https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPMEW2klP6U
― Spirit of the Voice of the Beehive (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 02:42 (five years ago) link
it's over!! i drove through a blizzard and made it out the other side to my quiet little trailer in heaven.
― macropuente (map), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 03:42 (five years ago) link
it's nice to be home at the end of it all
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 03:51 (five years ago) link
not even that though it is more just the non-stop social obligation going from 7am to 10pm
oh god yes. i actually snapped last night. everything about the holiday, the enforced merriment, the shitty traffic, the control freak relatives etc. had made me absurdly grumpy. i was in bed waiting for my sister's husband's relatives, who were upstairs, to leave so i could get some leftover snacks. i waited until 11 pm and they weren't gone so i walked upstairs with my headphones on and started getting some food from the kitchen. everyone at the dining room table adjacent to me waved very cheerfully and said "hi matt!", i lifted up my headphones and said "i'm not in the fucking mood" and put them back on, got my food and went back downstairs. đŹ i'm emailing them an apology.
xp omg it feels incredible.
― macropuente (map), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 03:52 (five years ago) link
we didn't have overly stressful plans or anything but the whole thing w/family is work for sure and i'm delighted to be back home drinking whiskey, watching basketball, and hanging with my cats while having no obligations for the next 3 days or so.
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 03:56 (five years ago) link
wooooot
― macropuente (map), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 04:03 (five years ago) link
We have evolved a Christmas routine that makes a virtue out of the potential tensions of shared-custody holidays. The kids always spend Xmas Eve with their mom at her mom's house, so they wake up and have Christmas morning there. That means my wife and I can sleep as late as we want on Christmas, then get up and make coffee and/or cocktails, do our own gift exchange, and then wait for my in-laws and the kids to all arrive sometime after noon. This makes for a relaxed day that still has enough family buzz about it to feel like a holiday.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 04:20 (five years ago) link
Sing with me! "It's the mooost pass-aggro tiiiiime, of the yearrrr"
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 04:36 (five years ago) link
My daughter came home for Christmas. It was good, if a bit nerve-wracking. It's never easy to predict the state of her health or whether a crisis might arise. We had some good, quiet time exchanging gifts and some minor difficulties getting her fluids into her. After she was safely snugged into the wheelchair van and on her way home again, my wife and I each had a slug of scotch whiskey and exchanged a long hug.
― A is for (Aimless), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 04:37 (five years ago) link
hi!
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 04:49 (five years ago) link
xp <3 aimless
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 05:15 (five years ago) link
i can't sleep because of im guessing calories im guessing hi
― gabbnebulous (darraghmac), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 05:28 (five years ago) link
Cripes, good morning
― I have measured out my life in coffee shop loyalty cards (silby), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 05:29 (five years ago) link
Am now on day 5 of flu, with symptoms mostly abated, and feeling comfortably exhausted but with no stamina or appetite. I managed to miss the whole Xmas shebang! I might actually get up to day.Glad to hear your daughterâs visit went well Aimless.
― Luna Schlosser, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 08:05 (five years ago) link
Between Trump and Brexit, 2019 is going to be a hot mess. So why not start early? My family's usual Boxing Day leftovers lunch has taken a Zeitgeist predicting turn. Instead of the usual practice of serving up bubble and squeak made with the leftover sprouts and potatoes, we had microwaved baked potatoes topped with grated cheddar cheese alongside the cold turkey, stuffing, sausages wrapped in bacon, cranberry sauce, and gravy. Well whatever - some random shit thrown on a plate fits the tenor of the times. Also we had a trifle that looked like it had passed through a liquidiser. Not to mention the crackers. Including this prophetic joke:
Q: what kind of ball doesn't bounce?A: a snowball
― mistletoe and whine (snoball), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 13:14 (five years ago) link
seriously considering having a kid just so I can justifiably ditch the wider fam christmas obligations from here on out
so tiring
― there are no good podcasts (||||||||), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 13:23 (five years ago) link
ha see I feel like having kids makes it harder to ditch everybody! perpetually envious of those without kids who can just say âyea weâre not participating this yearâ
― marcos, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 14:08 (five years ago) link
i got two full days left at my in-laws and then an 8 hour drive back to the great lakes. i canât wait to wake up in my own house
― marcos, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 14:09 (five years ago) link
Right, came to reply to that post about having kids âum, Iâm not sure it works that way.â
― Spirit of the Voice of the Beehive (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 14:17 (five years ago) link
when you move overseas w kids it works that way! flights for five are $$$ so we just stay put. My oldest is 18 now so really we are the family now, rather than our parents.
― L'assie (Euler), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 14:31 (five years ago) link
ugh thereâs no way out
― there are no good podcasts (||||||||), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 14:35 (five years ago) link
at the risk of sounding grim, christmas is for childrentherefore, if there aren't any, you don't have to celebrate it if you don't want to (many people seem to want to from what i can tell) i endured yesterday by cooking all day
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 14:37 (five years ago) link
I found family invites actually became a thing of the past having a kid with classic autism type behaviours. But once I got over the outrage and disappointment I just thought: fuck every last one of 'em and realised it was actually a blessing!
― calzino, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 14:41 (five years ago) link
A surprise addition to our family meal was my brother's girlfriend from when they were in their mid-teens -- they were young and rebellious and wound up having a kid together when they were 16, and weren't together long. Their son, my nephew, OD'd and died this past summer and my brother has been really supportive and solicitous in all the ways he didn't know how to be 25+ years ago. Anyway my brother invited her to dinner with his current girlfriend's blessing so his ex wouldn't be quite as alone for the holidays. My wife and mother thought it would be weird and strained, but it turned out very nice, and I was really proud of my brother -- he's matured into a real human in the past few years.
― Juul Haalmeyer Dancers washout (WmC), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 14:44 (five years ago) link
Since we're currently based in the UK, my wife decided to take advantage of France's geographical proximity by spending the holidays with her side of the family for the first time in eons. I prefer avoiding my in-laws when at all possible and am closer to my parents than my wife is to hers so it's nice to be back in Canada for a suitably low key nuclear family Christmas (I have no brothers or sisters or uncles or aunts and even if I did, they'd probably be in Romania).
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 14:46 (five years ago) link
Lovely story WmC.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 14:58 (five years ago) link
Seconded.
at the risk of sounding grim, christmas is for children
― Spirit of the Voice of the Beehive (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 14:59 (five years ago) link
counterpoint: when someone buys your child a robot minion(tm) controlled by a tablet, dear god
― 21st savagery fox (m bison), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 15:02 (five years ago) link
lol
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 15:03 (five years ago) link
â Juul Haalmeyer Dancers washout (WmC), Wednesday, December 26, 2018 9:44 A
Best thing I've read in this thread
my youngest will be a teen this coming year so the toy days are done & that is a blessing in itself. what a bunch of dumb plastic crap we bought/were given over the years. RIP
― L'assie (Euler), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 15:06 (five years ago) link
nothing niece received managed to get the phone out of her hand for more than 30 minutes
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 15:12 (five years ago) link
This is not my experience except in the way that everything is "for" children when they're around.
One thing about having kids that does contribute to improving this situation is that they themselves are fun to be around during the holiday longueurs.
This is very definitely not my experience - I love my niblings but they are at their worst during the competitive consumption that is Christmas.
― Andrew Farrell, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 16:04 (five years ago) link
i endured yesterday by cooking all day
with delicious results, I'm sure.
― A is for (Aimless), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 17:25 (five years ago) link
yes indeed
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 17:50 (five years ago) link
christmas is a good argt against the view that mental illnesses exist primarily within individuals
― ogmor, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 18:23 (five years ago) link
Please tell us in a few days that you surreptitiously went around the GOP presidents painting with a pin, putting pinprick holes in all the presidentsâ pupils. I so would.
Pinpricks? Okay, good first step but... Red LED lights! Conveniently plentiful at Christmas time IMO. WKIW Demon GOP poker game painting.
― Anne Frankenstein (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 19:00 (five years ago) link
For me, so far, children have helped distract from awful Trumper in-laws. Children have offered alternative conversation topics.
The specific ppl involved? It's complicated. My own personal children are very digital and pretty much don't play with toys. But relatives with 20th century ideas of childhood want to give them things. So we navigate that.
Personally I only want booze and music gear. Both of which I could easily just buy for myself.
― Anne Frankenstein (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 19:11 (five years ago) link
I was gearing up for the religion vs science discussion with my father-in-law after his recent pilgrimage to the Creation Musem, but welfare ended up being the argument du jour, with his twin brother. Plot twist: my father-in-law ended up on the right side of that one! He's a strange and often self-contradictory man.
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 19:24 (five years ago) link
uh dude him and his twin swapped places to mess with you
― kinder, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 19:39 (five years ago) link
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 19:42 (five years ago) link
I've averaged at least two desserts per meal, including breakfast, the last couple of days. kids didn't go overly crazy, all is good.
― kinder, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 19:50 (five years ago) link
the dumb plastic crap enslaught beginneth
― kinder, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 19:51 (five years ago) link
I didnât even know Jordan had gotten married to have in-laws
― Spirit of the Voice of the Beehive (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 20:04 (five years ago) link
I'm exhausted. I'm fat. I have a mouth ulcer. my liver hurts. my mood swings between cheerful sentimentality and mild upset. it's definitely Christmas
― frame casual (dog latin), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 20:08 (five years ago) link
protip: get some adjustable pliers to work those leftover almonds from seasonal nut selections, and wrap it in a towel so you might actually find some almond remains amongst the debris.
^^^
sending this one back in time to myself.
― calzino, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 20:09 (five years ago) link
my brother (right) and me (left) doing our annual "ridiculous gift" exchange
http://i68.tinypic.com/2i6dph3.jpg
― fuck the NRA (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 21:43 (five years ago) link
pistachios>>>>>>almonds
― kinder, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 21:54 (five years ago) link
counterpoint theyâre both amazing
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Wednesday, 26 December 2018 23:19 (five years ago) link
The holidays never live up to what we want them to be.
― Groove(box) Denied (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 27 December 2018 00:05 (five years ago) link