<p>Ugh. A potential problem at work late in the day yesterday for an area I used to support. The person who supports the area now is off today, and I am her back-up. I may have a long and stressful day today. </p>
<p>Not completely ready for tomorrow yet. D and I purchased a hoodie with a requested sports team for a 6 yr old nephew, in a youth size small, and we’re concerned it looks huge. I could probably wear it. D was told yesterday that she should leave at noon today. I think I’ll have her return it and try to find something else. Will need her and S to finish up the shopping/wrapping today. </p>
<p>Got a Tres Leches Trifle assembled last night for tonight’s annual party we attend. This will be the 15th year in a row we’ve attended!</p>
<p>After the late start this year, I can say that I am ready. I’ll be going in to work today, H is leaving early and will grocery shop and cook for this evening (yes , I am lucky that way) with help from the kids. We were not able to get a brunch reservation for tomorrow (my bad, I waited too long), but the movie tickets have been bought and we are seeing American Hustle. It should be a nice quiet day.</p>
<p>Thanks again for all of your kind support. I know that many of you have various struggles - hugs to all.</p>
<p>We’ll be seeing American Hustle as well. Plus Korean food this year rather than the usual Jewish Christmas meal of Chinese food. But, we’re doing it Christmas Eve this time around instead of Christmas day. The last couple of years, it seemed like the movie theater was absolutely packed by the evening of Christmas day. Clearly not just Jews. Is there a trend for Christians, having dispensed with the presents and Christmas dinner, to go out to movies now?</p>
<p>We saw American Hustle on Sunday. It has gotten great reviews and the acting is great. I loved Christian Bale. H, S1 and I liked it. S2 didn’t particularly like it and my sister thought it was good, not great . Enjoy!</p>
<p>shawbridge, We have never been to the movies on Christmas day ( too much cooking to do and we don’t usually eat until 6 or 7 so there is cleanup after that) but have gone the day after Christmas in the afternoon (since usually we can come home and just heat up all the leftovers). Hope everyone has a very nice holiday.</p>
<p>Shaw, we went to a movie every Christmas Day once we were too old to spend our Christmas playing with toys. I didn’t know any Jewish people at the time. I just thought it was what people did when they wanted to get away from the relatives, or didn’t have relatives nearby.</p>
<p>Mom arrived safely. We went out for pizza (her suggestion - she hasn’t done that since Dad died) and to see Christmas lights last night (our little town bills itself as the Christmas Capital of Texas.) I got up at 4:30 this morning so I could get cooking done before everyone was awake. I was pretty much done by 8:30, now H is making his two dishes.</p>
<p>Wishing everyone the best holidays possible! </p>
<p>I ordered a lot of gifts online and two haven’t arrived. Oh, well.</p>
<p>FallGirl…so sorry about your father. Sending prayers for strength and comfort.
oregon…prayers also for S. So sorry this is all happening during the Holiday season.
missy…good luck with D2. Hoping the peace and goodwill of the season seep in for her and she finds some comfort. You are a saint!
cq…hoping work eases up for you!
kmc…have fun! Your posts have helped brighten my week!
TA…wish I was heading to the beach! The water/sound of waves are one of my favorites things for relaxation. I am such a water baby!
sabaray…miss you! Hope you are well and having a great Christmas celebration.
shaw…hope you find a good executive asst! Maybe you should look at cq’s D!
dte…enjoy the time with your girls! So glad the headaches are better.</p>
<p>No movies for us until the day after Christmas. D1 is really struggling and we are hoping to change her mind about not attending services tonight. She is so very sad and by extension so am I! Her dog has been an unexpected joy in our house.</p>
<p>With my assistant gone, I forgot about Christmas presents for the admin staff. Oops. I wonder if I should do Amazon gift certificates or bring them in presents next week.</p>
<p>Amazon gift certificates would be lovely, Shawbridge. And you might want to set a tickler in next year’s electronic calendar. (I didn’t think I’d ever give up my little Lett’s of London Diary, but I downright love my calendar that synchs with my phone.)</p>
<p>I hope you get some sleep tonight, Missypie. </p>
<p>NM – Really sending the good light for your daughter. Glad her dog is such a plus in your house. </p>
<p>Oregon – Can I come to dinner? Please? I’ll be on-time, and I have no peculiar dietary restrictions. (Well, other than sincerely disliking liver.)</p>
<p>I’ve got this great idea for a product for those of us with hearing aids/issues: some app/gizmo/setting that would say that the minimum dialogue sound level must be X loud, and that the maximum sound level should be no more than Y loud. I’ve about given up on movies, even on DVD – if I set the volume level where I can hear all the dialogue, I get blown out of my chair when it gets loud. Truly annoying. Add to that the actors who mumble (that would be you Robert Downey, Jr. as Sherlock Holmes) and it is incredibly frustrating. Closed captioning is ok, but not exactly easy at the movie theater, and others watching movies on TV find it annoying. Not that I’m grumpy, or anything.</p>
<p>Back from church (and D1 did go with us!) and had our appetizer competition. Made sure D1 won…shhh! Quiet evening but enjoyable.</p>
<p>Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Holiday Season. I am thankful for all of you and send you and your families many blessings for peace and comfort. Enjoy the time with family and friends.</p>
<p>Right back atcha, NM
Warmest holiday wishes to you all.</p>
<p>Santa came early here as we discovered at dinner last night mcson left his passport in Ann Arbor, so a long round about trip in store today As a result, we decided to do Xmas morn around midnight so we could get a good start on the trip today Lots of fun. Three of mcson’s friends dropped by as well. </p>
<p>I am headed to the hot tub before marshaling travel-action, as I realize given the configuration of nieces and nephews that this and the car ride will be the only quiet times for the next 24 hours hi ho!</p>
<p>c-q, I’ve done Amazon gift certificates in the past but one of my assistants told me she thought that was a little impersonal, so the past couple of years, I got things (Liberty scarves one year, design-y picture frames another.) But this relies on a) an assistant to remind me; c) a ShawWife to select/help select. I missed the first and ShawWife was in panic mode about dressing up for our New Year’s weekend. </p>
<p>NM, I’d be delighted to hire c-q’s D but I don’t think it is the job she really wants. I’m assuming this is just a short-term thing for her as she looks for journalism/communications jobs.</p>
<p>Many good wishes for all and hope this evening is a calm and happy one.</p>
<p>arabrab do you know about Sony’s Entertainment Access Glasses?
They were released at theaters (15,000) last June. H and went the first week they were out and it was an amazing experience. I had to ask at the box office to use them but they were free. There are subtitles that appear 10 feet in front of you. There are just a couple of settings to learn.
My family much prefers the annoyance of the subtitles to my asking questions during the show at home. Or the high volume I use otherwise.</p>
<p>Hi all. Hope everyone had a good Christmas Day, however you spent it. </p>
<p>We were in RI for Christmas Eve and morning, then drove to my hometown for dinner and gifts with my father, my brothers and their families. It was nice, but we were sorely missing my mother. I rode the 2 1/2 hours from RI to MA with S in his car (he’s technically “on call” from his AF base, although it’s highly unlikely he’d have to return). He is so very unhappy - but he just won’t talk. A couple of times he was in tears. He and gf are done, and I know this is a huge part of his unhappiness. H has no patience for any of this, and just thinks S is rude/doesn’t like us/needs to get over the gf thing. I’m very worried, and hope S finds some buddies to hang with/talk to. I get that he doesn’t necessarily want to talk to me, but he needs someone. He’ll start his “real” job at the base after the holidays, so I hope he gets really busy. </p>
<p>Later today we’re headed back to Cambridge. I’ve already discovered I forgot my Kindle charger. Do they sell just the chargers at Staples?</p>
<p>PS Sorry to be such a downer on this thread.</p>
<p>Oh, CBB, it must be so difficult for all of you. I bet once your son is doing his real job, he will bond with some other folks and perk up, even if the job itself doesn’t get easier.</p>
<p>The holidays are going well so far - everyone has behaved. (They continue, as H’s birthday is today.) Younger D was the “Angel” at church on Christmas Eve, meaning that she sang the first verse of “Once in Royal David’s City” a capella at the 6pm, 8 pm and 11 pm services and then lit the Christ Candle in a long white robe (down a very long aisle in a pitch dark church) at the end of the service. The singing went perfectly at all three services, a little trouble with the candle at the 11 pm. I will try to post video of the solo on the Facebook page later on. She was definitely the best Angel in recent memory, if I do say so myself. It can be very intimidating to sing in front of a packed to the rafters church as the first thing in the service and even some very good singers have showed their nerves. But D was very steady.</p>
<p>Usually, only H sings the 11 pm service, and I stuff stockings during that time. This year I had to stay behind to be D’s wardrobe mistress, so I got to bed around 3 am Christmas morning.</p>
<p>But you would all be proud of me. My mantra was the clich</p>
<p>But I am still thinking of all of you with family members with health concerns. Good health really is about the greatest blessing we can have. All of you make such positive contributions to my mental health and for that I am very grateful.</p>
<p>ShawSon is not desperately unhappy but has been struggling with his team, who have blocked a deal by 50/50 vote that he wanted to do. The failure to do the deal will probably cause one of his valued team members to depart. He’ll need to hire a replacement. So now, he’s thinking about how long he wants to stay – e.g., when to start grad school and/or apply for the Gates. I think the fact that he’s also still GF-less contributes substantially to his emotional state. Apparently, though, he is becoming an authority about how to get dates via online dating.</p>
<p>Oregon – I’m going to go check on those glasses – thanks!</p>
<p>CBB – I’m really hoping that your son finds that the “real” work environment is better than training has been. Loss of a long-term girlfriend/boyfriend is a tough thing. Hard for us to watch as parents. D went through that about 18 months ago. Not fun.</p>
<p>MP – I look forward to seeing the video too. And congratulations on the couch plunking. Is your mom doing ok? I’m sure that this year of firsts is especially hard on everyone.</p>
<p>typical extended family hijinks. Certainly no hall mark commercial and many drunk folks. I was the designated driver. I stuck the drunk ones n the back and road with D2 in the front. D1 boyfriend went home he was nice to have around. Don’t know his take on the family. didn’t seem fazed though. Too much food
. Today spent too much time on shutterfly putting a book together for MIL.
CBB my heart breaks for your son. MP so glad the singing went well. andFallgirl sorry about your dad</p>
