AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Can't wait till 08.07 was not the best year for me.

Whisper, I hope that you get your wish!!

We had a lovely holiday. We spent Christmas Eve at my brother's and they cooked an enormous amount of food. However, unlike the slender TIS, the thought of it all is just making me hungry again. Yesterday we were at the in-laws. There was ham.

Lots of lovely gifts, although I swear that my one brother and SIL just look up stuff on the internet and think, What stupid-ass gift could we give the Babes this year?? We got a pancake warmer and this pitcher/bowl for mixing and pouring the batter. It is enormous. Where the F^^^ am I supposed to keep this thing? At Thanksgiving, we were discussing how we're all trying to downsize at this stage in our lives, that we do NOT want any more "stuff" because we all have too much, and BINGO, a giant batter pitcher/bowl!!

I will be sure and tell him Uncle Sonny's request.

Sign him up for the Yankees.

That is classic.

Belated Merry Christmas, all. I felt bad that I didn't get to post before we left to visit family for the holiday. I ate well, had some Guinness, and spent haappy time with the family.

Ha, ha, ha!! You're a riot, Alice.

sorry to hear that mate hope next years better for you

Thanks SB and Chopper.Hope you have a great new year.

Whisper, I also hope that '08 will be better for you. I will keep you in my prayers.

We used to have a saying in Brooklyn (when the baseball team, the Dodgers, was here).... "Wait 'til next year".

I hope next year is better for you.

Whisper, I can relate to a very bad year (or years). Boy does that suck. But, keep a stiff upper lip. It's gotta be better in the new year. Once down, you can only go up.

My best to you for a truly "happy" New Year.

TIS

SB, this had me laughing out loud, because I know my mom would just love hearing this. That is exactly what we've been dealing with and griping about - too much "stuff."

We actually did not exchange gifts this year, deciding that it's gotten out of hand, where we all stress out about getting stuff for people, who end up not liking it or needing it - and just the whole idea of how commercial the holiday has become. My mom and grandma took it as a relief because they're ones that have to do a lot of stressful shopping for relatives, and I sort of enjoyed it, as well. I think it made us take Christmas for what it should be, as time to spend with loved ones.

But I have to admit...I got a bit sad on Christmas day, when there was no exchange of presents. It really isn't the gifts themselves - I don't think any of us missed getting something - but just the fun of that tradition, watching everyone pass boxes around and unwrap everything, of giving somebody something you hope is special for them...it was strange not to have that. I think my dad especially wished we hadn't changed things. We visited his parents' graves Christmas Eve, and my mom made a comment about how his mom never would've let us take away the gift exchange, because she absolutely loved to give gifts. That made me realize why he probably wanted to do it, and it made me sad. But we all had a wonderful time together as family, with my dad's brother's family making it even more special, so I'm grateful for that. That alone makes for a great Christmas.

Gina, I agree with the sentiment, but understand how it must have made the day a bit empty. You always intrigue me, and I think that you're an amazing young woman. If I had told my daughters, who are only a few years younger than you, not to expect any gifts this year, I think I would have had a full-fledged rebellion on my hands!

Actually, you should have heard my other brother, who got the same pancake set! He and his wife just retired. They're spending the next few months emptying the house and getting it ready to sell, and hope to move to a condo. Sure enough - the giant batter pitcher! I know we should appreciate what we're given, but honestly! My husband, however, loves it. He thinks that the whole pancake warmer is a great idea, and can't wait to use it this weekend. I told him good luck trying to find the cabinet space for it!

Don't let him kid ya... he's gonna use it for a winter pool for Shirley.

gina, your post is very poignant. Its gotta be tough to break a long standing tradition (of sharing gifts), but I can understand your family's reasoning.

Gina, I don't know how large your family is, but perhaps next year, in lieu of buying and exchanging gifts for and with everyone or totally doing away with exchanging gifts, why not do a Kris Kringle / Secret Santa?

Everyone puts their name in a hat and each person picks a name, doesn't tell anyone else who they picked, and has to buy that person a present.

This way the gift giving does not get out of hand, there's no stressful, commercialized shopping where you just buy a bunch of gifts without putting any thought into it.

With having to buy a gift for the one person who's name you picked, you can put some thought into what to buy and also keep the enjoyment of exchanging gifts.

BTW, I thought of you on Christmas. The TNT channel played 'A Christmas Story' all day long!

Thank you all for the kind messages - I needed to vent about that, and I appreciate the responses.

I think the whole moving experience really makes one realize how much "stuff" is kept, sometimes when completely unnecessary. All throughout our moving process, my parents - especially my mom - noticed this. When you have to pack everything up in boxes, it really hits you! And their whole goal was to downsize, as you said, so we're constantly on alert for anything new coming in the house...which is hilarious when it comes to my grandma, who will send anything and everything she can think of to us. Newspaper clippings, clothing and jewelry that's been passed on, decorations, food, etc. I don't know how many times I've heard my mom tell her, "Mom! We don't need all this stuff!" or "We don't have room for all this stuff!"

DC, I think Secret Santa is a nice idea, and it'd probably be good for us. I seem to remember someone in the family suggesting that before, so I'm not sure what happened with it - but maybe we can do that next year. If anything, I'll just give baked goods to everybody - one of my uncles has done that for years, making these wonderful trays of homemade sweets. Some of my high school friends are coming over in a few days, so I'm making their Christmas gifts somewhat similar - I got tin containers at the store, made cookies, and added candy canes and chocolate in...I should've been doing it long ago!

A Christmas Story...yes! We all watched it together - it never fails to make us laugh. A true classic.

About two years ago, we were thinking of buying a new house. I was telling a friend of mine about it. She looked around her house, and said, "If someone gave me a new house for free, I'd turn it down rather than have to think about packing!"

My parents, brothers and sister and their spouses, my grandmother and an uncle and aunt do just that. I like it because it cuts down on the shopping. Also, I don't have to cram tons of presents into the car. My sister picked my name this year, and I got a shirt and tie, the new Dan Rooney book and a gift certificate from Border's. We set the amount at $75.00.

My children and their cousins do this as well.

The cold i had on Xmas Day has developed into a nasty chest infection that has laid me lower than a snakes testicles.....
No food except trusty chicken soup(sick peoples food) and certainly no alcohol has passed my lips these past 3 days.... Never mind eh?
There's always next year to look forward to.

Yogi, it stinks to be sick at this time of year, doesn't it? We've all been passing around the same cold since the week before Thanksgiving, first my husband, then my daughter, then me and my mom. It's been sort of miserable, but we seem to be past the worse now. Thankfully, my oldest daughter, who has asthma and who seems to get bronchitis and/or pneumonia at the first sign of a cold, has been spared.

Hope you're back on your feet and feeling better soon!!!!

Thanks alot SB I got your cold. Then my little man got it. So far the Col.'s been spared. I was feeling better but today I started to get the cough and the sore throat again. I guess it's back to the Nyqual(sp) and the drinking the green tea.

Klyd, we've been doing the same thing for like 6 years now. It sure does help the wallet when you have a big family.

Yep. It lets you focus on the kids a little more.

The only thing I hate is when We pick a name and that person is SOOOOO hard to shop for.