Recent Posts
- Day 14: Louisiana Senator Approvingly Compares Trump to Stalin
- Day 13: Elon Musk Flexes His Muscles
- Day 12: While Elon Musk Takes Over, We Podcast With Driftglass and Blue Gal
- Day 11: Harm of Fascist Regime’s Foreign Aid Freeze Comes Into View
- Day 10: The Fascist Regime Blames a Plane Crash on Nonwhite People
Was Santa good to you?
Santa was good; as noted in another comment, I got 8 hrs + of sleep last night.
Got some books and a miniature speaker set for iPod.
One of the books is by a friend from university – who is now Norway’s most famous crime writer.
This review by WaPo is for the latest of his books translated to English (I got his most recent Norwegian release).
Santa was good to me. He let me see the kids, all grown up, acting like 6 year olds again shooting each other with Nerf weapons and then playing bass guitar, drums and vocals (or trying to) with PS3 and Rock Band. What enormous, silly fun that is. This morning my only dilemma was which slice of leftover pie to have for breakfast with my coffee – blueberry or sour cherry? What’s that? Both? I think I will. 🙂
Merry Christmas to you CG and again to you Ask and SN.
I got a couple of pairs of jeans and some shirts. I kept looking around for that 62″ high definition TV I asked for, but Santa says next year or ten.
The kids all got their presents, and I keep hiding my youngest nephews presents telling him I’m keeping them. He’s tearing through the house searching now.
I’ve got my Christmas stew started, we’re going non-traditional Xmas food this year. We’re all meeting out at the farmhouse for the Xmas meal and this year we’re all going to start decorating the farmhouse today. The kids will get to decorate the tree and that pretty cool because that what we did as kids when my grandparents were alive. They waited until everyone was there on Xmas eve, and we children would get to decorate the tree. One of my best memories of Xmas.
Gotta go check the stew and get ready to go out there. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas Day.
Merry Christmas, FM!
We used to love decorating the tree as kids, the other day, curly and I had to do it – the kids had no interest.
Sorry about the HD teevee…better luck next year? 😉
I love non-traditional Christmas food, btw. Last night we had seafood quiche and broccoli salad and raspberry creme brulee and pomegranate martinis, all cabin people’s favorites.
.
A truly harrowing story …
I mentioned my daughter’s wedding in 2005 …
In June 2006 a beautiful son …
Late call on PPD and treatment …
End of October 2007, nearly recovered the guy is off suing for divorce, the child and the house.
Pretty tough fight in family court system … is justice blind?
With Christmas one small seat was empty, so awful to experience …
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Sorry to hear of such a sad story at Christmas Time; your daughter must surely have had a hard time.
But she obviously has a very supportive father, anticipate a better new year!
.
Thanks ask!
She’s a fighter, just like the ‘ld man. I’m convinced in the end, once she has fully regained her health, custody of her son will be hers. The court battle will take months however.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."(((Oui))) I am sending a supply of strength and courage across the miles to your daughter. And all the blessings of Christmas to your grandson who deserves to be with his mother especially now.
peace and love –
.
Thanks (((Alice))), you are always present in support of my writings @Booman. Your thoughts and best wishes will certainly strenghten her in the coming months. She’s got one tough daddy in support for her rightful custody of her 18 month old son. Fortunately, he is such a bright, inquisitive and joyful little creature. The moments he is with her are a great blessing and we also enjoy those hours. Unfortunately her partner is a lawyer playing hard ball.
My personal philosophy of life has always been and I will not waiver: peace starts at home, the family, the neighbours, friends and your community. That’s where we can help shape lives and bring happiness. I will focus on my daughter to get through these difficult moments and have her continue with life and her own career.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Sorry to hear of your sadness, Oui. I, the eternal optimist, predict better times to come.
Oui, I am so sorry. My vindictive ex-husband tried to get full custody of my children to get back at me for wanting a divorce (at Christmas time, no less!), and I remember only too well how awful the family court system is, and how little the needs of small children matter to them. I’m so sorry your daughter is going through this, and she’ll need your support even more now.
(((Oui and family)))
My story had a happy ending, and I hope your daughter’s will too.
.
Thanks CG! My daughter is strong and has a sweet personality, she’s too good for a harsh world. She is very motivated to be with her son. She concentrates on her health and let me do the legal stuff.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."soryy to hear this oui. sending my best wishes and hopes for a quick and positive conclusion.
it is, as you noted below, a time of rebirth, and hope for the future.
peace and blessings to you and yours
I can relate to bastard ex’s. Thankfully mine just took off and disappeared into the wild blue yonder. Custody battles really suck. It’s just great that you are there for your daughter. Hopefully, next year, you will fill all the chairs once again!
.
Thanks Kamakhya! There should be a new day in court in 3-4 months time. I take it a day at a time, giving love and support to help rebuild her self-confidence. Her health and custody of her son is the goal for the new year. We’ll just have to give it our best.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Hi Oui, I have to believe(or I’d be far more cynical than I already am) that there are pockets of justice out there still and that you and your family will have better days in the future…in the near future I hope.
Merry Christmas to all (or whatever holiday you may/may not be observing as an excuse to stay away from work)!
I’m looking forward to doing very little today and may very possibly indulge in serious serial napping.
.
Thanks Indianadem! I’m with you on the optimistic side of life, always looking for the rays of hope. We just passed the shortest day of the winter season and we’re looking forward to springtime, renewed growth in nature and plenty more hours of sunshine.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."from the foothills of colo:
clik to enlarge
and more coming down.
enjoy!
peace
I miss big snows like that. I love the quiet of all that snow muffling everything, and the crunching of it under my boots when I walk.
I could skip the shoveling part, though. 🙂
Lovely! The way it should be.
It looks eerily similar to the back of the house I grew up in – including the snow covered pine. That was not in the foothills of Colorado, though.
How nice to see FBC front paged again…this site is getting much too serious. (Of course, not that it isn’t justified…)
Happy Holidays and Peace to everyone working in that direction.
Merry Christmas Everyone!!!! I am waiting for our family gathering later today where I can give out the 7 hand knitted neckscarfs and the handmade jewelry, I made, hope everyone likes them. Also, We are doing a 5.00 gift exchange, where we play a game to see who gets what, then dinner. I will be eating when most of you will be getting ready for bed.
We are blessed this year to have 2 baby additions to our family, which makes it all the more fun. We are also blessed that all in our family are relatively happy and healthy and doing well in surviving this world.
To Oui, I send some special love and affection to you and to your family, may all be resolved in the coming year.
To all, best wishes to you and to your families, may the coming year be the best ever for you.
Good health and new babies….the two best things!
.
Thanks (((diane101))) !
We all have our moment of a personal challenge. How I wished I could have a pass on this one for my daughter and grandson. The rough and tumble of a lawsuit is so unreal … and costly.
May all receive the blessings in your work and good health in the new year.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."I just put KamaKid on a plane for Idaho. (sniff). She gets to spend the next 9 days there with her friend. The house is going to be awfully quiet. We celebrate the Winter Solstice instead of Christmas, so putting her on a plane on Christmas made a lot of sense. The airport was practically empty and we breezed through security.
I got some yarn, some knitting needles and a promise for free knitting lessons. I’m really excited to learn. I also got a new (to me) game for my PS2 called Disgaea. I get to be a demon prince of the underworld. Can’t wait to try it out.
I gave KamaKid a boatload of manga and anime. It was great watching her squeal with glee.
Hi kamakhya! It does get awfully quiet without kids around, doesn’t it?
Sounds like Kamakid has something in common with the CBs – they gave each other manga/anime books.
The knitting lessons sound like fun! BTW, I think the knitapalooza diary series will be returning now that the holidays and various other little emergencies are subsiding. 😉
Hey CG! KamaKid arrived safe and sound and to be honest, I miss her already.
The friend who will be teaching me is the same one that I asked for help in buying yarn for a couple of weeks ago. I ended up buying her some beautiful green/blue chunky baby alpaca wool. It was soft and full of texture and a great hand dyed color. I think she liked it. Can’t wait for the new knitapalooza diaries. They give me something to work for.
KamaKid is a total manga/anime geek. Her favorites right now are Death Note, Saiyuki, Wolf’s Rain, and Full Metal Alchemist. It seems to be the next new geek thing like maybe Star Trek was for our generation, but cooler. ;>)
Over the river
and through the woods
but not to grandma’s — just hiking in the nearly empty state park near us. Lovely way to spend the day.
Sounds wonderful … looks wonderful too … 🙂
6 people, 2 on the trail and 4 at the viewpoint at trail’s end and two dogs. But pretty empty for a part that gets about 2 million visitors a year.
here’s wishing all a merry xmas, and a happy new year, or whatever you celebrate this time of year.
Oui, good people will get their reward, so this new year coming will prove to be better ; )
peace to all,
.
Thanks infidelpig! The meek … for theirs the kingdom of heaven. Although I am religious, I prefer not to wait that long. Or do we inherit the earth? Whatever.
All the best to you and your loved ones.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Santa bypassed our house, but the b2 boy got plenty earlier this month.
Oui, I know that everything will work out for you and your family.
Holiday wishes to all.
We had a fair gathering of family this year. 29 family and extended family. Plenty of food and lots of happy kids.
Oui things will get better and next year that chair will be filled. Sending all my well wishes to you and your daughter.
I’ll bet you’ve missed quite a few naps the past couple of days, FM. Everything quiet now?
Hi SN.
Still got kids running around and George yapping. I see a 12 hour nap coming up soon.
Are you ready for a rest yourself?
How did you know? I’m actually thinking of calling it a day in a few minutes. All of this snacking and being on my best behavior is exhausting.
What did Santa bring FMom?
Yep I’m about ready to call it a day also. Close the door and let the rest take care of itself.
FMom got a lot. I think her favorite is a computerized picture frame that changes pictures. My brother had already put a lot of family pictures in, but he said he knew I have all the picture, so I could put more in. I’m thinking of getting it and having nothing but George pictures coming up. See how FMom likes that. 🙂
That’s funny – the mister got me the same thing. I guess after having his third adulterous affair in five years he was feeling all family-oriented and warm and fuzzy. Now where is my Christmas spirit? 🙂
I’ll bet FMom is amazed at that newfangled thing.
Sorry to hear that. That should have at least been a brand new car. 🙂
Yep FMom is wondering why she doesn’t hear any noise when the picture changes. Ya gotta have cogs and wheels and so on.
Actually she’s talking about getting a Wei or Wii (sp). That new game everybody wants. She heard someone her age lost a lot of weight playing it. I told her first she had to get up off the couch to do that. :~)
I’ve read that they have Wiis in nursing homes for just that reason. I’ve also heard that quite a few TVs were ruined when the Wii controller slipping out of their hands while playing tennis or baseball. REally sucks if you have a 1500 dollar TV!
I guess you can tell I’m tired with my atrocious grammar and the fact that I’m slipping in and out of tenses.
I’m not really worried about it. She gets an idea like this every now and then and in a couple of days it’s gone.
Have you ever heard of something called “Dirty Christmas”?
No I haven’t, but if that’s a proposition the answer is “yes”! 😛
Actually it’s something we did this Xmas. Everybody draws a number. Then everybody goes out and buys a present. A limit is put on the cost. The presents aren’t for any particular person. When your number comes up you pick a present. It can be the largest box to the smallest. That’s your present if you want, but you can trade off your present with someone else. Now if you have a low number the trading off can get hectic, but with a high number you’d better have something good because most of the trading has already been done.
We did something like that one year with the big extended family – 50 of us in all. You picked a gift and unwrapped it, then the next person could either steal yours or open another one. As I remember my mother and I almost clawed each other’s eyes out over a candle holder.
Well today my brother had something my sister wanted, but she hadn’t drawn. My nephew drew something my brother wanted so they traded and my sister lost out. In our version you can trade anytime.
Well I’m pooped and going to bed. I hope I’m awake by noon tomorrow. 🙂
Have a good night SN.
We did this with my family and at my office. It worked out nicely in both cases.
SN, You’ve had quite the life. FM is right, it should have been a car.
You get used to it after awhile. 🙂
I did get a semi-new car in June, probably when he first started feeling guilty. Ah guilt – it’s a beautiful thing…..:)
Courtesy of Robo-Rater!
As I said in the open thread, I got a new banjo case, snow on the ground and a house full of family. Everything else pales by comparison. This year my wife baked about a jazillion dozen cookies, a bunch of which were a (quite successful) attempt to recreate a cookie my mother used to make. It’s a sugar cookie with a date, raisin and pecan filling. Now that I know how easy it is to make I’ll probably ask her to make it more often. 🙂
Merry Christmas to everyone here at the Pond from Chez Omir!
Merry Christmas Omir! And thanks for Robo-Rater! It works wonderfully now that I’ve made the switch to Firefox.
I’m all about making life better through geekery. 🙂
Happy Holidays, everyone! Just getting back to Tucson after overdosing on family, food, cousin kidlets and tv. Glad to see the Marmotdude-pulled sleigh back in action 🙂
Oui, my best wishes to you and your family. Here’s hoping that you’re all able to rely on one another and pull forward the best way possible. We’ve had some drama in our extended family along the same lines lately, but thankfully everyone is being supportive and doing what we can to give support. paz.
Oh my god. Thanks, Andi! Damn, my kids are cute. 🙂