.
MikeJ
Hey, the Queen is about to speak.
47.
JoyfulA
Bath salts for a Christmas present? Now I have to worry about being raided by the local constabulary on Christmas Day.
48.
PsiFighter37
Merry Christmas to the BJ community (hehe, that sounds kind of funny). I don’t much care about gifts these days, and I figure that a donation to the folks affected by Sandy will go a lot further than getting me anything. So I asked people to donate to the Red Cross, and hopefully that’s what happened.
Enjoy the rest of the day (and the basketball games)!
Must prepare the final step in the dessert I will bring to my brother’s: a pumpkin pie filling-topped cinnamon cheesecake. Scooping up two of my nieces and my sister on the way into NYC for Roast Beast and family fun.
Then home tonite to savor it all in front of the fire with everything DONE!
Have a wonderful day, however you spend it BJers.
51.
Amir Khalid
@SiubhanDuinne:
I don’t see a need for Her Majesty to give her televised Christmas address in 3D, unless she plans to reach out and poke her subjects in the eye. Now, that would be fun.
52.
batgirl
As a Jew, I kindly request that all Christians stop invading our great tradition of going to the movies. Find your own traditions! Fandango is broken (too many people buying tickets?) and I can’t buy my tickets. Next thing you know you’ll all be invading own Chinese restaurants.
In all seriousness, Merry Christmas to all those that celebrate, and a happy December 25th to those that don’t.
53.
Linda Featheringill
Daughter usually does the cooking around here because I work about 4-5 hours a day. But today, I made breakfast with homemade biscuits. Yumm. Chicken is roasting in the oven. I guess I’ll slip the store-bought pie into the oven when I take the chicken out. Looking forward to a feast. And probably some really good chicken soup tomorrow, out of the juices and the leftovers.
54.
CA Doc
Kids were up at 5, even after I told them no presents until at least after 6! They were back at 6 on the dot. The last 2 years they’ve been buying gifts for us and enjoying the pleasure of giving, so that’s been a nice new wrinkle to Christmas morning. Enjoying a big cup of coffee and getting my game face on for all the cooking and cleaning that needs to be accomplished before the relatives arrive this afternoon.
What’s your green bean casserole recipe? I’ve been craving it, but Fannie Farmer’s recipe just looks nasty.
56.
cathyx
@gogol’s wife: Cooks Illustrated did a remake of the Campbell’s soup recipe one using better ingredients.
57.
Mnemosyne
I see there are many others joining our grand family tradition of someone being sick on Christmas Day. This year, it’s my dad (just releasd from the hospital) and my niece, who has a nasty cold. Other notable years included one of my brothers having food poisoning so we couldn’t open presents until 6:00 pm; G and I both coming down with the flu after flying in; and my mom spending Christmas Day in the ER because she had an allergic reaction to a new laundry detergent and having to be on a Benadryl drip all day.
I just had some cereal and will be showering soon so I can drive to the airport and pick up G when his flight arrives. Yay. I will be getting my present after Christmas since it was too big for him to bring with. I’m hoping it’s either the cast-iron skillet or the new toaster oven I asked for.
Heh. Our (Catholic) family would send the kids off to the movies on the afternoon of Christmas Day when the new toys were starting to lose their savor, but it was in the pre-Fandango days, so they would just drop us off at the multiplex and let us take our chances.
59.
Omnes Omnibus
Among other things, I received Grinch jammies – not the footsie ones though.
@Mnemosyne: Glad to hear your Dad is out of the hospital.
61.
Baud
All I wanted for Christmas was a working Balloon Juice website.
:-(
62.
Suzanne
Merry Xmas, y’all.
Haven’t done presents yet. I’m hoping for sheets. (Yes, I’m 500 years old, in spirit, if not in mind.)
Some Legos would be awesome, too.
@gogol’s wife: It’s the classic recipe from the back of the French’s French fried onion “can”. Anything else is frippery. I do worry about the new packaging they use for the onions. It just isn’t right. Plastic. Peel off foil seal.
Books. I got lots of books. Some Glen Cook. Some Bruce Sterling. A new history of the Burma Campaign; I’m a huge William Slim fan. A book examining the tactical developments over the course of the Somme campaign. Lots of fun stuff.
I gave books, too, including Tea Obreah’s The Tiger’s Wife, which is not only fabulous but has been tremendously influential on my own writing.
66.
Villago Delenda Est
I’m pissed.
Santa didn’t bring me what I wanted…the heads of LaPierre and the Board of Directors of the NRA on pikes.
Too bad. That’s a nice-looking lump of coal, though.
68.
ruemara
Merry Christmas all! I don’t know if the cats celebrate Yule, but they kindly pulled all their toys from their basket and scattered them from the living room to the kitchen for me and woke me up far too early for someone who sat up til 2am working on animating them. Peace on Earth, Goodwill towards Pets! Tidying up and prepping for breakfast when the ex gets here. Sweet potato croquettes with maple sausage, then a roast chicken for the midday/evening feast. We’re just going to watch movies and entertain the kits while we call friends and family.
69.
eric
as a born-jewish atheist, allow me to wish all a merry christmas, and in the true spirit of the season remember to Fight the Power in any way you can, keeping in mind that incremental change is good and the perfect should never be the enemy of the good. A dollar to the homeless on a cold winter night is more meaningful than the ideal of eradicating hunger. The suffering of the present is what we should all strive to ameliorate even while fighting the bigger near-endless fights against all forms of tyranny. Bless you all, and may all the children in your lives enjoy their gifts and live their lives free from violence, bigotry and all forms of hatred. Peace.
I’ve been reading up on ancient pagan Xmas traditions. Scary stuff – closer to Halloween than our current concept of Christmas. Ever hear of Krampus? Egads! Iceland has the tradition of 13 of these evil elf like creatures (Yule Lads) who invade your house and lick all your spoons and bowls and slam your doors, oh, and steal your children and eat them.
Merry Christmas!
71.
Steeplejack
I’m trying to make amends to the housecat for abandoning her the last four nights while dogsitting my brother’s hounds. I’m able to get back here at least part of every day, so I’m spoiling her with attention and treats in the tradition of absentee parents through history. Only one more night to go.
Back to Sighthound Hall about 4:00 for Christmas dinner with a mixed group of “orphans.” The head cook is a CIA grad, so I’m looking forward to it!
Also too, clearly I’ve been far naughtier than I realized as I’ll somehow receive almost no gifts this year. To date, I’ve received a book. That’s it! I’ve given out about 50 gifts. This whole adulthood thing is seriously over rated.
One Christmas, at a low point in my life, all I got was a watch cap with a Scooby-Doo logo on it. Believe me, there are worse things than getting nothing for Christmas.
More presents for me, then! On a more topical note, I got a Prius V, a Samsung Galaxy 10.1, some books, movies, and sweats. All of this largess is due to the MIL dropping dead and me getting to spend her money, bwahahahaha.
She never wanted her son to marry me so it is indeed a true pleasure to blow a nice, fat chunk of her wad on ME! I know that sounds really mean and awful, but she refused to enter my home and visit her grand child if I was in the house, so fuck her.
79.
elisabeth
@redshirt:
The gift I got was the one I bought myself. I hate Christmas.
@elisabeth: Heh. I did that a couple of times too. I’m good.
Can’t wait for Christmas to be over with!
83.
Yutsano
We opened stuff up last night, and I got something I had been needing for a very long time: an enameled cast iron Dutch Oven. Oh do I have stuff to make when I get home…
84.
Suzanne
@Gindy51: HAH. That is totally how I roll. My ex-husband’s mother is about the worst person EVAR, to the point that he is STILL in therapy, and I have to admit that if I still had to put up with her, I might be in prison or the asylum today.
For example, the ex’s new wife’s mother is dying and just went into hospice. When new wife told the bitchface MIL, she replied, “Well, you knew that was coming. I don’t know why you’re upset.”
Wait, we’re not supposed to buy gifts for ourselves? Because I don’t think 6pm.com is going to take all these shoes back if I was only supposed to be buying things for other people. ;-)
No lump of coal, no books, no socks and no underwear.
Just another day in the Ruckus abode.
Getting old with no family can have one or two drawbacks except it used to be the underwear didn’t fit and/or gave you a perpetual wedgie, the socks give you blisters, you already have the book in paperback and hardback from last year and the stove has been repossessed.
On second thought, its OK, life is good.
92.
Mnemosyne
Last thing before I head off to the airport — I did manage to finish my Twin Cities headband last night, and it’s frickin’ adorable, if I do say so myself.
The original festival of Saturnalia was a week long drunken debauchery that included theft, naked door-to-door singing, vandalize and rape as well as needlessly excessive eating and drinking. It was topped by the ritual execution of some poor schmuck who had been chosen to represent all the evil in the world.
The early RCC decided to tack on Christs birth even though they knew he was not born in December partly to calm the worst influences and partly to co-opt the large number of celebrants.
Later Popes changed the traditions to include the running of the Jews (yes, seriously Jews were forced to run through the streets of Rome & be pelted with shit) and having Rabbi’s dress up as clowns.
Quite cool and raining hard (for Portland). Have all I need for Xmas, both cats asleep on my lap, except for the one who occasionally wakes up and plays with my tee shirt.
@Schlemizel: Saturnalia was loads of fun compared to traditions in all the Nordic countries. Pick one – Norway, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, and you’ll be aghast at their Christmas traditions. They’re incredibly dark, befitting I suppose a pre-electrical world of near total darkness and crushing cold.
@Gindy51: Are you and the husband happy? Is the relationship still good? If it is then you got the best revenge on her — being a constant reminder that she was wrong. Enjoy the loot, you’ve earned it!
107.
La Caterina
@Schlemizel: I know from 20+ years of UTIs, starting when I was 2. My best preventative nowadays is a quarter teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water. Seems to alkalynize the UT enough to keep down bacteria. I wonder how many thousands in antibiotics I could have saved if I had known earlier. Don’t know if it would work for you, but might be worth asking your MD if it would be contraindicated in your situation.
Santa got me a hangover and a phone that blew up with the good cheer of family and friends last night. Merry Xmas, Juicers. You are my favorite wretched hive of scum and villainy on the Internet. And most of you are pretty awesome people.
Other than lighted trees, huge bonfires, killing and eating a whole pig and everyone’s all-time favorite, excessive drinking I am not aware of Scandinavian solstice traditions
110.
Gindy51
@Ruckus: Thanks all, hubby was not left out believe me. He got a new generator (named after MIL, Charlotte), driveway, chain saw, garage for his cars (mine and the kid’s are in the house garage), and tractor. The house MIL never got to see got all new floors, windows, carpets, drapes, and will be painted next year.
I truly wish that my relationship had been more loving towards MIL, but as it wasn’t the ability to help the local economy (everything was local contractors and local supplies) as well as upgrade the house and farm and have some nice things make up for it.
Purple Girl, yes we have always been very happy even when he was deployed overseas (he is a retired Marine LtCol) and MIL virtually ignored me for a full year. Towards the end, she apologized to hubby but never to me so as far as I am concerned it was worth squat.
As a side note, we celebrated our 26th anniversary on the 6th of December. We always have to pick dates close to military events as that’s the only way he remembers things!Even the kid was born on a military date (the 22nd of June, Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of Russia by the Germans).
My first cat was named “Tomtegubbe” Toomper for short – I was raised to believe they were mischievous but not mean or cruel. I think of Krampus as German/dutch/Swiss but admit an incomplete education there
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So the GF is getting a center piece for her organ?
When I was young I worked with a bunch of old guys who told that joke every Christmas and every Mothers Day. Now I can’t stop myself
117.
PurpleGirl
@Schlemizel: Then there’s the joke about J.S.Bach that every organist tells at least once in their lives: Do you know why Bach had 21 children… He had no stops on his organ.
118.
Yutsano
@La Caterina: Cranberry juice does something similar. But yes, most bacteria do not do well in an alkaline environment.
119.
burnspbesq
Everybody at our house is happy, especially Laettner who has a bunch of ribbons and wadded-up balls of wrapping paper to stalk and attack.
The kid did indeed flip out when he opened the envelope with the tickets to see Margaret Cho in Vancouver in February. I have a bunch of new CDs to listen to, plus all five seasons of Inspector Lewis to watch. Mom got a new iPhone, a seriously tiny new camera, and a tea bottle and a green tea sampler from Itoen.
Dr. Mrs. and I don’t celebrate the holiday, but merry Bebeh Jeebus Day to y’all who do. For us we’re hitting up Han Dynasty in Philly to get our Szechuan on and then maybe we’ll see Django Unchained.
122.
Yutsano
@burnspbesq: Hmm…something to make wifey haz the mad jealous over…
@Yutsano: My daughters both wanted (& got) cast iron frying pans after I explained that the pan was the reason some of “my” recipes didn’t taste the same chez them.
126.
Mike E
Got a 17 pc knife set that kicks culinary ass…eschewed the Weber and cooked the butt in my Rival crock instead. Good gawd howdy, it is the bomb!
Daughter is at her friends’ house, she got a nifty sewing machine and some mad money from me and my family, she’ll be back for sammiches and cookies later.
G brought me a surprise gift — a 4-pack of Hammer horror movies (two Dracula, two Frankenstein). So I have some of my favorite gory 60s horror to watch while on vacation with the Aged Ps.
129.
Stentor
As Maya Rudolph once exclaimed, “Kah-Boom, those are some big bazooms!
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Raven
I always seem to write something and the morning thread pops. Like oh well. Merry Xmas from the soon to be in the rear view Falwell U!
Baud
Merry Christmas everybody. I’m still disappointed the Mayan thing didn’t work out, but since we’re still here, let’s make the best of it. Be sure to gloat loud if you’re with wingnut family today.
Linda Featheringill
We got a little bit of snow last night, so we have a white Christmas morning, anyway. It’s already starting to melt. Sigh.
However, there is a BIG fir in the back yard and it looks like a painting by Currier & Ives. The big old shaggy thing looks very nice.
Darkrose
I got a robe, which is totally a little old lady present and I love it. I also got a mini Lego Buster Posey, which reminds me that I don’t have to be a grownup when I don’t want to. And the earrings I got from Slipstream Blue are awesome–my wife loves them!
Merry/Happy $WINTERHOLIDAY, y’all.
Raven
RIP Charles Durning. 3 Purple Hearts, Silver Star and fine actor.
Mustang Bobby
@Raven: Dang, this has been a tough couple of days for good veteran (in all senses of the word) actors; first Jack Klugman and now Charles Durning.
Santa dropped off a couple of gift cards from family members, which are much appreciated when you’re a nameless faceless mid-level guvamint bureaucrat. Thanks.
MikeJ
Dear theatre operating people: please print tickets at an appropriate size to fit inside a jewel case. Perhaps even offer them in a jewel case with show specific artwork for a nominal charge. This would greatly please people who are still wrapping presents at 4am on xmas and think that handing people an envelope is a tad déclassé.
I’m now trying to figure out out how to form a bunny out of wrapping paper in lieu of a jewel case. Or not, due to my horrible lack of origami skill. It would be a good way to go for somebody with talent. And less tendency to procrastinate by babbling on about wrapping techniques instead of actually wrapping anything.
So how early is it socially acceptable to start the mimosas?
JPL
Merry Christmas all. Last night a dense fog set in and later today we are suppose to have strong storms come through. I hope everyone stays safe and enjoys the day.
We watch a movie on xmas from the comfort of our living room. This year I got Arbitrage.
Omnes Omnibus
@MikeJ: Ten minutes ago.
Omnes Omnibus
Oh yeah, Merry Christmas everyone. And, if you don’t celebrate Christmas, have a great day anyway.
Maude
@Raven:
What a wonderful man. He acted a lot and I thought he was a remarkable character actor.
He did a tv short movie where he had a vision that a plane crashed. It was really good.
Safe home.
Boudica
Since my husband and teenaged children won’t be up for 4 or 5 hours, I have to wait. But here in drought-stricken north Texas we are having a whopper of a thunderstorm…so Merry Christmas to us. And Merry Christmas to all of you.
Phylllis
Gloomy with a dense fog warning here. Hubby gave me a lovely sterling silver filagree pendant.
Hope everyone has a lovely day.
Steeplejack
@JPL:
I really liked that. I saw it in the theater without knowing much about it and was pleasantly surprised. Watch for Angel from The Rockford Files (Staurt Margolin) as a grizzled lawyer/fixer!
mai naem
Merry Christmas to all.
I have to admit when I heard Jack Klugman had died, I thought he had died years ago.
max
Light fog, snow slowly melting. No idea what I got until later this afternoon. (And I find that I don’t care all that much anymore – I got something, but no big deal.)
Just made the stuffing and it’s in dutch oven (with a lid on) on the front porch as there is no room with all the pies (apple) and cakes (cheese) and cookies. Menu for today – English Xmas: Roast Beef with Yorkshire pudding, Punchnep (turnip and potatoes puree), Spiced Cabbage (in my version, leafy green cabbage, red onion, red apples, cinnamon and pepper), horseradish sauce for the beef, (French) brown gravy for the stuffing, or possibly the other way around for those people so inclined. Nothing complicated.
It dawns on me that I don’t have any bloody Port. Goddammit.
Goose for New Year’s and tamales somewhere the fuck in there.
max
[‘Right. Off to finish well-wishing and the back to stove.’]
Linda Featheringill
Something soft and sweet:
http://bothefirstdog.com/
:-)
PurpleGirl
Meeting a friend for the Christmas mass at St. Thomas Church (Episcopal). St. Thomas’ has a choir school and does a high mass. Then my friend and I will have lunch but we just look to see what is open. We might go to a movie after lunch.
Haven’t bought myself anything for Christmas yet… lol, so I don’t what my present is. I’m thinking a tablet so I can load how-to craft videos.
dmsilev
This afternoon, my parents and I (and the dog) will be heading out to Christmas dinner at the house of some old and dear friends. Cooking is proceeding; I have some orange zest infusing its goodness into hot cream right now for a chocolate ganache, soon to be transformed into ‘dessert’. My mom will be making a fancy salad later today, and then our contributions to dinner will be all set.
chopper
don’t celebrate xmas but still got up early to make cinnamon rolls from scratch. bread later.
Origuy
I saw Durning’s Tony Award winning performance as Big Daddy with Kathleen Turner as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. That was in 1990.
This sucks. I’m at my Dad’s with my youngest sister. My other sister and her family were supposed to come down, but she’s got strep throat. Looks like they’re not going to make it. Her daughter is starting to get sick, too.
RobertDSC-iPhone 4
Just a gift card to GameStop. I bought the new (used) Mac for myself.
The new Mac has somewhat stabilized itself. Now I’m loading software onto it & waiting for the external monitor adapter to show up in the mail.
My niece & nephew & I had a nice moment lady night. We watched the light saber duels from Star Wars together. They loved that. My nephew in particular is jazzed for Darth Maul, so I’m digging all of my old Maul stuff out of storage for him. Good times.
gelfling545
My nephew gave me Minerva McGonnagall’s wand. I find that even in my 60s I can still be totally 10 years old.
jeffreyw
Putting the dressings together, cornbread and Cajun sausage for one, turkey and white bread in the other. I will be in and out of the kitchen for a couple of hours, cranberry sauce, my famous green bean casserole (fuck all you haters!), a rice stuffed boneless chicken for the big dinner. Garlic mashed potatoes.
WereBear
My mother got us most of an Amazon Prime subscription so we can watch videos; yesterday was X Files!
And I got this skin from DecalGirl for my Chromebook.
Amazing how much punishment my old skin had absorbed, especially since Tristan liked to hug it with all four legs like a starfish opening a clam. When this one has its time up, I’ll go back to DecalGirl… this was the easiest install of a skin, ever.
And now that I’ve said this, there will be an ad appearing. Look for the discount! Merry Christmas!
PurpleGirl
Found at The Mahablog and purrfect for Balloon Juice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&list=FLreVub8zOW6R2zg15FfBq4A&v=xGuoRGjCvmY
Good tidings we bring…view and share to help feed homeless pets through January 2, 2013! Happy Holidays from all of us at the Iams family! Brought to you by Iams dog food, Iams cat food, Helen Woodward Animal Center and Talking Pets
mir13
Merry Xmas Juice Crew. Kids up at 6:15. Unwrapping, assembly, and they’re gone off to play. Leaving Mrs. 13 and I bleary eyed, but still too awake to go back to sleep. So, Java (make mine a double, Barkeep), and prep for brunch with my peeps, Obots all. As we are a mixed couple, we had Xmas eve with her peeps who are gun-totin’ rednecks. But there is no teasing them about election results because, well, packin’ heat, that’s why. To their credit, aside from the rare FB posting, they don’t do wingnut, and we haven’t talked politics since I shut their Union bashing down by merely pointing out to them that their neighborhood (hell the whole fuckin’ town) would be an empty field, or a GM landfill if not for the Sit-Down Strike in ’37. Like Cher with a paff on the back of the noggin, I am sometimes.
Listening to Cocteau Twins and Tame Impala, and groovin’ on the White Christmas here in the Land of Terry Camp ( who knew that Journalism still existed?). Don’t believe the hype, everyday we’re getting better. Peace.
General Stuck
Santa brought me a lump of coal. haha
JPL
Mrs Obama calls a few children on Xmas eve and one child was not concerned about Santa visiting. He wanted her to visit and did not seem to take no for an answer.
NYTIMES link
hilarious!
SiubhanDuinne
@Raven:
RIP indeed. Read the NYT obit today, especially the harrowing WW2 memories which, he said, he was able to release partially in his acting. Quite a biography the man had. I saw him first in either Tootsie or The Sting, can’t remember which. Fine actor, and from the obit he sounds like a deep, complex, fascinating man.
arguingwithsignposts
Merry Christmas Balloon Juicers! Whatever happens today, at least you’re not on an NRO cruise!
Amir Khalid
@SiubhanDuinne:
If it was at the cinema, you probably saw him in The Sting first. That movie was released in the 1970s. Tootsie is from the early 1980s.
Elizabelle
Merry Christmas.
Cancelled plans to drive south to visit my sister and her family; my mom took ill with the flu that’s going around and she can’t travel (and needs some TLC).
Making us a pork shoulder roast with apple and onions later.
Loving the quietitude, even while I miss the teenagers’ present-opening marathon down south. Had been planning to see “Skyfall” with them.
Took a long walk at sunup, drinking coffee now. Mist has cleared; we have a sunny and warmish day in Northern Virginia.
It’s a great day in Obama’s America.
Thor Heyerdahl
Dealt with an 11-month old nephew at 445 AM screeching louder than a firetruck and puking up milk at levels that would make Mr. Creosote jealous. 30 minutes of singing and cuddling as his mom & dad got him ready to take to the clinic to check him out.
Definitely not a Christmas I’ll be forgetting any time soon.
Merry Christmas to my favourite blog and commenters!
Elizabelle
Jack Klugman and Charles Durning exit stage right the same day.
They might like that, wherever they are.
I can’t even remember what I first saw Chas Durning in, but he’s always one of the best things about anything he touched. Think I saw him in a play; trying to remember what.
nancydarling
@arguingwithsignposts: I, too, am grateful not to be spending time with “those” people.
My kids are still asleep—it is not yet 7 o’clock here on the west coast. We spent most of yesterday in San Francisco. I swear it was the happiest place on earth. I didn’t hear one sour note. Since I now live in NW Arkansas, the diversity one finds in CA is a visual and auditory feast. All races, nationalities, languages, ages! I live in a very white bread place.
I am making a turkey breast roulade in my son’s very minimalist kitchen. I made the stuffing yesterday and the 3-citrus cranberry sauce the day before. We decided unanimously on “no dessert”. There is no temptation to have pie for breakfast on the 26th with this rule.
Blessings to all of you. I love this place. Sometimes it is all that stands between me and the insanity in the world.
NotMax
Have an itch to watch The Dead again, a film high on my own little list of Xmas movies.
Felonius Monk
Merry Christmas to all B-Juicers. Relax and enjoy the day for the battle resumes tomorrow.
SiubhanDuinne
@Amir Khalid:
That’s exactly why I’m confused, because I’m pretty sure I didn’t get around to seeing The Sting until several years after it was released. I did adore his lovestruck old dude in Tootsie.
I am listening to “A Chanticleer Christmas” on NPR right now. Knockout music, whatever your views on the holiday itself. Later, I’ll be dashing through the fog that JPL referenced to do stockings, tree, and dinner with my cousins, but I don’t have to leave for a couple of hours. I suppose I should get up and shower, though. Okay, as soon as Chanticleer are done making music.
WereBear
@NotMax: That’s a beauty. A fitting capstone to an incredible career for the director.
SectionH
Merry Christmas everyone!
Her parents have taken my granddaughter back east to Ohio for Christmas at the maternal grandmother’s. So it’s just me, Mr S and my aged aunt. Which is fine, esp. as we’re all recovering from various intensities of the Plague which has laid so many low lately. Mr S is going to roast a chicken later, but that’s about it. There will be belated celebrations with The Kids when they’re back and we all feel like it.
But just so I could get into the real Christmas spirit, Ms Layna the purr monster did her duty and woke me before 6 so she could get her present. More better cat food! Yay!! Goog grief, cat, still waiting for sunrise here.
SiubhanDuinne
@Boudica:
A FB friend who lives in Lubbock just posted a photo of his house and yard covered in the 1″ of snow they got overnight! Enjoy any precipitation you get, I guess, and stay safe.
gogol's wife
Merry Christmas! Looking forward to reading this thread after I’ve woken up.
Schlemizel
Santa brought me a gout attack and my very first UTI – which the Dr. said could be common since I have to self-cath everyday.
Yes, every day in every way, I earn my nym.
A sincere wish for a merry Christmas to all of you celebrating today & a warm & wonderful new year to each and every one of you . . . except the kitchen tool
mir13
@General Stuck: Hopefully it was clean coal so we can blame Obama. What the heck, we can blame him for being a Muslin on Christmas. Why does he hate Little Baby Jeebus? :•)
Why, indeed.
MikeJ
Hey, the Queen is about to speak.
JoyfulA
Bath salts for a Christmas present? Now I have to worry about being raided by the local constabulary on Christmas Day.
PsiFighter37
Merry Christmas to the BJ community (hehe, that sounds kind of funny). I don’t much care about gifts these days, and I figure that a donation to the folks affected by Sandy will go a lot further than getting me anything. So I asked people to donate to the Red Cross, and hopefully that’s what happened.
Enjoy the rest of the day (and the basketball games)!
SiubhanDuinne
@MikeJ:
I understand she is speaking in 3D this year.
Garbo
Must prepare the final step in the dessert I will bring to my brother’s: a pumpkin pie filling-topped cinnamon cheesecake. Scooping up two of my nieces and my sister on the way into NYC for Roast Beast and family fun.
Then home tonite to savor it all in front of the fire with everything DONE!
Have a wonderful day, however you spend it BJers.
Amir Khalid
@SiubhanDuinne:
I don’t see a need for Her Majesty to give her televised Christmas address in 3D, unless she plans to reach out and poke her subjects in the eye. Now, that would be fun.
batgirl
As a Jew, I kindly request that all Christians stop invading our great tradition of going to the movies. Find your own traditions! Fandango is broken (too many people buying tickets?) and I can’t buy my tickets. Next thing you know you’ll all be invading own Chinese restaurants.
In all seriousness, Merry Christmas to all those that celebrate, and a happy December 25th to those that don’t.
Linda Featheringill
Daughter usually does the cooking around here because I work about 4-5 hours a day. But today, I made breakfast with homemade biscuits. Yumm. Chicken is roasting in the oven. I guess I’ll slip the store-bought pie into the oven when I take the chicken out. Looking forward to a feast. And probably some really good chicken soup tomorrow, out of the juices and the leftovers.
CA Doc
Kids were up at 5, even after I told them no presents until at least after 6! They were back at 6 on the dot. The last 2 years they’ve been buying gifts for us and enjoying the pleasure of giving, so that’s been a nice new wrinkle to Christmas morning. Enjoying a big cup of coffee and getting my game face on for all the cooking and cleaning that needs to be accomplished before the relatives arrive this afternoon.
gogol's wife
@jeffreyw:
What’s your green bean casserole recipe? I’ve been craving it, but Fannie Farmer’s recipe just looks nasty.
cathyx
@gogol’s wife: Cooks Illustrated did a remake of the Campbell’s soup recipe one using better ingredients.
Mnemosyne
I see there are many others joining our grand family tradition of someone being sick on Christmas Day. This year, it’s my dad (just releasd from the hospital) and my niece, who has a nasty cold. Other notable years included one of my brothers having food poisoning so we couldn’t open presents until 6:00 pm; G and I both coming down with the flu after flying in; and my mom spending Christmas Day in the ER because she had an allergic reaction to a new laundry detergent and having to be on a Benadryl drip all day.
I just had some cereal and will be showering soon so I can drive to the airport and pick up G when his flight arrives. Yay. I will be getting my present after Christmas since it was too big for him to bring with. I’m hoping it’s either the cast-iron skillet or the new toaster oven I asked for.
Mnemosyne
@batgirl:
Heh. Our (Catholic) family would send the kids off to the movies on the afternoon of Christmas Day when the new toys were starting to lose their savor, but it was in the pre-Fandango days, so they would just drop us off at the multiplex and let us take our chances.
Omnes Omnibus
Among other things, I received Grinch jammies – not the footsie ones though.
WereBear
@Mnemosyne: Glad to hear your Dad is out of the hospital.
Baud
All I wanted for Christmas was a working Balloon Juice website.
:-(
Suzanne
Merry Xmas, y’all.
Haven’t done presents yet. I’m hoping for sheets. (Yes, I’m 500 years old, in spirit, if not in mind.)
Some Legos would be awesome, too.
jeffreyw
@gogol’s wife: It’s the classic recipe from the back of the French’s French fried onion “can”. Anything else is frippery. I do worry about the new packaging they use for the onions. It just isn’t right. Plastic. Peel off foil seal.
cathyx
@Baud: That would be a Christmas miracle.
J. Michael Neal
Books. I got lots of books. Some Glen Cook. Some Bruce Sterling. A new history of the Burma Campaign; I’m a huge William Slim fan. A book examining the tactical developments over the course of the Somme campaign. Lots of fun stuff.
I gave books, too, including Tea Obreah’s The Tiger’s Wife, which is not only fabulous but has been tremendously influential on my own writing.
Villago Delenda Est
I’m pissed.
Santa didn’t bring me what I wanted…the heads of LaPierre and the Board of Directors of the NRA on pikes.
I’m going to pout for a while now.
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Too bad. That’s a nice-looking lump of coal, though.
ruemara
Merry Christmas all! I don’t know if the cats celebrate Yule, but they kindly pulled all their toys from their basket and scattered them from the living room to the kitchen for me and woke me up far too early for someone who sat up til 2am working on animating them. Peace on Earth, Goodwill towards Pets! Tidying up and prepping for breakfast when the ex gets here. Sweet potato croquettes with maple sausage, then a roast chicken for the midday/evening feast. We’re just going to watch movies and entertain the kits while we call friends and family.
eric
as a born-jewish atheist, allow me to wish all a merry christmas, and in the true spirit of the season remember to Fight the Power in any way you can, keeping in mind that incremental change is good and the perfect should never be the enemy of the good. A dollar to the homeless on a cold winter night is more meaningful than the ideal of eradicating hunger. The suffering of the present is what we should all strive to ameliorate even while fighting the bigger near-endless fights against all forms of tyranny. Bless you all, and may all the children in your lives enjoy their gifts and live their lives free from violence, bigotry and all forms of hatred. Peace.
redshirt
I’ve been reading up on ancient pagan Xmas traditions. Scary stuff – closer to Halloween than our current concept of Christmas. Ever hear of Krampus? Egads! Iceland has the tradition of 13 of these evil elf like creatures (Yule Lads) who invade your house and lick all your spoons and bowls and slam your doors, oh, and steal your children and eat them.
Merry Christmas!
Steeplejack
I’m trying to make amends to the housecat for abandoning her the last four nights while dogsitting my brother’s hounds. I’m able to get back here at least part of every day, so I’m spoiling her with attention and treats in the tradition of absentee parents through history. Only one more night to go.
Back to Sighthound Hall about 4:00 for Christmas dinner with a mixed group of “orphans.” The head cook is a CIA grad, so I’m looking forward to it!
arguingwithsignposts
@redshirt: Sort of reminds me of David Sedaris’ “6 to 8 Black Men”
gogol's wife
@Villago Delenda Est:
Haha, you sound like me. My feelings of goodwill don’t extend to all men this year.
redshirt
Also too, clearly I’ve been far naughtier than I realized as I’ll somehow receive almost no gifts this year. To date, I’ve received a book. That’s it! I’ve given out about 50 gifts. This whole adulthood thing is seriously over rated.
amk
கிறிஸ்துமஸ் வாழ்த்துக்கள்
Hey, I needed to show off. :)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
LittleMan’s mom has a shift at hospital, so he got to do Christmas Eve and Christmas Day here with me and Mrs. Cisco. I think we got the best gift.
Steeplejack
@redshirt:
One Christmas, at a low point in my life, all I got was a watch cap with a Scooby-Doo logo on it. Believe me, there are worse things than getting nothing for Christmas.
Gindy51
@redshirt: “steal your children and eat them.”
More presents for me, then! On a more topical note, I got a Prius V, a Samsung Galaxy 10.1, some books, movies, and sweats. All of this largess is due to the MIL dropping dead and me getting to spend her money, bwahahahaha.
She never wanted her son to marry me so it is indeed a true pleasure to blow a nice, fat chunk of her wad on ME! I know that sounds really mean and awful, but she refused to enter my home and visit her grand child if I was in the house, so fuck her.
elisabeth
@redshirt:
The gift I got was the one I bought myself. I hate Christmas.
ruemara
@Gindy51: This totally made me smile.
Maude
@Steeplejack:
I’d be careful with that CIA guy. He’s probably sneaky.
Merry Christmas.
Tell PurpleGirl about the Nexus 7 sometime. She wants a tablet.
redshirt
@elisabeth: Heh. I did that a couple of times too. I’m good.
Can’t wait for Christmas to be over with!
Yutsano
We opened stuff up last night, and I got something I had been needing for a very long time: an enameled cast iron Dutch Oven. Oh do I have stuff to make when I get home…
Suzanne
@Gindy51: HAH. That is totally how I roll. My ex-husband’s mother is about the worst person EVAR, to the point that he is STILL in therapy, and I have to admit that if I still had to put up with her, I might be in prison or the asylum today.
For example, the ex’s new wife’s mother is dying and just went into hospice. When new wife told the bitchface MIL, she replied, “Well, you knew that was coming. I don’t know why you’re upset.”
Maude
@Gindy51:
That’s the way to do it. You set things to rights. And made me laugh.
Mnemosyne
@WereBear:
Thanks! Long term is not looking very good, but we’re going to just enjoy the day and worry about tomorrow tomorrow.
Mnemosyne
@elisabeth:
Wait, we’re not supposed to buy gifts for ourselves? Because I don’t think 6pm.com is going to take all these shoes back if I was only supposed to be buying things for other people. ;-)
Yutsano
@Steeplejack:
Jealous, I haz it.
@Suzanne: Your ex MIL is Barbara Bush??
Schlemizel
back from the ER (the only place open on Xmas day) on Cipro.
going out with the fam to a Chinese place for dinner later.
Schlemizel
@Suzanne:
WOW! She sounds like a real sweetheart!
Ruckus
No lump of coal, no books, no socks and no underwear.
Just another day in the Ruckus abode.
Getting old with no family can have one or two drawbacks except it used to be the underwear didn’t fit and/or gave you a perpetual wedgie, the socks give you blisters, you already have the book in paperback and hardback from last year and the stove has been repossessed.
On second thought, its OK, life is good.
Mnemosyne
Last thing before I head off to the airport — I did manage to finish my Twin Cities headband last night, and it’s frickin’ adorable, if I do say so myself.
Happy Christmas to all!
Schlemizel
@redshirt:
The original festival of Saturnalia was a week long drunken debauchery that included theft, naked door-to-door singing, vandalize and rape as well as needlessly excessive eating and drinking. It was topped by the ritual execution of some poor schmuck who had been chosen to represent all the evil in the world.
The early RCC decided to tack on Christs birth even though they knew he was not born in December partly to calm the worst influences and partly to co-opt the large number of celebrants.
Later Popes changed the traditions to include the running of the Jews (yes, seriously Jews were forced to run through the streets of Rome & be pelted with shit) and having Rabbi’s dress up as clowns.
Maude
@Schlemizel:
Take care and I’m glad you are okay.
Allen
Quite cool and raining hard (for Portland). Have all I need for Xmas, both cats asleep on my lap, except for the one who occasionally wakes up and plays with my tee shirt.
Zapruder F. Mashtots, D.D.S.
My wife is going to get me the first two seasons of the Regular Show if I vacuum out the car. Something to make cleaning out the car worthwhile…
burnspbesq
@MikeJ:
Whenever the champagne and OJ are properly chilled.
Ruckus
@Gindy51:
You may be the winner today.
Good stuff and restitution.
redshirt
@Schlemizel: Saturnalia was loads of fun compared to traditions in all the Nordic countries. Pick one – Norway, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, and you’ll be aghast at their Christmas traditions. They’re incredibly dark, befitting I suppose a pre-electrical world of near total darkness and crushing cold.
Ruckus
@redshirt:
One has to make fun wherever and whenever one can.
Villago Delenda Est
Say what you will about Mariah Carey’s singing, she’s got a great set of headlights.
GregB
Merry Christmas from a lightly snow covered southern NH.
Lojasmo
@nancydarling:
SF is a far cry from Bentonville (Or Rogers, Or Fayetteville)
Damn, I love San Francisco.
burnspbesq
Ah, the joys of having a college-age kid. 9:40 a.m. and no signs of life from that end of the house. We’ll probably be opening gifts after lunch.
I try to achieve complete surprise with at least one gift every Christmas, but I think I may have done particularly wee this year.
Lojasmo
@redshirt:
Nightmare Before Christmas
PurpleGirl
@Gindy51: Are you and the husband happy? Is the relationship still good? If it is then you got the best revenge on her — being a constant reminder that she was wrong. Enjoy the loot, you’ve earned it!
La Caterina
@Schlemizel: I know from 20+ years of UTIs, starting when I was 2. My best preventative nowadays is a quarter teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water. Seems to alkalynize the UT enough to keep down bacteria. I wonder how many thousands in antibiotics I could have saved if I had known earlier. Don’t know if it would work for you, but might be worth asking your MD if it would be contraindicated in your situation.
Enjoy the Chinese food!
freelancer (iPhone)
Santa got me a hangover and a phone that blew up with the good cheer of family and friends last night. Merry Xmas, Juicers. You are my favorite wretched hive of scum and villainy on the Internet. And most of you are pretty awesome people.
Schlemizel
@redshirt:
Other than lighted trees, huge bonfires, killing and eating a whole pig and everyone’s all-time favorite, excessive drinking I am not aware of Scandinavian solstice traditions
Gindy51
@Ruckus: Thanks all, hubby was not left out believe me. He got a new generator (named after MIL, Charlotte), driveway, chain saw, garage for his cars (mine and the kid’s are in the house garage), and tractor. The house MIL never got to see got all new floors, windows, carpets, drapes, and will be painted next year.
I truly wish that my relationship had been more loving towards MIL, but as it wasn’t the ability to help the local economy (everything was local contractors and local supplies) as well as upgrade the house and farm and have some nice things make up for it.
Purple Girl, yes we have always been very happy even when he was deployed overseas (he is a retired Marine LtCol) and MIL virtually ignored me for a full year. Towards the end, she apologized to hubby but never to me so as far as I am concerned it was worth squat.
As a side note, we celebrated our 26th anniversary on the 6th of December. We always have to pick dates close to military events as that’s the only way he remembers things!Even the kid was born on a military date (the 22nd of June, Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of Russia by the Germans).
Schlemizel
@La Caterina:
Thanks for the suggestion – I’ll discuss it with my doc!
redshirt
@Schlemizel: Check out my links earlier about Krampus and the Yule Lads. Then read up on the truly frightening Nisse, or Tomte.
Bob In Portland
Got a nice plaid bathrobe and plaid pajama bottoms and slippers and my girlfriend’s gonna make me take them off again after breakfast.
Schlemizel
@redshirt:
My first cat was named “Tomtegubbe” Toomper for short – I was raised to believe they were mischievous but not mean or cruel. I think of Krampus as German/dutch/Swiss but admit an incomplete education there
WereBear
Ramen. May the FSM bless you with his noodley appendage.
Schlemizel
@Bob In Portland:
.
.
.
.
.
So the GF is getting a center piece for her organ?
When I was young I worked with a bunch of old guys who told that joke every Christmas and every Mothers Day. Now I can’t stop myself
PurpleGirl
@Schlemizel: Then there’s the joke about J.S.Bach that every organist tells at least once in their lives: Do you know why Bach had 21 children… He had no stops on his organ.
Yutsano
@La Caterina: Cranberry juice does something similar. But yes, most bacteria do not do well in an alkaline environment.
burnspbesq
Everybody at our house is happy, especially Laettner who has a bunch of ribbons and wadded-up balls of wrapping paper to stalk and attack.
The kid did indeed flip out when he opened the envelope with the tickets to see Margaret Cho in Vancouver in February. I have a bunch of new CDs to listen to, plus all five seasons of Inspector Lewis to watch. Mom got a new iPhone, a seriously tiny new camera, and a tea bottle and a green tea sampler from Itoen.
rlrr
Who wants to brag about what Santa Claus left them?
OK
Gozer
Dr. Mrs. and I don’t celebrate the holiday, but merry Bebeh Jeebus Day to y’all who do. For us we’re hitting up Han Dynasty in Philly to get our Szechuan on and then maybe we’ll see Django Unchained.
Yutsano
@burnspbesq: Hmm…something to make wifey haz the mad jealous over…
gogol's wife
@burnspbesq:
Inspector Lewis is fun. Love Hathaway!
Ruckus
@Bob In Portland:
OK we have a new winner.
gelfling545
@Yutsano: My daughters both wanted (& got) cast iron frying pans after I explained that the pan was the reason some of “my” recipes didn’t taste the same chez them.
Mike E
Got a 17 pc knife set that kicks culinary ass…eschewed the Weber and cooked the butt in my Rival crock instead. Good gawd howdy, it is the bomb!
Daughter is at her friends’ house, she got a nifty sewing machine and some mad money from me and my family, she’ll be back for sammiches and cookies later.
Goblue72
@Villago Delenda Est: I’m glad someone else said it. But yes, indeedy.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
G brought me a surprise gift — a 4-pack of Hammer horror movies (two Dracula, two Frankenstein). So I have some of my favorite gory 60s horror to watch while on vacation with the Aged Ps.
Stentor
As Maya Rudolph once exclaimed, “Kah-Boom, those are some big bazooms!