Holiday Stories (good and bad)m.

[unclebilly]

Dad was too tired to go out for the fancy Christmas buffet lunch we had planned so we went as a family without him. We brought him a slice of lemon meringue pie and he enjoyed that when we stopped by after lunch.

I cooked an entire brisket… enough food to feed 25 people on my pit boss ceramic grill. This was a first for me. It was 12 hours for the big piece starting at 7:00 PM on Christmas Eve and then I did the small piece on Christmas Day. It turned out perfect - thank you YouTube and advice from friends.

We had a great Christmas and had my best friend and his wife over like we do every year. Our elderly neighbour was not feeling well so did not come this year so we made him a doggy bag meal and brought it over to him after supper. My wife’s aunt, uncle, and cousin showed up 45 minutes late… the meal was ready at 3:00 so that irritated me. Everything was fine except for the bacon wrapped asparagus that got overcooked.

I went for a ride on the snow bike in the morning, there was minimal fighting between our kids, my friend and I played guitars for a bit after supper, overall it was a great day.

How did your Christmas go?

[Alan A]

If the rest are there start eating.
You gave a time.

[oldE]

It was quiet around our place. My son and his lady were here Monday and Tuesday and left for her folks' place. We will see our daughter on Sunday. I called my sisters.
The wife asked me to learn Kermit the Frog's Rainbow Connection, so I dug out her Dad's banjo. She appreciated it, I think. One more song on the play list.
After so many years of the lead up to Christmas being a mad rush (when I was with the Dairy), I appreciate quiet.
Looking forward to the new year.

Best to All.
Les

[cockerpunk]

had everyone out on the lake to fly kites, had a nice display of 6 or 8 kites flying. lots of families walked out onto the lake to take pictures, and fly with my family. i of course had spares for the kids to fly. there was a lot of good vibes, and it was the highlight of my christmas. i like interactions about kites, they are always genuinely good. everyone is always genuinely pleased and charmed, and just having a good time. there was probably 30 or 40 people on the lake to enjoy the day and the kites.

[911 Rod]

Santa got me Covid for Christmas.
Couldn’t go to my family Christmas dinner.
Let my plane seat to Florida go empty as I sit at home feeling like crap.
Ho ho ho

[wdfifteen]

It was a chilly, gray, drizzly Christmas eve here, but we had a good time getting together. It was Vicki's son and daughter and their spouses, 2 grandsons, my brother, Vic's friends Barbara and Alex. She has a few friends who don't have family and always invites them over for Christmas. This year only Barbara and Alex showed up.
I cooked the dinner myself. I started on Sunday morning, baking 2 loaves of bread. Started brining the turkey at 9 PM Sunday, put it on the smoker at 9:30 Monday night, and it hit 160 right on the nose at noon.
For so many years people said, "We don't want a traditional Christmas dinner this year, we want something different." I had so many years of spaghetti, lasagna, short ribs, etc. that I was beginning to miss a traditional 1950s Christmas dinner. So I made one. Myself.
I made:
Turkey (of course)
Two kinds of stuffing
Green bean casserole
Scalloped corn
Cranberry sauce
Jello salad
Mashed potatoes and gravy
One pumpkin pie and 2 Hoosier pies

Fortunately, almost everyone here was just fine with traditional 1950s Christmas dinner for a change.

Round 2 is coming up. My brothers don't speak to each other, so I have to have a separate dinner for each of their families.

[craigster59]

We had our Christmas party at work Thursday the 19th.

Mexican buffet, Mariachis, open bar and all the flu virus you could handle. Started feeling sick Saturday and me, the Wife and Son's girlfriend all came down with the flu.

Son and girlfriend headed back to Arizona Sunday so it was just me and the Wife. Both sick on the couch watching Christmas movies. Made a bone broth chicken soup and just today starting to feel better. Still low energy and chest congestion.

On the bright side January 1st is my first day of retirement so I'll have lots of time to enjoy family then. Looking forward to 2025, glad I have this season's flu virus behind me.

[astrochex]

I知 part of the sick for Christmas gang. Not the flu though, just a cold that has me feeling run down.

I hope all recover quickly.

[LWJ]

We did our Christmas Eve tradition: Order pizza for low effort, high acceptance meal. Had 12 or 13 attend. All in good spirits. No fighting. It was lovely. All my kids and Grandma spent the night in preparation for Christmas. Wife made a breakfast thing, I made coffee drinks. Smiles all around. Then I made a small Turkey breast + fixins for dinner.

It was perhaps the best Christmas we have ever had. Nothing amazing. Nothing went wrong.

[Bill Douglas]

I was invited to Christmas dinner at my Kiwi Samoan friends place. We all brought a contribution.

The trouble was, everyone thought they were cooking for 15 people, so we had waaaay to much great food. One guy was a bit of a champion chef and did the most amazing chicken curry. Not your traditional Christmas dinner for sure. We had paua (abalone) fritters, ham, roast beef, tandoori chicken, and salads for the girls LOL

[GH85Carrera]

Our Christmas was just as expected. We drove to Enid, OK to my MIL's house. She is 92 and still lives at home alone.

One of my wife's nephews came with his wife and two kids. All had been sick recently, but claimed they were no longer infectious. We will know for sure in a few days.

Zero family disputes, and just normal chit chat, and lots of staring at cell phones for the younger ones.

It was supposed to be dry, but it was misting and foggy, so I had the wipers on delay mode pretty much all the way. We took the 911 as is is such a great highway car. The legal limit is 75 MPH for most of the trip. My 911 needs a bath now, On Sunday it is supposed to be 62 here, so that is is bath day. I am within 50 miles of 198,000 miles on it, so "almost broken in"!

The El Camino has made the round trip up to Enid and back over 150 times. The 911 just a few dozen times. The fun winding mountain roads are a blast.

Lots of flat wheat fields and uncounted wind turbines along Highway 412.

[HardDrive]

Angry profane dispute between my daughter and my wife Christmas morning just as we were about to open presents. I知 done. I知 not busting my ass for weeks to put up decorations and getting the house ready so these jerks can feel entitled to act like 3 year olds. We can go somewhere next year, I知 not hosting. I detest holidays, and this is the end.

[billybek]

Small Christmas for us.
Watched Home Alone as a family on Christmas Eve and went to bed early.
Cooked a cheater bird (cook from frozen pre stuffed) and my wife looked after the potatoes and veggies.
Even my gravy turned out great!
Our teenager seemed a bit out of sorts and grumpy. Maybe our Christmases are too quiet for him now. Our in town family has passed on or distant but we did see friends through the holidays.
Having a quiet day today, doing laundry and just hanging out.
Might go to the golf dome and hit a few balls tomorrow.

Congrats on your retirement, Craigster! Enjoy!

All the best to you guys in the New Year.

[A930Rocket]

Went to our daughter and SIL痴 house to visit them and the granddaughter for brunch. Then we went home, watched tv, cooked turkey, dressing, cranberry stuff, etc for dinner later. A peaceful and quiet Christmas.

[wdfifteen]

I guess this is a good place to repost "An Introvert's Christmas Eve."

An Introvert’s Christmas Eve

Christmas is traditionally a time for togetherness. I admit I enjoyed the shopping crowds when we still did that, and I still like being with family. But at some point, I need my alone time – time to reflect on things past, things lost, and things gained. I enjoy - no, I need to experience a few moments of quiet reflection and warm melancholy alone at the end of the rush and bustle of Christmas. I have a Christmas eve tradition that I’ve held on to for nearly 50 years that gives me those minutes of quiet. But one year I enjoyed my alone time in a special way, on a motorcycle ride. The annual hub bub of friends and family time ended early that Christmas eve. And I was not ready for bed. I had probably had a glass or two of wine when I geared up and got on my BMW near midnight and took a ride.
I rode past my old elementary school, where we had Christmas parties and gift exchanges every year. One year our teacher brought in ice cream in those one-gallon blocks, and it had a green Christmas tree cast into it right through the center. Everyone got a slice of ice cream with a Christmas tree right in the middle. After 60 years I remember that slice of ice cream like it was yesterday. Every class had a gift exchange. Gifts were usually some trinket of a toy, but one year some kid got a pair of socks and burst into tears. I knew the kid who gave her the socks and he was oblivious, laughing and going on like that little tragedy wasn’t happening and he had nothing to do with it. I felt sorry for both of them.
I rode into town past the Friend’s Church we attended, where my brother and I “acted” in so many Christmas pageants. We had parties on the nights we practiced, and every year at one of the parties Santa made a visit. This was an event for me even after I knew Santa was bogus. The little kids were so excited, and the adults were trying so hard to make it special for them. I, being a Wise Man at 10 years of age (I always played a Wise Man in the Pageant) watched it all unfold with a knowing, almost adult, eye.
I drove on to the farm where I grew up. The farmstead sat at the end of a ｼ mile gravel lane. There were no lights on in the house, and BMW oilheads don’t make much noise, so I eased down the lane. Things had changed a lot it 30 years, but I recognized the barn, milk house, and sheds where I learned to do grown up work and be a productive part of the family, not just a mouth to feed. That has been a source of pride for me for my entire life. And this is where it all developed.
I took a long look at the big farmhouse we lived in. Eleven months out of the year when the Sears catalog arrived, I went straight to the lady’s underwear pages, but not the Christmas edition. How many December nights had I spent on the living room floor next to our stinking oil heating stove, paging through the Sears catalog at the incredible toys that I knew I was never destined to own. Christmas morning our family of four gathered in front of the Christmas tree and my brother and I opened “what Santy brought us.” I usually got one good gift and a bunch of stuff I was indifferent to. When I shopped for my brother’s gift, I inevitably bought something I would like to have, and I think he did the same. So we always got one thing we really, really wanted. Later in the day the extended family gathered at the house, with cousins and grandparents exchanging gifts, and a huge meal. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I realized the generational significance of this gathering. This was the glue that held the family together. The glue failed when my grandparents died. I never see my cousins anymore.
We left that farm and moved to town when I was 12. This was the first (and only) time I ever went back. A light came on in the house and I clicked the BMW into first and eased back down the lane.

It was cold and I was a good 30 miles from home by then. I had forgotten to wear gloves and I was freezing, but I took time to drive past the farm where I worked when I was 15. The moon was bright and glistened on the snow-covered fields that I had spent so many hours working as a kid. I road past a flat 40-acre field and recalled the day the farmer, Maynard, told me to put the rotary hoe on the back of the 3020 and hoe the beans in this field. Maynard put me, me in charge of a brand new John Deere tractor and a 12 foot batwing rotary hoe. I stopped and stared at that field for a long time before heading home, still astonished and proud that I was trusted with such responsibility at the age of 15.
I crawled into my bed when I returned home, happily alone, and fell asleep listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing, “Still, Still, Still” just as I always had and continue to do to this day.

[jhynesrockmtn]

My daughter, her husband and their 2 1/2 year old came on the 23rd. They leave today. She's a lot of fun.



My son just moved closer. He lives on 3+ acres about 80 miles south of me. We did a day trip yesterday to celebrate with them. His boys are 5 and 7 and they had a baby girl in October. I took RC trucks to for the boys and the weather broke long enough to go outside and wear their batteries out. Then I got some nice snuggle time with the baby. It's been a nice holiday so far. We head out tomorrow with my wife's 3 kids for a few days at an Air BnB at Priest Lake. Should be fun. Her kids are terrific.





Peace to all and hopefully 2025 treats you well.

[ted]

Married no kids and no family in town.
Our old tradition was to have Dungeness crab for Christmas eve...
Christmas eve we had 3 stops all withing 5 minutes of home.
First visit was to a friend that is very very sick.
Second visit a house party with a Mango Margarita fountain.
Third visit was dinner at a friends tri tip, shrimp and sides.
Christmas day was a brunch at friends.
Today goal is to eat less walk more.

[vash]

^^^ that is a great view for dinner!!

I kept it quiet. I wanted to get myself to love roast turkey again. my history of dry, tasteless turkey has kinda made it the lackluster meal of my holidays.

I researched the heck out of it. asked a few pro chefs I know, and I punted. I wet brined AND injected the bird. couldn't find a turkey injector so I got creative. I purposely sought out a regular cheap turkey. I found one frozen solid for 98 cents a pound and I bought a 11 lb bird. hahah..it was a huge chicken. it came out delicious.

I got to spend it with my wife who has bewitched me all these years. she made me a better person all around. taught me how to be much less of a Dick.

best thing? you all know I didnt buy her a gift because of our pinkie swear not to. she bought me one!! I got on the bathroom scale and cross a milestone weigh-in. as I fist pumped the sky, she said, "now that is the best Christmas gift, your health"

that's Christmas for me!! bring on 25

[gacook]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Angry profane dispute between my daughter and my wife Christmas morning just as we were about to open presents. I知 done. I知 not busting my ass for weeks to put up decorations and getting the house ready so these jerks can feel entitled to act like 3 year olds. We can go somewhere next year, I知 not hosting. I detest holidays, and this is the end.

Sorry to hear that, HD.

[jhynesrockmtn]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Angry profane dispute between my daughter and my wife Christmas morning just as we were about to open presents. I知 done. I知 not busting my ass for weeks to put up decorations and getting the house ready so these jerks can feel entitled to act like 3 year olds. We can go somewhere next year, I知 not hosting. I detest holidays, and this is the end.

Sorry, hope things get better and it was a poorly timed one off.