(h/t commentor Raven)
.
Just made it back from a last-minute ‘superstore’ grocery run. (Unnecessary pro tip: Not the best time.) My only social responsibilities, for the next couple days, involve nagging the Spousal Unit to call his various far-flung relatives, although we’re planning on dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant tomorrow. Maybe even see The Hobbit or Frozen, if we get extremely ambitious. As an introvert/aspiring agoraphobic, this schedule makes me very happy.
How’s the holiday madness going in your neighborhoods?
Violet
Plumbing emergency–the kitchen sink drain started leaking last night. Or, more correctly, it was discovered last night. Apparently it had been leaking for awhile. The discovery was made in the middle of cookie baking, so a pan was placed under it as a stop gap, and today was a mad scramble to find the right part. Of course no one had seen this part–from Home Depot to Lowe’s to the local hardware store. So a “good enough” part had to be bought and configured. So far it’s holding, but this is not what you want to deal with two days before Christmas when you’re hosting.
So now everything else is behind schedule. The dining room table is still being used as a desk and all that has to be moved. Boxes of Christmas decorations are everywhere and aren’t up yet. Tonight is going to be late and work-filled. I’m tired just thinking about it.
gogol's wife
I made brisket with cranberries today from a recipe in the New York Times. I’m afraid it’s weird. We’ll find out tomorrow.
Tonight, Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sidney Greenstreet, S. Z. Sakall, Una O’Connor, Reginald Gardiner — Christmas in Connecticut, 8:00 PM Eastern, TCM.
ETA: I tried to italicize the name of the movie but failed.
BGinCHI
We fly to Seattle tomorrow. 4.5 hours of toddler plus, I assume, Jews. Do Christians ever fly on Christmas?
I’m hoping we get an old lady in our row with a big bag of either latkes or knishes.
dmsilev
Cake is baked, and most of the other stuff which will be our contribution to dinner tomorrow are either done or well underway. Of course I did have to field one long phone call from work to walk someone through setting up and using something which I built (which is made from the computational equivalent of baling wire and duct tape, so I guess it’s my own fault in a sense…). Fun…
BGinCHI
@Violet: This Dr. (of literature) prescribes vodka. Take every two hours until the pain stops.
srv
I’m going to wait until I get drunk before finishing Xmas wrappings.
MomSense
Anne, thank you so much for keeping this place humming day after day! Hope you enjoy the holiday tomorrow.
@Violet:
If only there really were Christmas elves to help us get it all done! Sending you energy and courage!
TheMightyTrowel
It’s already Christmas down under! Going Well so far. There are cinnamon buns in the oven and Mr trowel gave me Tasmanian single malt in my stocking and cufflinks with a trowel and bucket on them under the tree.
gogol's wife
@srv:
Then they’ll look like the ones I do sober.
Southern Beale
Been doing Christmas Eve dinner prep, taking a moment to put my feet up but about to dig into cooking the big meal — Beef Wellington, green beans, mashed red potatoes.
My favorite holiday move, “It Happened on 5th Avenue,” is on TCM right now. I love this movie. It’s basically the Communist Manifesto, to a schmaltzy Hollywood soundtrack.
Here’s a Christmas poem for everyone. Happy tidings of the season to you all!
Walker
Finished Wigilia and lapsing into food coma.
Betty Cracker
Hanging out around the fire pit in the backyard with the mister’s and my siblings, drinking champagne punch, listening to music and talking about Chistmases past (the pest control float was mentioned.) Got everything all ready for tomorrow’s feast. The mister and his brother are handling tonight’s victuals, so I can relax. Happy Holidays to all!
max
I have three frozen legs of lamb (don’t ask), so I’m making lamb tomorrow (which is effectively our Xmas eve due to work schedules) and then again the next day (for our actual Xmas, which is yes, a day late, but everyone will be here at normal hours). And then I’ll have a leg of lamb left over.
(I love lamb, so this is OK, even if it IS a bit of overkill. Goose was non-starter again, dammit.)
Other than that, it was 40 degrees and sunny today! With a windchill of 25. Also, it was snowing. Yay verily, is the weather all fucked up.
max
[‘Everything else is done, although I might bestir myself to make some tuscan bread tonight. So it’s all good.’]
BGinCHI
@Betty Cracker: How’s your nose in the firelight?
They probably can’t even see it. Especially with the punch.
Since it’s single digits here I really envy the outdoor activity…..
BGinCHI
@max: Made a lamb shoulder roast over the weekend. Slow cooked all day in Moroccan spices. Delish.
lamh36
Gotta work Christmas Day, then off day after, and back to work Friday, then off the weekend.
Even though I’m off on the 26th, I’ve actually got a job interview in NOLA. I told the guy I was gonna let him know when I’d be available for an in-person interview. Initially I told him the earliest that I was available in the next 2 weeks was the day after Christmas and the day after New Year, but since I figured it those days were kinda inconvenient for some people, I also told him that I could let him know what my schedule looked like at the beginning of the year. Welp he emailed me back and asked if I could come in the day after Christmas!!! What that says to me is that they are one of two things or both 1)really in need of an experienced tech in Microbiology 2)they really like my credentials, either way, it’s bodes well for me.
Now I’ve gotta find something to where for the darn interview…lol. I don’t have anything good.
I def hope the lab feels right and I REALLY do want to go for the $2 above my current pay rate, but I’ve also gotta be realistic. First of all, Microbiology is a segment of the lab that just doesn’t have alot of openings. Basically, the saying goes, no one really leaves Micro voluntarily, they usually retire or leave due to extraneous circumstances. Second of all, my current rate of pay is actually more than the state average for Louisiana, anything higher would actually have to be a supervisory position here in NOLA.
So i”m treating this job position as I would have treated it when I was still Iiving in DFW. It’s a complete lateral move. The difference here is that I hope to have this be the last job I have for at least awhile. It will have taken me almost 10 years to come full circle from Katrina, and finally be back home in NOLA, but it will be worth it.
But like I said, I have to like the feel of the lab and it has to be either a completely lateral move or an upward move
Happy Holidays guys.
Roger Moore
@BGinCHI:
Some Christians will fly on Christmas, especially if they’re looking for cheap airfare for a trip around that time of year. I suspect that more people who are self-described Christians don’t want to fly on Christmas because they’re worried about their secular schedules than out of religious scruples. Also, too, some Christians don’t celebrate Christmas (e.g. Jehovah’s Witnesses) or celebrate it on a different day (e.g. Eastern Orthodox). Plus you might find and assortment of other non-Christians, like non-believers, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, etc.
Anne Laurie
@lamh36:
Fingers crossed for you — whether or not you decide the job is worth it!
Ripley
The SO is sleeping on one end of the couch after her 3rd overnight shift in the ER. I scampered to the grocery store for some ham and beans, coffee, Ryan’s, beer, and hot sauce, and I’m watching DIY network. The best/worst dog in the world is on my other side, and we’re settled in for a long night of nothing-to-do.
Santa may bring someone a special, sparkly gift, if Santa’s local elf doesn’t get cold feet and put it off again. I’m losing my PT job, but have a good opportunity for a new FT or PT job that’s right up my alley.
Grateful to have a warm house, a loving lady, enough cash on hand to cover the basics and keep us comfortable, a sweet little dog, and good health.
Happy Xmas to everyone!
ETA: (Ripley from Whiskey Fire, so there’s no confusion.)
burnspbesq
@BGinCHI:
College athletes who have practice at oh-dark-hundred on Thursday.
Docs, nurses, EMTs, cops, firemen who were on duty or on call on Christmas Eve.
That’s about all I can think of.
Bill E Pilgrim
I like this original much better than Tom Friedman’s version of this song.
Ah Merle. One of my favorite voices ever. In fact I’ve got a yearnin for a little more…
Yatsuno
@BGinCHI: Rugelach. Find the lady with the rugelach who will also share the recipe.
ranchandsyrup
Today was rough as I drank ALL THE SCOTCH last night. Managed to get the lasagna made and the turkey rubbed for tomorrow. Also put together a breakfast casserole for the morning. I’m going to have one Jameson and ginger to soothe the pain.
MikeJ
I also just got back from grocery run, after stopping by the hospital. Casey and I had a lovely time hanging out chatting, and a fairly well drugged Yutsy was there too. Seahawks viewing party next weekend in the rehab unit, but not the rehab unit I always envisioned myself in.
No cranberries for xmas here in the
hinterlandsPNW. Was never an issue when I lived on the east coast, but more than one produce man at more than one store has told me at more than one xmas they were done with cranberries long ago.karen
I’m doing what a lot of Jews do for Christmas Eve: chinese food. They usually go to the place and I’m getting delivery but still, good food.
gbear
@BGinCHI:
The first time I ever flew was on Christmas Day 1973 from St. Paul MN to San Francisco. As we were coming in for a landing, SFO suddenly fogged over and we had to abandon the landing, resulting in numerous cases of passengers feeling vomity (my mom included). We flew around aimlessly for a while until they finally dropped us in Reno. We played slots in the airport while they decided what to do with us, which eventually was to put us all on busses and drive us to SFO. I tried to imagine all of the beautiful veiws we were driving past in pitch blackness while the lady next to me chainsmoked the whole trip. We had to call my mom’s relatives at 2:30 am to tell them to come and pick us up at the airport after the airline had told them we were being put up in Reno for the night.
The rest of the trip was a lot more fun. We flew back on New Year’s Day.
Cliff in NH
Got my Obamacare, even Dental for the first time. the site was really snappy today.
Yay.
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
Watching Doll House and drinking wine.
Meatballs and smashed potatoes in the future. The boy is at a “friends Christmas Eve” dinner at Old Country Buffet.
Keith G
This was my first Christmas in the role of pastry chef/manager of a small pasterie. My goal is to not see another human being for at least 48 hours.
I have stocked up on lobster salad, smoked salmon, several imported cheeses, and a very vibrant Cabernet Franc.
The first three movies on my holiday que are Meet Me in St. Louis, Die Hard, and How to Train Your Dragon. I think I’ll start with Die Hard.
Once my body recovers, I will begin making social calls, but first comes rest.
gogol's wife
@Cliff in NH:
Congratulations!
Drunken hausfrau
Just hubby, my two teens, the pug, and me… We are having our traditional dinner of cocktail party food, cocktails, groovy music (vibe, Motown, classic jazz, vince guaraldi, pink martini, herb Albert , dino, sammy, Brian setter, bette midler,, etc), watching Scrooged and Wonderful Life. Cliche, but so tasty with bourbon and nog!
Happy whatever’s to my favorite group on the internets! This is a lovely community. Thank you all.
OzarkHillbilly
A light snow is drifting down through the bare limbs of the oak and hickory while a hoot owl “Who hoots for you’all” down in the holler. There is a deer (I saw him late this eve) bedded down on the ridge line opposite waiting for the rising of the waning moon (might be another day or 2 bud) and somewhere on the far side of Indian Creek is a pack of coyotes not saying a thing…. yet.
But last night my granddaughter loved the scarves and hat my wife knitted for her and requested hats to match the extra scarves and fingerless gloves too and… My role is to keep those two together and every now and again make them laugh. If I do that, I will continue to be fed from time to time.
Tomorrow if I am lucky, I will work.
PurpleGirl
My day went pear-shaped during the afternoon. Ran some errands in the morning and took a prescription to the hospital pharmacy; they tell me the refills I called early Monday morning (2AM) are ready and today’s med will be ready in 2-3 hours. So I go home, have lunch, then go back to the hospital and it isn’t ready and I have to wait another 30 minutes. By this time I’m just tired of bus riding and don’t feel like going to any stores. Once I have everything I go home and fall asleep. I woke up too late to go to either of Christmas Eve services I thought I might like to go to.
ETA: What caused this to be moderated?
MomSense
@lamh36:
Will say a little prayer that the right job happens for you.
Lurking Buffoon
Currently cursing the sudden flurries cause I really don’t feel like shoveling 2 driveways (family is close by, and I’m the only one able-bodied at the moment) early in the morning.
Completely unrelated, here’s an appropriate story for tonight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1vJ4sXetw4
PurpleGirl
@BGinCHI: I did one year when I waited a bit too long to get my tickets to Florida. Actually, the plane wasn’t totally crowded and the tickets were cheaper than the surrounding days. (Nominal Christian here.)
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
@Keith G:
Careful. The government spied without a warrant in Die Hard. Snowden might feature you on a Russian television special.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
Waiting for G to get home from work — unlike the rest of us office drones, home health workers (including managers) have to get everyone being released from the hospital for Christmas all set up, so he never gets to leave the office early. I could have left at 1 pm, but I had stuff to finish so I wouldn’t have to go in next week, so I got that out of the way.
@BGinCHI:
I flew on Christmas Day one year because G only gets the day off and no extra time (see above), so we spent Christmas morning together and then I flew to Arizona to spend the rest of the week with my family. But that was a one-hour flight, so there was still a lot of Christmas left to celebrate once I got there.
OzarkHillbilly
Oh, one more thing, fwck Xmas.
IowaOldLady
We’re going to see The Hobbit tomorrow. We saw the first one last Christmas Day. We went to a 9am showing so it wouldn’t be crowded and were the only people in the theater.
May you all get where you want to be and home again, full of good food and good cheer.
MomSense
@Cliff in NH:
Woooo Hooooo!
Cliff in NH
@gogol’s wife:
Thanks! I was surprised at the dental, I didn’t know that would be there (4 plans even!) even as a choice.
BGinCHI
@gbear: Holy crap. Weather in Seattle supposed to be good, so I hope we are routine.
Thanks for using “vomity.” I think that word can find a good home here in this non-kill-word shelter.
Lurking Buffoon
Another obligatory link for Christmas Eve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWG5MF3BM4M
BGinCHI
@IowaOldLady: How you feeling?
Glad to hear from MikeJ that Yutsy is doing OK. Been worried about him. Although he seems like the kind of guy who will be patient with rehab and physical therapy.
Cliff in NH
@MomSense:
the final solution to error, was to discard all applications and re-sign up a new account (not just a new application with the same acct, I tried that too) at heathcare.gov with a different dot pattern in my gmail; I didn’t want a special email acct for just healthcare when I figured a new dot patten would count as new for the gov, and easy to filter for me.
WereBear
It’s a tradition!
We’re having a very low key holiday tomorrow, which is just what suits us after an extraordinarily stressful 2013.
Heaven bless us, every one!
ruemara
I confessed to finding Matt Smith too twee. Is it Festivus already?
@Cliff in NH: Congrats!
Villago Delenda Est
I will take this opportunity to wish all Juicers a very Merry Christmas.
Now that I’ve got the politically correct greeting out of the way, belated Happy Saturnalia, Solstice, and Festivus, and Happy Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, and Guy Lombardo Party Day.
Mustang Bobby
My neighborhood does “Santa’s Runway” down my street. They line it with candles inside paper bags — in New Mexico we called them luminarios — and it’s supposed to guide that cranky old white dude to all the good boys and girls.
I’m watching the Castle marathon on TNT.
Here’s one of my favorite Christmas tunes: The immortal Yogi Yorgesson.
Oh, and happy/merry whatever to all Juicers, and thanks for welcoming me to the throng.
Stella B
@Violet: My worst ever Xmas Eve involved a hot water heater and a whole lot of hot water. A HWH died on Xmas day last year, but we weren’t living in that house, so I just shut off the water and went on my merry way. Otherwise, back when I still worked, I liked working Xmas. The only people you saw were actually sick since the hypochondriacs were busy. Also, too, time and a half even for doctors.
Sunny and 70 here in San Diego. Ho-hum.
schrodinger's cat
Are you being a good kitteh on Catmas eve?
raven
Aw, nice. Xmas, 1968.
Anne Laurie
@IowaOldLady: Glad you’re feeling better!
Cliff in NH
oh, and a unsubsidized silver plan (with a possible cost share tax credit even – won’t know till I file what it will be due to my line of work) plus a high coverage dental plan costs less than my old catastrophic plan with the same(only) company in NH.
And it Covers things. That seems strange after how it’s been before…
raven
Went to the Unitarian gig in Blacksburg, it was fine.
Munira
Here in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, our power just came back on tonight. It’s been out since Sunday morning due to the big ice storm. I’m so excited. I was supposed to go down to Vermont but had to stay here to keep the fires going in the wood stove so the pipes wouldn’t freeze. Now however, I’ve been released and I can leave tomorrow morning. There’s no water when the power’s out so the first thing I did take a shower and flush the toilets. And, of course, no internet so I’ve been going through a ton of emails. The things we take for granted until they’re suddenly removed. My new heroes are the power company workers. It’s minus 30 here or something like that and they’ve been out there working around the clock to get our power back. Thanks, guys.
Hungry Joe
@karen: I hope you’re at least renting a movie; otherwise I’ll have no choice but to report you to Jewish Central …
… though we may break tradition ourselves tomorrow morning: We’re thinking about going to a movie and then to a JAPANESE restaurant. So I guess I shouldn’t throw stones. Or even stale fortune cookies.
Baud
@Mustang Bobby:
Me too!
raven
@efgoldman: Yep, in the rear with the gear.
IowaOldLady
@BGinCHI: By this evening, I was feeling much better and non-vomity. That’s for asking.
@Anne Laurie: Me too!
lamh36
Gonna finish watching Star Trek: Insurrection and then off to bed cause I’ve got to work Christmas Day. Bah-humbug. ST: NG, Jean-Luc and Ryker, my favs!
Hungry Joe
@efgoldman: My wife isn’t Jewish but she was raised as, and remains, a devout, practicing atheist, so I’m spared all that. She does like to have a small tree (happy childhood memories), which we bicker about a little because I flat-out don’t. We don’t have one this year because she just plain forgot.
Montysano
One of our few holiday traditions is that I must make gumbo. I am, I’m told, pretty damn good at it. So I’m trying to come out of a food coma and begin the 2-3 hours of work to do it right. Then, let it rest overnight and dig in tomorrow. I’m counting on a couple of shots of Casa Noble tequila (yum!) to revive me. We’ll see how that works out….
WereBear
Every culture with a Winter Solstice has a Winter Solstice tradition.
We get in early and don’t stop! Solstice with our Pagan friends, Festivus with those who celebrate, Christmas Eve & Christmas Day from childhood, Boxing Day because we are British comedy fans, New Year’s Eve for tradition and New Year’s Day because it’s traditional.
There’s no shortage at this time of year. We need festivity, don’t we?
something fabulous
Neighbor kindly lent me her car this week for driving her to the airport, so bravely went to the Trader Joes at Hollywood & VIne– strangely un-chaotic; busy but not too packed. Phew!
Secular-Jew here too; going to 2 different friends tomorrow, tonight just hunkering down. Have flown on Christmas Day before; it’s awesome, actually. Very quiet. Non-vomity.
Mentioned in a late-night thread at the end of October that my died passed away. We never celebrated xmas, obvs, but his birthday is in December, so it’s been kind of hard and sad period. I’ll be happy for the New Year to start. Happy Holidays (heh) to all of you kind and odd BJ souls!
schrodinger's cat
@lamh36: That is the worst movie ever, even the TNG cast seemed bored.
WereBear
@efgoldman: Personally, Manos, the Hands of Fate is the worst.
But the MST version is so good!
Tough call.
schrodinger's cat
@efgoldman: No. Who or what is Ed Wood?
lamh36
@schrodinger’s cat: lol. I don’t have to LIKE the movie, just happy to see Jean Luc and Ryker.
I know the time table is different, but I would so love to see a cameo from any of the TNG cast in the new Star Trek reboot, but I think they’ve exhausted the cameos with Leonard Nimoy
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@something fabulous:
I just got done texting reassuring things to my brother in Chicago — this is our first Christmas without our dad, and my dad LOVED Christmas.
I had a really hard time with Father’s Day, partly because I was getting bombarded with ads. Oh, and I had a meltdown when my mom decided not to come out here for Christmas. So it seems this whole “grief” things comes in waves.
MomSense
@Cliff in NH:
I’m really happy you got it all sorted out.
rikyrah
finished all my prep for tomorrow’s meal.
and, I just put out cookies and milk for Santa.
schrodinger's cat
@efgoldman: Before my time.
something fabulous
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): It sure do. Have been through it already once, since my mom died about 5 years ago now, so the way it’s hitting me this time is taking me by surprise; guess it shouldn’t. For me, Mother’s day so far has been the worst, as it is generally the same week as my birthday and was ON mother’s day that year, about a week after she died. Ugh.
Glad to see on a previous thread your mom decided to be out and about– we are all more resilient than we think, I guess. There’s our holiday lesson! Hope you are doing well.
schrodinger's cat
@lamh36: TNG cameos would be nice. Also too, DS9, that was my favoritest Trek evah!
James E Powell
@schrodinger’s cat:
Now you’ve done it. And everyone was getting along so nicely.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
Skyped with the in-laws, made homemade stir fry, and now we’re drinking wine and watching “The Shop Around the Corner.” IOW, a good Xmas Eve.
Chief
December, 1975. As a part-time job, I bartended every third night at the CPO (Chief Petty Officer) Club in McMurdo, Antarctica. The Juke box was free to play. I played “If We Make It Through December” so many times, that another Chief took it off the juke box and presented it to me before I left for the States in January.
Song brings back a lot of cherished memories. And The Hag is one of my top 5 all time favorites.