Happy Holidays from Our House to Yours!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

It seems like every year the month of December flies by in a whirl.  I always have high hopes that I am going to enjoy a Christmas movie every day and we are going to drive around and look at lights.  It never happens.  Usually, I am so busy trying to get everything done that I am cross and irritated.  Last night I yelled at Fudge and Vern because they were in my way as I was trying to frantically finish some last minute wrapping for gifts I need to distribute today.  Do you think Santa yells at his best elves? John had the audacity to ask for a kiss when I was getting some cookies boxed up and I screwed up my face and said, “Hurry up!” At the beginning of the week he came home to a great (wink, wink) dinner of Sloppy Joes and since he is happy whenever I attempt to cook, he said they were good.  I followed that compliment with a “they’re good enough,” and went on to tell him the name of my new cookbook is going to be Good Enough and reiterated how much I despise cooking.  He thought that was very funny and we did laugh, but I was only half kidding.  So far, this month has not been The Walton’s Christmas, but more like a Hallmark movie Maxine’s Crabby Christmas.

 

I envy those people who greet the Holidays with ease.  My sister can have twenty-five people over for Thanksgiving and only start thinking about cleaning her house on the Wednesday right before the big day.  I have been cleaning for days and I have only two guests coming home for Christmas, my daughter and her husband.  I don’t know why I feel the pressure since they are family, not really guests, and could care less about the way my house looks, but I just do.  My daughter is lucky she didn’t inherit this trait from her mother.  She hates to clean and for the longest time used to say her husband can be the stay at home when they start having children and I always answered that she would do anything to get out of cleaning.  She once helped me clean by waving the dust cloth NEAR the furniture she was supposed to be dusting and then declared cleaning wasn’t that hard at all.   Of course, I promptly fired her and sent her off into the world thinking her mother preferred to do everything herself to make sure it got done correctly.  Even now when I go to her house and she tells me she cleaned in anticipation of my arrival, I want to ask if she used actual cleaning products, but John always stops me by covering my mouth before I can put my foot in there.  It isn't that she isn't clean, it is more that I have a big mouth and like to use it. I guess my sister and daughter are what I would call intellectuals and have far more important things to do with their time than clean.  They work hard at their jobs and have a quest for knowledge that I do not have and so I guess, I clean, dust, and vacuum, and at the end of the day we all feel content with what we accomplished or in my case, righteous and prepared to fight off messy people. Consider me a modern day Anti-Dirty Harry...go ahead, make my day, drop one morsel on the floor and see what happens.

 

One of the reasons I stopped having my Christmas cookie party was because it made me nuts.  My mom was here once the week before the party and I warned her ahead of time I would be busy cleaning and to stay out of my way.  For the most part she was good, except one day she stood at the bottom of the steps and yelled, “Aye, aye, Captain. Permission to come aboard,” and I yelled back, “Denied.”  She wouldn’t let it go, however, and started saying she was hungry and felt her blood sugar dropping and got mad when I threw a sucker down there and said, “Bon appetit.”  Certainly, that sounds better than, “suck on this, woman,” but we will have to agree to disagree on that point.  I used to shut the doors to the rooms I cleaned and announce nightly that no one was to open those rooms until the party started.  Once, John asked how he was supposed to go to the bathroom since all the bathroom doors were shut and I suggested a cork or the gas station up the street.  Somehow, they rebelled and pushed their way into those bathrooms, but I made sure they knew the bathroom had better be up to my standards when they were done.  It is a hellish week before the party with me running around with a sour face, pointing out crumbs left behind on the counter tops, harrumphing when they make a mess, and dust busting any spec of dirt I see even if it happens to be on a loved one.  John is lucky if I laugh when he points out a crumb or something on his pants and says, “Eureka!  This could be the most action I have seen since you sent out your invitations!”  Mostly, no one is cracking jokes, but yelling at me to take a pill.

 

This year I promised I was cutting back and I did, but I still feel driven to make the perfect Christmas for my family.  My daughters have both said to stop all the fuss, so I have no one but myself to blame for being grumpy.  I know my one daughter has outgrown the phase she went through when we could have purchased a Ferrari, the Hope Diamond, and a Spa vacation for her only to have her say, “I can’t wait until I open my big present.”  Nope, it isn’t about the presents, but maybe I feel like it is my job to make the holidays special for my family and I just don’t want to ever hear them say, “remember the Christmas mom did nothing,” but then again, a relaxed and happy mom might be just the right present.

 

I hope we all can remember what the holidays SHOULD be about and take the time to hug those important to us, tell them we love them, and forget about the stuff that no one is ever going to remember.  Please do as I say and not as I do.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Charlotte, I hope you have a wonderful time at your brother's house and come back with the Christmas spirit. What fun to have twins to spend the holidays with on both days. Hopefully, Bo will be included in the future :)  Thank you and have a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

F, Finally, you listen to me :) The year is ending well! I am glad you like the picture. It would have been perfect if Vern wasn't so blurry.

PJ, Thank you! Keep doing your cartoons in 2013. I love to see them on FB and DK!

Elizabeth, Thank you! I can't wait to meet you on the cruise. We are going to have a wonderful time. Have a Merry Christmas and hugs right back at you for Bailey!

Jarka, Let's start a Good Enough Club....LOL!! Merry Christmas and thank you!

Jane, Maybe in 2013 I will start :) I am slowly letting go of some stuff!! Merry Christmas!

Carol, I think it has to be our daughter's fault. I can't prove anything, but I know it can't be ours :) Merry Christmas!! Hugs to Banjo.

[Charlotte and Bo]

Sigh... 5 days to Christmas and not a strand of tinsel in my house.  This weekend I'll be seeing my nephew's twins for their 1'st birthday at my brother's house, then back over there for Christmas eve and Christmas day.  That should help with the Christmas spirit I seem to be lacking this year.  I find the little ones make it  a whole lot more fun.  Poor Bo will have to stay home since he is way to rambunctious  for 1 year olds,  plus he is a master thief and I fear for the food and the decorations :-).

I love the photo!!  Merry Christmas and Happy New year.

 

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Ginny, First of all, I am so sorry about your friend and it does remind us all to remember what is really important. You have been very busy lately with your dogs. I don't blame you for taking it a little easier this year. I love the cookies, too, and probably shouldn't cut my recipes down to half, too. LOL

Janie, Merry Christmas to you and your family!! Thank you!

Karen, Thank you!  You are welcome any time at our house for all the reasons you listed and just because I would love to meet you!! I am sure we would give you plenty of blog material once you left...LOL! I wish Jack and you nothing but the best in 2013.

Sue, Thank you! Have a wonderful Holiday!

Lisa, I swear we are sisters :) I really hope you go on that cruise!! Merry Christmas!

Hi Joy, I am so glad I could make you feel better. I really do love to hear that about my blogs. My work here is done...LOL...and I can't wait for my family to gather round! Have a Merry Christmas!

Bonnie, Your comment reminded me of our annual photo taking session when the kids were young. By the time it was over everyone hated their mother...LOL!! It sounds like you have a great system at the Holidays. I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!!

F, I was thinking the same thing about Donna. Retirement has been hard on her :)

Donna, I ask all the time how I got anything done when I worked. I am far less productive now than when I had young kids and worked. I am sure that young man appreciates having somewhere to go for the holidays. You could get him the same thing I always get my son-in-law...inappropriate underwear. Think of the conversations it would start :) Do they sell that at grocery stores? I don't think you can go wrong with candy. Have a wonderful Christmas!!

[Ginny Nightingale]

What a riot!! And sounds way too much like me!! I can really relate! My hubby didn't grow up with Christmas, so he does a minimal (and I do mean MINIMAL) amount to help. I have to do all of the decorating inside and out as well as the shopping, wrapping, etc.

Since I have been retired, I try to make all kinds of Christmas cookies, which gather dust over the holidays when the kids descend--I think I might be the only one with a sweet tooth and I end up eating them until Valentine's day--so this year, I cut the amount in half and with all the things going on with two of my dogs (one was bred and one was neutered within the last ten days) I am just starting to decorate--and many of the decorations are staying in the containers this year--after all, I have no grandchildren (YET!) and the kids have seen all these decorations a million times!

But it is all about family and loved ones, isn't it!? We have a close friend who may not make it thru the holidays and then there is the Sandy Hook tragedy---forget the cleaning and the cookies--hug the ones you love. 

[Janie, Jackson and Jilly]

Merry Christmas to you and your family Laurie! Love your blog and photo!! Enjoy the moment!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Merry Christmas, Laurie. Love the blog, love that photo!
I almost never have any plans at all for Christmas, and if I could spend it at your house, I promise I would notice how clean everything was. And comment loudly about it.
May your days be merry and bright. :-)

[Sue & Lily Grace]

Laurie, Merry Christmas to you and your family. Love the card.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Here's the answer! Your daughters and my daughter can gather at my house and I will come, with Daisy of course, and we can both admire all your work.

I feel you every inch of the way! I am constantly telling myself "let it go" but 90% of the time I open my big mouth, doesn't make me or the recipient happy.

I listen to the Christian radio station which touts "if you are listening to this station your blood pressure will remain in check" (or words to that effect)...they don't know me very well.
Merry Christmas Laurie!

[Joy Williams]

Well, today was such a rotten one, I decided to stop by DK for a quick peak and maybe get a smile or two. Thanks to you Laurie, you actually made me laugh out loud! Thank you for that! I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas, and don't stress so much. Just enjoy the family and the time together. They will remember that much longer than if they found dirt in your house!