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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Quiet Christmas Open Thread

Quiet Christmas Open Thread

by TaMara|  December 25, 201711:15 am| 118 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Pretty tired today and plan to emulate the Beast as much as I can. I am planning on cooking a standing rib roast and sides (recipe here) later today.

 

What are you up to today? Family, friends….stress? Here’s a good place to connect if you need a break or support.

Open thread.

P.S. Last night I received a six week picture of Scout – you can click over here to see it.  Yes, I’m terrible, because I’m enjoying these “puppy reveals”.

 

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Reader Interactions

118Comments

  1. 1.

    Schlemazel

    December 25, 2017 at 11:19 am

    It will be the first Christmas in 5 years with the kids (except for my baby who has to work today in Denver). So no Chinese restaurant today. The orange/tarragon turkey is in the oven & beginning to smell like Christmas.

    No Stress, it is family and cooking for them is a joy.

  2. 2.

    Glidwrith

    December 25, 2017 at 11:23 am

    Burp. Made the molasses spice cookies this morning that were posted a few days ago. They were great!

  3. 3.

    Miss Bianca

    December 25, 2017 at 11:26 am

    So, Bixby’s Christmas present is coming in…what…two weeks? (if Scout is at 6-week point, I’m guessing).

    Pretty quiet Christmas queued up for us – we are going to Christmas dinner at my friend A’s new house. Which she is not allowed to actually move into yet, because the County is deciding to jack her around because of unrelated land use code ‘violations’. (tl; dr version of the story is that the County inserted itself into a neighbor dispute, took the other neighbor’s side, and is now punishing my friend for having “too many dogs on her property”. So they won’t give her her certificate of occupancy till she gets rid of most of her foxhounds – which, if they can’t be re-homed with other kennels, pretty much means putting them to death, because for the most part, they are *not* house dogs!). So my friend is officially homeless for Christmas.

    However we are saying “fuck ’em” in the best efg tradition today, and going to the house to have Christmas dinner. And run the hounds around. Probably too windy to ride, but I’ll slip my little horse some peppermints in honor of the day. Merry Christmas to you, Bixby, and the ducks!

  4. 4.

    Doug R

    December 25, 2017 at 11:31 am

    My wife’s sister and her husband rode the bus for 5 and a half hours through the passes to get to us. Since Mom died in October and Dad died in 2014, we put them in their old 2 bedroom apartment. No cable or phone, but they have cells and we brought over a pile of dvds. Got a turkey defrosting at the bottom of that fridge, maybe we’ll fire up Mom’s oven today.
    Happy Holidays to all you fellow jackals.

  5. 5.

    Patricia Kayden

    December 25, 2017 at 11:32 am

    Hung out with the Haitian in-laws last night and into the wee morning hours. Ate way too much but enjoyed the stories and belly laughs.

    Hope you all have a fantastic Christmas with your family and loved ones.

  6. 6.

    Aimai

    December 25, 2017 at 11:35 am

    It snowed six inches this morning. Everything is sixes and sevens here because of my mothers broken arm and, since last night, my father has come down with the flu. We are shovelling out the car and Im heading over there to sit with both of them in case they need something. Mr aiamai and my daughters have offered to go over but I think they should stay home and bake cookies and watch mad about you or something.

  7. 7.

    Benjamin Mays

    December 25, 2017 at 11:42 am

    TaMara,
    Did you provide a link to the art deco christmas card?

  8. 8.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 25, 2017 at 11:43 am

    Wishing all jackals who celebrate Christmas a happy day, and everyone else a quiet day to do what you want. I’m in the latter category this year, except I will carve out a bit of time to phone my scattered siblings and wish them merry.

    Scout continues to be adorable. Can’t wait to see photos and read detailed reports of the first Bixby-Scout encounter!

  9. 9.

    Sister Golden Bear

    December 25, 2017 at 11:45 am

    Merry Christmas jackal (for those who celebrate it)! Hoping you having a pleasant one.

    Enjoying a bit of quiet time before Mom gets up (I’m visiting through Wednesday). Then it’s lunch at the dining room of the retirement community she lives in (independent living with her own apartment), with Chinese and a movie on tap for this evening. Still haven’t shaken this damn cold, so otherwise it’ll probably be a low key day. Wish I could also spend the holiday with my family of choice, but once again that’s not to be. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to do so when I’m back home. #SpinsterDaughterChristmas.

  10. 10.

    TaMara (HFG)

    December 25, 2017 at 11:47 am

    @Benjamin Mays: Here is the page I follow with all the cards (there are quite a few…all of them more lovely than the last)

  11. 11.

    TaMara (HFG)

    December 25, 2017 at 11:49 am

    I’m off to watch goofy movies. Check back later…

  12. 12.

    Miss Bianca

    December 25, 2017 at 11:53 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Merry Christmas to you, SD! In case you didn’t see it in a long-dead thread, yes, I knew Bud Beyer back in Tha Day.

    Also, since I know you share my passionate fondness for Dorothy L. Sayers’s Lord Peter stories, a Christmas tip for you: if you haven’t already, check out Jo Walton’s “Ha’penny”. It’s a “big house” mystery written in the grand old style, with a grim alt-history twist that’s all too relevant for these dark times – I think you’ll enjoy it. Cheers!

    @Aimai: Best of good wishes to you in dealing with holiday family emergencies!

  13. 13.

    Catherine D.

    December 25, 2017 at 11:54 am

    I just stuck a pan of root veggies from my winter CSA into the oven, and I’ll do a stuffed leg of lamb later. Leftovers for the week!

    Otherwise listening to podcasts or reading while the wind howls.

  14. 14.

    Starfish

    December 25, 2017 at 11:56 am

    @Miss Bianca: Every time you mention this, there is some different violation. This seems really aggressive.

  15. 15.

    Benjamin Mays

    December 25, 2017 at 11:59 am

    TaMara,
    Thank you so much! My wife loves art deco. Merry Christmas!

  16. 16.

    Miss Bianca

    December 25, 2017 at 12:04 pm

    @Miss Bianca: Oh, SD, I meant Jo Walton’s “Farthing.” “Ha’Penny” is the next in the series. Oopsie!

    @Starfish: ya think? yes, I don’t often sympathize with my conservative neighbors who howl about “government overreach” every time our county commissioners do something they don’t like, but in this case, I think the term fits the neighboring county commissioners’ actions – and the county attorney’s, she’s off the hook cray-cray with this shit right now – quite nicely. I’d also use the terms “arbitary and capricious”, personally. Gearing up for a big fight with them in the new year, sigh.

  17. 17.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 25, 2017 at 12:17 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    Ooh, thanks for the tip! I don’t know Jo Walton, but this sounds right up my street! Am currently enjoying the series A Very English Mystery (A Man of Some Repute, A Question of Inheritance, and A Matter of Loyalty) by Elizabeth Edmondson and completed after her death by her son, Anselm Audley. Big, complicated family, a castle, feuds and secrets and village gossip, all set against a Cold War backdrop.

  18. 18.

    Sherparick

    December 25, 2017 at 12:17 pm

    Wish Everyone in the Balloon Juice Community a Merry Christmas ?

  19. 19.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 25, 2017 at 12:23 pm

    @Aimai:

    Aimai, I hope both your parents recover fully and as comfortably as possible. You are a good daughter to keep them company. Hope you’re able to wrest some joy from the day in spite of family injuries and ailments.

    (Autocorrect assures me that your name is really spelled “Sinai.”)

  20. 20.

    jeffreyw

    December 25, 2017 at 12:25 pm

    Thread needs Moar Homer! And moar pie!

  21. 21.

    HeleninEire

    December 25, 2017 at 12:37 pm

    Merry Christmas to all at Balloon Juice. Just back from a Christmas luncheon at the Westin Hotel. It took 3 hours to finish all the courses and then we lingered over drinks and coffee for another hour. I am going into a food coma.

    Nollaig Shona Duit

  22. 22.

    Leto

    December 25, 2017 at 12:42 pm

    Happy Holidays everyone! Last night I made a night slow cooked beef ragu with polenta. Tonight will be a traditional ham, mashed potatoes, and some carrots. The leftover ham (small ham, it’s just the two of us) will go in the 14 bean soup for tomorrow. Overall, just a nice relaxing time.

    @Aimai: I hope your parents recover quickly. Breaking, spraining, pulling anything sucks.

    @Miss Bianca: Fuck’em! If that’s not everyone’s motto heading into the new year, it should be! :)

  23. 23.

    tybee

    December 25, 2017 at 12:47 pm

    @jeffreyw: just beyond homer’s head is what appears to be a circle of rocks with a guy wire supporting something. what is that?

  24. 24.

    JanieM

    December 25, 2017 at 12:53 pm

    @HeleninEire: I had an Irish girlfriend for a few years long ago and for a while was making several trips a year, staying at her house, being a temporary local person. I miss it so much………and you remind me of that fact every time you write about it.

    Enjoy it a bit for me, will you?

  25. 25.

    Emma

    December 25, 2017 at 12:54 pm

    We had our big lunch and gift exchange yesterday. Today I’m having as quiet a day as I can with an 83-year-old father who can’t quite come to grips with the fact that it has only been three weeks since he broke his femur, requiring surgery, and why does it hurt and when can he do more. No, it’s not dementia or some such. I am experiencing something a friend warned me about more than a decade ago: when they age they get more so of what they were before. My father, who’s always been very healthy, has always acted as if he could bend circumstances to his will. Two major illnesses in one year has resulted in a cranky, cantankerous old man who hates being dependent and can’t quite control his emotions.

    Good thing he has always been an excellent father. I cannot imagine dealing with an elderly parent where the only tie is duty.

    Oops. Forgot to say Happy Holiday of your choice!

  26. 26.

    Nicole

    December 25, 2017 at 12:54 pm

    At my stepmom’s with my brother, stepbrothers and all the assorted spouses and kids. Sooooo much nooooiiissseeeee.
    (S’all good though; I enjoy it)

  27. 27.

    NotMax

    December 25, 2017 at 12:55 pm

    Lamb leg spice-rubbed and back in fridge (which I should have done last night) to consummate the medley of flavors.

    What with the unaccustomed workout a few days ago, yesterday’s extended mowing and the chill in the air, limbs feeling decidedly Huornish

  28. 28.

    cmorenc

    December 25, 2017 at 12:56 pm

    @Glidwrith:

  29. 29.

    Cermet

    December 25, 2017 at 1:01 pm

    My daughter is back for a few weeks from college; simple diner for all of us tonight.

    On the fun side for me, I got an experiment done very early this morning using a small fusion reactor I constructed in my back den (called a fusor.) I demonstrated a property that has interested me and is useful for the fusor community (small fusors provided far higher neutron fluxes for the same power level as significantly larger devices.) My first research project completed with the device. As for safety, the neutron level is utterly safe, x-rays not so but those are shielded properly.

  30. 30.

    Aimai

    December 25, 2017 at 1:01 pm

    @Emma: I feel your pain!

  31. 31.

    Sister Golden Bear

    December 25, 2017 at 1:05 pm

    @Emma: I hear you. I see you, I feel your pain.

  32. 32.

    frosty

    December 25, 2017 at 1:11 pm

    On the road now. PA Turnpike dead ahead.

  33. 33.

    NotMax

    December 25, 2017 at 1:11 pm

    @Cermet

    Wowsers!

    But can it brew coffee?

    ;)

  34. 34.

    cmorenc

    December 25, 2017 at 1:11 pm

    @Glidwrith: at first i misread your comment and thought you said you had been making Space Cookies and no damn wonder you were feeling all serenely happy today

  35. 35.

    jeffreyw

    December 25, 2017 at 1:12 pm

    @tybee: Good eye! That is a circle of rocks with a guy wire. Just out of frame is the power pole it is supporting, with transformer, meter, and all the associated cruft. The power line goes subsurface at the pole and enters the house through the basement wall. The rocks are rubble from a broken sidewalk that outline a small flower garden. It is an attempt to make mowing with my big-assed mowing machine easier.

  36. 36.

    feebog

    December 25, 2017 at 1:25 pm

    Very quiet Christmas morning here in SoCal. We lost our big brindle doggie while we were in Mexico. So, very sad and not so joyful around these parts. Also, the damn gout in my right foot will just not go away completely. I have a stress test scheduled for tomorrow morning as part of my pre-op for a full knee replacement. I will gut my way through it, bad left knee and gouty right foot and all. Going to Christmas dinner at my son’s house, looking forward to that. Wishing all you jackels a very merry Christmas.

  37. 37.

    Ruckus

    December 25, 2017 at 1:26 pm

    @Emma:
    when they age they get more so of what they were before.
    A very wise friend, that one.
    I once heard this as “They slip off the dogs of civility and become more themselves.”
    From someone getting there, it’s true!

  38. 38.

    Yutsano

    December 25, 2017 at 1:30 pm

    @feebog:

    We lost our big brindle doggie while we were in Mexico.

    *hug*

    I have a stress test scheduled for tomorrow morning as part of my pre-op for a full knee replacement.

    See if they can give you the chemical test. It accomplishes the same thing and no stress on the knee. The bad effect: it will knock you on your butt for the rest of the day.

  39. 39.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 25, 2017 at 1:32 pm

    @feebog:

    What a sad loss — at any time, of course, but more so at the holidays. And sad that you couldn’t say a proper goodbye. I hope you have an abundance of wonderful memories to bring you smiles in the midst of tears.

    Good luck the gout. I’ve had the mildest of gout attacks in my time and it’s no fun.

  40. 40.

    Jeffro

    December 25, 2017 at 1:34 pm

    STAR WARS in about 90 min, Chinese food after that…and then it’s back to playing with my presents! Thanks Santa!

    (Also: writing a story in the coming weeks about my mom’s church’s church service last night…fascinating!)

  41. 41.

    Ruckus

    December 25, 2017 at 1:38 pm

    @Yutsano:
    I’ve done both the physical and the chemical.
    I don’t like the chemical test at all. Yes it’s over pretty quickly and no stress on the joints. On the other hand, for a few seconds, it felt like the adrenaline rush of all adrenaline rushes. Actually it felt like about 10 of them at the same time. Plus having the nurse with the crash cart standing by right next to the bed was not exactly reassuring.

  42. 42.

    NotMax

    December 25, 2017 at 1:45 pm

    Heh. First cheap grin of the day just now courtesy of a 1933 short on TCM.

    Man: Listen to this greeting card I wrote for Father’s Day. (begins reading)

    Woman: But that’s all about nothing but women’s clothes. Your father wouldn’t be interested in that!

    Man: Huh, you don’t know my father.

  43. 43.

    tybee

    December 25, 2017 at 1:46 pm

    @jeffreyw: i was thinking of something more exotic like a radio tower or…

    i do understand the “landscaping for the mower” part of lawn care.

  44. 44.

    Mnemosyne

    December 25, 2017 at 1:46 pm

    Got up very late and now I’m eating a leftover chicken tamale for breakfast and preparing to watch The Shop Around the Corner. The Apple TV was misbehaving last night and G didn’t feel like digging out the DVD.

    Merry Christmas, jackals!

  45. 45.

    Glidwrith

    December 25, 2017 at 1:50 pm

    @cmorenc: Eh, baking yummy desserts, consuming of same with my kids, books, more chocolate, movies, fudge..I think one can get pretty ‘serene’.

  46. 46.

    NotMax

    December 25, 2017 at 1:51 pm

    @Mnemosyne

    As your planned watching didn’t gel yesterday, heads up that The Shop Around the Corner on TCM at 6 p.m. Eastern today.

  47. 47.

    EricNNY

    December 25, 2017 at 1:55 pm

    In my haste this morning, I think I left plastic wrap over my homemade cinnamon rolls when I baked them.

    Shhhhhh, never tell.

  48. 48.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    December 25, 2017 at 1:59 pm

    @EricNNY: Maybe it makes a nice shiny glaze.

  49. 49.

    Another Scott

    December 25, 2017 at 1:59 pm

    Happy Christmas/Saturnalia/etc. everyone.

    Paul Krugman is trolling Adam with a recipe from the Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library.

    Hehe.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  50. 50.

    EricNNY

    December 25, 2017 at 2:00 pm

    @feebog: So sorry feebog. I just had my 17 year old dog put down last Monday. She loved to open presents. Second pup we had to have put down this year. Not much Christmas spirit here this year. But it gets better eventually. I’m sure you gave your pup a wonderful life.

  51. 51.

    NotMax

    December 25, 2017 at 2:01 pm

    @EricNNY

    Now THAT’S “full transparency.”

  52. 52.

    EricNNY

    December 25, 2017 at 2:03 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady):

  53. 53.

    Mnemosyne

    December 25, 2017 at 2:07 pm

    @NotMax:

    We are watching it right now. My favorite Pirovich scene is on.

    “Listen, if someone is really your friend, he comes after dinner.”

  54. 54.

    Timurid

    December 25, 2017 at 2:08 pm

    Spending Christmas day with my best friends in the entire world.
    Life is good.

  55. 55.

    Feathers

    December 25, 2017 at 2:10 pm

    Made corn soufflé. We are having our first Christmas without my aunt and godmother Kay. Always loved her corn pudding, but don’t seem to have the recipe. My mother didn’t want to call my cousins for the recipes, so she went through her cookbooks to find one. I made it because my mother is two weeks out from a knee replacement. Turns out she picked a recipe which called for grated corn (the food processor), separating the eggs, whipping the whites into stiff peaks, and the yolks until “lemony yellow”. And starting with a flour butter and milk white sauce. It’s in the oven. When I get ahold of my aunt’s wonderful recipe, which requires none of this foolishness, I will pass it along.

    PS Did find an excuse for a run to the grocery store and picked up a Venti at Starbucks.

    Merry to all, and may any four bowl side dishes be worth it.

  56. 56.

    efgoldman

    December 25, 2017 at 2:15 pm

    @Aimai:

    It snowed six inches this morning.

    We got roughly the same. Went from benign to white out blizzard to clear in about 90 minutes. We’re not going anywhere anyway

    Granddaughter made a new friend at son-in-law’s family in North Carolina. Black and white ball of fur; 12 week old Portuguese Water Dog puppy. Maybe has a face in there, hard to tell. SIL’s cousin raises them for show. Loves everybody, daughter says he wags so hard he turns himself inside out. She’s a cat person (no dogs allowed in her apt complex.) She squeed all over the puppy, but as she notes, dogs don’t purr when you pet them.

  57. 57.

    jeffreyw

    December 25, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    @tybee: Nope, sorry. I do have a mast mounted LTE antenna to pull in cell tower signals to an old Mifi hotspot that takes external connections. My ADSL poops out often enough that a backup is quite handy, and an even handier quirk is that my upload speeds over the 4G are quite a bit faster than over the phone line loop.

  58. 58.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    December 25, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    @feebog: Feebog, did you by any chance ever write any Tolkien fanfiction? I used to see a writer by your nym on fanfic sites.

  59. 59.

    Patricia Kayden

    December 25, 2017 at 2:22 pm

    @feebog:

    We lost our big brindle doggie while we were in Mexico.

    Sorry to hear about your loss.

  60. 60.

    Steve in the ATL

    December 25, 2017 at 2:23 pm

    @Cermet:

    I got an experiment done very early this morning using a small fusion reactor I constructed in my back den (called a fusor.)

    Um, I made toast.

  61. 61.

    efgoldman

    December 25, 2017 at 2:24 pm

    @Emma:

    I’m having as quiet a day as I can with an 83-year-old father who can’t quite come to grips with the fact that it has only been three weeks since he broke his femur,

    Better he insists on pushing it more than he should, rather than deciding he’s an invalid. I speak from experience, although I’m not quite as old as he.

  62. 62.

    JMG

    December 25, 2017 at 2:24 pm

    My son shoveled the walk, I used the snowblower on the driveway, we both cleaned off the cars, and now are watching basketball on TV after watching “A Christmas Story.” It’s very beautiful Currier & Ives New England outside because there is almost no traffic on our suburban street today. Winter might not have been so distasteful before they invented the motorcar. My daughter is starting her work for the beef Wellington and buche de noel she is making from scratch. Peace and goodwill to all, today and every day.

  63. 63.

    Mnemosyne

    December 25, 2017 at 2:29 pm

    @Another Scott:

    The few indignant people in the replies calling him an unAmerican snob are hilarious. ???

  64. 64.

    Emma

    December 25, 2017 at 2:29 pm

    @efgoldman: Oh, I agree. It’s the constant griping at the Universe that gets to me!

  65. 65.

    Fair Economist

    December 25, 2017 at 2:30 pm

    @efgoldman: There’s an optimum “push level”. Too much or too little are both bad. My mom is in the “too much” category (and has always been) and it’s caused a lot of trouble, including two very nasty falls this past year.

  66. 66.

    marcopolo

    December 25, 2017 at 2:37 pm

    Just dropping in to say Merry Christmas everyone. I can’t say the Holiday Season is my favorite time of the year (think I probably have mild seasonal affective disorder) but staying busy with family, friends, and eating. Roast garlic chicken last night, homemade cinnamon pecan rolls this morning and standing rib roast tonight. It’s about as warm as it is supposed to get here in St. Louis right now (right about 32) and sunny so I am headed out now for a bit of a walk in the light. Maybe board games with friends after Xmas dinner.

    Hope everyone is having the holidays that they would like, and if not that they successfully navigate any difficulties with grace, charm and aplomb. Peace.

  67. 67.

    The Lodger

    December 25, 2017 at 2:38 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): Chewy!

  68. 68.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 25, 2017 at 2:45 pm

    @efgoldman:

    dogs don’t purr when you pet them.

    My YorkiePom does.

  69. 69.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 25, 2017 at 2:47 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Happy Holidays to you and G.

  70. 70.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 25, 2017 at 2:48 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Um, I made toast.

    Slacker.

  71. 71.

    Mnemosyne

    December 25, 2017 at 2:48 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Merry Christmas! I hope Mrs. Bill doesn’t get too exhausted at Mr. Macy’s sweatshop.

  72. 72.

    ruemara

    December 25, 2017 at 2:55 pm

    Pretty good Christmas morning over here. Made gingerbread pancakes with spiced apples syrup. It was very good, I do recommend making an apple topping if you can. And I topped it with cheddar cheese, as is appropriate. Had to wait until the housemate was up for gift opening. Here’s your card, Felines Navidades. The cats were, of course, spoiled with new toys, scratch pads and etc.

    I got completely spoiled. He got me, Unseen-African American Photographers of NYTimes and their work, I Can Pee On This, a Rey figure and tickets to the Kings. I mean, holy moly. We’re off to see Coco and I’m finishing off the Jamaican food for tonight with Oxtails & Rice & Peas. Hopefully, I will also rot my brain playing video games. Hope y’all are having a great holiday.

  73. 73.

    dmsilev

    December 25, 2017 at 2:56 pm

    Getting set to head out to the house of some dear family friends, with whom we’ve celebrated Christmas for the past twenty or so years. My mom made a fancy salad this morning. The tart I baked yesterday is sitting in the fridge (orange-infused chocolate ganache. Yum. ). Gifts are wrapped and ready to go.

    And it snowed just enough this morning to be pretty, but not so much as to make the roads difficult. Also makes for good sledding (my brother is out with my niece and nephew right now).

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    December 25, 2017 at 2:58 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    Our Dalmatians both did, especially having their ears rubbed. Current canine just silently flips over demanding a belly rub (i.e., the above photo and 1/3 the scale) but he’s still young so having him motionless for a time is quite reward enough.

  75. 75.

    Ruckus

    December 25, 2017 at 3:01 pm

    @ruemara:
    Looked up that book on black photographers. Looks amazing.
    Have a great day!

  76. 76.

    Lizzy L

    December 25, 2017 at 3:02 pm

    Merry Christmas or whatever you feel like celebrating, jackals!

    I went to church this morning and enjoyed the singing immensely (with the exception of Away In The Manger. I’ve heard it too many times. Bored now.) Lunch is roast chicken, rice, and veggies, very simple. After lunch, my old dog Theo and I will go for an amble — he’s 14 1/2 with very stiff hindquarters, so we move slowly. It’s completely clouded over, no sun, no wind, no rain, about 55 degrees. I send special warm wishes to those who are sick and to those who recently lost canine or feline companions. Sympathy and virtual hugs.

  77. 77.

    NotMax

    December 25, 2017 at 3:07 pm

    Tradition chez NotMax is whiskey cake, now doing its thing in the oven. Two hours baking time. Experimented this year, leaving out the nuts and adding powdered milk in their stead.

    Fighting off a creeping urge for a nap. May hop on to WoW and have my folks pick up their Winter Veil gifts (Ironforge is gonna be packed chockablock today).

  78. 78.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 25, 2017 at 3:08 pm

    Well, so much for seeing Darkest Hour this afternoon. I figured the long ticket line was for that newfangled space movie everybody’s been talking about, but just before I got to the window they marked DH as “full,”

    Oh well. Maybe Wednesday.

  79. 79.

    ruemara

    December 25, 2017 at 3:10 pm

    @Ruckus: It is! I don’t think anyone has gotten me so much that was so on target. That book by itself is so cool. I can’t wait until January, I’ve never seen a basketball game played by professionals.

  80. 80.

    Quinerly

    December 25, 2017 at 3:11 pm

    Third Christmas without any family. An only of two only children. Turned down a couple of invites…just wasn’t feeling it. Long early morning walk in the St. Louis snow with Poco. Made chili for lunch and to freeze… and have a thick steak for dinner. Finished sealing the basement joists in this little rehab project at my 1880’s home that I started this summer…it’s going to be a full apartment in the walk out portion that I might just Air BnB or eventually live in if I downsize and want everything on one level. Josh Ritter streaming and now I’m on to organizing the new storage closet in the basement project. Hope everyone is having a great day. Mine is different from ever before…..and I’m loving it. Love this blog. 2018 will be better….I just feel it. Poco sends big tail wags!?

  81. 81.

    NotMax

    December 25, 2017 at 3:14 pm

    @ruemara

    Spoiler. :)

    The short shorts are a thing of the past.

  82. 82.

    J R in WV

    December 25, 2017 at 3:14 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    These “officials” – who sound really amateur to me – can’t treat one person differently than they treat everyone they have dealt with in the past. So someone with time on their hands (like no one I know) could review real estate transactions and permits issued to ID similar situations with different outcomes, and file a suit against these people individually for tortious interference with this real estate transaction.

    IANAL, but I have seen our legal staff here at B J use that phrasing… it sounds pretty good to me. Another thing you guys can do is get with a local reporter who you suspect may be sympathetic (as opposed to an in-law or cousin of the people messing with you and your friend) and see how much the voters of the county like having their officialdom mess with someone’s real property.

    Homeless because of misfeasance in the county government sounds bad without the details.

    We had a skiff of snow this morning, if it had cooled off a little quicker last night, we could have had a white xmas, because it was misting a pretty good shower which would have been snow, if only. But now it’s just the winter coat of leaves on the forest floor.

    I have just put a lamb shank into a pre-heated crock pot with fried red onions, celery, garlic all in boiling broth, fennel, coriander, rosemary and thyme rubbed on the lamb, bay leaves in the broth. The shank was still somewhat frozen, but that can’t last long in boiling broth.

    Will add potatoes towards dinner time, which for us is 8 or 9 pm. Mrs J used to work into the evenings and we were lucky when she made it by 9, so we’re used to a schedule slid about half way to 2nd shift. Plus isn’t it properly decadent to eat late?

    Christmas champagne too, and not the bottle we’re saving for the presidential indictments. You jackals keep on having a nice day and evening, you hear now?!!

    Also too, that Scout puppy is one cute little baby dawg, isn’t he???

  83. 83.

    Mnemosyne

    December 25, 2017 at 3:14 pm

    Just got to my favorite part of Shop Around the Corner, when Mr. Matuschek is lurking around outside the shop hoping to find someone to spend Christmas Eve with and finally finds the perfect person. ?

  84. 84.

    ruemara

    December 25, 2017 at 3:16 pm

    @NotMax: Short shorts?

  85. 85.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 25, 2017 at 3:20 pm

    Just got to Dulles, for a brief layover before the flight across the pond. My comic’s Christmas card is up.

  86. 86.

    Jager

    December 25, 2017 at 3:21 pm

    Way back in the 50’s I was a little kid. My Dad was the General Sales Manager of a Lincoln Mercury dealership, my Mom dropped me off at the dealership after hockey practice so she could wrap up her Christmas shopping. I wandered around in the shop for awhile, sat at the old man’s desk upstairs, got bored and climbed in the front seat of a red Lincoln Capri convertible next to the big Christmas tree in the showroom. I was tired from school and hockey and laid down on the front seat, I was dozing off when I heard a woman say, “Does this little boy come with the car?” One of dad’s salesman answered, “He’s the Boss’s kid, I’m pretty sure he’d throw him in the deal.”

  87. 87.

    Steeplejack

    December 25, 2017 at 3:22 pm

    @ruemara:

    Like so.

  88. 88.

    NotMax

    December 25, 2017 at 3:22 pm

    @ruemara

    Not a pic of a pro team, but a good enough example from days of yore.

  89. 89.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 25, 2017 at 3:24 pm

    @Mnemosyne: She didn’t work yesterday(we did our Christmas yesterday due to the kid’s schedule*) and they’re closed today.

    *Christmas morning with her sister’s family and dinner with her father tonight.

  90. 90.

    jeffreyw

    December 25, 2017 at 3:28 pm

    @ruemara: Who wears short shorts?

  91. 91.

    Tehanu

    December 25, 2017 at 3:29 pm

    Merry Christmas, everyone. Went to the kids at 8:30 am, no traffic at all although we did see a traffic break happening on the other side of the freeway, with one cop and about 4 cars! Our presents to all went over well, especially the soft black fedora to my co-grandmother. The presents to us have been (mostly) postponed; my daughter-in-law is making blackout curtains for our living room so we can finally watch TV without glare, but everyone (not just me) has had the same virus all week so she wasn’t able to finish, and Hubby Dearest and I are going to go out tomorrow or Wednesday and buy each other’s. The co-grandma, however, is giving us a membership in the American Cinematheque and a complete dinner which is being shipped, I’m not quite sure from where, which is nice because I was too sick to go to her Solstice turkey dinner last Friday. Now home again and in about an hour H.D. will go off with the kids to see The Post while I cuddle up with a soft blanket to watch White Christmas, which H.D. loathes. (I admit that White Christmas includes a whole lot of really stupid stuff, but I can’t resist Danny Kaye or Rosemary Clooney, so….)

  92. 92.

    jeffreyw

    December 25, 2017 at 3:32 pm

    @jeffreyw:
    Ooh, man, dig that crazy chick

  93. 93.

    Mnemosyne

    December 25, 2017 at 3:34 pm

    @jeffreyw:

    I’m guessing that for women in 1957, “short shorts” were anything that exposed the knee. ?

  94. 94.

    NotMax

    December 25, 2017 at 3:36 pm

    @Major Major Major Major

    Have a good flight and remember to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Personally find plain tonic water with a wedge of lime the most refreshing when flying. More often than not they’ll give you the entire can rather than just a paltry glassful.

  95. 95.

    scav

    December 25, 2017 at 3:37 pm

    The punched with a lightly floured fish houska survived the abuse excellently and was toasted and buttered for the great stocking disembowelment, And we were all frightfully adult and waited until the sun was over a nearby yardarm before having any Vosges chocolate. That, snow, and a second pot of coffee and all’s well in this corner of jackaldom. May your surrounding equivalents be equally in place.

  96. 96.

    ruemara

    December 25, 2017 at 3:37 pm

    oh, underpants shorts. I hated those in gym class

  97. 97.

    BruceFromOhio

    December 25, 2017 at 3:42 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: May your travels be safe and swift, M4! Enjoy the hell out of Yurp.

    Good fortunes and good tidings to all.

  98. 98.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 25, 2017 at 3:42 pm

    @BruceFromOhio: that’s the plan, thanks!

  99. 99.

    Heidi Mom

    December 25, 2017 at 3:43 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Heidi does too. It’s a sort of deep breathing when you’re petting her and she’s leaning into you. Guessing based on her coloration that she’s part Rottie, so we call it the Rottie purr.

  100. 100.

    (((CassandraLeo)))

    December 25, 2017 at 3:44 pm

    https://youtu.be/q51O5AdjuE8

    Merry Xmas, or whatever other solstice holiday you choose to celebrate, jackals.

  101. 101.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 25, 2017 at 3:45 pm

    @NotMax: tonic water has a ludicrous amount of sugar! But I do hydrate :) thanks for the reminder though, gonna go get something now. We’re in the Turkish airlines lounge.

  102. 102.

    B.B.A.

    December 25, 2017 at 3:45 pm

    I’ll outsource this one to a fellow Jew.

  103. 103.

    Mnemosyne

    December 25, 2017 at 3:50 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    They should also have a large supply of club soda, which is still sparkly but sweetener-free and tasty with a lime wedge. That’s my usual go-to.

  104. 104.

    Cowgirl in the Sandi

    December 25, 2017 at 3:51 pm

    Merry Holidays to all!

    Porterhouse with Julia’s potatoes dauphinois later, followed by rum cake. MMMM…
    Watching the Warriors now – does anyone else’s dog watch TV? Our dog, Indiana Jones is an avid TV watcher and I was never aware of how often dogs and other animals are in TV commercials. Doesn’t matter if they are real or animated – Indy goes nuts when he sees them! Makes watching TV a challenge!

  105. 105.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 25, 2017 at 3:54 pm

    @Cowgirl in the Sandi: the Warriors? Does he want to go out to play?

  106. 106.

    NotMax

    December 25, 2017 at 3:55 pm

    @Major Major Major Major

    tonic water has a ludicrous amount of sugar!

    You’re on vacation. Splurge a little!

    ;)

  107. 107.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    December 25, 2017 at 3:56 pm

    Anyone who knows latin and latin naming, could you help me out?

    Does the name Terrus Magnus make sense? Is Terrus even a Latin word? It translates in Google Translate to English from latin to “eternal”. It’s meant to be a constructed name anyway by the character in a story I’ve been working on.

  108. 108.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 25, 2017 at 3:59 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: you could just use Biggus Dickus.

  109. 109.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 25, 2017 at 4:02 pm

    @NotMax:

    Splurge a little!

    Mustn’t do that, wouldn’t be prudent.

  110. 110.

    NotMax

    December 25, 2017 at 4:08 pm

    @Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe)

    Eternal in Latin is aeternum.

  111. 111.

    germy

    December 25, 2017 at 4:08 pm

    Interesting Don Ameche movie. In some ways it’s a precursor to “It’s a Wonderful Life”

    Happy Land (1943)

    (co-starring a VERY young Harry Morgan)

  112. 112.

    NotMax

    December 25, 2017 at 4:12 pm

    @germy

    Very, very young Natalie Wood’s (brief) film debut.

  113. 113.

    Cowgirl in the Sandi

    December 25, 2017 at 4:16 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: He’s an Aussie Shepherd and ALWAYS ready to play!

  114. 114.

    NotMax

    December 25, 2017 at 4:18 pm

    @Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) – @NotMax

    Perhaps Aeternus Maximus?

  115. 115.

    jeffreyw

    December 25, 2017 at 4:23 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Truth be told, in 1957 I was still in the “ew, girls have cooties” stage of life and I have little memory of the finer points of the social context.

  116. 116.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    December 25, 2017 at 4:52 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:
    Ha ha.

    I’ve done some more research and have come up with Imperator Titanus Magnus.

  117. 117.

    Feebog

    December 25, 2017 at 5:04 pm

    @Yutsano:

    My doctor offered the chemical test and I passed. I did the stress test two years ago and got through it, i’ll Get through it again.

    Thanks everyone for the condolences, Cappy was a great dog and we miss him like crazy. Luckily we got another rescue two years ago, having her around is a great comfort.

  118. 118.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    December 25, 2017 at 5:09 pm

    @NotMax:
    Thanks. I might use Aeternus as well.

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