Laura, I'm so sorry your boys hurt your feelings like that -- so, so sorry.

ND, I hope the rest of your time at your parents' passes quickly and more comfortably.

Oof. ND, you're a good son for putting in the time. At least you minimize it for your own sake and I recognize the need to at least show, despite the awfulness of the situation. By the way, this is the program my BiL is looking at. He hasn't decided definitely on a major yet but he's very into music (high school marching band, drum line, pep band and his own garage band) and he loves the tech side of music, too. I'm 99% sure this is the school he's going to end up at (it's our alma mater, too, and it's a decent state school with a half-way respectable music department).

Laura, your sons are DEFINITELY old enough to learn a lesson on thinking of others--especially the mother that goes out of her way for them 24/7/365. Feh. I wish I was close enough to take you out for mimosas tomorrow morning.

I'm counting this Christmas as one of our best ever. The kids are really enjoying their toys (and it's really the first time this whole holiday thing is sinking in for Owen so it's a blast to see him excited about it.) DH and I didn't buy for each other because his present was his trip to Vegas two weeks ago and mine will be an upcoming trip to NYC.

I made a Christmas dinner of Steak Oscar and I must have gotten really lucky on the steaks I bought. Just inexpensive strip steaks (no filets) from the supermarket but they were well marbled and tender--no gristle, no large inedible pieces of fat. The Hollandaise sauce was store bought, the crab meat canned and the asparagus was frozen but when I put them all together, it turned out to be the best Christmas dinner we've had in a long time.

It looks like it is a good enough program from the description. He should make sure he gets at least one good internship while he is a student. If he wants to do studio recording then it should be in a good studio where he can learn how the workflow happens.

Thanks, ND. My in-laws visited the campus with him and apparently they've got a kick-ass department with lots of brand new equipment. I'll pass those tidbits along to him. He's a talented kid so I want to see him use his abilities to the fullest extent.

Make sure he keeps in mind that it really isn't about the flashiest gear. I know more than a few schools that have great gear but are lacking the instruction to really teach with it. They turn out sub-grade students all the time. In my opinion the new gear is the easy part to learn, it's the listening and people skills that are very hard to develop and are the ones that will carry a new engineer far.

There are two pictures of Dubya and Laura Bush sitting in the living room. It was a thank you for my father's long support of the RNC.

Shoot me.

Oh, Laura, I'm so sorry. That sucks beyond the telling. This is the first year Nick's gotten me a thoughtful gift since he was in grade school and was forced to make one in art. I've never gone without a present, though. I wish I could make it all better for you, and I hope someone kicks some ass and it doesn't have to be you. There is enough crap in this world that family shouldn't be the ones to make you sad.

ND, I'm glad you're there for your mom, but I wish things were easier for you. I can't even think of how you could fix the bed situation, though I bet getting more sleep would help.

Laga, I hope your Christmas, despite the cranky people, is going well.

Cashmere, I count this one in the big win column for us, too. This is the first year that Greg actually surprised me with something that I love. It seems silly, maybe, but it's a green marble mortar and pestle and it's beautiful.

Nick, Aidan and Kara are all thrilled with their presents. Everyone's stuffed full of good food, and the kids are going to bed soon before Aidan melts down any further.

Can we have the Buffistas tropical retreat ready by next Christmas?

I vote cruise ship. Plenty of people there whose sole job is to pamper you. And plenty of lounges if you need to get away for a few.

so the filet mingon roast - turned out really well. I did roast it at 375 - after the potatoes were roasted and some onions and carrots. Matt - doing his main holiday job( actually , he'd cook all day - but it doesn't matter unless he makes gravy) - ground up the onions and carrots with wine to make gravy.

I drank just enough wine to be slightly sad that our new wine glasses do not fit in the old wine glass rack , so DH will have to fix...

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The 100 funniest jokes of all time. It was helpful to me today.