Ignore this thread!

[Susan in TN]

Watching Santa Conquers the Martians.

[luuknam]

I just had a panic attack about moving the car. I didn't hear the alarm on my phone, because the kids and I were watching A Christmas Prince, and then at some point I thought I heard my phone... but apparently I only imagined it, but it was 50 min after car moving time. There were only 5 min left in the movie, but I dashed across the street to move the car - luckily I didn't have a ticket yet... the one time we did get a ticket they wrote it only like 50 min after car moving time... and moved it into a snow bank on the right side of the street. So, now I'm not sure if I can get the car out (why don't they plow just before car moving time? - they like haven't plowed the street all.day, and yes, I know it didn't snow today, but it's been super windy and when you have to move the car twice a week so they can plow it, it'd be nice if they'd actually plow it, and yes, I know it's xmas, but I'm sure the ticket writer doesn't care so I don't care either). Sigh. Anyway, crisis averted - glad I won't have to send the city a $40 xmas present. 

[luuknam]

Also, why oh why do the firefighters here have a habit of going the wrong way on a one way street to get to wherever they're going? Is there a logic to that?

[luuknam]

Next place we live needs a driveway. Or at the very least no switching sides of street parking. Because I really can't handle the stress. I hate freaking out over it, and it's not like $40 would even be a big deal - it's just that I panic before I even realize it's not a big deal. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

Trying to leave the extended family Christmas. It was a nice meal though there were zero desserts that. Dd and I could eat. But everyone demolished my Hawaiian pork and put a good dent in my potato salad as well. They liked the Lichtenberg Figure ornaments. We met a new girlfriend (of a nephew) that I hope stays around. She was a good fit for the whole family. MIL was having a hard time at one point but we gave her juice and that seemed to help. FIL kept fussing to leave for the last hour but Dh is taking them home now. Ok -post and then I am leaving too. I just got the word that Dd is going in the other car.

 

 

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[Junie]

(((Angi)))

[luuknam]

So, so, so tired of DW working overtime.

[luuknam]

(((Angi)))

[luuknam]

Because we all know that it's super necessary to work on email migrations on xmas. Yay capitalism. 

[Junie]

(((Luuknam)))

 

It's an ITT hug-fest!!

[luuknam]

Because we all know that it's super necessary to work on email migrations on xmas. Yay capitalism. 

 

 

Btw, it's not like there's a problem that needs to be fixed immediately or people won't have access to their emails. It's just that there's a deadline coming up soon. Which means DW has been working overtime on her vacation days, weekends, and xmas. 

[luuknam]

Anyway, I guess this is where I'm going to take a deep breath and feel thankful for the good job DW has, and that she's had it for over 5 years now (got a plaque a few weeks ago), that she always gets great performance evals, etc. It's a vast, vast, vast improvement over unemployment and underemployment, and the stress of poorly timed overtime from home is much better than the stress of not being able to pay the bills or working 14 hour days (because of overtime) with a 2 hour commute in a job that pays less than half as much, etc. 

[Susan in TN]

Anyway, I guess this is where I'm going to take a deep breath and feel thankful for the good job DW has, and that she's had it for over 5 years now (got a plaque a few weeks ago), that she always gets great performance evals, etc. It's a vast, vast, vast improvement over unemployment and underemployment, and the stress of poorly timed overtime from home is much better than the stress of not being able to pay the bills or working 14 hour days (because of overtime) with a 2 hour commute in a job that pays less than half as much, etc.

(((Luuknam)))

[Susan in TN]

Jean, you make it home yet?

[Susan in TN]

We're now watching Napoleon Dynomite and playing Farkle.

[Susan in TN]

🎶 I can tell that we are gonna be friends 🎶

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GTu5ltfX2dw

 

:wub: to you all.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Jean, you make it home yet?

Yes.

 

Ds has gone right to bed. He wasn’t feeling well all day.

[Critterfixer]

:grouphug: For all in need of them tonight. It's been a long day for this introvert. Good dinner, nice folks, and it makes me feel so bad that I want to leave as soon as I get there. It's hard to relax.

But the boys had a great time and got nice presents. My golf-obsessed son got a special cover (tiger) for his driver that he was not expecting. He was confused, then really happy about it. He raced inside to put it on his driver when he got home. He is hFA and sometimes surprises don't go over great, but this one did, and so I'm happy. The other boy got a favorite book on sailing ships (the library probably wouldn't let me rent it again we kept it so long last time) and a book on seamanship that could be used as an anchor in a pinch. I got a tea-ball, tea cups and tea-towels. :D The fancy, schmancy kind that Duckie would love and tell me to keep my grimy hands off. Never fear. I put them in a safe place where I will never use them except for company.

[Critterfixer]

Not all cats love mice for dinner. But all my cats love to look at mice and think about chasing them. Only one is a good mouser, and the last two she caught she let escape and I had to catch them and put them out.

[luuknam]

Not all cats love mice for dinner. 

 

 

I suspect the percentage goes way up if you don't feed them anything else though.  :leaving:

 

(which was what Susan was hinting at, I thought)

Edited December 26, 2017 by luuknam

[Renai]

I have also used one type of wrapping paper per person. As well as used marker to label, or a scrap of wrapping paper as a tag. I've also done the infamous code method. That's a lot more fun. This year, I started with a code, but it was poor, and ended with wrappeing paper tags.

 

I like wrapping gifts. 

 

We didn't go to church. Dh's mom was visiting from Mexico, so we went down to Albuquerque to see her (well, and the rest of them too). We hadn't seen her for 3-4 years. Gymnast didn't remember her, although she does talk to her on the phone. We ate taquitos de barbacoa, buñuelos, and tamales.

 

Dh is in a much better mood. I think it's because he finally got to see his mommy. I told her she needs to visit more often. I like her.

 

I also took the fam to Kmart to get my gifts. Dh knows that every year, he pays for the girls' stuff. Somehow, it wasn't clear to him that he was doing it this year. All is well, however.

 

I read the Night Before Christmas in Spanish on the Eve. I banned the non-Christmasy Scooby Doo Christmas movie.

 

Speaking of a car moving, when I was at the grocery store on Thursday(?) night, I heard them call for the owner of a car with my license plate and make. So, I go and ask if the car hit anybody. The parking brake doesn't work well, so by the time I got outside, the car was sitting in the middle of parking lot. In the dark. Thankfully, it didn't hit anything, or was hit. So, there's that.

 

We watched Christmas Inheritance due to Krissi's(?) recommendation. It was sappy and predictable, but very cute, lol! Maybe we should watch more movies like that, instead of all the violence, fighting and shooting. Although the latter is more exciting, the former is probably better for the brain.

 

I have now caught up with all 240+ posts after eating, taking a 2-hour nap, and answering random posts with this one. What to do? What to do? Oh, I'll look at the list of movies that popped up on the Netflix "Christmas" search. Maybe I'll watch Christmas Prince, since Luuknam mentioned that one.

 

 

 

 

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

So the cousins gave Dd a free helicopter flying lesson.

 

Dd is over the moon excited. I’m apprehensive. I actually heard that they were doing it but didn’t feel like I could/ should stand in the way.

 

 

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[AMJ]

I think we should institute ITT Spirit Days. We could do ugly Christmas sweaters in May, crazy hair day in September, and pajama day whatever ol' day we want! And whenever anyone asks what in tarnation we're up to, we can blame it on our invisible friends.

 

 

I put cherry pie on my Christmas wish list.  My ILs gave me a t-shirt with a pi symbol made up of cherries.   :001_wub:  :001_wub:  :001_wub:

 

 

Remember, March 14th is Pi(e) Day!  We simply MUST celebrate it!

[AMJ]

Oh, man. I forgot I need to get something Christmas for the pets. 

 

 

Santa raided what we already had for the pets' shared stocking.  This morning DD13 was looking in the pantry for the tuna to give our cat her treat/meds, and I had to tell her to check the stocking because sometimes Santa comes up short and "borrows".

[AMJ]

 

(((Slachey))) (No)

 

 

   

Quite right!

 

 

Crochet them Hufflepuff scarves.

 

And for the elderly on your gift list:

 

 

I need that thing.  For my Dad.  Yeah, that's it, for my Dad....

[lanalouwho]

Santa brought the puppies their very own Kong's this morning. And the kitten got a ball with a jingle bell inside. All the children, human and otherwise, spent the remainder of the day playing.

 

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[AMJ]

All the gifts that need to be mailed have been wrapped, boxed up, and addressed. Also the remainder of the #%£{& blinking balloons are boxed up with a return label. They'd better refund my money! Also, the bank has refunded all the fraudulant charges on the bank account so we again have enough money to go to Grandma and Grandpa's for Christmas.

 

We watched the local PBS broadcast of Christmas at Belmont. The children's choir is about 10 minutes into the show, so there's not too much to endure before then. Later on they actually have some nice choral music and sang an Eric Whitacre piece. :wub:

 

Sleep:

 

 

Nice!

 

Now, here's a friendly reminder to post a link to a clip showing your kids performing, in case you hadn't already done so.

 

#stillcatchingup

#reallywouldlikethatclip

[KrissiK]

This reminds me of a good story. Feel free to use any of this if it helps you. Maybe 10 years ago? Our oldest one or two were questioning Santa. (I would have been glad to have never begun the myth, but dh loves all kinds of celebrations and holidays, and wanted them to believe longer.) There was talk of setting up the cam-corder (yes, a cam-corder) to catch the red-man in action. So, when dh's brother visited, he brought a Santa suit with him and we made sure the room was set up as it would be Christmas Eve (we already had the tree up - I think he was visiting for Thanksgiving). So after the kids were in bed we staged a Christmas and filmed brother in law in the Santa suit. Then on the actual Christmas Eve we made sure the room looked the exact same and dh made a big deal of setting up cam corder, etc. to prove to kids Santa was real. The next morning, he showed them the footage of BIL in the suit. I think they believed for another year or two at least. :laugh:

That is the best one ever!!

[KrissiK]

Well, that’s it for Christmas this year. I am exhausted. I ate waaaaay too much. But, it was a good day. Spent it at my parents’ house. DH and I got away for a nice walk mid-afternoon. Cheap date. I’m tired and over-sugared, but waiting for my new Old Navy jammies to get out of the dryer.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I haven’t had any sugar this Christmas. I was too lazy to bake anything gluten free (or more accurately had too many other priorities). Maybe I should look for some chocolate.

 

 

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[KrissiK]

Can they open the dryer door?

No, they lay in there all warm and fleecy calling my name, so I took them out and put them on and crawled into bed, even though it is only 8:39 PST. Edited December 26, 2017 by KrissiK

[KrissiK]

I haven’t had any sugar this Christmas. I was too lazy to bake anything gluten free (or more accurately had too many other priorities). Maybe I should look for some chocolate.

 

 

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You are a better person than I am.

[KrissiK]

 

 

We watched Christmas Inheritance due to Krissi's(?) recommendation. It was sappy and predictable, but very cute, lol! Maybe we should watch more movies like that, instead of all the violence, fighting and shooting. Although the latter is more exciting, the former is probably better for the brain.

 

Glad you liked it. I like sappy and predictable. It helps me relax a little. I enjoyed Stranger Things, but it was too tense for me.

[Jean in Newcastle]

You are a better person than I am.

There was pumpkin pie. With a wheat crust. Couldn’t eat it.

 

There was an Italian Christmas cake thing. Made of wheat. Couldn’t eat it.

 

There were multiple kinds of cookies. Made of wheat. Couldn’t eat it.

 

There were even Rice Krispie treats which should be fine but these had wheat puffs added. Couldn’t eat it.

 

No willpower involved when you can’t eat it.

 

 

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[Susan in TN]

Good morning!

 

I slept! Either the mouse brigaide took their party elsewhere or I slept through it. I can hear them this morning, but it's easier to deal with in the daylight. Dh has started a fire. I think the sun may come out today! Very cold though.

 

Rice Krispy treats *with wheat puffs added*?!? :banghead: Rodrigo! Get some chocolate to Jean, stat!

 

Renai - so glad your car didn't hit anything!

 

Slache, have you recovered yet?

 

We need to do a bit of laundry today, get packed up, and make banana pudding for dessert tonight. Dh is taking FIL to the Womb Doctor. :D

 

Coffee!

[Another Lynn]

Good Tuesday Morning!  COFFEE!!!  I made it, so should be good and strong.   :drool5:

 

I'm outta likes.   :glare:

 

Dh and I went to see Darkest Hour last night (the Churchill movie).  First of all, let me say I feel very sacrilegious admitting that I went to the movies on Christmas night.  His family used to do it every year, but that's very much NOT my family culture.  Anyway, now that I've cleared or condemned my reputation (take your pick), I'll say that it was not quite what I expected.  Not sure what I expected, but anyway.  I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either.  I recognized the actress who played the typist for Churchill in the movie (as if he had only one, lol!), but anyway, she had been Elizabeth in the movie Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.   :D   

[Renai]

I worked. I'm going back to bed.  :svengo:

[AMJ]

I’m going to a funeral tomorrow. My uncle died. He was 93. He was a good man. WWII vet. He was in the navy and his ship got sunk and he floated around the Pacific Ocean for about 14 hours until he was rescued.

 

 

:grouphug:  :grouphug:

[luuknam]

Good morning!

[Susan in TN]

Words that just came out of my mouth: STOP farting the floor!

 

(There is a very "expressive" floorboard in the living room.)

[AMJ]

Good morning. Caffeine.

:grouphug: Krissi. It sounds like your uncle lived a full life. Both of my grandfathers fought in WW2, but neither of them talked much about their experiences.

 

 

Dad doesn't talk about his Vietnam experiences, either.  

 

All the time I was growing up Dad's identity was as an airline pilot.  He would identify himself as an airline pilot and talk EAA and AAA and other airplane enthusiast talk with other plane-heads.  He didn't keep his 14 years in the Marine Corp a secret, but it was only mentioned from time to time and not part of his active outward identity.  For both my brother and my dad flying was breathing, was life.

 

25 years ago Dad was a passenger in a small plane that crashed and he suffered debilitating brain injury, grounding him from flying planes himself for the rest of his life (though that was the end result and not completely certain at the time of the accident).  For a while his identity was as a medically-grounded airline pilot in recovery, then as a general retired airline pilot and continuing airplane enthusiast.

 

In the past few years, however, Dad has realized that in the town in which he lives there is a LOT of support and praise for veterans.  His 14 years in the Marine Corps is now something he can claim with pride, with none of the recriminations towards Vietnam vets of previous decades.  He now claims his USMC rank as Captain, and wears a hat around town with the USMC insignia on it.

 

Dad wanted me to be sure to mention to his new, upcoming residence community that he is a veteran.  I told him they ask about such things specifically on the forms, and I made sure to add those details to those forms.  Dad is satisfied with this.  When I was signing the lease and talking to various staff I told them what Dad is most likely to answer to, giving them 3 versions Dad has used over the years, one of which is "Captain <last name>".  They then promptly changed one form to indicate how to address him, and changed another to make sure that "Capt." was in front of his name on his brass door plate.

 

I'm not telling Dad about this ahead of time.  I'll let him be surprised and impressed at how thorough and respectful the place is.  They certainly do their best to be.

 

 

 

Veterans hoorah booyah!

Edited December 26, 2017 by AMJ

[AMJ]

Fire-turtle today: "Grrrr!"

"What's wrong?"

"This fire is burning up all my paper."

"What?"

"Every time I put a paper wad in the coals light it on fire."

"Why are you putting paper in?"

"So I can get the kindling lit."

"Why don't you just put the kindling on the coals?"

<crickets>

"GRRRRRRRR."

 

ETA: In his defense, he hadn't had caffeine yet either.

 

 

Been there, done exactly that, dear fire turtle!  

[AMJ]

Counting down the hours until coffee time becomes wine time.

 

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As part of my Christmas presents I received 4 -- FOUR -- bottles of Bailey's Irish Cream.  I also have an unopened bottle of Carolan's Irish Cream I bought a few weeks back.  At my rate of consumption this will likely last me all year.

 

I don't know why my family is so resistant to giving me books.  Instead I get scented toiletries I can't use (instead of the Skin Trip lotion I CAN use and put on the wish list they insisted I write out), and now I get booze.  I'm the alcohol-lightweight of the family.  The only family adult who drinks less than me is DH, who might, once in a while, have some hard cider (but only one).

 

I do love this family, but I think I might actually tire of Irish Cream by the time next Christmas rolls around.

[Critterfixer]

I did not sleep well last night. Very grumpy. Glad it isn't Christmas because I couldn't do it today.

[AMJ]

This is great, Krissi. What a loss for your family (and for our whole society as we lose the Greatest Generation. They have so much to teach us, if we would just shut up and listen.)

 

In my DA days, there was a judge on the bench who was a cranky, obstreperous liberal. He and I were besties, and no one could figure out why. (The cranky and obstreperous description might, just might, have applied equally to moi, but that last part? Umm, NO.) Despite his horrendous rulings (well, they improved significantly over the course of time, at least when I was in his court  ;) ), he was an amazing man. He came from an old southwest family (one of his ancestors was the subject of a Disney movie) and knew BOATLOADS about the history of the southwest. He was a gunner in WWII in the Pacific and participated in an INCREDIBLE number of combat missions (Guys in the Pacific had a better chance than the guys in Europe.) Oh, the stories he'd tell! I adored him. He passed away a few years ago. Can't wait to meet with him again. He's probably up there giving St. Peter H*ll; "Let 'em in! Let 'em all in!"   :001_wub:  :001_wub:  :001_wub:

 

 

Which Disney movie and character?  (If you haven't said already, that is.)   :bigear:  :bigear:

[AMJ]

Morning all!! :) 

 

I miss not being crazy busy and being able to talk to y'all more. :) 

 

 

 

 

Hi, Mary!!!!

[Critterfixer]

As part of my Christmas presents I received 4 -- FOUR -- bottles of Bailey's Irish Cream.  I also have an unopened bottle of Carolan's Irish Cream I bought a few weeks back.  At my rate of consumption this will likely last me all year.

 

I don't know why my family is so resistant to giving me books.  Instead I get scented toiletries I can't use (instead of the Skin Trip lotion I CAN use and put on the wish list they insisted I write out), and now I get booze.  I'm the alcohol-lightweight of the family.  The only family adult who drinks less than me is DH, who might, once in a while, have some hard cider (but only one).

 

I do love this family, but I think I might actually tire of Irish Cream by the time next Christmas rolls around.

I could join you in the scented candle department. I don't dislike scented candles, but I have an aversion to anything that smells like pumpkin pie spice or cookies baking.

Which is what everyone gives me...

[AMJ]

There should be a Robin Hood that takes energy from kids and gives it to their parents.

 

 

Yes, I wonder why no one has followed through on this genius idea yet?

[AMJ]

I have a giant hole in my driveway.

 

 

Sounds like the perfect opportunity to let Halloween skeletons out to play....

[AMJ]

The pantry has been dealt with and the stuffed mouse Hufflepuff scarf and formal bow tie are finished. Next up - triangular shawl and reading wrap. Why am I making Christmas gifts for stuffed mice? You all are supposed to tell me when I start to go loopy!

 

 

But the mousies LOVE their presents!