CHRISTmas??

[KDbeads]

I'm not a holiday type, my family cured me of that years ago.  Seriously, they aren't dysfunctional, they went straight to demented.  Holiday's spent with family have me watching screaming matches, massive complaining, etc.  So I would prefer a day off, a nice meal, and time with hubby.

But I like to give.  Everyone I feel close to or use for services (the vet, the local general store, the sheriffs department, the firehouse, ...) usually gets something from me even if it's just a little bit of candy.  This year though, I drove around with a truck full of jams, jellies, etc. earlier this week.  I feel good.  It was my gift to myself.

[thirtiesgirl]

I'm kind of the same as KDbeads.  My family really put the MESS in chrisMESS.  Things weren't bad when I was a little kid.  We had some great xmases in my younger years.  But by the time I was in high school, and my mom's personality disorder had become more unhinged, xmas with the family was an awful experience.

When I graduated college and was living with my first serious boyfriend, we would sometimes get a small tree and decorate our apartment a little.  We usually visited his family for the holidays, though, so we weren't around to enjoy the decorations much.

For the past 13 years, I've been living on my own and don't do anything for xmas.  That's largely because I live in the world's smallest 1-bedroom apartment and literally don't have room for a tree, or any place to store decorations.  But I also try to be the good daughter and visit my mom for xmas, even though it's the last thing I want to do.  Up until a few years ago, she used to decorate her house, which I liked to see.  She's very old and ill now, so she can't put up decorations any more, which I have no problem with.  I don't want her to overtax herself and make herself sicker by trying to put up decorations.  I go to her house to see her, not a bunch of xmas decorations.  I can only spend about 24 hours in her house, though, before I have to leave.

Last year, I was dating a guy long-distance, a single dad with two young kids.  Even though he has primary custody of the kids, he pays his deadbeat ex-wife a lot of alimony and child support, so he doesn't have a lot of money to spend on xmas gifts for his kids.  His parents usually help him out, but I thought it would be nice if I gave back a little, too.  So I got him some gifts (a bunch of CDs he wanted that he wasn't going to buy for himself), and got his kids a bunch of DVDs and a couple of kiddie card games to keep them entertained.  I like being able to give back, and would do the same thing again this year if we were still dating.

[The Magic Pudding]

I'm kind of the same as KDbeads.  My family really put the MESS in chrisMESS.  

Enough of this chrisMess business, and Tom Waits misery to, do I have to bring out the dancing bananas?

Here's a Christmas card, it's my favourite, my sister sent it to me years ago.