Merry Christmas

Not Happy Holidays or Season's Greetings, but MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

(I had this one set to automatically publish while I was away, but it didn't work. GRRRRRRRR!!!)

Anyway, merry belated Christmas.  I'll just pretend I'm eastern orthodox and leave it up 'til their Christmas is over. Enjoy. 

This Reminds Me of Our Christmases

Especially the bit about eating.

Couldn't They Have Waited...

...until after Santa had made his rounds, at least?

Denmark lays formal claim to North Pole

Getting in the Mood

A Little Pre-Christmas Cheer...

Who Knew???

Santa is raaaaacist.

And he gets around:

Toronto

Winnipeg

Nova Scotia

Indiana

Thunder Bay


Waterloo-Kitchener


Yellowknife

New Zealand

He does get around, doesn't he.

But he won't be getting any toys himself this year: He's been bad.

With Christmas Just Around The Corner

Way Cool!!

HO! HO! HO!!

What Will They ...

...think of next?!



I guess we'll have to wait until next year to see.

Santa Shoulda Gone On A Diet

Man’s body found in London chimney

Half-way Through...

...decorating the Christmas cookies. Heading out tomorrow morning for T'oon Town and a few days of family, games and pigging out. Diet starts when I get back --- or maybe January 2nd.

Merry Christmas everyone. Eat too much. What else are New Year's resolutions for?



(ERRRRRRRR!!  I'm getting too old for change. YouTube embed just got harder.)

Oh well. Christmas is in the air. Snow is on the ground. I can smell turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy.  All is well.

Kaden Does Not Like...

...Santa:



Wait till next year.

The Sisterhood...

...draws in the brother with the promise of "micemeat" tarts.

My sisters all live in Saskatchewan, whereas our one and only brother lives way down, as far away from us as he can, in a lovely little town called Steamboat Springs in Colorado. He and his wife are coming for Christmas in Saskatoon.

The following email exchange took place on December 12:

Bro: "Brenda (his wife, also an honorary member of "The Sisterhood") was telling me that you were asking who likes Micemeat - I DO!!!

For some reason I did not get the e-mail.

Bring lots of mincemeat tarts, butter tarts, pepperment patti cookies etc. I will dispose of them for you!

Love Jack" (Did you notice the typo. Oldest sister certainly did.
.............................
Linda: (Oldest member of The Sisterhood and boss of us all.)"Okay, mincemeat for you & Bruce (her husband)! (and me)
(or micemeat, which might be harder to find in the store – gotcha, Jackie-boy) Evil grin."
.............................
Arleen: (Baby in the family who is hosting Christmas this year.)LOLOLOL micemeat for Jack!
.............................
Me: "LOL!! I never noticed that, but seeing as how winter has arrived, perhaps there are mice inside that can be trapped, skinned and cooked. (Okay, I've lost my appetite now.)"
.............................
Bro: "Oh God! I'll go scurrying around after eating those!"
.............................
Now you know why he rarely visits. We always tease him that Mom liked him best - WHICH WAS TRUE!! He got all the best toys at Christmas.

Anyway, looking forward to mincemeat tarts. Micemeat tarts, not so much.

Christmas

• Shopping - done

• Baking goodies - underway

• Blogging - light 

• Eating - heavy and gonna get worse

• Dieting plans - postponed

Christmas cheer - to everyone. (Although I do need to buy a bit a that liquid cheer, yet, so I guess I'm not done.)

Although I am somewhat atheistic, you won't find any of that politically correct crap here.

Who Organized The Reindeer???!!!

Santa Claus comes to Courtland Center via helicopter

They should be declared an essential service. And so should the elves.

Santa is such a scab!!

My Dad...Part 1

...Last night I curled up in bed and read a section of a family history book that was written in 1988. I was especially interested in the sections about my dad, Gordon Skinner. Some of them are downright hilarious. Take this one, for example:

"Gordon was the last arrival in the Fred T. Skinner family, and he always claimed that his twin, Nelson, because he came first, got all the cream while he (Gordie) was left with just the skim milk!"

It's true. I remember my Uncle "Buzz" (Nelson) being a big bruiser of a man, while my dad was short and slight. Those two got into some mighty interesting mischief when they were kids. Some of the stories in the book describe their various (mis)adventures.

There were these two stories, for example:

"He (my dad) remembered clearly their first day of school at old Katepwe:

"The teacher's name was Miss Bennett and she put her arms around us a gave us a hug. Boy was I scared.""

[---]

"Then there was the 'Hide and Seek Incident':

it was early December and the twins were playing upstairs. One of them discovered, hidden behind the winter coats, two brand new sleighs. They looked at each other in disbelief and said, "There's no Santa Claus."

I remember my own "There is no Santa Claus" incident, which also involved my dad. I attended school in a little one room school. The annual Christmas Concert was the highlight of the year. The concert always ended with an appearance of Santa Claus, who passed out bags of candy to all the kids. For some reason, my dad disappeared shortly before the end of the concert. A few moments later in would come Santa. One year, I recognized Santa's big black boots and knew instantly that the man in the red suit was my father. I remember deep disappointment mixed with a bit of a thrill because I was on to an adult secret.

But I kept my mouth shut. I wanted the candy, I suppose. Sometimes it's better to feign innocence.

Part II; Part III

Santa's On His Way

Watch him.

I have to go to bed, else he won't stop here.

Vaclav Havel's Funeral

Anyone who wants to know more about this man (if you are too young to remember the Cold War era, for example), go read this. The eulogisers tell the story.

In other news, today I'm off to Saskatoon for Christmas. Don't expect to be blogging until after. Any comments received will not be posted until I'm back. (Get a life, people.) Maybe the 27th or 28th. Merry Christmas, one and all.

I Don't Care What I Eat

...for Christmas, as long as someone else makes it.

A Man's Meal:



I'd even share it with Justin.

h/t Hot Air

Cute Story

...emailed this morning from my cousin in Trawna (AKA Toronto).

What can you give the 'givers' in our world?