Christmas Treats for the MLU Crowd

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Bill Murray's comment about the Christmas insanity in his store got me to thinking.

What would YOU like to see in your stocking or under your tree this Christmas? Is there any way to "arrange" this through your kids or Better Half, or do you have to treat yourself?

Exercise as much imagination as you wish, but try to be practical!



PS: Feel free to tell us where you'll be this year and under what circumstances.

[cliff]

As money is tight in this house hold for most of the time my wife and I usually save up and have Christmas lunch at the pub up the road who do a seafood smorgasboard.

Our Daughter who lives near us spends the festive season with her partners family down the coast and so with no other relatives in Australia (we are originally from New Zealand) we only have each other to spend the day with so this is our treat.

Cheers
Cliff

PS> to all of you other MLU's I wish you all the best for Christmas and I hope that 2006 brings even better things to you all.

[Mark W. Tonner]

Originally posted by Geoff Winnington-Ball
What would YOU like to see in your stocking or under your tree this Christmas?

.... lots and lots and lots of BOOKS!!!!!

Originally posted by Geoff Winnington-Ball
Is there any way to "arrange" this through your kids or Better Half, or do you have to treat yourself?

..... usually I have to order them and turn them over to NINER for wrapping......

Originally posted by Geoff Winnington-Ball
tell us where you'll be this year and under what circumstances.

..... here in London with Denise and 'George' and 'George 2'...., with Denise and I waiting for the tree to get knocked over and to see which one, 'George' or 'George 2' gets the spot under the tree for their 'little' nap on Christmas afternoon......me thinks 'George' will have to give up her spot this year, 'George 2' will probably beat her to it.........with a little help from Grandpa

Cheers

[Max Hedges]

Well two years ago we hosted a Canadian for xmas, this year I believe we'll be hosting a swiss. We will be having the big baked dinner , that is if we ever get to Victoria to pick up the turkey, that's home grown by some friends, with all the trimmings hosted at our place with Max's family, should be about 14 all up. Then if all goes well we might have a true bush xmas with Max's cousin in a hut they have built in the bush.During the day if it's hot all the children go swimming in the dam and even at times are known to have a mud fight just to add to the excitement on the day, , with the ever present essential esky floating near by in the tyre tube well stocked with refreshments. The children are also known to have the odd water pistol fight, at times even in the house until they get kicked out. In case you are wondering about the children's ages they range from 17 to 53 with the only remaining adults being Nan and Pop at 83 and 85.

Max

[wayne c. petrie]

I like to recieve any woodworking tools[my hobby],or cooking gadgets.
On Christmas morning we have a familly breakfast.In the past ,it was only kids,in-laws.nephews,nieces,etc.Now that most of our kids[6] have young families of thier own and some live 2 hrs drive away,we started to ask close friends and neighbors over.On average we have 25 people for breakfast.It's hecktic,but enjoyable.
The menu:
eggs,omlets[the favourite],varity of bacon,sausages,home fries[the 2nd favourite,sauted in butter with a spinkle of curry and tarragon],french toast,Quebec style baked beans[from in-laws],juice etc.
Breakfast starts at 9AM.and usually ends around 11:30AM.Thank God for the dish washer!
And a good time was had by all.

Wayne

[Snowtractor]

Hmm, well do to the change in careers and having no job for the last 3.5 months this year we can not afford to travel to family or pay for my mom to fly up for christmas it will feel somewhat lonely this year. Shamus being 14 months now and at a dead run from eye open to eye closed may not get christmas but he will have fun tearing paper , so much so in fact that his presents will play second fiddle for sure. I love having big family or friends meals and I will miss that , however, I will set a place for any MLU member that finds themselves a long way from home and one for my family and one for a hungry stranger in the spirit of the season.
Cheers all,
Sean

ps: oh and a ford cmp 6x4 with Holmes wrecker

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Give us Shamus' wish list, Sean (does he like Pattern 37 web gear?). It doesn't take much to make a difference...

PS: No can do ref the truck, mebbe next year.

Originally posted by Snowtractor
Hmm, well do to the change in careers and having no job for the last 3.5 months this year we can not afford to travel to family or pay for my mom to fly up for christmas it will feel somewhat lonely this year. Shamus being 14 months now and at a dead run from eye open to eye closed may not get christmas but he will have fun tearing paper , so much so in fact that his presents will play second fiddle for sure. I love having big family or friends meals and I will miss that , however, I will set a place for any MLU member that finds themselves a long way from home and one for my family and one for a hungry stranger in the spirit of the season.
Cheers all,
Sean

ps: oh and a ford cmp 6x4 with Holmes wrecker

Hi Sean and Mrs. Sean and the wee Shamus ......

Well, I would dearly love to wrap your Mom up, put her under your tree, and have you all open and enjoy that gift come Christmas morning (better still Christmas Eve)! Wouldn't The Wee Shamus be delighted to open THAT gift? Lovely fantasy. I would certainly do that because I sure know what it's like to miss the usual special shared celebrations and company ... especially very close family.
Maybe something out of the blue will happen to bring you all together ... if I hit a huge lotto win in the next month I shall call you and you just tell me what flights to book

Meanwhile ... give us your wish list in here ... MLU Santa's need your wish lists. (sorry, you can't have my though. I need them for self-preservation and obedience training of ... well ... I just need 'em )

Bummer regards the unemployment ... I'm still missing the cheques from the job I didn't score so Christmas will be skimpy and there won't be any family gathering here either. I'll call my daughters and grandsons this year .. and my sisters. G and I will do a small dinner for the two of us I'm sure ... his kids will come by prior to Christmas and visit/dine with us probably.

Hugs to you-all ... ( are you still up in the freezing boonies???)

My Christmas wish list? ... wait for it!

Originally posted by cliff
As money is tight in this house hold for most of the time my wife and I usually save up and have Christmas lunch at the pub up the road who do a seafood smorgasboard.

Our Daughter who lives near us spends the festive season with her partners family down the coast and so with no other relatives in Australia (we are originally from New Zealand) we only have each other to spend the day with so this is our treat.

Cheers
Cliff

PS> to all of you other MLU's I wish you all the best for Christmas and I hope that 2006 brings even better things to you all.

Yes, I know well the

Money's tight,
Times are hard,
So here's your &%#$@ Christmas card!

(my neice actually sent me a Christmas card with that verse on it one year ... photocopied LOL)

Too bad you won't be able to share the holidays and Christmas day with your daughter. I'll be missing my own this year too. Snowtractor and family ... and I'm sure other MLU-ers are facing the same thing ... (who else will be missing family?)

When my cousin passed away years ago, after many MANY years of HUGE family gatherings and celebrations at her place every year ... everyone stopped gathering together because SHE was the hub. I learned how to cook turkey (old traditional sage stuffing and traditional foods. I do GOOD! Sometimes my daughter and I (I was a single Mom) would be just us for Christmas ... I always found others to invite for dinner who I knew would be alone, rather than go to friends invites. I chose to do dinner myself so I could do this if we couldn't gather with far-away family ... it always ended up great ... sometimes it was "pot luck" and folks brought "whatever" .... I ALWAYS did the main TURKEY DINNER and stuffing and gravy though!!!! Others brought other things for dinner. the last place I lived in in BC was an apartment building with elderly people living alone and not celebrating dinner ... I dished up plates for them and me and my daughter delivered them to their doors.

Christmas .... truly IS what you make of it ... to me it's about spirit and closeness and pleasure ... I love the tree and trimmings and all the hoopla, but not the commercial aspect of it ... and I know many who go to midnight mass etc. I don't ... but I also don't forget the symbolism of what Christmas was supposed to be about and respect those who follow the religeous traditions ... religeous or non ... Christmas is an awesome time to get the spirit and spread some good tastes, feelings, and cheer. It's an opportunity to enjoy and spread a little joy in simple ways that mean something positive to others ... Oh what fun it is to (play)

By the way Cliff ... do you hang Mistletoe all round your house or do you hang it from one special spot?

[cliff]

Originally posted by Vets Dottir


By the way Cliff ... do you hang Mistletoe all round your house or do you hang it from one special spot?

hehehehe the mind boggles about where you mean....However we do not have mistletoe at all so we miss out on hanging it anywhere

cheers
Cliff

Okay ... here's MA wishlist ...

1) A small Christmas tree and string of lights while I improvise the rest.
2) A traditional Christmas turkey dinner and I cook the turkey , stuffing and dressing with NO interference with the cooking from others though need helping hands to lift the darned thing in/out of oven
3) Guests to share it.

4) Digital camera
5) Guitar with low action for those moments I may be able to chord/strum and hum/sing a bit. Old beater that works, works.
5) Music (cassettes/CD's for listening pleasure any time)
6) Books
7) Calls to/from faraway friends and loved ones.

etc

Originally posted by cliff
hehehehe the mind boggles about where you mean....However we do not have mistletoe at all so we miss out on hanging it anywhere

cheers
Cliff

But SURELY Master Cliff, sir, can you not improvise? And if so, where would you hang it?

[Mark W. Tonner]

Originally posted by Vets Dottir
But SURELY Master Cliff, sir, can you not improvise? And if so, where would you hang it?

.....it may be that he only has a wee one which nothing can be hung on.....

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Originally posted by Mark W. Tonner
.....it may be that he only has a wee one which nothing can be hung on.....

Methinks she meant off his wheelchair...

Pour moi, I'd like Montgomery's 3-tonner and Loy's now-ignored Mk.II carrier, please. Aside from that, I'd like to wake up Christmas morn with a verifiable pulse.

Last Christmas I had the privilege of bringing VD's daughter in from Calgary, and we had a wonderful time. I cannae do that this year unfortunately, but we will speak. For myself, I have few direct relations, and thus it will be a quiet time except for my kids' visit, which will be all too short. At the risk of sounding like an idiot, if you have family, please enjoy them while you can. I miss that.

[Jon Skagfeld]

Bah! Humbug!

So much fuss over a minor Jewish prophet!

Xmas wish...back in an armoured vehicle, saying "Driver, Advance"...and not falling down on my ass!

Regards to all the other pagans out there.

Originally posted by Jon Skagfeld
Bah! Humbug!

So much fuss over a minor Jewish prophet!

Xmas wish...back in an armoured vehicle, saying "Driver, Advance"...and not falling down on my ass!

Regards to all the other pagans out there.

[Snowtractor]

Originally posted by Jon Skagfeld
Bah! Humbug!

So much fuss over a minor Jewish prophet!

Xmas wish...back in an armoured vehicle, saying "Driver, Advance"...and not falling down on my ass!

Regards to all the other pagans out there.

You know its not the day itself or the presents that I give a hoot about anymore, but the season. I love going to people's houses for drinks and the lights and tinsel and the "Merry Christmas!" from strangers and the drop-ins and going tobogganing and hot chocolate and cutting down your own christmas trees with family and friends and having a bonfire while doing so and having a few drinks and going to christmas eve mass and christmas light drives and the overall goodwill to all mean that should exist 12 months of the year.
Sean
Ps Shamus likes everthing at this point, everything is fun and fascinating so he is easy to please

... oops ...

NOTE:

Scratch the guitar from my wish list ... why? Well ... I'd forgotten that I have a new problem with my left arm/wrist/hand (it's twisting inward and can no longer twist it outward. Can hold out my left hand/arm in a "handshake" position, but can no longer do the palm out and up ... right hand is doing the same thing, only a little slower. My thinking about the guitar was as a form of physio to build up mobility and movement in my hands/wrists ... as its sure worked to have done all this typing the last couple/more years because I can now sometimes write by hand, and hadn't been able to squeeze out a signature before.

Hmmmm ... I wonder ... IF I held the guitar like a cello or an upright bass ... perhaps I could still play a little? :

PS: I don't know that I can ever regain movement/mobility ... I sure the heck hope so. This doesn't bode well for driving either, as i can't right now unless it's no sharp corner turns ... taxi driving wouldn't work unless I just wanted to scare the crap our of passengers ... wanna ride?

CHRISTMAS WISH LIST continued:

1) RA be gone forever and complete reversal of damage.

Originally posted by Snowtractor

Ps Shamus likes everthing at this point, everything is fun and fascinating so he is easy to please

And what a great little catcher he is too!!!

Rock-n-roll Shamus!

(Sean ... I like what you like about the Christmassy season too. Good stuff)

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

At least he's better looking than you!

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally posted by Snowtractor
You know its not the day itself or the presents that I give a hoot about anymore, but the season. I love going to people's houses for drinks and the lights and tinsel and the "Merry Christmas!" from strangers and the drop-ins and going tobogganing and hot chocolate and cutting down your own christmas trees with family and friends and having a bonfire while doing so and having a few drinks and going to christmas eve mass and christmas light drives and the overall goodwill to all mean that should exist 12 months of the year.
Sean
Ps Shamus likes everthing at this point, everything is fun and fascinating so he is easy to please

Sean..
You said a mouthful but echo my sentiments to a "T" /...
I never want or need stuff at Christmas time..
Although the odd chocolate orange is a weakness..
Fine young lad you and mom screwed together...
I'm sure he can gobble down a moose steak or two at a sitting allready..
Another year and he'll be ready to drink beer,pack heat,and chase wimmen...
A true blue print of the original...
Any more on the drawing board..???
Great to keep updated on the little guy...
Keep up the pix.

[Stewart Loy]

Looky what I saw under the tree the other day ... while I was waiting for a big guy with a white beard to return from his lunch.