Merry Christmas Everyone

Good Morning Everyone – MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

Last night, my DD, SIL, and I went to visit my sister and her kids and grands. We had a nice time, but it is a LOT of driving – 2 hours each way.
They have a Christmas Eve tradition – everyone contributes a wrapped gift (something between $5 and $20). It can be nice or funny. Everyone gets a number. Number 1 picks the first gift. Number 2 can either take Number 1’s gift or pick one from the pile. Number 3 can take 1 or 2’s gift or one from the pile. This goes on until all gifts have been selected. It gets pretty funny (there were 13 of us). I ended up picking 3 gifts from the pile (a bank with $2; a juggling ball; a hot dog in a bagel). My bank and ball were taken & I ended up with the hot dog!

OK – the hot dog is my strangest gift this season. Can anyone top it?

I am on my way out to my DD's - my SIL is making us breakfast & she is making us dinner.

Have a WONDER-FULL day everyone,

I LOVE you,

Lynn

Hi Gayle,
Gift-giving/getting is such a tricky thing. Who do you give to; who gives to you; how much you/they spend. At 65, I have finally gotten to the point where I give what I want to whom I want and don’t worry about who gives what to me.
My best friend and I stopped exchanging “gifts” a few years ago. We always do something as our gift to each other. This year, we are going to a Homewood Suites for New Year’s Eve (has an indoor heated pool and a Jacuzzi and a kitchen) and doing a jigsaw puzzle and making snacks.

Hi Donna,
I LOVE the visual of Isabella & the HAPPY goats! How adorable!


Hi Rosey,
Your DH is a keeper! Hope you feel good today & get to enjoy your Christmas.

Hi Lily,
We are supposed to get snow today and tomorrow. So far, just cold and gray.

Hi Zoe,
Sorry about your eye. Hope it is better now that you are home. Do your 2011 good intentions include exercise? Want to join me on the Presidential Challenge?
Funny, the goats reminded me of my kitties. Think there is some kind of hidden link between cats and goats?
I love you and all our Golden Girls also. I talk about everyone all the time to my friends and family. I am still hoping that we can plan a celebration get-together for your retirement. Do we have a date?

Hi Karen,
I sure hope you are feeling better today.

Hi Karen,
How did the SF crustless pie turn out. Want to share that recipe?
I agree about running from the “germ-spreaders” amongst us. I had a mammogram last week & the technician coughed and sneezed all through the procedure. I kept trying to hold my breath.

Hi Bobbi,
Are you getting snowed in/frozen? I keep seeing weather reports about your area & always think of you & hope you are keeping warm.

Merry Christmas One and all,

We did our Christmas celebration last night. The kids were here when i got home and ready to go. Ron did a decent job on the dinner too, or maybe I was just so hungry it tasted better than usual. Hunger can have that effect. I hadn't eaten since 11 that morning and it was 8. We let the kids open their gifts first and then we ate dinner and played Old Maid for awhile. With all the gifts they got the kids still wanted to play cards for awhile. then we opened our gifts. It was fun. This morning the kids called as soon as they woke up and saw what Santa had brought then. This evening they go to their other grandma's and get more gifts. I can't think of anything else that they might want. Santa was very generious.

Karen, I hope you are feeling better and not coming down with that virus again!

Donna, Have fun tonight and Congratulations on being so good last night. Like you, My tummy lets me know if I get too far out of line. How did I not listen all those years?

Lynn, the hot dog has me beat. I did get a really lovely piece of hand weaving from my grand daughter. It's just a very small piece, maybe 8 inches long and 2 inches wide. I'm going to frame it and hang it on the wall. It's striped and many different colors. of all the things I got, that will probably hang around a long time.

Gayle, I hear you about the gifts for work. Who do you give to? I'm always afraid i will miss someone and they will be offended. Don't need any more friction from the work scene. And they don't do little things either. It has gotten to be a burden.

Bobbi, I do hope you feel better this year. This was a good year for me. Last year was my trial, with a torn rotator cuff AND a broken foot. My son isn't starting out too great this year. He fell Monday and hit his shoulder. They think he has a torn rotator cuff too. He has to see an ortho guy on the 2nd. I know mine took forever to heal, since I didn't have surgery.

Z, Hope the eye is doing ok now. So much going on this time of year, no wonder we all end up sick. I know you will have fun with the kiddies and the Katz.

Karen, I confess. I hold my breath when someone around me sneezes too. I don't know how much it helps, but it can't hurt! I use a ton of hand sanatizer too. And wash my hands often for the recomended length of time. You know, while you sing happy birthday.

Woodlily, I haven't tried to buy online yet. I know, I'm really behind the times. It would save so much time! and i know a lot of the sites have good sales and free shipping this time of year.

Rosie, Hope you're doing well. I know it takes awhile to figure out what and how much you can eat. Is your surgery the kind where you get the dumping syndrome if you eat too much of the wrong thing? You will work it out! Our unit clerk had that surgery last year and she is in a size 6 now.

Everyone, have a wonderful, Joyful day.

Freda

Evenin all....It was a joyful quiet Christmas here. Weather said rain and we had sunshine. Had breakfast with some leftover ham in an omlet and early dinner with friends. Even Dash has been fed. Dh pounced on the new books and has disappeared into The Horse Soldiers....about US equine soldiers in Afghanistan.

We got a 6 pack of Doggie Beer. It is funny. A red carton with 6 brown bottles of doggie ale. Looks real. Has a Bull Mastiff as a logo. It is basically chicken stock and good for dogs. (unless like dash allergic to chicken)

Watching the national weather and it looks bad for the East Coast. So bundle up and stay warm. You all can send some rain this way.

Question?? What is Boxer Day? I've forgotten. That's tomorrow.

hugs,karen3

Merry christmas to all the wonderful "GG" we had a quiet evening..for a moment as i was remembering past holidays i was sad but then i realized how lucky i am and blessed. my dh and i watched old movies till the wee hrs got up this am and cleaned up kitchen and we made calico beans and a ham for dinner..its been nice,talked to my girls and grand kids.i am feeling better and yes it is that dumping syndrom so im avoiding anything with sugar or milk..so far so good today..i also weighed today,not sure how acurate my scale is but according to it ive lost a total of 69# both pre surg and after surg im 1 under 300 i was so pleased,anyways (((hugs))) for all rosey

Congratulations Rosey! How great that you have reached such a big milestone. Things will only get better for you.

It is so interesting reading how people celebrate this day and the traditional foods they eat. In my area the older generation eats this terrible gelatinous fish called lutefisk that is a dried whitefish soaked in lye and a flat thin mashed potato-based bread called lefse (which I don't care for). My MIL complained last night that we didn't cook the lutefisk for her. The smell is so horrible I won't have it in my house and she is the only one who eats it. I do make Swedish meatballs with gravy for Christmas Eve that everyone loves and also cook a ham along with mashed potatoes, salads, homemade breads (including the lefse) and desserts.
When I was growing up at home our traditional Christmas Eve meal was oyster stew and plum pudding.

We used to do a formal sit-down dinner (per MIL's insistance), but now my kids and dh insist on a less formal buffet and seating in our dinette/great room eating off of our Fiesta Ware. We have gotten less and less formal as we have aged. I try to ignore the comments from my MIL that "everyone else" eats dinner on china plates in the dining room. Am I the only one who has gotten away from that?

Karen, I believe Boxing Day is celebrated in Canada (and other countries) and is a a day to give gifts and food to the less fortunate. It is considered a day of charity. Maybe our neighbors to the north can explain it better.

We had a good day here and celebrated with family. Of course, we walked in to my sisters where her grandson, grandaughter, daughter and she herself are still fighting this bug!! I don't feel to bad except for being so tired tonight and Tim said tonight that he thought that his throat was scratchy!! Gosh it has been over a month now since we have even given each other a kiss!!! Who knows, maybe by New Years, that will be 40 year anniversary for us! Sort of--- if you don't count the years between 1982 and 1993 when we were divorced from eack other!! Crazy things happen and we both had to see if the grass was greener on the other side of the fence---it wasn't!

I hope everyone had a good Christmas-- I know I sure did. I really wanted a Wii and didn't really expect to get it since I just got the washer and dryer a couple months ago...but I did! I'm so excited! We, along with our son, went bowling in the living room this morning! I beat them both! YAY!! But I want to get the Wii fit or The Biggest Loser to go with it too. Not sure which one but I definetly need something!! I posted some videos and photos on facebook if anyone is interested in taking a look send me a PM and I will give you my facebook account.

Rosey, you are doing fantastic! Love the pictures! You should be very proud of yourself!

Everyone else -- Hello and Merry Christmas-- will try to catch up with everyone soon.

Good Morning all,

We had a wonderful Christmas, but i've got to say, I'm happy that it's over. it was way too hectic this year. Didn't help that I got that virus and was in bed for almost a week. And had to work Christmas Eve. But it's almost a new year now, and new time to refelect on the past year and plan for the new.

Woodlily, We don't really have any traditional Christmas foods, unless you count excess of everything a tradition. New Years we do. It's sourkraut and hog jaws and black eyed peas. It's supposed to bring you good luck in the coming year, and money. My mom would mash everything up and even put a bite in the babies mouths. Everyone had to eat it. And, actually, I like everything. And we do not do a sitdown dinner. Everything is buffet and easy to get to. Eat what you like, when you like. We used to have the sitdown, fancy Lennox Christmas dishes, good crystal. The kids hated it and couldn't sit still. I still do the sitdown at Thanksgiving. That's enough.

Everyone, have a blessed day.

Freda

Howdy all.....DD just called they have 8" of that stuff, but tapering off now. DS who lives to ski is on the edge of the storm and probably won't see a flake. And you all sent us rain. Thank you, but drove me crazy last night. When it rains the palm fonds droop and cut off power for seconds. It must have happened 6x while trying to watch "Jesse Stone" movie. Only off for seconds than takes minutes for cable to reboot.

Looked up Boxer day. Started as the day the churches opened the alms(poor) box for distribution. Lots of interesting stories about it. Another was that sailing ships had a box that when the ship was blessed before sailing the box was filled and if they made it back home the box then went to the priest. Guess that was the 1st travel insurance policy. Love finding something that takes me off into different places....not sure yet how come it is now a banking holiday and/or shopping spree day??? Back to Google

Freda....back when I had to work the holiday would leave instruction like turn on oven at 11am at 350 place turkey in oven shut door. Then crossed my fingers that dinner was cooking. Actuall perferred working Christmas day and left DH with toys/batteries and that stuff. Raced home and threw rest of dinner together for up to 20 people. DH and DD took all the credit for cooking!

Rosey....Wow! IN the 2's. It's really happening girl. What a fine gift to yourself. Hot Darn!

Off to get something different for dinner....hugs, karen3

Good Morning Girls!
Rosey...congrats! 69 pounds are awesome, you'd think you were on the 'BIGGEST LOSERS' show. What were you able to eat for Christmas?
Woodlily....maybe lutefisk and lefse is a Minnesota thing? My family never ate it but DH's family does. Mil made lutefish one Christmas after we were 1st married and it was gross! Ick! The lefse I thought was tasteless. Hubby would devour it so I learned to like the lefse with lots of butter and sugar on it. Never had the jelled fish since.

Quote:
It is so interesting reading how people celebrate this day and the traditional foods they eat. In my area the older generation eats this terrible gelatinous fish called lutefisk that is a dried whitefish soaked in lye and a flat thin mashed potato-based bread called lefse (which I don't care for). My MIL complained last night that we didn't cook the lutefisk for her. The smell is so horrible I won't have it in my house and she is the only one who eats it

Lynn and Zoe...we have the news on and they just said 3 feet of snow on the east coast......Zowie, that's a lot of snow! Are you both stranded at home I hope?
Donna...how'd you do over the holidays, glad your enchiladas thawed out. Like you, I made everything before hand and put in the freezer. I did sit down dinners for many years, two years ago we decided to do a buffet of snackie stuff and never did the sit-downs again. (We do a formal sit-down at Thanksgiving) I made a yummy cheese log with crackers, apricot barb-q meatballs and 6 types of cookies. Our daughter brought the rest of the stuff and I pigged out. Oh, and thanks for asking about my migraine headaches, still have them develop every stinking night. The shots helped a little, my headaches aren't as severe and I usually can get rid of them during the day. I have another doc appointment Jan 12th, maybe this time she'll take x-rays of do an MIR. I don't think she knows what shes' doing.
Lynn...yes, we're getting lots of snow too, we set a all time record for snow fall for the month of December. It's snowing right now but I can see the sun trying to peak through too, how'd you do for eating over the holidays? Put on any pounds like I did?
Zoe...I love the Golden Girls too, and it would be fun to celebrate your retirement.
Hey Glynne and anyone I missed, time for me to get with the program, eat breakfast and hid the cookies.
I'm going to get a picture of our back yard and post them, the trees are all frosty this am.
Sooooooooooo.....today is D DAY! Back to counting calories, back to Fitday and back to no fun. I'm going to put all the cookies in the freezer today and if I start thinking about them I'm going to hit my finger with a hammer.
Freda...say what? what is hog jaws? sounds like a southern thing. I love saurkraut, sometimes I put a drained can on a pork roast and it adds so much flavor.

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It's sourkraut and hog jaws and black eyed peas

KarenFla...I love the Jesse Stone movies, we were all set to watch his last one the other night, but we'd already seen it. Now that Biggest Losers, survivor and amazing race is over, we have nothing exciting to watch. Lifetime movies are good but there're more of a girl thing, DH watched one with me last night.
KarenMo...I had a Wii Fit and hated it, gave it to my daughter. I just plain old hate exercise in any form. I didn't mind the running in the Wii fit, that was kind of fun.

Blizzard here. We got someting over a foot. Of course, between the drifts & the plows, there are LOTS of mountains of snow.

I don't need to go out - our driveway is plowed - car is in the garage. Everything should be fine by tomorrow.

Have a good day,

Lynn