Who's going to need a stiff drink ( or 8) to get thru the holiday and why?

[Snowflakey]

As I get older the less I like the stiff drink, but I will defiantly need some mind altering substances

 

[Dancind]

A bottle of wine for me. We are avoiding extended family for the Holidays, DH's family blames us for the failure of the family business six years ago (it was his sister, the bookkeeper), my family is so politically obstinate we can't be in the same room with any of them. My adult daughter is a mine field to talk to, but that I can handle. Maybe the wine not such a good idea though.

 

[YoYoAurora]

@ronandannette, I'm so sorry for your loss. For all who are grieving during the holidays, you're in my thoughts.


Hey, I'm just making sure that the wine and bourbon that I'm cooking with is still good.

Thankfully, the drama kings and queens are spending Christmas with other family members. I'm looking forward to Christmas and New Year's even though I'm the chef.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Well, I did not see that coming. DH’s younger sister died completely unexpectedly yesterday. They were not estranged but also not close in any meaningful way. She was single and childless though so he will certainly have to step up and handle the affairs now.

Their older sister very much “calls the tune” as to how the siblings relate to one another in what has always struck me as a very weird dynamic. (There were originally 6, now 3 remain.) DH is grieving and churning through bitter-sweet memories of their mostly unhappy childhood. We’re waiting this morning to hear what’s expected of us and all other holiday plans have immediately been put on hold.

I'm so sorry for your family's loss.

 

[PollyannaMom]

DS's Guinea pig may be sick, and he (the pet) is five, which is not young for a Guinea pig. If something bad happens at Christmas, we will all be a mess, and yes, I will need a drink.

(We do have a vet appointment today to get him looked at - and hopefully feeling better.)

I am happy to report we are back from the vet with cream, medicine, and a good prognosis.

 

[Jdbsfw]

I work at the Target service desk...

I was a “cart attendant” at Target back in the early 90’s around Christmas, I was there for about 3 weeks and tapped out....Good luck to you

 

[Sabeking]

I pulled this from another thread I posted on because it fit the topic!!



Typical Christmas Day conversation (imagine a strong southern drawl)

DH and I: Merry Christmas mom and dad!! How are you?

MIL: Well, your daddy kept me up all night with that damn TV set to 70. He finally fell asleep at 3 am on the couch. Didn't even turn the tv off so I had to get up out of the bed and do it myself. Walking through the kitchen I noticed he left the loaf bread out. Stale as all get out now. Needless to say he made some collards, cornbread, corn ham, country ham, Brunswick stew, and Lima beans. Burnt the damn rolls though. I think eating that 4th piece of pie probably put his diabetes into a tale spin. Speaking of tale spin that nurse from the doctor said she would call on Christmas Eve to check your daddy's diabetes level and she didn't. Why do people lie? Like your Uncle Herb? He knows full well that when Uncle William died that family purposely left us out of the funeral plans. He and your daddy were real close and your daddy should have been in charge. Speaking of being in charge I wanted your brother to handle putting up that handicap bar in the bathroom cause my back hurts when I take a shower but I have asked him several times and he ain't done it yet. I know he works out of town and said he would hire someone himself to do it but I don't feel right about him not doing it because I know he really wants to.....how are you?


On a more serious note; my prayers go out to everyone with painful situations this holiday season. I pray peace and comfort for all of you!

 

[VandVsmama]

Most of this doesn't directly affect me. It affects my friends. I'm just feeling so sorry for what they're going through right now. 4 months ago, 1 friend's dad passed away. He was elderly and it was his time. Just a couple of days ago, her mom died. The funeral and burial were today.

October of last year, my best friend from college died. This year has been really hard for her mom...doubly so because a few months after her daughter died, she had to put her husband in a nursing home because of dementia. He died a few days after Thanksgiving. He's being buried in a military/national cemetery on Friday this week. She's heartbroken. She and her husband were married for over 40 years. Totally devoted to each other that whole time. On top of all that, she's legally blind now thanks to a genetic degenerative disease.

Then there's my YDD's preschool teacher. Well, she hasn't been YDD's preschool teacher for a few years now since YDD is 9. Her preschool teacher is an amazing person. The preschool teacher's grandma has lived with her & her family for the last couple of years. Grandma is now in hospice care and her time on this earth will soon end. The hospice facility brought in a harpist who played Silent Night for Grandma on the harp. It was amazing. So beautiful and so moving. Preschool teacher's grandma is very very elderly. Grandma is a really sweet lady. They all know that Grandma won't last long and she's lived a long and fruitful life, but it's still heart breaking and sad when you lose a loved one.

And it's so hard when it happens around Christmas.

My heart goes out to everyone who's dealing with a loss this Christmas.

And to everybody out there who, like a lot of us, have to deal with passive-aggressive, dysfunctional, or manipulative family members, hang in there. It's only 1 or 2 days. Decide what your personal boundaries are before hand and reinforce those boundaries when your dysfunctional loved one steps over the line.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Me!

Reason: just some relatives who are highly dramatic, everything's about them, they do no wrong, life isn't fair to them, and I'm just tired of the same BS every holiday.

I don't really drink but if it would help, I could start!

I'll have my grandson from this Saturday to New Years Eve (when I fly with him to hand him off to his mom and dad in Cali). No drama from him, unless you count me telling him no, he can't eat all the cookies!

DD#2 and SoIL #2 (who is flying in from Japan and lands Saturday in Gulfport) are moving back to Cali (his new duty station) and instead of them trying to drive cross country (to move their car and his stuff/stuff they needed here after the movers) with a 21 month old , I am keeping him while they drive and get into their new place. I'm flying out NYE morning, arriving in the afternoon, and flying back home that night. I'll be landing almost 24 hours after leaving.

I hate flying. Did I mention that??? I had to change the flights DD booked, because she had us landing in Baltimore, staying on the plane, then landing at DFW with less than an hour layover, having to change planes there, then flying to San Diego. I'm not going to fly though Baltimore in December, that's just asking for trouble...plus a 50 minute layover to change planes with a toddler, who is going to need to eat, run off some of that energy...that's impossible. So now I'm flying to Denver, with a 2 1/2 hour layover (the only other option was 4 stop flight, with 2 changing planes with less than an hour each.) Enough time to run some energy off and eat.

The flight home is much easier. On in SD, off in Fort Lauderdale for a 3 hour layover, then a quick hop to Jax.

 

[dosekies]

Me! My mom and I are already planning on making a bunch of jello and pudding shots on Christmas Eve so we can start drinking Christmas morning.

One of my aunts thinks she is everyone's mother and is crazy obnoxious. I also need to spend part of the morning with the future in-laws whom I have nothing in common with and almost always find a way to make some sort of rude and/or racist and/or dumb political comments.

 

[penn19]

I work at the Target service desk...

Drinks are mandatory then.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

Me! My mom and I are already planning on making a bunch of jello and pudding shots on Christmas Eve so we can start drinking Christmas morning..

ATTENTION EVERYONE! CHANGE OF PLANS! We are all meeting at dosekies house!!

 

[Liberty Belle]

For the past 5 years we have spent Christmas Eve with my mother in law (her choice) and Christmas Day at our house with my parents (they travel to our house, usually getting there Christmas Eve or the day before). Nothing was said to the contrary, so we planned on this year being the same way. Sunday, mother in law calls dh and tells him she wants to do Christmas on Christmas Day this year. She didn't ask, didn't say "what do you think", but told. He got off the phone, talked to me, and I reluctantly said ok, but we couldn't be there until 2pm so as not to rush our Christmas. He called her. She said we'd have to come at 1pm. He got irritated, they had words, and he hung up. I contacted my parents and told them we were switching things (they had plans with another person here, too).

One hour later, dh gets a text from his mother that says, "I will do Christmas on Christmas Eve, but you have to be here before 4." He calls her back, tells her we already rescheduled things with my parents. She tells him she has to have us over on Christmas Eve now, not Christmas. He asked her what had changed in one hour and she wouldn't say. They have more words. He gets off the phone and tells me to hurry up and tell my parents in case they haven't changed plans yet. Instead, I text mom and tell her it MIGHT change back to us being at MIL's on Christmas Eve and that I'd let her know ASAP.

Well, thank God I did, because right before bed, DH gets another text from his mother saying, "I will be celebrating Christmas with you at 1pm on Christmas Day. Your sister doesn't want to open gifts on Christmas Eve." DH was livid. I didn't have time to be angry, was just helping DH to relax.

UGH. Not really looking forward to Christmas now.

 

[lovesmurfs]

My parents are coming to stay with us for Christmas. Because my dad's birthday is January 1, I didn't want them to leave before that, and tickets on the 2nd were expensive, so they're staying from December 23 to January 3.

Love my parents dearly -- my mom tends to be a bit controlling. I can't imagine 12 days in our little house. DH is stocking up on the Scotch for me.