{{{vw}}} and {{{Gud}}}

I'm a bit more mellow about holidays than I have been in the past. With my folks in their late 70s there's a bit of an enjoy-them-while-they-last vibe about them these days. It helps that I'm single and have no kids, so I don't have to juggle multiple family demands.

But I am looking forward to the day when I have a place of my own with guest space. Then I can say, "I'll be spending Christmas/Thanksgiving/Easter at home this year. And you, my beloved [familial title here] are welcome to join me."

It will certainly beat sleeping on the couch at my parents'.

I want to remind you that there's a tradeoff here.

Sounds like you guys have the worst of both worlds. No local grandparental help, but still all the holiday travel. Yeesh.

I don't understand why people feel oppressed by the holidays. Reject the shit you don't like, and do the shit you do like.

I wish I could take this excellent advice, in the positive spirit in which I know it was intended. I've pared down my christmas activity, right down to: fly to my family Christmas eve, spend two weeks with them, fly back. It was better when they lived nearby and I was only obliged to spend a few days on "official" activity. But then I had the shield of the spouse and her own obligations too. Let me say, I do enjoy the family get-together and the goodwill to all humankind part (people being a little less guarded for a few days is nice). The commercialization bombardment really irks me and christmas music outside of actual humans performing it for their own joy grates on me. When my folks lived here in the middle, we used to go and get a tree together, that sort of stuff.

These are the questions I would askabout the job. (to dw)

1) is the Money there

2) closer is good - are they more flexible?

3) If an MLIS is not possible at this time ( and might not be needed, but that is another issue.) are there other ways I can get the course work started - so I can comp past parts of the degrees later?

Speaking of XMas, my mother is sending me back my Chrismakwaanzakah CD I made last year so I can reverse-engineer it. When I moved my music files to the new hard drive I lost the playlist on iTunes.

I'm sorry - I didn't intend to be judgemental toward everybody that has to make family concessions over the holidays. I do understand.

I just know that my holidays got immeasurably better when I stopped traveling elsewhere for them.

you don't have to do that, Hec, although it is a nice thought. It's not really avoiding anybody from here(Although my family is overburdened with stingy dickwads) but those holidays are about a tradition and a stability and stuff that we haven't had around here for years...it's hard to find the Festive. There's only so much you can ask from cookies.

Joe and I are dreading the move back to Michigan simply because of the holidays. I have 2 family get to gethers, Joe's family (read: Mother) tends to be very whiny if we don't spend what she deems "enough" time with her. Tossing a baby into the mix, creates even more drama. For now, I'm glad we buy their gifts via Amazon, have them shipped, and spend Christmas monring just us. Opening gifts and making bad Jesus jokes.

you don't have to do that, Hec,

I don't have to do it. But you can't stop me if I want to do it! Mwahahahaha!

Well, I guess you could throw it in the garbage when you got it.

I dreaded Thanksgiving when we lived in Wyoming for a year. It was just Stephen and five-year-old Jake and me, pregnant with Ben, and since we were going east for Christmas, we couldn't do Thanksgiving, too.

But we got out the china, and made the big meal, and made paper turkeys out of traced handprints, and watched football snuggled on the couch, and it was one of the nicest holidays we ever had. And my families aren't particularly stressful at the holidays.