Christmas for me usually is a mixed experience. This year feels the same for different reasons. I’ve taken a trip to Montreal and Ottawa to visit my brother and some friends. It’s my first vacation since my breakup. Of course it’s tough for me to deal with what seems like everyone going home with to be with their spouse. Fortunately I have been very busy and for the most part I’ve kept my mind off of things. Still today was a tougher day. I look forward to the mundaneness of January again. I will say though that hanging out with my friends and my brother has been a good time and I’m glad I made the trip. Hows your Christmas going?
QBro! It’s good to see you! I agree, the holidays sure can be a drag for a lot of us, and the doldrums of the winter months are coming up, but you’ll get through it, just like most of us will.
Glad you got to spend some time with your bro and friends. If you’re single, that’s really what you need, IMO.
My Christmas is going great, because I’m spending it with friends too! 
Be well and I’m glad I caught your post!
Q
Mine has been pretty good- visited family earlier this month and that was really my xmas celebration. Navigated the “getting gift for/from boyfriend” minefield that is always a little crazy (all went well). Had to cancel actual Christmas plan due to a back flare up but otherwise peaceful and uneventful, unlike so many others across the world this year.
I just got home and I’m pooped. I did all the cooking, which isn’t unusual, but it wasn’t in my own kitchen, so that was different. For the first time in years though, money is very tight for me. I couldn’t give the way I usually do and that has me kind of blue. Everyone seems to understand, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling terrible about it.
On the plus side, I have a new granddaughter and she is wonderful. I enjoyed spending time with her.
All in all, I’m glad it’s over and hope next year is better, financially at least.
It could be better, but it could also probably be worse. My grandpa unexpectedly went into the hospital a few nights ago with heart problems. My husband and I visited him in the hospital tonight and last night. My brother went with us last night. Grandpa said he was happy to see us, so that’s good. He hugged each of us before we left and said, “I love you,” which is not something I remember him actually saying before (we knew it, though). Other than that, we spent some time with my husband’s family for a couple of hours and then spent a few hours with my family at my grandpa’s house (without grandpa).
It was like any other day except everything was closed, which I suppose means that it’s worse than any other day of the month.
Boring. With food.
Pretty darned good. My sister was in labor all yesterday, and we got a niece today. Seen the first photos, and boy, is she cute. HUGE big eyes. Sis is doing all right, considering she ended up having a C-section.
Once again, could have been great…except 2 sisters brought their dogs.
Why dont dog owners grasp that your pets are not my pets. Once again, one sisters 2 dogs shit n pissed on the carpet twice daily…note, they have always done that at her house…she had to have all carpet replaced with faux hardwood…only to have them warp the planks with urine.
I made clear last year no more dogs…as i did same yrs prior…usually last a yr, then restarts. Yap all night, other relatives and kids cant sllep, and terrorize my cats, who spend the entire visit time, hiding atop the fridge.
Is it just me, or are all dog owners oblivious to the many reasons they should keep their dogs at home or in a boarding home?
I woke up and took the dog for a 2.5 mile walk. On the way out an older gent came out of his house to give my dog a large dog biscuit and jaw-jack me a bit. On the way back he was watching for me and came out again, this time to give me a…large pot brownie. Okayyy. No idea what I’m going to do with that. It looks and smells just like a regular brownie too. Most random Christmas gift ever.
I later went to see Django Unchained because what says “Christmas” like Tarantino, violence, copious use the the N word and motherfuckers? It also apparently says “fun for the whole family” to some people as well, since there were people that brought their young child that couldn’t have been more than 4, and I think I’m being generous. WTF, people?
It’s not just you, cougar. We’ve had company back in the Spring, and because their dog was very ill, they felt compelled to bring him along. To be fair, they did ask first and since he was a smaller breed, we said okay.
What they didn’t tell us was that he had fleas, so when they left, our cat (indoor) had fleas and it took forever to get him flea-free. Had we known, we would have kept them separated as we have a screened-in porch.
Quasi
A Christmas baby! Congratulations, Uncle Jenaroph! 
Curiosity, I agree with the Tarantino comment. His movies are ones parents ought to really watch out for when it comes to young uns. Speaking of parents, my son let our grandson play “Grand Theft Auto” on my XBox, and I flew all over my son when I heard the language. I know he probably hears it at school, but this child goes to church with his Grandmother every Sunday and I feel my son should respect that.
Q
3 hours sitting around at LAX, 5 hours on a very turbulent cross-country flight, have eaten nothing but Cheetos all day because everything is closed. I’ve had better days, but also worse ones. It’s been pretty meh.
I love GTA, and I think it’s hilarious. I’d totally play it… AFTER the kids went to bed. 
Sheesh, they have their whole lives to become degenerates. I managed just fine without early exposure to that stuff.
I happen to have a very large brownie. Hungry?
Our grandson does as well, CKH. I may be being old-fashioned, but I believe in setting an example, and our son just isn’t doing that, and not only with video games.
Q
Congrats to the family!
My Christmas was pretty good. Turkey and presents and all that jazz. People seemed to like their gifts, so there’s that.
I miss home a lot and would have loved to be in Montreal for Christmas, but it wasn’t possible this year. I called everyone and had a nice chat. My dear 98-year-old Grandmaman who keeps bouncing back from her near-death experiences to complain about the quality of food in her care facility, put me in a funk with something she said and I spent most of the day trying to get it out of my mind. She asked me why I’m not pregnant yet, apparently forgetting that I was finally pregnant this fall and lost it at 8 weeks. She didn’t mean anything by it, I know, but it’s still hard to hear the questions. Especially because back in September when I was giddy with happiness about the pregnancy, I was imagining my fat little baby belly wrapped up in Christmas sweaters for family photos.
My funk affected my perception of everything all day, despite my efforts to restrain it. I tried very hard to fake some happiness, since there is a lot to be happy about, but I had a really hard time keeping things in perspective.
Celtling and I had alovely Christmas - right up until we tried to involve the rest of the family in it. LOL! My brother and my Mom were clearly in the midst of one of their dramatic little emotional binges when I called from the road to say “We’re on our way.” After the third phone call I turned around and headed home. No way I am going to subject my child to that.
And for the first time ever, I told them so. They are selfish and melodramtic, and they were ruining Christmas for my nephews by dragging up old crap to get upset about. Not because they wanted to resolve anything or do any healing, but because my Mother (BPD? that’s my lay opinion anyway) gets off on having everybody crying and dramatic, and my brother falls for it every time.
We had Christmas dinner at IHOP. It was calm and fun and we giggled through most of it. Then we came home and made gingerbread cookie dough without the eggs so we could eat it raw. I think I’ll go have a spoonful now.
Happy New Year everybody! Don’t let the turkeys get you down!
Christmas is a time I spend with people I care so much about that I only see them once a year.
We’ve got a tripartite Christmas this year, which wasn’t the plan. We attended my aunt’s big family do on December 22-23, which was BONKERS and a ton of fun. There were 22 stockings fcs.
On the 23rd we went home and my parents were supposed to arrive that afternoon, but inclement weather kept them home. So it was just my husband and daughter and I for Christmas yesterday, but we had a nice time, opening our presents to each other.
My parents will finally arrive on Friday, we hope, and Christmas The Third will happen Saturday morning. The delayed Christmas is a letdown for everyone except possibly our daughter, who would have gone bonkers with all those gifts at once. I really missed doing the stockings yesterday–I’m the one who fills them up and dang, I did a GREAT job this year. Everyone will be pleased on Saturday.