SNOT: Saturday night open thread. Total open thread. Tell us some things.
Crunch time on getting your shit together before the holidays really kick in. My brother called today and said he will be in town between Christmas and New Years. We are trying to find a restaurant that is open for lunch on a Monday. It is more difficult than it sounds.
So what last minute stuff are you trying to take care of? Or are you one of the lucky ones that has their act together.
@HammerZeitgeist beat me to the punch in the comments of today’s Brain Drain. I think this is well worth the second posting.
Rant, rave, educate, inform, ask, and answer.
…the family is aiming to keep plans for christmas low key…so I sort of have enough sorted that in theory I don’t have too much rushing around to do next week…but also haven’t done nearly enough to actually feel like I don’t have too much to do & too little time to do it…which it turns out is frankly more unsettling than I’d like?
…plus…it’s been a weird couple of years & I think most of us are maybe wound a little tight one way or another…so I can’t help but wonder if the low key thing might have some risk of backfiring…as much as it can be stressful to tick all the boxes for “things we always do at christmas” it does tend to keep people busy…at least where my family are concerned…so I’m not sure that skipping a bunch of it is actually going to result in less stress on the day itself & I really don’t need any kind of family drama making an appearance this year
…so…I’m not sure how to put it exactly but I don’t know if I can honestly say I’m feeling festive?
…there’s something…I dunno…sort of…brittle, maybe…about the whole deal…like the picture looks ok but even a little chip could kind of shatter the whole thing & I don’t know what it would look like then
…or maybe it’s just that I should have bought better presents…who can say?
Brittle is a good word for it…I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.
No Xmas stuff planned or purchased. Panic factor 100%.
With my dad’s slowing growing dementia and working more overtime than I have in 4 years, I have nothing planned except a friend’s usual Xmas time visit.
/newsflash/
3300 CoVID cases today in Ontario. Up from less than 1000 just a week ago.
I got told tonight he’s not coming to visit.
/end newsflash/
Well, shit.
Probably do some online shopping…
Oh shit. Prime is jammed.
Probably go to a mall…
LOL, this is why I don’t go shopping at all this time of the year.
Yeah, I’m fucked.
Merry Xmas
@ManchuCandidate
Our holiday plans with extended family are on hold till Easter. And that may change depending on how things go. The county we live in is barely above 50% vaccination rate. My family understands our opinion on large gatherings (not ok) and doesn’t push the issue with us. Even though we are not having people over except for our son it still seems like a lot. And the kicker is Ellie does most of the work so I’m glad she hasn’t strangled me yet.
We’re at roughly 2 years into this pandemic.
When this thing started someone asked me how long. My guess was at least 1 1/2 to 2 years. I based my answer on history and the 2-5 year run of past pandemics so I was being optimistic. Ha.
Ironic that I got the most flak because I had the most pesimistic answer. Double Ha.
I’ll admit that I’m having a tougher time each time we go into lockdown and a lot of people are resenting things too.
I don’t blame them, but how the fuck else are we going to survive CoVID?
As always, time slips away faster than I hoped, but objectively I’m in OK shape for Christmas. Got some cleaning and produce bought, nagged my boy about when he’s coming home from school, shopping was largely done yesterday, sent out an apology email for one present that isn’t likely to arrive in time….
I’m at the list making stage to think through when I have to pull stuff from the freezer and prep for meals. Dieting means I have almost no cookies I want to bake, which saves some time. But one week, packages to wrap….
im just going to me mums for xmas…..all i need to do is make sure my socks arent quite matching……kinda what i do every day
same pattern different colour is my goal most days….tho i do have a pair of man socks labeled l and r which i like to wear the wrong way round
anyways….its 3 am and i just woke up again and figured its beer o clock
monday is going to be rough…as it should be
I’m back!!!
Did you miss me?
wait…you left?
who did tonights snot?
oh fuck!
(i kid… i missed you and welcome back)
Didn’t you see the post? Banquet at Buckingham Palace, parade down the Champs Elysees, and candlelit procession around Sagrada Familia.
We were all there — I thought you were just shunning us.
oh…..i thought that was spam
whoops
I got my decorations up the weekend after Thanksgiving, because I knew seeing bright lights would help my mood this month.
I got home yesterday from my trip, and that was the big impetus to get my act together before I left because I knew I’d be short on time when I got back. So cards and gifts to friends in different states got mailed before I left.
Also helps that Christmas is just me and my parents, and has been that way for close to a decade.
Watching Elf tonight, my favorite Christmas movie.
I made the mistake of going to an actual IHOP for an IHOP gift card for my dad — they didn’t have that shit. The grocery store did, though. And then today I stood in line at Talbots for a gift card as well, on my way to a T-Mobile store to transfer over from Sprint and trade up to 5G before New Year’s. (I had to pay ten bucks just to trade in my old phone?!?)
Wait why did you have to upgrade your phone by Jan 1st?
Well, now that Sprint and T-Mobile have merged, they’re phasing out 3G and LTE – or whatever the fuck. I mean, as far as I’m concerned, it’s just another cash grab.
Huh. I haven’t gotten any communications from TMobile that my phone won’t work on Jan 1st so I guess we’ll see how things go in 13 days. Shrug.
I haven’t been to an IHOP in a few years, but if I had one nearby I’d love a gift card. Messing around with their syrups is the best.
I was an at IHOP last week and the syrup was in those little single serve containers like McDonald’s uses.
Maybe it was covid-related? Single serve things so less for staff to disinfect?
Damn. Half the fun of IHOP is playing with the syrup pitchers and trying to figure out what’s the difference between Snozzleberry and Snizzleberry syrup.
I did always like whenever someone at the table would order a Rooty Tooty, Fresh ‘n Fruity.
My youngest came home today & we went straight down to Seattle for the interactive Van Gogh exhibit. Then we walked around Seattle, did some shopping, stumbled on a free gin tasting, & went to our favorite Italian restaurant. Full day! Even ran across the Santarchy drunks, maskless & loud but in smaller numbers than usual. Other than food shopping, we are good to go for Christmas.
How was the exhibit? Did it feel safe from Covid (masks required and easy to stay 6′ apart) Would kids under 4 enjoy it?
It was hit and miss for me. It is in a giant warehouse so you could have more than enough space if it wasn’t packed but yesterday was pretty busy. The first part you walk through a kind of narrow gallery with lit up paintings on either side accompanied by stories of his life. They also have projections of his images that change, many in a disturbing way as they delve into his demons. They also have a giant bust of his head that goes from weird to scary. The highlight is a giant open room with carpets, benches and chairs to just hangout and watch images change on the walls to music. It goes from beautiful and easily enjoyable for any age kids to pure nightmare for many kids. I wouldn’t recommend it for little kids but if you want a great date night on magic mushrooms, this would be a great choice.