It was great.
Went to a get together Christmas Eve, came home, opened a coupla presents, went to bed.
The kid let us sleep until 11:30(!), we got up, she plowed into the presents, we sat around and played with stuff. Went out for Chinese. Came home, sat around some more.
Peaceful. Calm. No drama. A definite 10.
Sorry to be such a downer, but my Christmas is extolled here.
Not in that thread are that a co-worker’s dear friend died on Christmas - not a huge surprise as the decision had been made to withdraw life support, and nature took its time shutting down. Another co-worker’s on holiday in Taiwan. We had some stressful moments wondering if he was OK after the earthquake and tsunami, having confused Taiwan with Thailand. “He said he was going to tie-something!” Lots of landmass and distance between the two, so at least he’s not afected.
I had a lovely Christmas. I sang with the choir in Canberra at Midnight Mass. We basically sight read a mass setting that we had found on the internet (the Missa El Ojo by a 16th century Spanish composer Peñalosa), and it went extremely well. And the priest’s sermon was one of the best I have ever heard about the true meaning of Christmas. After the mass ended at about 2.00am we had a lovely “early Christmas breakfast”, complete with champagne, in the church grounds under a beautiful starry sky. At lunchtime I went to my parents’ place, where the whole family gathered for the Christmas festivities. After lunch, we played a round of golf to work off all the ham, turkey, pudding etc.
Thanks, twicks.
She does take meds, but she’s got this weird thing about thinking she doesn’t need them- I don’t think she’s ever admitted to me that she has a mental illness. It’s like Mum thinks Dad and her friends and doctor have just gone periodically insane and mean and locked her up. I’ve never confronted her about any of it- being the child of a bipolar parent makes one avoid confrontation. I’m going to have to eventually.
I really appreciate the sympathy and understanding.
I dog-sat and condo-sat for a friend from the 23rd to 26th and stayed there at night but went home in the daytime. Spent Christmas Eve watching such uplifting fare as Open Water and Shaun of the Dead, spent Christmas day with folks and bro’s family and discreetly avoided eating my SIL’s bloody, medium rare prime rib; got many nice gifts.
Oh sweetie, that sucks – when you said it had been 10 years since her last hospitlaization, I jumped to the conclusion that her condition had been controlled (sic) by medication – it wasn’t till my mom got stabilized on lithium [this was the '70s, I realize there are other drugs now] that we stopped, uh, having to have her locked up periodically.
Oh god yes.
But not till you’re damn good and ready. The hard part of all of it was learning to take my own needs and feelings seriously – though less dramatic than hers, they were (and are) no less important.
I don’t want to completely hijack my own thread – but feel free to email me if you need an “I’ve been there” ear.
I might do that. Don’t want to simultaneously hijack this thread and depress everyone. I was thinking of starting a thread about bipolar disorder, but since you’ve turned out to be psychic… 
I don’t think I’ve mentioned recently how much I love this place.
It was a fine, if quiet, Christmas.
Two out of three kids made it home (the third one is in Japan) and didn’t get into an argument.
Christmas Eve was the start of my vacation, and the missus and I started it with an - um - intimate moment. After that I had to run to the hardware store and unclog a drain. Sex and plumbing before breakfast. If there had been a football game on at that time it would have been the greatest guy morning ever!
And Christmas dinner was very nice, as well.
Wait for the plane. Bored in the plane. Get to FIL’s. Sleep. Bored. Televised sports. Dinner (and more televised sports) with brother’s girlfriend. Church. Sleep. Church. Prezzies! Bored. Televised sports. Dinner. Televised sports. Sleep. Church. Bored. Televised sports. Dinner. Sleep. Go to store to exchange FIL’s present. Shop. Go to airport. Bored. Bored. Bored. Home, yay! Back at work, boo!
Add in a few “eat”s and “shower”s and that’s my whole four-day Christmas weekend.
Well, I hafta say mixed bag here. Worked Eve morning–was pulled to another unit and had pt from hell (mean, verbally abusive). Went home, got prepped for big Eve crab fondue/shellfish dinner and church. Did church (nice) and went home to nice dinner. Prezzies and eggnog, and to bed.
In the morning, kids had Santa, I made coffee cake, enjoyed a great Day breakfast and off to work again–this time ER, where a man came in (40-ish) who choked on his Christmas sweet potatoes–he didn’t make it. 
I have now been diagnosed with walking pneumonia and my husband didn’t get me anytihng for Christmas, but overall, it was ok. The kids are well, I ahve a job, a house and a tiny amount of money. (trying real hard to be Tiny Tim here)…
How was my Christmas? Well…I got sick Friday, and was diagnosed today (Tuesday) with bronchitis, an ear infection and a sinus infection, so sometime around Saturday, I was breeding bacteria and feeling truly icky.
Doctor says one more day off of work, but right about now, I’m going stir crazy, even if I feel like death warmed over. Frankly, I just wish the antibiodics would kick in and do their job.
My Christmas was just wonderful. My parents recently moved into their new home, and it’s made a huge change in them. They’re much more relaxed and laid back than they’ve been in years. I’ve had a great time visiting them over the past week. I can’t remember my parents ever being this happy. When I wasn’t helping with the preparations, I was busy snapping pictures of everyone.
Unfortunately my mom overworked herself, as she always does (she’s trying to be the next Martha Stewart or something). She started getting sick on Saturday afternoon. By the time she woke up yesterday she had full-blown bronchitis. I’ve been trying to make her rest while I take care of the house, but she’s very stubborn. I’m hoping she’ll be better in a few days.
Good:
*Everyone was/is healthy (knocking on wood)
*Airforce daughter came home as a surprise
*Brother & his family made it in from Russia and was nice to see them
*Another daughter and her hubby made it home,
*We gained a daughter through foster care
*Kids were hap-hap-happy with their loot (limited - funds are tight!)
So-So:
*Since I had two weeks off, I went ahead and had the long awaited dental work done - all teeth pulled and new immediate dentures. Did not go as well as hoped for, a lot more pain that I anticipated, immediate dentures don’t fit, but on the up side I’ve lost 7 lbs! (I never REALLY thought about how much the holidays revolve around food until now that I can’t eat anything other than jello, mashed potatoes and pasta boiled to death. I want a steak so badly …)
I had a very good Christmas, all things considered. It’s just been different this year; I didn’t really get out to do shopping, so my daughter had to do it for me, with instructions, of course. And I didn’t get a chance to do any baking or cooking - no Christmas cookies this year (ACK!) except for a small batch my daughter baked up (which my son ate most of …). My daughter did a wonderful job, though–she’s really come through for me. Christmas dinner was prime rib and she cooked it just right (although we didn’t eat until nearly 8 pm), and she also pulled off turkey and all the trimmings on Christmas day!
On the upside, the cellulitis in my right leg has been beaten back by antibiotics (a good thing) and today I go back to the orthopedist for a followup on my left foot - I fell at work on 12/9, fracturing the fifth metatarsal in my left foot and very badly bruising my right side (knee & elbow suffered the worst); I’m currently in a cast on my left leg to just below the knee. I have not really gotten the hang of walking – although I am using a walker to get around. I haven’t been out of the apt. except for doctor’s visits since the fall. To be honest, when I had the cellulitis in the right leg, I really couldn’t walk on it. The good thing is that since it happened at work, everything is covered by worker’s compensation, including my pay (which is a -very- good thing because I have very little leave, unfortunately). I’m hoping that the orthopedist will be able to take the cast off earlier than the first prediction (6-8 weeks!) or at the very least that I’ll be able to get around with a cane.
As for gifts, they were a very pleasant surprise this year! My SO gifted me with: a pilot’s case (one of those suitcases-on-wheels), which I most definitely needed as well as large, soft blanket (I have been sleeping under that blanket since Christmas and it’s the softest and warmest blanket -ever-!); my kids gave me perfume and earrings, and I was very happy and pleased with it all. 
I’m just glad it’s over and I’m back in my own house.
On the good side - we got to see our daughter again (goodness knows when we’ll see her again) and we met her new boyfriend (he seems to be a good kid - much more stable than the last one) and I got to spend a little time with my nephew (almost 11, really smart, and unfortunately, saddled with a father who won’t let the kid be a kid.)
On the less good side - I don’t like my BIL (father of aforementioned nephew) - my MIL blames all his issues on being a middle child. I just think he’s self-centered and an ass. He was several hours late getting to MIL’s so we had to change the entire day’s plans. He was constantly on his son’s case (criminy, the boy is 10 and he was in a house full of adults - of course he was bored!!) He (BIL) whines about having no money, yet he and his wife went way overboard with gifts, mostly crap for his parents (like the book on “Are the End Times Here?” and a CD of W’s views on life or something and that damned reindeer on a rocking chair that played Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer when you squeeze its hand, which he did, constantly…) Then my daughter and her bf had to leave around 3 to have dinner with his family. I was so glad when BIL and crew left.
There was also lots of TV played at high volume all weekend because FIL refuses to consider a hearing aid. I saw more football this weekend than in the last 10 years, I think. My only escape was to take one of the dogs out for a constitutional, which I did frequently.
On the other hand, the food was good, and my husband helped his dad with some projects in the house. And we got our dog back from our daughter.
All in all, I’m just glad the holidays are done. I get to chill for the rest of the week, then back to work on Monday. ho ho ho
It was very, very stressful. Way beyond typical juggling-two-families-four-hours-apart-when-you-live-out-of-state stressful. It was wonderful to get to see everyone (well, almost everyone, but we’ll get to that later), but it was just a really hard few days.
Christmas Eve with his parents was fine. His cousin’s toddlers were well-rested and thus very pleasant, the food was great, and his chronically sad grandmother was downright chipper. (I’m thinking mil slipped her something.) It was a very nice time.
After that, though, it kind of went to shit. When I called to let Mom and Dad know what time we were leaving next morning, they told me my uncle had finally died. In a way, that was a relief, since he’d been suffering horribly, but it was still rough.
My parents’ end of the state got 20 inches of snow on Wednesday and Thursday, and the roads around there were awful. I mean awful to the point that if we’d realized they were that bad, we wouldn’t have come. We nearly got knocked off the interstate by several idiots before giving up and taking a secondary road the rest of the way. What should have been the last hour or so of the trip wound up taking three.
My aunt, the one whose husband had just died, still insisted on having gifts at her house that night, just like always. Because of the layout of the house, Hospice had set him up in the living room, so we opened our presents between the Christmas tree and the empty hospital bed where he died.
On our way back to Mom and Dad’s, we had a blowout, and wound up having to dig snow out from under the car and around the tire to change it. In the dark. Then the car got stuck and we had to dig it out.
Sunday I got to go for part of making the funereal arrangements and picking out flowers and stuff. Monday was the visitation and four more hours of driving. Then Tuesday was the seven-hour drive home.
We need a vacation to recoup from our vacation.
Man, what a jerk! I think I would have offered him a nice plate of “go fuck yourself.”
That’s Mom’s New Year’s resolution. 
Why didn’t your parents give your kids anything?
Why did they wait until you got there to start opening stuff?
What would have been in the footnote you left out?
Bump because I’m still wondering…