The dog above had a good time on Christmas — received lots of treats, renewed many friendships and capitalized on numerous spills. But she found the whole thing somewhat exhausting and is glad it’s over.
Reader Interactions
40Comments
Comments are closed.
raven
Our pups have spent a good bit of time in the van but we’ve made sure they have gotten nice marrow bones and plenty of walks. Lil Bit got covered in burrs at the farm and I’ve been picking them out as we go. Waiting to go out and see what kind of early morning pics I can get of Asheville.
Schlemizel
Back to work after a day off, SSDD. Of course half the people I need to get stuff done will have taken the rest of the week off so it will be sort of a mini-vacation at my desk.
The snow plows went by this morning. Which is weird because it didn’t snow last night. They plow a lot less now because it costs money so the roads are shit like they never used to be. But then they plow when it didn’t snow so I give up trying to figure it out.
NotMax
Meanwhile, down under –
Baby left in car while mother shops at Boxing Day sales
Sloane Ranger
Saw Doctor Who Christmas special and have to regretfully say that it was rubbish, apart from the 60 seconds at the end where Peter Capaldi made his entrance. The whole nudity thing was just irritating instead of funny (as I assume it was meant to be). Not to mention the 300 year stand_off being totally out of character for the Doctor. Also, if regeneration energy is such an effective weapon against Daleks, why were the Time Lords losing the war? Very disappointed in Matt Smith’s final episode.
On the plus side, excellent episodes of Call theMidwife and Downton Abbey.
Mustang Bobby
It started raining gently last night during Christmas dinner on the covered patio and hasn’t let up yet. I don’t think there’s a South Florida corollary in there to “Let It Snow, let it snow, let it snow.”
I’m enjoying seeing the state officials in Utah scrambling to put the same-sex marriage cat back in the bag. And I love it even more that in the ruling striking down the ban, the judge cited Antonin Scalia’s dissent. Hey, Nino, your petard awaits.
OzarkHillbilly
It took almost 10 years, but a 14 year old Sudanese girl from Darfur finally got her Xmas wish.
“I already have everything I want for Christmas — my family.”
Luci
Yes… I’m with the dog on that one. It was a nice Xmas and all, but it’s SO nice it’s over. :) Happy New Year’s everyone!
NotMax
Totally spaced out that I had bought something a little special to cook for the 25th (it was hidden under a container of donut holes in the fridge) and ended up with a Dagwood hero for dinner.
No big deal, tonight will be sweet ‘n’ sour boneless thick pork ribs and fried rice with garlic and wasabi peas.
WereBear
Hope everyone had a lovely holiday. Even though I’m off this Boxing Day I have some last minute work stuff to mop up today, at least I can do it at home.
This is all about the fallout from switching from a PC to a Mac… and switching from Access to do-you-really-need-a-database? I am a genius so I am getting around it, but GAH!
If anyone has gotten VLOOKUP to work on Numbers OR Google spreadsheet, please give a shoutout!
NotMax
For (the majority) of y’all who don’t play WoW, there is an annual holiday event at Xmas/New Year (named Winter Veil in game), and one of the items available is a Gaudy Winter Veil Sweater.
And gaudy it is indeed.
Cervantes
Your dog and I had virtually the same Christmas.
The Red Pen
Reading through the comments on the Pope’s message, and this dialog popped into my head:
Cassidy
@The Red Pen: No shit. How delicate do you have to be to get upset because the leader of a religion worshipping a deity you don’t believe exists doesn’t use the right word in asking you to join him to promote peace?
PsiFighter37
Back in the office to babysit for today and tomorrow, and that’ll be all for 2013. Made a crapload of food for my family yesterday (porcini-crusted Wagyu strip, ratatouille, garlic-potato soup, beet and goat cheese arugula salad, braised cauliflower, braised chard with pesto, and strawberry shortcake), so I am pretty worn out. It went pretty well overall, but will be looking forward to the long weekend coming up.
geg6
The 20 year old niece had the whole family in tears last night. She saved the gifts she got for her mom and dad to have them open them at our family gathering. It was the cards that she gave with the gifts that had us all in tears–so thoughtful and loving and mature. They adopted her when she was 18 months old and had been abused by her birth mother. She has really grown up to be a lovely young woman who appreciates the wonderful parents who took her in and loved her with all their hearts. A couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have thought she’d do something like this. She was, I thought, a bit spoiled and very self-involved. I’m so proud of her I could burst. That was the best Christmas present ever.
The Red Pen
Do you want to read a heartwarming story about how actor Jennifer Hudson and the Salvation Army* overcame logistical difficulties and bitter cold to give away toys to needy families?
Don’t read it on Free Republic.
* For the record, I do not like or support the Salvation Army, but they were doing a nice thing here.
Citizen_X
@Cassidy:
“He didn’t say ‘Merry Christmas!’ He said “Happy holidays!’ BURN HIM!”
danielx
@The Red Pen:
You were correct about not reading about it on Free Republic (yeah, I had to click on the link). It’s hard to comprehend how empty the lives and morally stunted the souls of people who have nothing better to do than spend time – on Christmas Day, no less – spewing verbal diarrhea about takers, black people and poor people in general.
Can almost see it now:
“Hey, come to the table, it’s time for dinner!”
“Just a minute, I have to finish this really good zinger about n****r freeloaders on Free Republic!”
These are the kind of people who think the idea of handing a rubber crutch to a cripple is totally humorous and all in good fun, and if the cripple didn’t test the crutch then the broken elbow is the cripple’s own fault.
What the fuck is the matter with these people, besides that they’ve been listening to Rush Limbaugh for two decades?
The Red Pen
@danielx:
I actually think that Rush Limbaugh would cringe at some of what was on that thread. Maybe not.
I really can’t fathom how people can sink that low.
Gin & Tonic
@Cassidy: I spent yesterday, all day, hanging out with family, eating, drinking and laughing, and ignoring the Internet. This morning over coffee I read that thread from yesterday and got depressed.
Cassidy
@Gin & Tonic: The thing is, I get the knee jerk distrust. I’m just as much an atheist as the others, but a few years ago I came to the conclusion that my lack of belief is not a rejection of Christianity, but a rejection of the divine. I don’t believe in God the same way I don’t believe in Allah, Yahweh, Thor, and Zeus. As for Pope Frank? He seems like
An awright guy. I think he wants to return the RCC back to a force for good. It takes time and I think he deserves the chance.
Betty Cracker
@The Red Pen: Not to embody the stereotype or anything, but I’d like to emphasize for the record that it wasn’t “internet atheists” in general but a subset thereof.
Regards,
An Internet Atheist (not one of the butt-hurt)
gogol's wife
@Gin & Tonic:
Same here!
For the record, the brisket w/cranberries from the New York Times turned out to be delicious! (I was afraid it might be weird.)
Betty Cracker
@geg6: That’s terrific. It’s always gratifying when teenagers morph from self-absorbed, thoughtless jackwagons into caring adults. It doesn’t happen for all, obviously. Hence Freeperville.
catclub
@Cassidy: “Thor,”
Keep Thor in Thursday!
The Red Pen
@Betty Cracker:
Totally. I couldn’t think of a more-descriptive term. The Internet(tm) Atheist is a stereotype of a person with the worldview of atheism, mixed with the undirected rage of wingnuts, and the passive-aggressive argument style of… well, wingnuts. Members of this group usually have politically liberal leanings.
I can’t think of a good name for this which doesn’t also risk looking like a general smear against other atheists who aren’t like that. Can anyone come up with a good term?
catclub
Betty is learning some of JCole’s dark photograph skillz.
geg6
@Betty Cracker:
Yeah, so glad she turned out so well. The notes she wrote to her mom and dad were just beautiful things. Such a sweet kid. Even with all her tats and piercings.
gelfling545
@The Red Pen: I’ve been of 2 minds about the Salvation Army. I hate the fact that they condemn LGBT folks yet I got to see a lot of how they operate over the last couple of years. They do not, at least locally, appear to refuse assistance based on sexual orientation or even enquire about it (it’s mostly a theological position rather than their operational policy) & they perform some really vital services that do deserve support and which no other organizations seem to be in a position to deliver (again, speaking locally). If I wait for a service organization whose philosophical base I can completely support, I will, I’m afraid, wait long.
geg6
@The Red Pen:
Having been one of those Internet Atheists, I have to say that in regards to this current pope, I’m with you. I have my very specific to me reasons for some of the hate and disdain I have for religion and especially the RCC, which is the tradition in which I was raised. But even I am willing to listen to this guy because I think he’s trying to change an institution that, by its very nature, exists to resist change. I have no illusions that he’ll make any radical changes to doctrine, but making the culture of the Curia more about Christ’s message than about condemnation and hypocrisy cannot help but be a good thing. I’ll never consider going back. Ever. And he’s got to deal with the criminals in his midst. But I know enough good people who have stuck it out as Catholics in order, they say, to change it from within. And I want them to have a pope who lives up to their hopes.
Cassidy
@catclub: I always tell evangelist that if I am going to be converted, I’m going with a pantheon instead of that single deity stuff. For one, I can always try again with another god if my first offering doesn’t succeed. Two, Thor, hammer, lightning. How can that not be a fun religion?
Cassidy
If anyone is interested, Little Inferno is .99 on the App Store. It’s a fun puzzle game. It’s usually $4.99.
gwangung
@WereBear: FFilemaker Pro is a very nice database, but it’s not as powerful as Access. Medium strength if you need one…..
The Red Pen
@gelfling545:
…among other things. I know a Wiccan who was turned away for aid in Joplin because she was wearing a pentagram. You might be able to blame it on a zealous volunteer, but all of the SA people stood there and did nothing while she was turned away. Would I rather they not have helped than to have been assholes about it? That is a tough question, but I’m keen to see their support shifted to other agencies. I think the SA gets a lot of support outside of people who support them ideologically because they have good PR.
@geg6:
Exactly. I’m not “scoring” this Pope until at least 2018. Until then, any real change is likely to be invisible to outsiders.
catclub
@gelfling545: “it’s mostly a theological position rather than their operational policy”
In a book by one of the Habitat for Humanity people, this is expressed as: “Service unites, doctrine divides.”
James E Powell
@The Red Pen:
How about we just use the name of the person whose opinions we are discussing and not use vaguely defined group labels?
In this case, we might say, “[nym] is all worked up because the Pope said ‘even the atheists’ but I think he’s being too sensitive.”
This way doesn’t require every atheist who uses the internet to wonder if we are talking about them.
The Red Pen
@James E Powell: I was just passing on what I thought was an amusing image that popped into my head while reading the comments. I didn’t even pay much attention to the identities of the posters. I was also based on stuff I’ve read elsewhere.
ruemara
@NotMax: This is why I never wear my winterveil sweater.
Jane2
@The Red Pen: I just lump them in with the rest of the Offensorati.
The Red Pen
@Jane2:
There’s the term!
I don’t even need to mention “atheist,” thus avoiding the possibility of painting with too-broad a brush (something I frequently take others to task for).