N/A Is Anyone Else Glad X-Mas Is Over? N/A

FormerHangie said:
I have mixed feelings today. It's another good memory to put in the bank, but I'm sort of sad to see that it's over. But I can't get too glum, we're off to Florida to see the Citrus Bowl this weekend.



If he's a junior in high school, he doesn't have time. Junior year is a booger.
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Actually, he's a senior that needs 2 classes to graduate next spring and I'm pretty sure one of them is underwater basket weaving. I was going to pay for his PPL as a graduation present but thought he'd like it now since he doesn't have a full load.:(
 
I truly envy those of you who still enjoy Christmas. It always used to be my favorite time of the year. It just seems the older we get, the more the house is filled with unfamiliar people. All of the boyfriends, girlfriends, step kids, and friends that I only see once a year (most of which I don't like). I miss the days where I could sit and talk with people I know. Or not have to stand in line for the bathroom. It's almost to the point where I'm pushed back down to the kids table for lunch. I guess I'm just getting old and grumpy because I'd rather stay home than go to holidays.
 
No. Christmas is HUGE at my house.
It's so bigwe created our own additional "day" to lengthen the party.
The closest Saturday, before or after Christmas (except when it falls on Christmas Eve) is Elfday, when all my kids, arrive with spouses, grand children, brother, sister, etc, etc. to consume mass quantities, play games and, when the weather cooperates, go outside and show their skills with a lot of different weapons. (No, my neighbors haven't talked to me in years.)
The only hard rule is no real firearms. Airguns, bows, atlatls, throwing knives, axes, blowguns, slingshots, and the occasional trebuchet have been known to appear.
 
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wayne said:
We work out at 5 am, so the New Year's Resolution crowd doesn't make much of an impact on our work outs.
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I've been getting to the gym a little after 3:30 a.m. these days. Same here.
 
Shepherd said:
The only hard rule is no real firearms. Airguns, bows, atlatls, throwing knives, axes, blowguns, slingshots, and the occasional trebuchet have been known to appear.
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Is NY requiring you to register your atlatl and trebuchet now?
 
I enjoy Christmas, but I really miss the ones we had when I was a kid. Christmas eve was spent at my mom's parents house, and Christmas afternoon at my dad's parents. Big dinners at each, and I had dozens of cousins, aunts, and uncles on each side. Way too many presents, and always lots of stuff that could be played with, fished with, or shot.

These days my family is scattered all over the southeast, and we don't get everyone together any more. My wife's family was mostly here in central Florida when we got married, but her parents passed a few years ago and her siblings are in GA and VA, along with their kids. So Christmases are quieter and more subdued than they used to be. Come to think of it, this was the first year that Christmas dinner was just with my own wife and kids; no extended family, friends, and neighbors.

Still, I love the season. There are parties and dinners with friends and neighbors. We always do some charity volunteering with friends, and that's a lot of fun (each year we volunteer with "Operation Christmas Child" the week after Thanksgiving). We make an excursion or two, usually with friends, to see Christmas sights, including touring Pinewood Estate at Bok Tower and listening to carols played on the carilon tower there.

All in all, it's pretty busy, especially with year-end stuff at work tossed onto the pile. I always enjoy the week after Christmas. I have the time off from work, and the hectic stuff is over and done. This is the time to relax a bit, watch a few bowl games on TV, do a little visiting, maybe get in a day or two of hunting.
 
Is there a Grinch avatar to assign to those who hate Christmas?

As I push farther into Geezerhood, Christmas becomes more, not less good for me. Seeing family from near and far again means a lot. Gifts and all that other S*** are a a distraction to the true meaning to me.

Cheers
 
Sorta related story....

Several years ago we had a fire at our church. It started with a water heater behind the stage and would have stayed somewhat confined, but our sprinkler system was not zoned and we had significant water damage through the entire building, including offices, meeting rooms, kitchen and dining area, etc. It took over a year to rebuild.

Every year the church always holds a candlelight service on Christmas eve. But not any more. Now our insurance company won't allow lighted candles, so we have to use battery powered LED candles. Somehow, an LED service just ain't the same...
 
retpd2001 said:
So sorry for your loss...
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Thank you, Time does heal all wounds as long as you allow it to happen. I'm not with the crowd that has to get sad every time Christmas rolls around. With time I learned to enjoy Christmas even think back to when my son and I had fun together. Christmas is my time to be thankful for the moments I had with him. Looking back on past hurts or what I could've done differently doesn't help at all!
 
lancie00 said:
Actually, he's a senior that needs 2 classes to graduate next spring and I'm pretty sure one of them is underwater basket weaving. I was going to pay for his PPL as a graduation present but thought he'd like it now since he doesn't have a full load.:(
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He must not be interested. When I was a senior I had a full academic load including three AP classes, and I would have jumped at that offer.
 
The war (WWII) really took the kids off the family farm, and they all went in different direction, so my dads generation wasn't that close. I did not grow up with any cousins. I only saw them and my aunt and uncles just a few times in my life.

My Christmas memories as a kid was just my mom and dad, and my sister. About a week before Christmas, Pop would load up the car, wake everyone up at 4am and off we would go to my moms parents. It was a 14 hour drive back then. Once the cat got sick and dropped a load on the back seat. It was similar to when the Griswold's found out aunt Edna had died.

But as I got older, first granpa died, then granma died, and I had graduated high school. A few years earlier my sister decided communism is a better way of life and disappeared, and so eventually the Christmas trips ended. Then pop died. For several years it was just me and my mom for Christmas. With me being single I always volunteered to work holidays so the married folks could get a little time with their families. If I did get a day off I usually spent it with one of my friends, Jim, or Johnny or Jack.

My wife came from a big family. I can tell she really misses that during Christmas. She spent most of Christmas eve on face time with her family in the P.I. My mom's second husband passed away a couple years ago and she now lives here in town, so at least we spent Christmas day at her house.

So that was my Christmas. I have my wife, my mom, 2 cats and 2 dogs, and now watching the snow fall. And truthfully, I think it is pretty good after all.
 
I feel very lucky to have a big family with a lot of love and happiness that is shared all throughout the year, and at Christmas time. It seems like I'm part of a very small minority to be able to enjoy this time of year. I wonder if that's a product of modern life, or if modern life is what makes it seem so special? Maybe it's just an illusory comparison to most of the posts in this thread, and maybe I'm reading something that isn't there, but it seems like most people are afraid to act like people. Everyone wants to be someone or something that they are not, never were, and will never be. At the end of the day life is all about enjoying it while you can, and loving those around you. Maybe that's just me and my life. If so, then *THAT* bums me out. Life is good. I hope yours is, too.
 
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