I have always said, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. For me, 4 day weekend, the main thing is eating, no shopping and spending a butt load of cash and watching football all weekend.
A-frickin-men!!!!!!!! We are going to have a old fashioned Christmas here in N. GA. We're going to go cut our tree (I've planted quite a few young trees every year on our land and several of our balsams and frasiers are ready for harvest) ,take it back to the house and decorate it, singing carols the whole way. My wife has decided were are going to have four trees, one live and the rest will be our big artificial tree and the smaller fiber optic ones I like so much. I've always loved Christmas, but now I love it even more with my kids. The only thing I hate is putting together things on Christmas eve. How the hell did my parents do it so fast!? My kids love looking at lights, hanging decorations, helping my wife and I bake in the kitchen, trimming the tree, wrapping presents, etc. That whole Santa-knows-who-is-naughty-or-nice thing works great this time of year. We're having both sides of the family come up for what I pray isn't a remake of the Grizzwold's Christmas, so our house and our guest quarters above the garage will be packed with folks! I can hardly wait to make: 1. fresh apple cider with all the apples we harvested from our little mini-orchard with the cinamon syrup and heated warm. Yummy! 2. Pralines, fudge, peanut butter fudge and other candy. The only bad thing is that you need a couple of cool, dry days where the temperature doesn't get above 45 or so and sometimes before Christmas, we don't get them. But since we are the mountains, we usually have a couple 3. Fried turkey. Since a large portion of family is from Louisiana, this has been a tradition for years. 4. Deer steaks and sausage on the grill- We have plenty for everyone. I have a friend of my uncle's down in Louisiana who makes the best, spicy deer sausage on Earth. He also prepares my venison as well. Yummy! 5. Big pot of seafood gumbo-ditto 6. Fish fry- my own special breading, coupled with all the bass I've caught out of Lake Lanier. 7. Cobblestone cake- imagine pineapple upside-down cake with butterscotch morsels melted on top. 8. Sweet potato casserole- It's like eating dessert for supper! With marshmallows and pecans on top, it is yummy! 9. A big smoked ham, smoked for days out on the smoker. AB, I also like the Vince Garbaldi Christmas CD. That was my first exposure to the power of jazz as a kid, during the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, which I admit I watch with my children every single year. We could do a series of threads: -Best Christmas movie -Best Christmas present ever (Red Ryder, carbine action...... ) -Most heartwarming Christmas story -favorite Christmas carol -what is your standard Christmas routine (go to Midnight Mass, etc.) Sorry guys, y'all have got me the spirit!
A Christmas Story is not only the best Christmas movie, but is probably in my top ten movies of all time...
listening to it right now...as i type this. having said that, this cd is so good, it gets played in July.
You'll shoot your eye out! You'll shoot your eye out ! That movie still makes me laugh and I've seen 800 billion times.
For a Christmas CD, nothing beats the Trans-Siberian Orchestra - "Christmas Eve and Other Stories". Perfect for your symphonic metal Christmas.
Agree with all the "not till after Thanksgiving" posts. We usually start talking about Christmas on Thanksgiving Day. We feast, then the ladies hit the mall and the guys hit the couch for football. We draw names for Christmas gifts (big family) and that's when I start getting in the mood. I usually end up buying for everyone anyway because I'm such a great guy. As far as the cold weather, BRING IT. I'm waiting for that first Arctic Front of the season. The sooner the better!
We're actually finished with X-mas shopping, but as far as decorations inside/out, that'll wait until the Friday after Thanksgiving...
No doubt. My kids love it when my jazz combo rips into "Linus and Lucy." That's my favorite tune to play on the piano.
I try to hold out until after Thanksgiving, but I have bought me nutcracker tickets already (gotta get good seats!), and maybe I pulled out the CD once or twice and listened to it.
When was he born Jeff? I'd like to hear your theory. I also take glee in invalidating your rebuke by pointing out that I never said he was born on December 25. I said Christmas was the day we celebrate the birth of Christ. A day of celebration, not an anniversary.
Christmas season is a celebration of love and respect for your fellow man, since you obviously never got the memo on these concepts I would appreciate it if you took your negative spirit elsewhere.
TJ, seriously.....do we have to argue about Christmas? Who cares if Christ was born on December 25th? Who cares if it was based on a pagan holiday along with the trees and such? I just love the season and the reason for it. It's not worth arguing about.
Christmas is going to be different for me this year...I just got a job as Santa's Helper (yes, and Elf) at a local department store. Basically all I have to do is talk to the kids before they meet the big guy. Really looking forward to it. But Christmas isn't Christmas without National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. I've watched that every Christmas for about 10 years.
donny hathaway's "this christmas" is a year around fav. the same can be said wham's "last christmas". mellow feel good music i guess.
