Shir, there's plenty of pet love at our house, and we're always willing to share. Nora sounds like she's got some too. Sorry to hear about the Grandma decree, Nora. Any chance you can stand firm against it?

My mother just finally let me know she would be coming up here for Christmas-- get this, because my father said she should. That it was okay with him.

And when she told me, she said she could spare a few days from her "responsibilities."

::boggles::

Gonna be a lot of tongue biting this Christmas.

Something about having small kids trumped all the "you will do as I wish about the holidays" 'tudes of the grands, thank goodness. Nobody wanted to deal with cranky one and two year olds. At the same time. Or a cranky me, or a cranky H because his folks made his nuclear family...explode.

I sympathize with those of you dealing with conflicting family dictums regarding travel and presence and accountedness-for.

All my heartfelt good wishes to Frank's relative and his family. I have to say, new discoveries and possible life extension notwithstanding, I'd make the same decision. If the end result is going to be the same, I'll take five good months and a bad one over nine miserable ones.

(((vw))) Although things don't sound as dire today as they did last night, and I'm glad for that.

Kristin, I hope you feel better soon. And as far as your purry boy, and Nora's, I know what you mean. When asked why we put in what often seems to others ridiculous effort to socialize and keep from freaking the former feral boy, the simple answer is, how can you not do everything possible to make life less threatening for a creature who purrs like an outboard simply because you enter the room?

Kitties are love.

t /crazy cat lady

Something about having small kids trumped all the "you will do as I wish about the holidays" 'tudes of the grands, thank goodness.

Yeah, this is why I get the guilt and my sister doesn't. It's fine. It's not like we had any plans, but we were sort of hoping that we'd be able to have the day to ourselves or at least visit local relatives. Maybe cook ourselves an Xmas goose. Chill with Taz and each other and the tree. These things are not limited to Christmas Day, so it's not a big deal. It's important to my grandmother, and at 92, she gets priority.

Wow, it's been almost a year since my uncle (her son) died. Another reason to be with family with that happening right before the holidays.

Yeah, I s'pose another year would be better to take a stand.

All my g-parents are dead and it's so NICE to not have to do the ridiculous shlepping about to houses and to see relatives that make you crazy. We had to literally gear up mentally to go spend Xmas Day at my maternal g-parent's house in the 80's when my g-parents were raising my Uncle Jimmy's 5 WT kids from his first marriage...they all got pregnant/got someone pregnant in the teens, so the house was full of sullen babymama teenagers, howling babies and toddler with no manners. And my cousin Beau, who ended up stealing a lot of shit from my g-parents before he landed in prison for...GTA!

I remember a 6 year old walking up to my dad and kicking him in the leg, which was like the Darwin Awardest thing to do. My dad glared at him and then the kid laughed and did it again, at which point my dad picked him up, adminstered 3 firm spanks, and in his scariest dad-voice said "You do NOT KICK people."

And then we left. I think that cousin is in jail now. But he never kicked my dad again.

Good times. Holidays are just me, mom, dad and sister, and they involve lots of reading, HGTV, football on Xmas days (I read, they watch) and sleepy coffee/tea drinking while opening Xmas presents on Xmas morning while laughing after sleeping in. MUCH better.

2 Tylenol, 16 oz of water, and big bowl of cereal has not cleared the headache. I don't think I'm going out in the cold to REI today.

Have you had caffiene, O_A? Have a coke or a cup of coffee with sugar (or tea).

Don't have any of that in the house. I rarely do the caffiene.