a friend of mine when I was about nineteen - her father wrote My Three Sons. They had a great family.
She was a good friend then, and I respect that - but it doesn't matter, I have no tales to tell in any case, they were/are a family that made sense with the show.
I'm sure even they have their sorrows; I haven't kept up with them.
Lady J--
Believe me, boredom can be a delightful condition.
I've married into two feud-prone, grudge-holding families. I speak with authority on the blessings of boredom.
Boredom certainly CAN be a blessing, but...
One of the things I like best about Christmas is that it is such an emotional time of year. The rest of the time, everything is humdrum, but come mid-December, all our feelings--love, gratitude, grief, wistfulness, anger, bliss--come into sharp focus. I admit to experiencing all of those and more every year. It makes me remember how alive I am.
Msolga-dont be apologetic, this thread is just one more opportunity to let some of us to pull back our covers and share stuff that we keep internalized. Im usually a quite sickeningly happy person, except at Christmas.
Ill probably soon start posting a lot of inane threads on recipes and , if someone posts something with which I passionately disagree, you can picture me getting rteally steamed as I respond..Then , shortly (almost the day after) Christmas, Ill start getting sappy happy again. Its almost a "whew" made it through another holiday.
A UKRAINIAN CHRISTMAS. As long as I can cook then you wont have to put up with me.
Noddy-Spoken like a true Pennsylvanian. Most people have to experience a couple of years before the "mast" to see how some of the Scotch-Irish and Pa Germans can be. My side of the family (Ukey and Polack) are more prone to violent argument and years of silence among combatants. Its really stupid. Even my career evokes strong opinions from the ultra-orthodox Christians on my wifes side.
farmerman
I understand about Christmas, I do understand ....
I was worried that my comment, which mentioned you, came straight after yours. Just didn't want you to think I was totally insensitive & flippant, that's all ....
I thought of you after this earlier post from cav:
cavfancier wrote: ...Just pretend you're Ukranian and leave the shopping until Epihpany, when all the best sales are on.
hee hee. kruschikies for everyone
I reckon the only thing more depressing than a Ukrainian family Christmas, farmerman, is a Ukrainian Easter!
As a child there was no singing/dancing/laughing allowed at Easter because Christ died for our sins! And the church services! Interminable, with a rumbling stomach, waiting to finally eat after fasting from midnight. Hey, Christmas is NOTHING compared to all that! Utter misery, it was!
I have some faint understanding of reasons that it would be a horrible holiday on many levels. My sympathies to you who've mentioned this. Enjoying whichever days you are able to do, is the very best anyone can do, Farmerman.
My family has some feud-prone grudge-huggers -- and I admit that if goaded, I can remember past wrongs, but what's the point? You end up with a bunch of grumblers standing around a half-decorated Christmas tree.
My heart goes out to all of you who have
experienced such sorrow during a time that is
loving and joyous for most of us. It makes
you stop and think of your own situation and
how precious family is in times like these.
Nothing should be taken for granted.
A little ditty from Red Peters in the spirit of this thread:
You Ain't Getting **** For Christmas
(Grenga, Stevens, Johnson)
Smelly Water with The Alan Pinchloaf Singers
They say Christmas is a time for giving - at least that's what the good book says, and at our house every Christmas Eve my son and daughter and their families drive down from the big city for an old fashioned family holiday. Ma dresses the house up like a Christmas card, you can hear her in the kitchen singing while she's baking cookies for the children. Ma spends hours wrapping the presents she's been buying since last August and hangs all the stockings over the fireplace. The morning of, I cut me down the prettiest darn Christmas tree you ever saw in your life. Eh, this year we really outdid ourselves. You know, Ma and I are getting on in our years so we decided to give the kids tax-free cash gifts of $10,000 apiece.
(barking)
I reckon it was around noon, I heard the dogs barking (yells "Come Rags!, Come Guzzler!") and there was Jim the mailman in his old santa cap, coming up the walk teasing the dogs, holding a package. Well he handed it over to me and says "Pappy, looks like you got an overnite package from your daughter". I went back in the kitchen and Ma tore it open. To our horror we unwrapped a fruitcake with a note that read...
"Aloha Ma & Dad, at the last minute we got a cheap fare on the internet and went to Hawaii. Hold onto our gifts until after the first of the year. Love, Princess."
Well, Ma's heart was broken and I felt a lump in my throat as I thought to myself...
You Ain't Getting **** For Christmas
You can shove that fruitcake up your ass
well you ain't getting ****
no you ain't getting dick
you ain't getting **** for Christmas
You know, Ma hasn't had a drink in 20 years and I've been off the sauce a while myself and heck, if there was ever an excuse to start drinking again. (sfx-doorbell) Who in tarnation could that be, Junior and his family? It was some delivery fella standing there holding what looked like a fruitcake tin with a card attached.
"Pop, the company's condo is free this week and you know how much Pumpkin and I love Hilton Head. Please forward our gifts to this address."
(sfx-cork and pouring sound)
Hey Ma, save some for me. Well, Ma took a coniption things turned ugly. She started breaking things and hurled the turkey and those two fruitcakes right through the front window, the whole time she was yelling...
You Ain't Getting **** For Christmas
You can shove that fruitcake up your ass
well you ain't getting ****
no you ain't getting dick
you ain't getting **** for Christmas
(repeat, fade)
Tax-free cash gifts of $10,000 apiece...looks like they missed out...I wonder if the kids will still be included in their will.
AHHH, Red Peters. Hes one of my favorite lyricists. His song about his little dog "Stains" always brings a tear to my eye.
Farmerman--
You want feudin' and fussin'? Scots-Irish have talent, but the real prizes are won by the Irish Catholics and the Bi-Polar Welsh.
They don't just fight--they drink and fight.
Christmas is worse than Easter and Halloween combined.
Don't you just LOATHE Christmas when you & umpteen other people have left gift shopping till the last minute .... and as you drag your exhausted self through the over-crowded department store they're playing Silent Night over the sound system .... Ping! goes the cash register. Another sale!
The internet is for shopping, besides which, i don't buy presents. IT is better to receive than to give, as I say.
Birthdays are even worse than christmas ( shudder) .
Same here, Socks. I've learnt the hard way & have stopped being a sucker at Christmas. I've formed a truce with gift givers & receivers & no longer buy gifts, nor expect bought presents at Christmas. I do, however give small gifts that I know will give a friend some pleasure & delight.
But not necessarily at Christmas - when the spirit moves me.
I still buy presents for my kids, mother and mother-in-law. SO and I don't exchange presents anymore...too many emotional pitfalls there. After 30 years we've fallen in all of them at least once.
This year I'm startng early though. Tomorrow I plan to get the majority of the presents bought. Wish me luck!
