I have a dilemma. It’s the DVR. There are shows on there that Tony and I watched together, and I can’t yet watch those shows. However, there were shows only Tony recorded for himself, and would usually watch during the day when I was at work. I can’t seem to get myself to stop the recordings. It’s feels to me like it’s just one more thing that reminds me that he isn’t here anymore. It breaks my heart. But it looks like the D
DVR is going to take care of it whether I like it or not. I guess we have too many shows recorded and it’s going to start deleting the oldest ones. Whale Wars was one of Tony’s favorite programs, but that show kind of drove me nuts after watching it just once. A bunch of hippy kids floating around the sea trying to stop whale poaching. I may not have a problem deleting that one.
For some reason I wasn’t really hungry yesterday, so I ate a Kind bar and my coffee, and told myself if I was hungry later, I could eat something else, but I didn’t. And you don’t have to tell me my snowman mug is cute because, duh, I already know that.
I went to the gym. Remember the guy at the gym that I told about Tony passing away? He told the front office, and they sent me a nice condolence note. The ladies at the front desk knew about Tony being in and out of the hospital, and when I walked in the both came around the front desk and hugged me and told me how sorry they were to hear about my loss. I was SO close to just completely losing it, but I held it together. So nice. I ended up doing arms for strength and then finished with 2 miles on the treadmill.
I still hadn’t done a full grocery shop, because I still have food in the house. One of the last things Tony was able to eat and enjoy, even if he couldn’t eat it all, was Ramen soup bowls. My Walmart sells these for only .29 cents so I think I probably bought Tony a dozen of them! Not the healthiest thing in the world, but I had to run to Mariano’s after my workout to buy creamer for the office. I am still trying to figure out my Christmas meal plan, and after seeing beef rib roast recipes, especially this one, I thought I’d check it out. Um, no. I’ve never seen a piece of meat that expensive before in my life. And the sell by date was yesterday. So I would have to freeze it, then thaw it for Christmas? I decided I am going to do a sirloin tip roast, at a much more reasonable cost of $21, but do the same coffee rub on the link above.
I decided to accessorize my soup with veggies from the salad bar. That container is $1.27 worth of veggies and some extra cooked chicken.
While the noodles “cooked” in the hot water, I just chopped it all up – spinach, carrots, radishes, chick peas and chicken, then put them all together. I also added some sriracha to the broth so it was really spicy and delicious. I liked that the veggies still had some crunch to them.
I wasn’t meeting my friend Alison until 6:30 yesterday for drinks and dinner, so I ended up finishing my Christmas shopping for my sisters family. Can you believe I don’t have any plans for tonight? Well, the plan is to wrap all the presents, so I think I’ll throw on some Christmas music tonight and knock out the wrapping. And maybe I’ll have party pizza Friday!
The place we met at totally goes ALL out for all the holidays in the decorating department:
They had Shock Top on tap, which I love. I didn’t know until my friend told me that it’s a Bud product!
I had a taste for chicken wings – I ate 6 of the 8 – so spicy good!
It was so good to catch up with her. We met at a job nearly 10 years ago, but she’s been gone for 8 years, but she’s one of the ones I actually keep in touch with after we don’t work together anymore. We laughed a lot and I know she was happy to have a 2 1/2 hour dinner with drinks without being interrupted by one of her two cute girls. We were showing each other pictures on our phones, and she showed me a picture of her and her family at a wedding and as soon as I saw that picture I said “your boobs look great in that photo” and she said “um, I know, that’s why it’s our Christmas card picture this year!” Gotta love it. And she wouldn’t let me pay – so next time, it’s on me, okay?
It’s another dreary day outside – I almost don’t remember what the sun looks like! But at least we don’t have any snow, so I guess I can’t complaint too much.
I have been flooded with such generosity from all of you, that in the spirit of the season, I want to pay it forward with a holiday giveaway. I am sure like me, you’ll want to start paying more attention to what you eat and maybe throw a smoothie or two down your gullet a couple times a week. So up for grabs today is a Ninja Professional Blender! I’ve head good things about it, and that other than spending $500 + on a Vitamix, the best blender to crush ice, fruit and veggies the best.
Just leave a comment with a quick Christmas memory. No raffle copter, no facebook or twitter links, just a simple comment. I’ll pick a winner on Monday. Have a great weekend!
My favorite memories at Christmas is celebrating my mom’s birthday on Christmas Eve. Her name is Carol and she was born on Christmas Eve. My dad always made sure she had a special cake (a real birthday cake, not with Christmas decorations) and we would sing and make sure she really had a birthday. Us kids took it very seriuosly i remember. I’m so sorry to hear about your Tony. He sounds like a wonderful ( and funny 😉 husband.
This is my first time visiting your blog, first time commenting. Looking forward to reading many more posts. Merry Christmas!
I had always wanted a waterbed as a kid, although I never really had any hope that I would get one. One Christmas morning there were tons of packages under the tree and when I was opening some of them, I couldn’t figure out why they were marked for me. There was a heater, a pump, a bag of screws and bolts. It took a while but I finally figured out it was a disassembled waterbed all wrapped up in pieces. It was a big present and my parents wanted me to have more than one present to open so they wrapped up the pieces of the waterbed! What a great surprise! I slept on that waterbed for many years, even took it with me when I got my own place.
It is all about the boobs. Love it
Not sure if I’m too late to the party but….:)
Every Christmas as a child was the best. My grandparents made sure that the traditions were so delightful that I would never forget and a lot of that centers around the food. The wonderful, delicious food. My grandmother worked magic in the kitchen. I loved her cakes- the coconut and pineapple especially. They had 4 and 6 layers, completely from scratch. And licking the bowl? Ha. She would take her fingers around that batter bowl and scrape it clean!
I hope you have plenty of activities to occupy your time this Christmas. I’m still serious- if you ever get a chance to come down south, you are welcome in our home!
For a few Christmases when I was a kid my family packed up the travel trailer and drove from Massachusetts to Disneyworld. Good memories! I don’t know how many times my mom and dad heard “Are we there yet?” When I think back on it now, my parents must’ve sacrificed a lot for my three siblings and me to be able to afford those trips. My own kids are grown now and have never been to Disneyworld!
I love reading your blog Biz and am so sorry for your loss. Take care!
I grew up overseas, where few celebrated Christmas, so EVERY little thing was a family tradition and extremely special. One of my favorites was decorating cookies with my parents and brothers. My dad and I are the two artistic ones, so we would always try to outdo each other with our elaborate cookies; my brothers just tried to outdo each other in the “ugliness” category. 🙂
Thanks for the opportunity, and my condolences on your loss.
The 2 best meals of the year. Family and the best food,both a breakfast startedby Mama and
Moms humongous standing rib roast carved by Dad at the table. We will carry on the traditions. i hope there will be more laughter than tears as The primerib will be served but for the first time Daddy is not here to carve it this year. Lets make it a great Christmas because those we miss would want it that way!
Defiantly not my favorite Christmas but one that sticks with me- my boyfriend at the time was so excited to give me my gift (thinking he got me the best present in the world). Let me preface this saying I hate the cold and he loved it. When I opened the box there was a pair of ski gloves and socks and a note that said “all ready for the ski trip I booked us”. It was then and there I knew he just didn’t get me and I needed out.
One of my favorite Christmas memories is having dinner at my Grandma Sabatino’s house… on Christmas Eve… W e would have the seven fishes, and she made these little dough balls – some were plain, some had anchovies in them (these were my favorites!!!!!), and some had raisins. I don’t know what these were called… but I sure do remember them… I also remember her making smelts and linguini with clam sauce with little shrimps ontop…. Thank you.. its nice thinking about her at the holidays
My favorite Christmas memory was when we I was about 8 years old. I was at the age where I was starting to doubt whether Santa was real. We went to a Christmas party with my parents and siblings on Christmas eve and when we returned all of our presents were under the tree and our stockings were full. We were completely shocked and had no explanation as to how they got there…it was a magical night and I have never forgotten how awesome that Christmas was that year:)
My best Christmas memory was dressing in our pajamas and driving around the neighborhood at night looking at Christmas lights as a family.
We always end up doing Chinese food and movies!
My best Christmas memory was my son’s first Christmas. That was 12 years ago now. The holidays are best with kids. =)
Holy smokes….the price of that meat!? YIKES!!! So glad you have a lovely meal out! I have a ninja blender, and whoever wins this one will LOVE it! My favorite Christmas memory? Hmm….I grew up in Calgary, and it was very cold and snowy at Christmas. I used to love taking our dog for a walk and looking at all the lights on the houses and how they looked in the snow. Not long ago, I was feeling all nostalgic for cold, snowy nights at the holidays… Bet people in snowy climates think I’m nuts. 🙂 Have a great weekend Vat. Giant hug your way!!
Holy crow that meat is expensive!
John and I laugh at our memory of the Christmas when we moved from Colorado to Chicago. We had to leave our apartment by Christmas and be on our way. We had spent Christmas Eve with his family and then we were on the road on Christmas and ate Christmas dinner at Denny’s of all places. I will always remember when I had fried shrimp for Christmas dinner 😀
My youngest sister was born Christmas Day!
Thanks for doing a give away when you have had so much going on you are so sweet.
Just popping in to catch up with you, Biz. I am glad to see that you are being showered with love, goodies, friendship and kindness and I’m sending good vibrations from California.
My favorite Christmas memory is when I first moved to San Francisco to be with Mr. B. I arrived only two weeks before the big day and there was no way we were going to be able to have a traditional Christmas with all our family and friends back in New Orleans. We didn’t own a car so a few days before, we walked through the city and bought a tree, dragging it all the way back to our apartment. As we were decorating it, we heard all this shouting and when we looked out the window, we saw hundreds of women dressed as brides. They were filming a movie! So, we popped up some popcorn and watched. Later, it actually began to snow…something we hadn’t experienced in years. It was an odd, but magical Christmas that year. On Christmas day, we watched the surfers, ate Chinese food and peered into the amazing scenes of the department store windows.
Since then, we always try to include something unexpected and unique in our day.
Take care, Biz. You’re in my thoughts.
It is hard to pick out just one favorite Christmas memory, but the year my daughter was 4 (I think) she was totally into Popples toys. Anyone now her age will remember the Popples. I’d found tons of the little ones in all different colors and hid them all around – peeping out of her stocking, hiding on a shelf, etc., and she had to hunt for them all. She would give a little scream everytime she found another one! Her older brother was into He-Man and got lots of figures that Christmas, too.
Biz, when my husband died it was very sudden, and I would not let anyone move his car – it stayed right in the driveway where he’d parked it when he came home that last evening, and I didn’t care if it was in the way and everyone had to maneuver around it. It took me a couple of weeks until I could bring myself to move it, so I totally, totally understand the DVR thing. You will come to all things in your own time, Biz – don’t rush it. xoxo to you
One year my mom bought my sister and I Chippendales nightgowns and roller skates. I think we were 8 and 10. She denies it but the last time I visited I found the photo of us skating in the hall wearing these nightgowns. My mom was mortified.
My favorite Christmas memory is making tamales with my Grandma for our Christmas Eve dinner. We only have them once a year, and they are worth the wait! Hope you have a Merry Christmas!!
Favorite Christmas memory is my Dad reading the Christmas story out of the Bible every Christmas Eve, then he’d read Twas The Night Before Christmas and we’d get to open 1 present. We still do that even though it’s just me at home during Christmas now 🙂
that idea for soup and veggies is so awesome Biz, thanks for the suggestion. it would cost so much more to get all those veggies from the produce section and prep them, but at the salad bar they’re so affordable for that type of meal.
My daughter was due Dec. 18….so I bought the cutest black patent leather shoes, and red dress for her Christmas pictures. She was 2 weeks late!! Missed Santa all together.
Last Christmas we gave a gift announcing I was pregnant to our families. Insanity ensued.
I think I would find it difficult too to remove the tv shows but on the other side: they are just tv shows. You remember Tony is so many more ways.
I’m passing on the giveaway, don’t want to be healthy LOL. No, seriously shipping costs will be very high if you would pick me and I won’t do that to you.
Wow that piece of meat is really expensive, I would pass on it too. I have everything that isn’t fresh already bought. On Tuesday I will buy the fresh products I need and on Wednesday I’m picking up the meat I ordered.
Your evening out with your friend looks like a lot of fun!
Hope you have a good weekend sweety.
Coming down the stairs and seeing Barbie’s dream house…..best.memory.EVER.
One Christmas, my mom had the idea to number the gifts from Santa instead of labeling which child they went to. The only problem was that she lost her list of which gift belonged to each child. We were young and took my Mom’s direction when a present was opened and she would say, “Oh, Santa must have left that for your sister. Switch with her.” I’ll never forget it.
The first thing that popped into my head about Christmas was being a grade schooler and paging through the big JC Penney catalog every year to plan out all the things you wanted to ask for. For many years I wanted the Snoopy snow cone machine but I never got it. I’ve seen it recently in the ads for like $15, and I think I should buy it for myself but It probably wouldn’t work when you try to use it and that’s why I never got it, because my mom knew it was a pile of junk.
My favorite Christmas memory was hanging our stockings by the fireplace. There are 6 kids in our family, and the stockings hung across the mantel. I remember waking up Christmas morning to our stockings full of oranges, nuts, candy and a toy. Whenever I smell oranges they always remind me of Christmas.
A great Christmas memory is going to my grandmother’s house on Christmas Day to play with my 16 cousins. That’s a lot of people packed in a little house! Tons of fun, though. I’ll be thinking of you this Christmas season, Beth. Take care!
Since you live in Chicago, I’ll share a memory that’s Chicago related from when I lived there. One of my favorite parts of living in the windy city is Christmas time. I would love strolling down the Mag Mile with a steamed Chai Latte in my hand. If I was lucky, a saxophone play would be sitting on a street corner playing a holiday tone. I loved and still miss the energy of the city, cabs honking and even pushing my way through crowds. Christmas in Chicago is the best!
Fun fact: I have never eaten Cup O Noodles out of the Styrofoam cup. Never even considered putting it in a bowl, or adding things to it! Your lunch looked good. 🙂
Too many Christmas memories to really break them down, so I’ll tell you this one – when I was still a teenager, we went to a close family friend’s house for Christmas Eve dinner. They made hot mulled wine, and we all had some. Naturally we were all in a good mood with that warm alcohol flowing through our veins, and we started to laugh…and then, one by one, we realized that our teeth were practically black from the hot red wine, which made us laugh some more…which made us see more black teeth…oh my god, we were all in tears, it was so freaking funny!
My favorite Christmas memory is every year my dad would read my sister and I “The Night Before Christmas” and my sister and I would sleep together in the same bed. It’s a tradition I hope to carry on to my kids!
When my son was three he loved Toy Story and had lots of action figures of those characters. He had some small ones from Happy Meals and Santa brought him some as well. We got to my Mom’s on Christmas morning, Bobby announced to her, “Nana! I got a BIG BUZZ and a LITTLE WOODY!” Lol…i wish I’d had the video camera rolling.
Actually my best Christmas memory will be just from last weekend when my oldest daughter told me I was finally a be a grandmother.
My favorite Christmas memories are every one the last 12 years. I am a single mom of 2 boys ages 16 &13. For 12 years we have a tradition of not leaving the house Chritmas. We stay in our pjs all day, open presents, I make a big breakfast, we snack all day, watch movies and end with a yummy dinner pjs and all. My boys say they will bring their wives and children over for our tradition many years from now including the pjs, we will see!! Right now it is a relaxing and cherished day!!!!!
Love ya, Biz. I think it would be hard to delete the DVR. Just one more thing that breaks my heart for you. My favorite Christmas memory is the last one I had with my maternal grandmother. She had been sick for a few years and that Christmas was the last time I saw her before she passed away. Fast forward to October and she slipped away before I could get up there. It’s the biggest regret I have in life, that I couldn’t get up there to see her before she died.
Fantastic idea to healthify your ramen!
One of my favorite Christmas memories:
I was raised by a single mom, who was a nurse. One year, as per usual, funds were really tight for Christmas. One of the doctors mom worked with knew of her predicament and also happened to have a daughter several years older than me. She had outgrown all her dolls and barbies. Christmas Eve (we are German, that is when we celebrate and open gifts) there was a huge set up of over a dozen barbies, a barbie ski house lodge thing, snow mobiles for them, clothes galore and every other accessory you could imagine! I knew they were second hand but I didn’t care. I couldn’t believe my eyes! Never in my life had I gotten such an amazing gift!
I remember as a kid getting a “Penny Brite” doll because my mom that Barbie was too sexy. I put a banana peel inside the case Penny came in and months later my mom opened it and it was all moldy…she wasn’t too pleased. My sister got a Man from Uncle secret spy brief case that shot plastic bullets and I wished I had too.
I would have to say my best Christmas memory would be the last one my dad was here with us. My daughter was born on Dec 17th and it was her first. So for them to have that one Christmas together will be a cherished memory forever.
Sending you love and hugs as always, Biz! I feel you on the DVR, that is tough. 🙁
My Christmas memory is of reading a picture book called The Tall Book of Christmas with my grandma. It was in fact a very “tall and skinny” shaped book and always had the best stories. Including one about a grandmother who knitted edible mittens for the kids! It think it was called “Granny Glittens and her Amazing Mittens” or something like that. My sister and I still call my Grandma “Granny Glittens” on occasion. 🙂
Oh, I forgot my Christmas memory! One of my favorites is when my dad gave me an Exxon credit card when I was in college and said he was paying for all of my gas for the next year! Of course this is when gas was like a dollar a gallon lol.
You are so sweet to offer a giveaway in the midst of everything that you’re going through! I wish I had added this Ninja to my Christmas list – looks amazing!
Thinking of you.
Biz…I LOVE the basement at Kelsey Roadhouse. Love it….it’s always decorated too much and it’s perfection. And I ALWAYS get a blue moon…tap is always best.
Basically what I am saying is we need to go together and get some drafts stat!
I have twin Girls and when they were little after the wife and I were done putting out their presents we are lying in bed and we see a flashlight. The first thing I thought of was someone is breaking into the house on Christmas Eve. Then we hear giggling, Its my daughter Alyse with the flashlight looking at all the presents.
We yelled get to bed… But I will never forget that cute 5 year old giggle. My girls just turned 22 last week..
Merry Christmas Biz!!
Christmas memory…getting up butt pass early Christmas morning..half looking at the gifts from Santa, grabbing 1 or 2 things and getting in the car to go to my grandparents an hour away.
On Christmas Eve our great aunt would have us play rounds of poker to win money! Nothing like a little gambling before going to church service 🙂
Only you could make a cup of noodles look so good. I’d say my favorite memory is watching the Christmas Story with my whole family and having my dad giggle throughout. Love it.
My favorite Christmas memories are the big family gatherings at my maternal grandmother’s house during my childhood. Those were really the only times we got together with extended family and I loved it! My gram had Bugles and whipped cream cheese as an appetizer/snacky. To this day, I eat my Bugles that way, LOL.
My parents were married on Christmas Day!! My
Dad passed away almost 2 years ago…after 61 years of a very happy marriage. On celebrating the 50th anniversary we had a massive snow storm and 20 of us spent christmas eve and day sledding and by the fire..many of the kids had never seen snow before…did I mention that 10 of the 20 were age 15 or under!!! It was the true joy of family and the holiday!!
There is a Christmas song called ‘An Evening in December’ and growing up my dad would always put it on first thing Christmas morning. For me Christmas does not start until I hear that song.
The first Christmas we had with my kids at our home. I will never forget going downstairs to turn the tree on, starting Christmas morning breakfast and then seeing their faces light up with Joy when they came running down the stairs to see what Santa had brought them.
I made a new memory this year. You would think at my age (50) that I would know how to use a Kitchen Aid mixer. I have one of my own but was making Christmas cookies with my sister last weekend. I put the powdered sugar in the mixing bowl for the sugar cookies and turned on the mixer. It didn’t start right away so I turned it up on high and it snowed powdered sugar all over me and the kitchen. (I forgot about the slow start feature to prevent just what happened) We both started laughing so hard. I went out on her back deck and sang Taylor Swifts “Shake it Off” while I tried to shake all the powered sugar off of me. We know that our Mom who passed away 6 years ago on 9/11 was laughing with us.
Singing Christmas carols around the piano with my sweet grandmother one last time before she passed away. I love her so much and miss her a lot!
My favorite Christmas memories are of cooking big holiday dinners for my in-laws. I’d do them at their house so we would arrive first thing in the morning and I would cook all day. They were endlessly appreciative and I loved every minute of it! Now that they are no longer with us, we go to Vegas for the holiday. It’s not the same, but it is fun!
Christmas eve at my polish grandparents home. I am one of twenty five grandchildren and most of us would be there, including 15 boys born within five years of each other. So much noise and fun.
I remember trying to stay awake under my stocking to try to “catch” Santa. We were at my late grandma’s house. I remember setting out Oreos and milk for Santa… now I’m realizing that Oreos are one of my dad’s favorite cookies. (I’ve seen him inhale a whole sleeve of Oreos in a single sitting.) Of course I fell asleep and when I woke up, my stocking was full of loot! 🙂
I remember waking up to Santa bringing my sister and I a Chipmunks’ Christmas album and a record player! We were so excited and my parents were saints for putting up with that album! What was Santa thinking?
My best memory from a special Christmas was actually with friends who took me to Puerto Vallarta! It was the best (and warmest) Christmas, so enjoyable being away from it all.
Ya know, it takes a lot of skill to make ramen noodles look so darned palatable. I wandered over here from Skippy’s blog, and she’s right… you MUST be the best cook around.
Now, a Christmas memory. I’m kind of an oldish broad, so I have a ton of ’em, and with thirteen grandchildren, they keep getting better every year, but let me tell you about what happened in 1970. My hubby had returned from Vietnam earlier in the year, we were expecting our first child, and were all set to celebrate our first romantic Christmas together in our new home. We planned to open our gifts and have a leisurely breakfast together, and then we’d head out in mid-afternoon to make the rounds to see our parents and other relatives. Well, you know what they say about the best-laid plans. Our doorbell started ringing at 9:30 that morning, signaling the onset of the unexpected invasion. We got an houseful of company, with an average of thirty people in-house at a time… relatives, friends, my co-workers, my husband’s Army buddies, neighbors, you name it. Our house was filled to the rafters until two or three in the morning. Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly prepared to feed all those people, but somehow, we pulled off a Christmas miracle. With some help from my mother and mother-in-law, we somehow managed to fill all those bellies. Definitely a Christmas to remember!
It’s very nice to meet you, but I am so sorry for your loss.
Favorite Christmas memory, I was 16yrs old and had my first real job, we were pretty poor, but loved. My dad needed a winter coat but couldn’t find one at a thrift store, so he was wearing sweatshirts, so I bought him 2 new coats since I couldn’t decide which would be better for him. I will never forget the smile on his face when I gave it to him. Miss him, he has been gone 19 years. Hugs to you Biz for sharing a giveaway. Bless you this holiday season.
I have so enjoyed reading everyone’s memories and reminiscing myself.
Gosh. . .I wouldn’t know where to start, all the other memories are so great. But if I had to pick – it would be when my siblings and I were little. My parents had been very poor growing up so Christmas was never full blown, over the top for us, but we sure did lobove everything we received. My favorite gift every year was a tradition from my Mom’s childhood and my Dad always helped her with it. You see my Dad came from a chicken farm and my Mom was one of 8 kids of a divorced woman [the scandal in 1940s NY] so you know money was tight. Still every Christmas my parents – in their own families, received a stocking with an orange, an apple and a banana with a handful of nuts.
This was a great luxury for both of them as those kind of fruits and nuts weren’t readily available back then, like they are now, and were incredibly expensive.
Every Christmas growing up our stockings were always filled with those things. The orange, the apple, banana and nuts. We never had trinkets or chocolate – and you know Bizzy. . .they were always the best stockings ever. I can’t smell an orange these days without remember digging it out of my stocking, way back when – and smelling it.
On a side note – I love your Ramen. I do this for Evie all the time, she loves the stuff, but I have to get those veggies in too. 🙂 Sometimes I even give it to them for dinner. Also I made rice last night just so I would have “sticky” rice this morning to make Tony’s epic Fried Rice. I am using pork tho’. 🙂 It’s what I have.
I wrote a post today. It took me time to do it, but never think I haven’t thought of you everyday, and have been praying for you all. I hope I did you and Tony an honor, but if I didn’t please know I tried. I love you. http://skippymom.blogspot.com/2014/12/how-do-i-say-this.html
Hi Bizzy, first of all let me tell you that you are in my thoughts and prayers with the loss of your husband. May the wonderful memories that you have provide peace an comfort.
My favorite Christmas memory is going to my parents house for dinner and afterwards my Dad would hitch the tractor to the hay wagon (on which was a layer of bales to sit on). Then we would set out down a country road singing carols along the way. He would pull into each farm yard and we would break into a chorus of We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Sometimes the occupants would bundle up and join us on the wagon. This would take a couple of hours but it was so wonderful to have all the family together. My folks have sold the farm and now live in town so this tradition has now stopped.
I wish you and your family a very, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
My fondest memories are of when I was a little girl having Christmas at my Nani and Grandpa’s house (my dad’s parents). They are both gone now since 2001 and 2004 and I miss them. Seeing those pictures make me smile every time! They had a huge (HUGE) wooden sleigh that my grandpa made and some of the gifts when in the sleigh and some under the tree. My older cousin was my favorite and I HAD to sit next to her at the dinner table every time! Egg nog, chips with onion dip, little weiners, small rye toast with cheese baked on it. Such great memories!!
I am most excited to make new Christmas memories with my little man, who will be celebrating his first Christmas this year. I would love that blender! I have smoothies pretty much every day and my blender is on its last leg.
Only you could turn Ramen soup into something that looks so freaking delish!!
Do you want a good Christmas memory? Because right now, my memory is not a good one. My mother died 2011 (3 years ago) on December 17. I was 11 weeks pregnant. She never knew it. We were home, she died, we went to the funeral, then moved on to my husband’s parent’s house (took the train there). So I spent most of it crying.
I love how you can upscale some ramen like that!
my best christmas memories are from when i was little, going to my grandma’s house and walking in to the smells of christmas dinner. so, so delicious!!!
The Christmas memory that stands out the most is the year that my dad bought my mom a stereo and a hair dryer. It wasn’t so much the actual gifts but the size of the boxes. They formed the perfect seat and desk for me to sit at and play school. My dad died the following August but I always remember that Christmas like it was yesterday.
I got engaged on Christmas Eve 25 years ago. Great memory….
By far, baking cookies for my children and day care kids is one of my favorite memories. The types change from year to year… some years I am more creative than others…and this was all in the days before the internet and pinterest….but the process of baking and eating remains the same!!
My husband and I got engaged at Christmas so it’s tough to really beat that one 🙂 Merry Christmas, Biz! Take care of you this holiday season.
Sleepy headed little ones and that doesn’t change with their age!
I used to bake and decorate sugar cookies with my kids, now grown, then my nieces and nephews, and now it’s back to decorating with my grown daughter. The bigger the mess the better. That’s the way we know we had a GREAT time.
I’m just now able to read your comments without crying. I’m 71, so I’ve seen a lot of sadness, but Tony’s journey tugged at my heart.
Haha! Randi’s memory made me smile. My future son-in-law is Jewish and that’s his Christmas memory as well… at least up until he met Little Helen!
I think a consistently favorite memory for me is going to get our tree. We’ve been going to the same tree farm since Little Helen was 5 years old and we’ve done it in every kind of weather: snow, sleet, cold, unseasonably warm and this year – pouring rain. When Little Helen was actually little, she and Mr Helen had snowball fights as I trudged around looking for the tree. For the past few years Mr. Helen threatens an artificial tree, and now that Little Helen is getting married, I think it will happen – but I’ll always have those memories.
My Christmas memory is a funny one – the year those super cool lipsticks that were green in the tube and then changed color to match your mood we all got one. Mine and my sister’s changed color to a hideous red and magenta, so we looked crazy and that stuff was impossible to get off. My sister in law got one also and hers turned to a lovely shade and she wore the stuff all the time.
One of my favorite Christmas memories is from when I was about 13 years old….officially like a teen and acting like one for sure! My parents kept telling me if I kept acting like I was that I was not going to get anything for Christmas. Well I woke up Christmas morning and came down to the tree with TONS of present underneath and I started to separate them like I normally did…well to my surprise….Shawn, Shawn, Shawn, Shawn, they WERE ALL FOR SHAWN….I immediately started to bawl my eyes out I could not believe I didn’t get any presents…why did I not listen to my parents….of course I look at them and they started laughing histerically……my dad went to the basement and brought up 2 black garbage bags with my gifts and said I hope you learned something from this. They continue to tell this story to everyone EVERY year and we all have a good laugh! You could bet your ass I was good from that point forward I did not want to take any chances, lol
Well, since I am Jewish, we always went out for Chinese Food and then to a movie. That’s a Jewish Xmas.
At our family Christmas get-together, I always bring dessert. Well, one year we left the Yule Log and Cheesecake on the freezer in the garage and took off for my sister’s house 1 1/2 hours away. Sad to say, no dessert, except for cookies that year. 🙁
I love that Alison picked her Christmas picture based on the fact that her boobs look good – I would never have a picture to use then but…..
What a great idea on the ramen – I’m a huge ramen fan but think I might like it even more with some veggie crunch!!!
I need to wrap presents, too – to bad we don’t live close we could have a wrapping party (with wine of course!!!).
I remember the year my brother and I couldn’t agree on a big present to get togehter, he wanted an electronic keyboard and I wanted a VCR. Well somehow we got BOTH! A great memory now that I am older and know how tight moneywise we were. I lost my mom in 2006 but what a great memory.
Most of my Christmas memories are the same because they are rooted in tradition. They just look slightly different now that I don’t live at home. I go to my parent’s house on Christmas morning and have cinnamon buns and we open the stockings first, each individually by oldest to youngest or vice versa, and then presents. My favorite part is opening my stocking at my parent’s because I have had the same one since I was born and it is 3 feet!
My favorite Christmas memory is the Christmas Colin and I spent alone together. It was the year after I divorced and we had our own place, just the two of us. It was so fun to spend Christmas morning with just the two of us (until my family came over and things got crazy – ha!).
Enjoy your night wrapping presents – I have that planned for tomorrow night!
Growing up every christmas eve my family had a tradition. We would go to the most greasy burger joint and get burgers, onion rings, french fries and milk shakes to go and eat them in the car while driving around looking at christmas lights. It was basically a giant fart hot box where my mom from time to time would put the child locks on to make us suffer. My family is classy like that 🙂 The last time we went together was the christmas right after my grandma died. She had always went with us and made the tradition cause she loved christmas lights and made us stop at every house to enjoy it a just a little bit longer. We all live in different states now but every christmas eve with our own families we pile in the car and find horrific greasy food and go look at christmas lights. When people are gone it is so important to keep traditions going in their honor. So this christmas eve I am going to horrible indigestion and gas but my grandma will be smiling and laughing from above.
You have been in my thoughts for quite awhile. I read your blog religiously, and enjoy your writing style.
I grew up in a family that didn’t have a lot of money, but at Christmas, my parents always went over the top with gifts. We may not have gotten a lot during the year, but at Christmas we were spoiled. It was great. I will always have a strong appreciation for the hard work my parents went through to make sure we had extraordinary Christmases every year, even when they had little money.
Hmmm, a Christmas memory… My sister and I have always had a little trouble getting along. Don’t get me wrong, I love her so much, but we are just so different – in every way! Every year on Christmas Eve when we were young we would stay the night at my grandparents house. It gave my parents the whole evening alone to take care of whatever needed taking care of 😉 and my sister and I thought it was great because we had two Christmases! One year I remember in the middle of the night, my sister gave me a kiss on the cheek and told me she loved me. I’ll never forget that moment.
And when you’re ready, I’m sure you’ll clean up the DVR. For now, you can enjoy American Pickers – fun show! 🙂 Have fun wrapping!
Every Christmas Eve my siblings, their spouses and children, and their spouses and children get together for an early dinner. It’s a great time to eat, tell funny stories and remember those who are no longer with us and just enjoy being a family. I’m hosting this year and have 27 people coming for dinner. Cannot wait!
Only you would take the effort to add fresh and healthy vegies to a food so laden with sodium and little to no nutritious value and you added more sodium when you added the hot sauce. 🙂 I really wish I could find a low sodium hot sauce because I too use it on everything. I LOVE all the Christmas decorations in that restaurant. I wonder if it was decorated by Clark Griswold.
One of my fondest memories is of my Dad making ornaments out of $100 bills and hanging them on the tree for us to find. Each of his five daughters had one. Even though we were adults by then, it brought a childlike excitement to Christmas! I’ll never forget it.
My favorite Christmas memory is from when I was a little girl. My grandparents always hosted a Christmas Eve potluck at their house in Wisconsin. They had seven kids, their kids’ spouses, and 20+ grandkids in their house and we were always packed in there! We (the grandkids) always went down to the basement to play with their weird old games and count my grandpa’s beer can collection to see how many more he added to the collection that year. The basement floor was always freezing but with all of us down there, it was never cold, other than the floor. We always had a ton of fun down in that basement and then stayed up really late to play card games and eat chocolate covered peanut clusters. We had a “Secret Santa” gift exchange between all of the cousins that was always really fun. Throughout the years, it has become more and more of a “gift card exchange” which is a bummer, so it has been fun to think back on the earlier days when people actually gave thoughtful gifts.. 🙂
My Christmas memory is when I was about 5 years old and my Papa died on Christmas eve. My parents didn’t want to ruin Christmas for my sister and I so they left us with my other set of Grandparents and took care of the business needed to deal with for my Papa on Christmas eve and then came to take care of Christmas early early Christmas morning. I heard noises in my sleep, and peeked out from my bed and I saw Santa carrying in all the presents to put under the tree. I was totally convinced that Santa would never find us staying at my Grandma and Grampies house, but sure enough he did (it was my dad coming in at some crazy hour, but in my childs eye I was sure it was Santa). I will never forget the year I saw Santa.
One of my favorite Christmas memories as a kid was the year i got the talking ALF doll. It was so awesome..
Tangerines in the toe of my stocking and waiting under the dining room table to see Santa come through the front door. I never was able to stay up long enough to see that jolly man come in the door. Keeping you in my thoughts & prayers. : )
One of my best Christmas memories is we took our four year old son to get a picture with Santa at one of those quick photo places. We had an appointment and waited a little while when the girl that worked there said she thought Santa abandoned his job and wasn’t coming back. But my husband could probably fit into the costume. I left with my son while he put on the suit. Jake sat on his lap and played with his beard I was so afraid he would pull it down and see it was his dad. They gave us free pictures and everytime I look at them I am so glad Santa quit that year. We used the photo for Christmas cards to our family to see if they could tell who was Santa. The only person that got it was my MIL. I smile everytime I come across those pictures.
My first Christmas as a tiny child with long blond curls. My first memory of my parents leading me down the steps to see our tree for the first time…all lit up and in a soft pink glow. Then to see the doll and the sled……… I was frozen on the spot and my parents had to lead me to the toys. It is one glorious memory of celebrating Jesus’ birthday. And my parents always reminded me of Whose birthday it really was! smile…..
Love how you doctored the soup up! Looks good- I haven’t had Ramen in forever. Meat is crazy expensive. I bought a lb of organic grass feed ground beef yesterday and almost fell over at the price. Hope your workouts are a good stress reliever for you right now! Don’t need to enter me- we just bought a ninja- love it!
One of my favorite memories is bringing home our second daughter home from the hospital that day. She was born the 23rd (her due date) and I was hoping to be released on Christmas day. Turns out I was let out in the morning and we headed to the in-law’s house for Christmas lunch. It was the greatest present I’ve gotten and to top it off it was my husband’s birthday! (He’s a Christmas baby)
My best Christmas memory is when I was going to college in Boston taking the bus home and putting on a rented santa suit on Christmas Eve and going to great lengths to be caught by my younger siblings and surprise them. They weren’t expecting me (or Santa) to be walking through the front door. I had presents for them all and I felt like the Maxwell House commercial or something.
The first Christmas that Dave and I were together was spent in Pittsburgh. We were staying at this Days Inn that was not exactly luxurious. In fact, there was this odd hole in the ceiling that we swore someone was using to spy on us! Gives me the willies just thinking about it! We opened up presents on the bed…I think it may have been Christmas Eve. That damn hole in the ceiling was definitely memorable…
Thank you Rachel – I don’t mean to laugh at your misfortune on Christmas, but I did. I am still laughing. 🙂
Wonderful. I needed the laugh. God Bless you.