Thursday, December 24, 2015

It's Christmas Eve!

Pull up a chair, don your Christmas socks, and settle in with a mug of cocoa or an Irish coffee.


I'm feeling very blessed this Christmas to have all of you wonderful folks in my life. Thank you SO much! The Kitchen Table is a most excellent place to be. Most excellent indeed!

Merry Christmas dear friends. I'm wishing all of you a happy and prosperous 2016!

13 comments:

  1. A joyful Christmas to all here who celebrate it, and my heartfelt wish for peace and happiness to all of us

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  2. What a nice Christmas message, lady red! I'll echo what you and Dances said, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a healthy 2016...

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  3. I'm the person in our family who bakes the Christmas cookies that my mom used to make when we were kids. I started yesterday and will wrap up tonight - I've simplified and it's much better to not have it be a big production!

    It's our tradition to go to Tom's brother's house for Christmas dinner with his sibs and their spouses. They are great hosts (and excellent cooks as well!), we always have a good time. We're all very thankful this year as his sister (who has had her 3rd cancer recurrence and it is now 4th stage) has her first grandchild to welcome to the table, he was born last month.

    We will get together with my family on Sunday at my niece's house. Not too far to travel to either place, under 2 hours, which is nice.

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  4. Merry Christmas dear Laura, here's hoping that 2016 is a little less "eventful" than 2015 (for me as well). I am grateful to you and this blog and all our wonderful TCKT friends for their kindness and support. Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year to all.

    On a personal note, my physio is going well as I see improvement every time I go...not like the first five months where it seemed a constant battle of three steps forward, two steps back. My elbow bend (with the physio holding it) got to 92 today. Such a relief to hear that 9, it's been at 80 something for months.

    Turkey is brining, cranberry sauce, stuffing and gravy stock all prepared, just about to wrap some gifts and then veg out for the rest of the day :)

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  5. I am a new grandfather this Christmas. I am married to the love of my life. I have one on those "zero" birthdays next year. And I have you all. Who could ask for anything more?

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  6. I've had one of my best Christmases ever. After my last little meltdown I feel like I have well and truly pulled out of my funk. I'm at peace and looking forward to a joyful and (yes darling Fay! Uneventful!) New Year.

    My son and his wife bought/collected 80 new blankets, socks, and warm stocking hats and delivered them to a nursing home yesterday. I'm so proud of them for celebrating Christmas is the best way possible! My granddaughter helped hand everything out to the residents. How great is that? Very great, that's how great! :)

    The nurses and staff at my office cobbled together a bunch of toys, food, and cash for a fellow employee whose family is down on their luck. When I saw our little office tree engulfed by brightly decorated boxes, bags, and envelopes, I started bawling...and THAT got the rest of the staff snuffling. Good stuff. My faith in humanity is restored. :)

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  7. Merry Christmas everybody! I'm late checking in because we were out at a party last night, and, well, it turns out it's not hard at all to eat too many swedish meatballs, especially those cooked by an actual swede.

    We'd had a tradition of dining with a (Jewish/Buddhist) friend who would always host a Christmas Eve gathering - I posted a picture four years ago - but he, quite wonderfully, met a lovely woman from the east coast, and so is with her this holiday.

    But in the nick of time, another hostess invited us over to her party, which was quite wonderful. A great time. And swedish meatballs.

    I'm very grateful to hear people are doing well - this year worked out well for us here too. Twenty sixteen here we come...

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  8. A belated Merry Christmas to all my dear friends here at TCKT. I hope you all had a wonderful time. I am full of admiration for Lady Red's family's charitable activities. And I'm delighted for Fay's recovery and Matt's expanding family, (and for Lewy's Swedish meatballs. :)) )

    Although we don't celebrate Christmas I must admit that I miss the Christmas atmosphere that I grew up with in England. The pretty decorations, the twinkling trees, the friendly atmosphere - and the best part of being Jewish was having a long holiday without having to do any actual cooking! :))

    This year, since Christmas fell on Friday we had a "Not a Christmas party" Friday night at my brother's, who had friends visiting from England too. We had a great time! We pretended that the chicken was a turkey. :)

    Let's hope that 2016 will be a lot quieter and lot more peaceful than 2015 has been.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Anne, I thought of uou when I read this on FB it was posted by someone I don't know but Joe ("papijoe") had liked it so it appeared on my feed:

      "I am an Orthodox Jew, and I am just fine with folks saying Merry Christmas to me. And I say it back to them.
      I understand that "Merry Christmas" does NOT mean "I want everyone to convert to Christianity". Rather, it is a wish for happiness and goodwill. If there is time, I may engage the other person to explain that I am Jewish and I celebrate a different holiday. But if not, why spread ill will.
      To the person who is speaking to me, I represent all Jewish people. Why on earth would I want to give any non-Jewish person the impression that Jews are angry, hateful people? I wish that my fellow religionists would think more about the impression that they are making on others."

      I thought how true her sentiment is. Wishing you, your family, and the amazing State of Israel peace and happiness in 2016. Am Yisrael Chai.

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    2. That is a great comment Fay, and it pretty much reflects my own sentiments. This ridiculous new fashion of hair-trigger readiness to take offence at what is simply a wish for good things is incomprehensible to me. Like that commenter I grew up (and still am) an Orthodox Jew with VERY religious family. And they ALWAYS wished Merry Christmas to shop staff, Christian neighbours etc. To this day my dad sends off Christmas cards to his old colleagues and if someone wishes me Merry Christmas I simply reply with the same.

      You'll probably like this item from Powerline Blog:

      Thoughts from the Ammo Line by Ammo Grrl (an Orthodox Jew) and

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  9. For those of you who wonder what Jews really get up to on Christmas eve, here's a funny video. :)) I hope this embeds properly. Otherwise, click on the link. If that doesn't work, I embedded the video in my own blog.

    https://www.facebook.com/199435123405330/videos/1227110643971101/?permPage=1

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