Having a great Christmas!!!

[clh2]

First and foremost - it is just DH, DD and me. No other family...we save the drama with my family for a different day. I refuse to have a lousy Christmas - and about 10 years ago - I put my foot down, and our Christmas became "our" Christmas.

This year, due to a number of reasons - we were on stricter budget than any in the last several years. So - we had a very scaled back, but nice Christmas.

DD - did something that was absolutely hilarious. REALLY hilarious. In a reference to Thanksgiving drama, where I often feel like our family is the "black sheep" of the family...she did things in Survivor mode. Made everyone, including the dog a "black sheep" buff. We each got tree-mail, with our own individual task. Mine is to "send out an e-mail to my family in the last minute of 2010 that starts the drama for the beginning of 2011.

Our dogs task is to find a dog sitter to accompany our family to the next Thanksgiving function - long story - but this is related to the Thanksgiving drama we had this year.

DH's task was to have a conversation with a niece in "haiku" poetry format. (Yes, there is a back-story here...that is absolutely hilarious. We were playing Apples-to-Apples, and my niece became LIVID that my DH did not pick her answer - because EVERYONE knows that Haiku was the only correct answer to the clue word.)

So - all told - DD spent about $5 on this gift, but the memories for this one are "priceless". We are going to keep the tree-mail and buffs for Christmas ornaments.

I hope you are having a really great Christmas this year!!!

 

[denisenh]

First and foremost - it is just DH, DD and me. No other family...we save the drama with my family for a different day. I refuse to have a lousy Christmas - and about 10 years ago - I put my foot down, and our Christmas became "our" Christmas.

This year, due to a number of reasons - we were on stricter budget than any in the last several years. So - we had a very scaled back, but nice Christmas.

DD - did something that was absolutely hilarious. REALLY hilarious. In a reference to Thanksgiving drama, where I often feel like our family is the "black sheep" of the family...she did things in Survivor mode. Made everyone, including the dog a "black sheep" buff. We each got tree-mail, with our own individual task. Mine is to "send out an e-mail to my family in the last minute of 2010 that starts the drama for the beginning of 2011.

Our dogs task is to find a dog sitter to accompany our family to the next Thanksgiving function - long story - but this is related to the Thanksgiving drama we had this year.

DH's task was to have a conversation with a niece in "haiku" poetry format. (Yes, there is a back-story here...that is absolutely hilarious. We were playing Apples-to-Apples, and my niece became LIVID that my DH did not pick her answer - because EVERYONE knows that Haiku was the only correct answer to the clue word.)

So - all told - DD spent about $5 on this gift, but the memories for this one are "priceless". We are going to keep the tree-mail and buffs for Christmas ornaments.

I hope you are having a really great Christmas this year!!!

sounds great!! us too. i love today... i really love it! it not exquisite. or expensive. not overdone....just pleasant. i am so happy that we are home.

 

[Jennasis]

YEp yep yep! Today was the best Christmas we've had in 8 years (since moving to NC from NY and away from my whole family). Lemme sum up our awesome day:

1. After 7 years of enduring boring, dreary, dramafilled holidays at MIL's we put our foot down and insisted that Christmas be hosted at our home today. And we did!

2. Dinner was catered. Ordered a tray of lasagna from our favorite Italian restaurant and had an awesome no-fuss meal!

3. We had a white Christmas! 3" and counting right now outside in mid-NC!!

4. MIL came over at noon and due to the white christmas left at 2:30!. So now it's just DH and I enjoying peace and quiet.

 

[Wishing on a star]

OMG, I wish I could report the same!!!!

Christmas started out very nice! We woke up to very pretty dusting of snow 'white christmas'... DS opened gifts, which he loves, had a nice brunch... I had picked up specialty pastries for this morning, fixed up some eggs, with bacon and even sausage.. ( okay, my son does really like breakfast meat! )

Except, we did spend a long, gray, gray, day at MIL's, where it was a gray dreary rain.
There is just NO way out of it.
She is alone now, so our obligatory every weekend and holiday is now even more obligatory... It didn't go too awfully bad... but, I swear this woman will stoop to any level of minutia just to be the way she is.... many, many, priceless examples today....

Biggest example, I make an effort every year to do nice annual portraits of our son. This year, my efforts turned out so good that my husband walked in from picking up our prints, and said, "your gonna have to quit being such a good photographer"... they thought these were done by a professional studio and had DH sign a statement that we were not breaking any copyright laws!!!" ( NOTE: we have never made it a point to tell her that I, personally, have done these pictures.. but it is often obvious by the backgrounds, at our home, etc....)

Okay, so when she opens the package with a nice framed portrait of DS with a few other christmas/casual pics in fridge magnets... My MIL's only, single comment... right in front of DS and everybody... "why does he look red in the face..." as she sets it aside.
( and NO, he most certainly does not look like Luther Krank in the movie!!! )
Even nice pics of her only beloved grandchild are free to be used as daggers and weapons. She really has NO limits....

That's okay though!!!
We are back home enjoying the last of our Christmas evening!!!

 

[Jennasis]

OMG, I wish I could report the same!!!!
We woke up to very pretty dusting of snow 'white christmas'... DS opened gifts, which he loves, had a nice brunch... I had picked up specialty pastries for this morning, fixed up some eggs, with bacon and even sausage.. ( okay, my son does really like breakfast meat! )

Except, we did spend a long, gray, gray, day at MIL's.
There is just NO way out of it.
She is alone now, so our obligatory every weekend and holiday is now even more obligatory... It didn't go too awfully bad... but, I swear this woman will stoop to any level of minutia just to be the way she is.... many, many, priceless examples today....

Biggest example, I make an effort every year to do nice annual portraits of our son and 'family'. This year, my efforts turned out so good that my husband walked in from picking up our prints, and said, "your gonna have to quit being such a good photographer"... they thought these were
done by a professional studio and had me sign a statement that we were not breaking any copyright laws!!!" ( NOTE: we have never made it a point to tell her that I, personally, have done these pictures.. but it is often obvious by the backgrounds, at our home, etc....)

Okay, so when she opens the package with a nice framed portrait of DS with a few other christmas/casual pics in fridge magnets... My MIL's only, single comment... right in front of DS and everybody... "why does he look red in the face..." as she sets it aside.
( and NO, he most certainly does not look like Luther Krank in the movie!!! )
Even nice pics of her only beloved grandchild are free to be used as daggers and weapons. She really has NO limits....

That's okay though!!!
We are back home enjoying the last of our Christmas evening!!!

I would imagine you have directed your DH to put her in her place.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Nope, he would never say a word....
Especially today on Christmas.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Okay, who else is having a great Christmas!!!
I didn't mean to sidetrack this thread with my vent.
(but it was good to get it off my chest!!!)

It started pouring a beautiful snow, so DS and I just leashed up the dog and went in a walk in the night-time Christmas snow.

I had heard that if you have just one nice norman rockwell moment at Christmas to consider yourself lucky, and we just did!

 

[minniecarousel]

We had a wonderful day too!

Our sons and daughters-in-law came back today, even though they were last evening. My siblings and their families were here and my kids came back to spend time with everyone. One son & DDIL brought the game "Taboo" along and a big group had fun playing it.

This was our first Christmas without our Mom - she passed away on April 1, at the age of 93. She would have been very happy to see us carrying on with our traditions and enjoying each others' company. We don't have any "drama llamas", so we're all good!

 

[mrsv98]

We had a wonderful Christmas! Last night we had all the family in the area over for dinner, smaller group than in the past as the nieces and nephews are getting older, but still a nice gathering. We also had two cousin dogs for a total of five with ours.

We still have our gazebo up so I hung Christmas lights in there, put cozy blankets on the chairs, nice candle on the table and a big fire in the outdoor fireplace. Add hot chocolate and homemade marshmallows and it was a big hit! Anyone who went out with the dogs had a place to be that was out of the snow and cozy!

Today, we did a big fat nothing! Lazed around after presents, ate leftovers, stayed in our jammies, in other words...bliss! We spend so much time running around it is a gift in itself to do nothing.