Christmas Countdown - 2013

[xmas365]

Woohoo, I didn't get picked

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Congrats!!!!

It is so nerve wracking thinking you will be picked.

 

[xmas365]

Xmas- I found one!!!

Now where am I going to store this thing.

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Awesome!!!!!!

That is exactly like mine.


Santa twin powers activate!!!!!

 

[xmas365]

The forecasters are calling for a snowstorm here on Thursday. Must keep an eye on that. Maybe a few flurries for tomorrow. We had a soaking rain last night that washed away a lot of the previous snow. We're also supposed to plunge into the single digits (F) the next few nights. Winter is saying "No more Mister Nice Guy!"

It looks like it will be a significant storm at this point, the preliminary forecast for my area is calling for 4-8 inches on Friday, they haven't even said what Thursday's accumulation looks like, which makes no sense to me. It also looks like Snowflake is sending her frigid temps our way too, -7 for Friday night. Brrrrrrrrrrrr!

 

[xmas365]

Good afternoon,

I am sitting here with my boys listening to the one radio station that is still playing all Christmas music, I love it!
My wife went with her mother and brother to see The Hunger Games 2, I don't know the right name so that seems right to me. cheesy I had no interest in seeing the movie, it is not my type. When she gets home we have to run to the store for food for the NYE party tomorrow. Lots of finger foods this year, taking a break from pizza and Chinese food for a change of pace.
I hope you all are enjoying your day thus far.

ttyl

 

[graywolf70]

Good afternoon,

I am sitting here with my boys listening to the one radio station that is still playing all Christmas music, I love it!
My wife went with her mother and brother to see The Hunger Games 2, I don't know the right name so that seems right to me. cheesy I had no interest in seeing the movie, it is not my type. When she gets home we have to run to the store for food for the NYE party tomorrow. Lots of finger foods this year, taking a break from pizza and Chinese food for a change of pace.
I hope you all are enjoying your day thus far.

ttyl

Not my type of movie either. I volunteered to keep younger nieces and nephews when my SIL wanted to go see it with her friend and asked if I wanted to go. No thanks.

Hope you have a wonderful time tomorrow night!!

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[sugar142286]

I was, I'm ashamed to say, unsuccessful in getting everyone out of bed in time for church this morning. :-? Our service is early, 9:30 - 10:30 am, then our pastor drives to another church for an 11 am service. We'll have to have a devotional reading here in the living room to try to make up for it.

I do have something that's been weighing on me. Please forgive this:

An old friend and bandmate of mine is in jail, and has been for a couple months now, having started a good bit of trouble at a Beerfest near Savannah. He is bipolar, his first episode having manifested itself a few years back, and when he goes into the manic phase he's a big pain in the rear end. Since this started with him, I've defended him against all those people who call him crazy, explaining that it's just a chemical imbalance in his brain that can be controlled with medication. The problem is, he won't stop drinking long enough to take his medicine effectively.

I'm finally at my wits end with him. If he is going to choose to drink and skip his meds instead of taking care of himself, then he's on his own. I've refused all his collect calls from jail. Last week, I got a postcard from him, containing an apology of sorts, and a request for something to read. The jail allows books to be delivered from online retailers like Amazon. So, since it's Christmas and everyone deserves a Christmas present, I sent him a book yesterday.

I really hate that he has this burden to carry. His dad was bipolar, too, and I saw how embarrassing is was for him when we were kids. But new treatments can make the symptoms managable. All he has to do is give up the booze and put some effort into getting better.

Ah, sorry to unload this. His postcard is on my desk here, so it keeps him on my mind. He sounds better, judging from his writing, so maybe this time is the one that will change him...assuming he doesn't go to jail for a longer period after his hearing. Ugh.

I think I'll put on some Trans-Siberian Orchestra and grab a guitar. Have a great day, everyone! cheesy

Thinking of you and prayers that your friend can turn his life around.

 

[MerryBells]

The forecasters are calling for a snowstorm here on Thursday. Must keep an eye on that. Maybe a few flurries for tomorrow. We had a soaking rain last night that washed away a lot of the previous snow. We're also supposed to plunge into the single digits (F) the next few nights. Winter is saying "No more Mister Nice Guy!"

YAY! YAY! Hopefully that means we'll get some snow too!

 

[sugar142286]

Good evening everyone!

Finally no strong winds and storms in South West Scotland. And finally I'm feeling well and getting ready to go home. My suitcase is already packed and I am leaving tomorrow evening because my flight is very early in the morning on Tuesday. I will have to spend the night at the airport. Oh well.

I hope everyone is still enjoying Holiday Season. :] Best wishes!

[/FONT]

Have a safe flight and have a wonderful visit with your family!

 

[sugar142286]

I would like to take this opportunity to share something about myself before this thread runs out in a few days. I was raised on and still operate a ranch that my granddad started in the 1940's. Several years ago early in the year. Feb. I think it was. I got into a law suit with my brother over splitting the ranch. This was his idea not mine. He doesn't live here anymore and wanted to sell his half. Needless to say it was a very difficult time for My family especially my Mother and Father. Sometime in the spring that year. I think it was in April. My wife and I were at a Dr's appointment. I walked past a file room in the office and looked into the open door. On the back side of the room there was a decorated christmas tree, I assume it was the tree that the staff would set out during the season. I can't not tell you the hope that gave me. I immediately thought to my self. "This will be settled by Christmas" And while it was a very difficult year we did sign a settlement on Dec. 2nd.
Last year I started a HDD boring business with a partner. Things went well at first but started to go badly in late August. Unless we have some kind of miracle early in 2014 we will be closing the doors and liquidating the business. I am not looking forward to the next few months as we will be trying to deal with the lost equity in our ranch that we used to secure the other business. But every so often in 2014 I can look at my milestone calendar or the countdown thread and say to myself "this may be unpleasant for the moment, but no matter how it works out this will be settled by Christmas 2014" And that gives me a tremendous amount of hope.
Once again I am so greatful for this website.

We're glad you're here with us as well. I'll be thinking about you and keeping you in thought and prayer.

 

[MerryBells]

My Mom's water heater burst on Christmas Eve. Since she has a one story house(no basement...just a crawl space), so that means her whole dining room and part of the kitchen was swimming. So, the day after Christmas, my hubby was looking for apartment sized water heaters. He and my sister picked the thing up on Sunday (his only real day off), and he installed it. Lo and behold, something is blocked up now, and so he needs to crawl around under the house and find out where the blockage is.

Huzzah. :-?

I think hubby and I both need yoga pants right now. If you don't know what I mean, view this clip.

 

[xmas365]

Have you ever wanted a Christmas tree that smells like vanilla?

I just read this article:

Your Next Real Christmas Tree Might Have a Wacky New Color or Scent


Very interesting.

 

[xmas365]

Since my wife went to her movie I decided to watch "Miracle On 34th Street" (1947), I could not go through the whole Christmas season without seeing this movie, it is probably my second favorite Christmas movie after "A Christmas Story."

 

[sugar142286]

Hi Slim, just a question out there for everyone shopping early for Christmas 2014... what if that person gets your purchase from someone else for a birthday or buys it themselves?

I am right now only buying stuff for my kids, Christmas wrapping, things that are specialized presents that no one else will think of.

 

[sugar142286]

Everyone doing well? I finally got my appetite back today after battling the stomach flu from Christmas Eve through yesterday. I don't wish that mess on my worst enemy.

Sorry to hear you had to deal with this, but glad to hear you're feeling better.

 

[Christmasstar]

Good afternoon everyone!

How is everyone doing today? :] There was incredibly heavy rain here last night so the part of the city, where bus stances are located, is flooded. I immediately thought that buses won't be operating today. (You can never be sure about Scottish public transport.) Luckily, the guy at the office said the bus will still be going although it stops at the different street. Whoah, what a relief!

Also, I picked up a copy of 'The Oprah Magazine' for my mum. She loves Oprah and she still keeps all the magazine issues she has brought from the US. As soon as I found the only copy of the magazine in the newsagent, I bought it straight away. The magazine will be a good excuse for my mum to practise her English. ^^

I hope that everyone is enjoying much more wintery weather that I am.

Best wishes!

that sounds like a lot of rain! Glad to hear your buses are still running.
It is always important to keep mom happy!

 

[Christmasstar]

Woohoo, I didn't get picked

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[Christmasstar]

I was, I'm ashamed to say, unsuccessful in getting everyone out of bed in time for church this morning. :-? Our service is early, 9:30 - 10:30 am, then our pastor drives to another church for an 11 am service. We'll have to have a devotional reading here in the living room to try to make up for it.

I do have something that's been weighing on me. Please forgive this:

An old friend and bandmate of mine is in jail, and has been for a couple months now, having started a good bit of trouble at a Beerfest near Savannah. He is bipolar, his first episode having manifested itself a few years back, and when he goes into the manic phase he's a big pain in the rear end. Since this started with him, I've defended him against all those people who call him crazy, explaining that it's just a chemical imbalance in his brain that can be controlled with medication. The problem is, he won't stop drinking long enough to take his medicine effectively.

I'm finally at my wits end with him. If he is going to choose to drink and skip his meds instead of taking care of himself, then he's on his own. I've refused all his collect calls from jail. Last week, I got a postcard from him, containing an apology of sorts, and a request for something to read. The jail allows books to be delivered from online retailers like Amazon. So, since it's Christmas and everyone deserves a Christmas present, I sent him a book yesterday.

I really hate that he has this burden to carry. His dad was bipolar, too, and I saw how embarrassing is was for him when we were kids. But new treatments can make the symptoms managable. All he has to do is give up the booze and put some effort into getting better.

Ah, sorry to unload this. His postcard is on my desk here, so it keeps him on my mind. He sounds better, judging from his writing, so maybe this time is the one that will change him...assuming he doesn't go to jail for a longer period after his hearing. Ugh.

I think I'll put on some Trans-Siberian Orchestra and grab a guitar. Have a great day, everyone! cheesy

sometimes the best thing a friend can do is back away and allow the person fall for awhile. It is so hard to do, but they need to know that others care for them, but ultimately cannot make the right choices for them.
I pray he gets the help he needs.

 

[Meceka]

It feels like a fresh new world when pain abates doesn't it? I love trees and plants of all kinds. Are pine trees resilient? I would imagine they must be to survive extremes of temperature ...

Yes, it does feel like a fresh new world - although it is one that isn't quite up to speed. Everything always seems much slower and far away after one of those kinds of headaches. I do believe pine trees are very resilient. If it hadn't been for the ice, I don't think it would have broken. The only pine I've ever lost was because of a bug infestation. It was one tree among many others - so glad it didn't spread!

 

[Meceka]

it is unusual for a pine tree to loose branches as they are very resilient and built to have snow slide off and branches to bounce back. But when a layer of ice is on first then heavy snow on top of that it is amazing the whole tree did not fall over.
I hope it recovers from that, it leave such a bare spot when you have to remove a tree.

Yes, it does leave quite a bare spot. Besides, I really like that particular tree and so do not want to lose it!

 

[Meceka]

sometimes the best thing a friend can do is back away and allow the person fall for awhile. It is so hard to do, but they need to know that others care for them, but ultimately cannot make the right choices for them.
I pray he gets the help he needs.

Christmasstar, you are so wise!