Popular Post Parsnip Totin Jack ★ Posted December 12, 2018 Popular Post Share #1 Posted December 12, 2018 Got any? Here's an old one: One year that I will never forget was an early year in our marriage. I resolved to take the back seat and let the in-laws holiday traditions play out. This is their home, I am a guest and will abide by their traditions. It is Christmas Eve. The day is cold and overcast with snow on the ground. To pass the time, I read books, play cards and go for a walk in the snow. The daylight is fading and I notice that, in the kitchen, not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse. By 6 pm, there is no sign of a planned dinner. My thought is, What are they doing? This is Christmas Eve! Don’t they eat here? I check the fridge and cabinets and it seems that they have turned into the Hubbard’s. The cupboard is bare. More than a little concerned, I find my wife and ask, in a whisper, "What are they planning for dinner?" I envision a trip to the local grocery store and discover empty shelves with a stray grape or two on the floor of the produce department. Or worse, the store is dark, closed early for the holiday and nothing at home but an old box of Ritz crackers and a half-empty jar of peanut butter. My wife is talking with her Mother and I hear my MIL say, “Oh honey, we didn’t give that any thought. We were just going to eat what we have laying around. I’ll have Joe (my FIL), go get some chicken. Can Jack drive? Joe doesn’t see so good in the dark.” Oh great, it’s Christmas Eve and I’m driving my FIL to a fast food restaurant for a bucket of chicken for dinner. Hoo-ray. Once we’re in the van, I get instructions on where we’re going. Lee’s Fried Chicken. What? We’re driving past a KFC, why don’t we stop there? Nope, we’re going to Lees, a cheaper version of fried chicken. Now they’re just rubbing salt in my wound. We pull up to the drive thru. "Ok FIL, what are we getting?" "I’m not sure, he says, what do they have?" What do they have? They have fried chicken. They have biscuits and mashed potatoes and green beans. I thought we came here because you’ve been here before. He hands me a $20 and says just order something under this. I place the order and pull forward. At the window, the lady takes my money and gives me the change; I hand this to FIL. The lady tells me it will take a few minutes. Could you pull over there and wait? We’ll be right out. 'Right out' turns into 10 minutes. In the side mirror, I see an employee come out with nothing in her hands. The restaurant is now dark. She isn’t quite empty handed; she has a $20 and is asking for the change back. They’re out of chicken and closed now. Merry Christmas. My mood is dark at this point. One does not simply screw up dinner on Christmas Eve. I vow to myself that this will never happen again. By the way, on the way back to the house we stopped at a McDonalds, the only place left open in town. 3 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Further Posted December 12, 2018 Share #2 Posted December 12, 2018 So there has been consistency with the inlaws ? That had to be a bummer. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Further Posted December 12, 2018 Popular Post Share #3 Posted December 12, 2018 The first time I met my future in laws was at Christmas. They were great Not a word was said about me missing a plane and showing up a few hours late. Not a word was said about me drinking all the beer they bought specially for me at dinner, rather than taking all three days.... At the Christmas Eve dinner (a big deal, several kinds of fish, pierogies, and just more food than I'd seen in a long time ) A small kitchen with a huge table shoehorned in, all the relatives gather around to meet the new boy. Lots of food I'd never had and it was all good, people kept offering me a it more of this, try some of that, and I kept eating. I looked up from my seat at the end of the table and realized that I was the only one still eating, all the food was piled in front of me, everyone at the table was watching in wonder. That was forty years ago this Christmas 4 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12string Posted December 12, 2018 Share #4 Posted December 12, 2018 There was the one year I sang Midnight Mass with the old people's choir, the young people's band had the early Mass in the morning. By the time I got all the stuff out of the way then set up sound and instruments, I just gave up on the idea of any traveling and just slept in the choir loft until everyone showed up in the morning. No food there, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrAzY Posted December 12, 2018 Share #5 Posted December 12, 2018 I got really good at hitting up a McDonald's on the way to family events growing up.. no one ever did a dinner, but just had hors d'oeuvres laying across the counter to snack on the whole night... Ya I'm not that fancy of a person. I brought my bag of burgers and fries in and start in their kitchen eating. After a few years of this my aunt asked why I did this every year. I looked at her counter and told her it's because it is tradition, and we can't stop a family tradition. She was a bit confused at first and then laughed that I didn't want her fancy crap she paid to ha e brought in from a catering place.. I might be simple, but I know what I like. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinneR ★ Posted December 12, 2018 Share #6 Posted December 12, 2018 Fireside Al's reading Forsythe's the Shepherd. It's long, but good. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-the-shepherd-edition-2017-1.4455219/fireside-al-maitland-reads-frederick-forsyth-s-the-shepherd-1.4458378 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisL Posted December 12, 2018 Share #7 Posted December 12, 2018 Christmas of 1985 was memorable for me. Worked the PM shift, not a sole about except us MP's and it's snowing, my first white Christmas. I'm sitting in my little guard house watching the snow fall enjoying the peace & quiet. Christmas in my house was a free for all with wrapping paper flying, gifts everywhere and kids shouting with delight. My first Christmas with the inlaws was a total bore. Each person opened a gift, said their thank yous, next person opened a gift etc. After we got married I got so bored with their stuffy Christmas I started chucking wadded up wrapping paper at people and started a paper fight. MIL was mortified and shouted at me to stop and got bombarded by her sons and DIL. Probably the first time anyone in her family laughed on Christmas.... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentonMakes Posted December 12, 2018 Share #8 Posted December 12, 2018 In recent years I'm finding that I have Christmas memories that are so sweet it almost hurts to think about them. I suspect many of you can relate. I'm just not sure my stories will make for interesting reading. But thanks for sharing yours. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinneR ★ Posted December 13, 2018 Share #9 Posted December 13, 2018 2 hours ago, ChrisL said: Christmas of 1985 was memorable for me. Worked the PM shift, not a sole about except us MP's and it's snowing, my first white Christmas. I'm sitting in my little guard house watching the snow fall enjoying the peace & quiet. Christmas in my house was a free for all with wrapping paper flying, gifts everywhere and kids shouting with delight. My first Christmas with the inlaws was a total bore. Each person opened a gift, said their thank yous, next person opened a gift etc. After we got married I got so bored with their stuffy Christmas I started chucking wadded up wrapping paper at people and started a paper fight. MIL was mortified and shouted at me to stop and got bombarded by her sons and DIL. Probably the first time anyone in her family laughed on Christmas.... Love it! I'll drink to that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrAzY Posted December 13, 2018 Share #10 Posted December 13, 2018 After this Christmas my wife and kids (along with me) will start a just for us Christmas. Every year we travel somewhere to be with family, and it is hard on us do this every time. From now on we will either be home or on vacation somewhere by ourselves. IF the rest of the people want to, they can visit us another time in the year. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post petitepedal ★ Posted December 13, 2018 Popular Post Share #11 Posted December 13, 2018 OMG it is all about the food...my momma would not let any of you go hungry!! Over the years the menu evolved to Rigatoni & Meatballs Christmas Eve...Christmas Day could be Ham or Turkey..and a freaking ton of cookies....like double batches of 6 to 10 different kinds of cookies... You stop by after work for coffee...out comes cookies...cheese and crackers..mixed nuts..we had this huge old copper dish (I think my mom found it in a garden in France..post WWII) filled with nuts in the shell.. She died 37 years ago....in September...but just a couple weeks before she died we had started planning our Christmas baking.... She also had a guilt complex..because of how poor one particular Christmas was....I mean she was a single parent, living with her Father...but money was still very tight (my dad paid $0)...so the last couple of years she over did on the presents...trying to make up for years that were...slim.... me I don't recall a single year we were "poor".... 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Far ★ Posted December 13, 2018 Share #12 Posted December 13, 2018 5 hours ago, Old#7 said: Got any? Here's an old one: One year that I will never forget was an early year in our marriage. I resolved to take the back seat and let the in-laws holiday traditions play out. This is their home, I am a guest and will abide by their traditions. It is Christmas Eve. The day is cold and overcast with snow on the ground. To pass the time, I read books, play cards and go for a walk in the snow. The daylight is fading and I notice that, in the kitchen, not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse. By 6 pm, there is no sign of a planned dinner. My thought is, What are they doing? This is Christmas Eve! Don’t they eat here? I check the fridge and cabinets and it seems that they have turned into the Hubbard’s. The cupboard is bare. More than a little concerned, I find my wife and ask, in a whisper, "What are they planning for dinner?" I envision a trip to the local grocery store and discover empty shelves with a stray grape or two on the floor of the produce department. Or worse, the store is dark, closed early for the holiday and nothing at home but an old box of Ritz crackers and a half-empty jar of peanut butter. My wife is talking with her Mother and I hear my MIL say, “Oh honey, we didn’t give that any thought. We were just going to eat what we have laying around. I’ll have Joe (my FIL), go get some chicken. Can Jack drive? Joe doesn’t see so good in the dark.” Oh great, it’s Christmas Eve and I’m driving my FIL to a fast food restaurant for a bucket of chicken for dinner. Hoo-ray. Once we’re in the van, I get instructions on where we’re going. Lee’s Fried Chicken. What? We’re driving past a KFC, why don’t we stop there? Nope, we’re going to Lees, a cheaper version of fried chicken. Now they’re just rubbing salt in my wound. We pull up to the drive thru. "Ok FIL, what are we getting?" "I’m not sure, he says, what do they have?" What do they have? They have fried chicken. They have biscuits and mashed potatoes and green beans. I thought we came here because you’ve been here before. He hands me a $20 and says just order something under this. I place the order and pull forward. At the window, the lady takes my money and gives me the change; I hand this to FIL. The lady tells me it will take a few minutes. Could you pull over there and wait? We’ll be right out. 'Right out' turns into 10 minutes. In the side mirror, I see an employee come out with nothing in her hands. The restaurant is now dark. She isn’t quite empty handed; she has a $20 and is asking for the change back. They’re out of chicken and closed now. Merry Christmas. My mood is dark at this point. One does not simply screw up dinner on Christmas Eve. I vow to myself that this will never happen again. By the way, on the way back to the house we stopped at a McDonalds, the only place left open in town. Well, the LAJ acorn didn't fall far from the tree. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Road Runner Posted December 13, 2018 Share #13 Posted December 13, 2018 When I was a kid, I really wanted a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. I planned and schemed to get my parents to buy one for me. I even wrote a letter to Santa (just in case). But everyone, including the mall Santa Claus, kept telling me I would shoot my eye out. Then Christmas day came and no sight of the gift I had so longed for. But then after everything else had been opened, my dad surprised me and brought out a box that had been hidden in the corner. I tore into the wrapping paper! It was the Red Ryder BB gun that I had so desperately wanted! I loaded it up, took it outside, and I'll be damned if I didn't nearly shoot my eye out! Later we went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant, the only restaurant in town that was open, We had Chinese turkey. Later that night in bed, next to me in the blackness, lay my oiled blue steel beauty. The greatest Christmas gift I had ever received, or would ever receive. 1 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sheep_herder ★ Posted December 13, 2018 Popular Post Share #14 Posted December 13, 2018 The one I remember vividly was a Christmas eve in Colorado, when I was adjusting the filling in a bean bag chair, that our daughter wanted that year. Static electricity was high in our 43x8' trailer house and the filling stuck to me and everything else. My wife and I began to laugh so hard that we were afraid we would wake our daughter. We were still cleaning up the filling late into the night. She loved the chair and used it a bunch. Good Memories!! 4 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingstar Posted December 13, 2018 Share #15 Posted December 13, 2018 Here's a book to be released tomorrow by a niece. A Christmas story-romance -gift idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post MickinMD ★ Posted December 13, 2018 Popular Post Share #16 Posted December 13, 2018 I also have a short-of-nutrients Christmas story. There was a foot or so of snow on the ground, my parents didn't have a car to begin with, and we weren't going anywhere on Christmas. That didn't stop 16 year-old me from collecting my my best high school friends John (who became an aerospace engineer) and Mike (who became a career backup musician for the Beach Boys) and walking back to my house were we engaged in a snowball battle with another group of friends. Suddenly, my mother called us into the house. My one year-old brother was still using a bottle and Mom was out of milk. She handed me $5 and asked us to try to find a store open around 7 pm on Christmas despite a foot of snow. We walked a few miles in the snow passing closed store after closed store. Then, on the major highway, a couple miles from my house, a milk truck had pulled over into the snow-blocked slow lane selling milk, ice cream, etc. at highly inflated prices. We marveled at the luck! He was down to pints but we bought all we could get for $5. On the way back, John and Mike said it was magic - if we turned around and looked, there would be no milk truck there. Mom was delighted, even though the amount of milk would have cost about $1 in normal times. To this day, I tell my brother I saved his life and he owes me forever! 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Longjohn ★ Posted December 13, 2018 Popular Post Share #17 Posted December 13, 2018 My Christmas stories involve old vehicle problems while traveling to the in-laws for Christmas. We had a nice extended cab pick up truck but our family out grew it so we traded someone even up for a VW microbus, turns out it was all rotted out underneath and when we tried to jack it up to change a tire the jack couldn't find a place solid enough to lift it without the jack pushing right up through. We traded that for a VW Rabbit, also very used. On the way to my in-laws the engine blew. We were about half way into a two and a half hour drive. It was very cold and snowy and our car now didn't have any heat. No cell phones in those days so I walked looking for a phone somewhere. The first place I came to was a used car lot. It didn't look open but one car was parked out front. I went up and the door was locked but it seemed someone was inside. He came to the door and I told him my problem and asked if he had a phone I could use. He let me use his office phone and he overheard me telling my in-laws that we might not make it for Christmas. I didn't know what we were going to do. I need to get the kids somewhere warm. When I was done talking on the phone the owner of the car lot said he wanted us to have a nice Christmas and he had a car we could borrow for the Holliday. We transferred the presents and the kids over to the borrowed car and we're on our way. I would have liked to been able to buy the car we borrowed but it was not in our budget. When we got home we talked to the guy that sold us the Rabbit and he took his wrecker down to bring it back. He gave us a great deal on another beater and we returned the borrowed car. I scraped together as much money as I could (money was tight in those days for us) to offer the car lot gentleman some money and thank him but he refused to take any money. He said he was just happy to help us have a nice Christmas. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted December 13, 2018 Share #18 Posted December 13, 2018 I think rr and long John may have borrowed from classic movies. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted December 13, 2018 Share #19 Posted December 13, 2018 26 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: I think rr and long John may have borrowed from classic movies. They might have borrowed from me. Oh the stories I have of adventures with beater cars. I had a period of time when I never bought a car with less than 100,000 already o the odometer. Once when driving from Warren County to Johnstown for Christmas with the in-laws in 1978 it was snowing so hard we got caught in a white out. I slowed down but I didn't want to hit my brakes because I knew anyone behind me wouldn't be able to see me until they heard the crunch. I ended up in three feet of powdery snow off the road. I had my three foster kids and our newborn baby boy in the Chevy station wagon and we were stuck. The engine still ran so we had heat, after about a half hour someone with 4WD and a tow chain stopped and pulled us out and we continued on our way again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR46 Posted December 13, 2018 Share #20 Posted December 13, 2018 20 hours ago, ChrisL said: Christmas of 1985 was memorable for me. Worked the PM shift, not a sole about except us MP's and it's snowing, my first white Christmas. I'm sitting in my little guard house watching the snow fall enjoying the peace & quiet. Christmas in my house was a free for all with wrapping paper flying, gifts everywhere and kids shouting with delight. My first Christmas with the inlaws was a total bore. Each person opened a gift, said their thank yous, next person opened a gift etc. After we got married I got so bored with their stuffy Christmas I started chucking wadded up wrapping paper at people and started a paper fight. MIL was mortified and shouted at me to stop and got bombarded by her sons and DIL. Probably the first time anyone in her family laughed on Christmas.... This sounds just like us. My family is a free for all no organization what so ever. Wo46's family complete opposite. Everybody sits in the living room with no tv, no music, nothing and eventually the conversation is about work. When it came time to open gifts it went by age, one gift at a time and everyone had to look at it and take pictures. You get to the point where you want to stick a fork in your eye just for some excitement. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrapr ★ Posted December 13, 2018 Share #21 Posted December 13, 2018 18 minutes ago, BR46 said: This sounds just like us. My family is a free for all no organization what so ever. Wo46's family complete opposite. Everybody sits in the living room with no tv, no music, nothing and eventually the conversation is about work. When it came time to open gifts it went by age, one gift at a time and everyone had to look at it and take pictures. You get to the point where you want to stick a fork in your eye just for some excitement. so you've been to my house I'll loan you a pickle fork Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12string Posted December 13, 2018 Share #22 Posted December 13, 2018 Then there was the year I was working sheet metal - morning of the company Christmas party, about 3 days before Christmas. I got careless and put a finger in the business end of a punch press. doc got it sewed back on (really poorly) in time to still get to the end of the party. But it became obvious that night at practice for Christmas Mass that I could not pick a banjo in that condition. That's when I took up guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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