Christmas Eve marathon open thread
We’re into the final stretch! I’m still working on my mother’s gift, and the stuff FINALLY arrived today that I need to make my sister-in-law’s gift, so I’ll be up for hours. Actually I’m kind of afraid I’ll be up all night. The lonely Christmas Eve of the last-minute crafter.
I have the Weather Channel on again, but am open to suggestions for anything else.
What are other people doing?
27 Responses to “Christmas Eve marathon open thread”
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votermom says:
Merry Christmas, Violet!
December 24th, 2009 at 7:31 pm EST -
Violet Socks says:
Merry Christmas right back at ya!
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janicen says:
Home at last, drinking egg nog and bourbon, tracking Santa on noradsanta.org, watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” on NBC and waiting for my daughter to go to bed. It really is a wonderful life. I feel very fortunate. Merry Christmas, Violet and all of the rest of the leftists who visit here.
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cellocat says:
Unfortunately, I have a horrible cold, spent last night throwing up and moaning about my sore throat. Today is marginally better, but I had to back out of my usual Christmas Eve gig. Ugh. However, my husband has been taking care of me and the baby, and right now I have yummy butternut squash soup with cheese and chicken in it, and toast, so my tastebuds are happier. And we went for a walk in the neighborhood (very slowly!) breathing clean, crisp air and seeing people’s fun light decorations.
Happy Holidays, everyone!
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Violet Socks says:
I’m hoping one of the channels will show midnight mass. I guess I could actually look at the TV listings.
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Peg says:
Husband and I just finished our annual watching of Love Actually. And I finally made out what the prime minister says to his gal in the last scene, after all these years!
I, too, am blessed.
Happy Holidays, and wishes for a better year ahead.
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roofingbird says:
Happy Holidays all! I’m getting ready to go to bed because I think I’m coming down with something- you know, those odd aches and little chills. We just got our front door put in today in our perpetual motion machine of a house remodel, so even though we are working on one portable heater, we closed up the biggest pneumonia hole. It looks great too! It’s vintage half light door with yellow textured glass in diamond mullions. It fits our vintage 50′s house. Maybe by Easter I’ll actually be able to have people over! Yey!
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Sophie says:
I got home from midnight mass a little while ago. Very nice. I poured some port and came to check out how folks were doing.
I spent the day with my Republican family and I’m here to tell you that no matter how unreasonable, ignorant, and disgusting the Obots are (and they are), there is no solace for me in the Republican camp! I will be back with them tomorrow (because I am strong and invincible).
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Sophie says:
And Merry Christmas, Violet. Thanks for many good reads over the past year.
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Kookaburra says:
Merry Christmas Violet!
I’m at work, as usual. But I’m not complaining – it’s super quiet so I get to goof off on the internet all night, and collect time and a half. :)
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SweetSue says:
Merry Christmas, Violet, and Happy Holidays to all.
While husband is still sleeping, I’m going to make apple/cinnamon muffins.
Have a wonderful day. -
bob coley jr says:
HAPPY, HAPPY, JOY, JOY, TO YOU AND YOURS, VIOLET! Making things- it’s a good thing. Thanks for the e-mail!
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the ladybug whisperer says:
Merry Christmas Vi.
http://www.cbc.ca/edmonton/fea.....upper.html
Tom Jackson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.....28actor%29 -
Michele Braa-Heidner says:
I just wanted to express my gratitude for you Violet and this wonderful group of people who speak their truths. Before finding this site, I felt very much alone as a woman with progressive feminist views.
Happy Winter Solstice/Yule to all!
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Violet Socks says:
Merry Christmas, everyone, and thank you for the greetings.
As it happens, our Christmas is going to be delayed one day. Thank God, I say, because I haven’t finished the gift for my sister-in-law. She and my brother aren’t going to be able to come over until tomorrow (bad weather), so we’ll have Christmas on the 26th. Yay!
My mother and I are taking full advantage of the delay. She’s still wrapping presents and I’m still making stuff.
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Keri says:
http://ciarda927.deviantart.co.....-147988598
My holiday craftwork for this year- I actually hand sewed both the outfits and padded the chair and made the throw in two days!
Yes, I’m a 43 year old anime/manga geek ;)
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The Ladybug Whisperer says:
For such emergencies as inclement weather and unfinished crafting was Ukrainian Christmas invented.
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Nina M. says:
I had an unexpected Christmas gift… a black eye from my dog. Sigh. I look like Rocky right after “cut me, Mick!” She opened up my eye in the exact same spot. It looks gruesome.
In a weird twist, I’m going to have to lie both to cover up for her and avoid pointed questions about why my partner and I don’t get rid of her. She’s a (cough) “handful,” 80% for congenital neuro-behavioral reasons and 20% general unruliness intrinsic to a young bull terrier of 50 lbs. of solid muscle and bone. If the dog park crowd catches on to this she (and I) are toast, and my mom and best friends are already on my case about her constantly. I don’t even want to tell the vet for fear she’s wind up on some ‘dangerous dog’ list – though I need to talk to him first thing Monday about getting her on meds.
So I will have to have ‘walked into a door’ or somesuch crap. I’d joke about blaming it on my partner but that sort of thing just isn’t funny.
I probably could have used a stitch or two, but instead I opted for my partner tending to it with some rubbing alcohol, light pressure, a band-aid that wouldn’t stick, lots of clucking noises, and dozens of tiny rabbit kisses. Just as good; maybe better. Meanwhile, Raging Bull has been banished to her crate.
This is all very weird to me.
So I’ll be staying indoors for a while, indulging in that favorite pastime of one-eyed feminist amateur cultural anthropologist – reviewing Ariel Levy’s brilliant book Female Chauvinist Pigs while watching TV reality shows. Especially MTV’s “Jersey Shore,” “Bad Girls Club” or the “Real Housewives” oeuvre. Its as though Levy wrote a field guide, and the shows are the multimedia accompanying illustrations. Snapshots of misogyny culture gone so far that it has disappeared around the bend, come back, and then lapped itself – produced and performed by women, for women.
Utter madness.
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juststoppingby says:
Nina,
How strange….
My brother-in-law was delivering prezzies Christmas Eve eve when he was attacked by a bull terrier – he got it right between the eyes…the dog nearly took his nose right off, and he too has a horrendous black eye. -
The Ladybug Whisperer says:
Will you post the pix of the gifts?
I hate when women demean their artful work as “craft”. Unless you were gluing popsicle sticks.
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The Ladybug Whisperer says:
“(…)reviewing Ariel Levy’s brilliant book Female Chauvinist Pigs (…).
“Female Eunach” so long ago. Can’t even remember what she said.
Why Nina? How and why brilliant?
This is an open thread, yes?
What books did everyone read, get, give for Xmas?
Or wish you had.
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Jeff says:
@Nina M
If you know of any heavily wooded areas, especially non-trailed, treat her to an afternoon of “Rangeing”. Get out of sight of traffic and let her off-leash (bell recommended). Just wander casually yourself while ignoring her and she’ll range side, forward, back, and come back to you to check your general direction and to tell you what she found. As long as you keep moving, she’s got A REAL DOG JOB! She’s your scout and your escort. The faster you go, the shorter the ‘ranges’(30yds becomes 10yds). Thirty minutes and all the tension is just gone; still excited, but now SHE can control it while she follows YOUR lead.
Four acres of featureless (to us) trees and underbrush is my Border Collie’s idea of Doggy Disneyland! It resets all his counters, and carries over for days.
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cellocat says:
Violet, I hope you had a good Christmas-day-delayed-by-one.
Our handyman finished, and we can shower at home again! That’s our present to ourselves. And our sitting room is now the the most gorgeous happy yellow.
Of course, it’s another stereotyped activity, but I love arranging the house so it feels comfy, welcoming, beautiful, and warm. There’s an art in it that’s so much more immediate and practical than my main gig, music.
So, I guess you could say that we set the stage this year for things like menorahs and trees next year…
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Nina M. says:
Hi, Jeff. Thanks for your suggestion. That sounds like tremendous fun! My girl is deaf, though, so in a pinch I wouldn’t be able to recall her. I’d hate to have her run right at some poor unsuspecting ambler. A 50lb bull terrier barreling towards you is a pleasure seldom appreciated by the unwarned. But she gets ~2 hours off-lead time daily in our neighborhood dog parks, socializing, running, and tugging with other dogs.
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Jeff says:
@Nina – Sorry about your girl’s hearing! It must be overwhelmingly frustrating for her. To have the responsibility of protecting the pack and never knowing what’s sneaking up from behind… she’s probably never had a truly calm moment.
I hope that someday you can try the forest trick. It works best if you can get very remote, but since you said “dogs parks” plural I assume that would be complicated! For in-town ‘dog job’, try this http://www.kyjen.com/shop/inde.....e-dog.html. Put in water bottles, cinch it pretty tight, and go walking. I laughed at this thing until I tried it – dogs LOVE having a job!
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Aspen says:
What books did everyone read, get, give for Xmas?
I’m currently reading mostly non-fiction. A main topic of interest is sustainable living, so I have a couple of books about that. I’d like to live off the grid someday, but I think that’s a ways off.
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Branjor says:
I gave Wake-Up Call by Kristen Breitweiser, The Terror Dream by Susan Faludi and Sexism In America by Barbara J. Berg. I have all three of them and they’re excellent.
