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It's not a holiday meal until....  

secret_lade 49F
14128 posts
12/25/2020 10:08 pm
It's not a holiday meal until....


You're missing at least one vital ingredient the main dish.

Because I'm a non traditionalist, I planned on making lasagna as my Christmas meal.

I had scoured the internet for the perfect recipe.....

And collected my ingredients Christmas Eve morning when I finished my Christmas<b> shopping.

</font></b>Certain I had lasagna noodles in the cupboard at home, I chose not pick them .

I did not have lasagna noodles at home.

Four gas stations, two dollar stores, and one Walgreens later, I was now scouring the internet on Christmas Day for alternate pasta options to the lasagna noodle calamity.

Pork chops, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole it is!!

I've learned, over the years, that it really doesn't matter what I make as a holiday meal....

The simple fact that my offspring and I are gathered around my dinning table make any meal a special event.

There will be fighting....

There will be laughing....

I will wind crying at some point....

And a lot of stories will be shared....

I haven't talked about Middle in a while, mainly because I'm so sad that he will be leaving me in June. The holidays this year have been especially hard as I know, they will be the last holidays I get to share with him and I find myself crying just at the thought.

The thing is, a holiday meal doesn't really care about any of that.

Before you know it, everyone is fighting over who took the crispy onions from the top of the green been casserole and someone has invariably spilled their drink not once but TWICE all over the table. My oldest is hoarding the cooked carrots and the Spawn is grunting in disapproval as I get teary eyed and cry, yet again, over the realization that Middle 's time with me is quickly coming to a close.

Meanwhile, she is sitting at the table asking me to watch her new dance moves.... So I do, I look in her direction and watch.

"Don't look at me! I can't do it when you're looking!"

"Wait, what??? You just said 'want to see my new dance moves'. How am I supposed to see them if I can't look at you???"

"I hadn't thought it out that far."

, good lord....

Oldest is telling about his latest near death experience when a tree came crashing into the heavy equipment he was operating at work. He mentions eating a piece of pizza out of his truck that had been in there for four weeks and that actually worries me more than the tree incident. Yikes!

Middle is proudly displaying his achievement card that states he has met all the physical requirements and passed some test as of his latest marine workout with the Sargent. He had been so bummed that he didn't have the required credits to graduate early and ship out when he wanted to...

But I have been so thankful he didn't.

I feel better knowing he has had this time to get prepared as part of the delayed enlistment program. It also gave me 6 more months to spend with him....

And, I sit back and smile.

I see the Spawn sitting across the table from me, singing, doing some weird ass shit with her hands, being a .

I see my Middle talking about his latest workout and how excited he is that he'll be starting out as a private first class after basic as he's somehow earned that elevated rank.

I see my oldest with all the green bean crispies on his plate and the bowl of carrots tucked away near him.

It's been another successful holiday meal.

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas!

secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
12/27/2020 3:10 pm

    Quoting topherific:
    reads as a wonderful Christmas dinner
It was a wonderful Christmas dinner.


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
12/27/2020 3:10 pm

    Quoting  :

Plan B turned out pretty good. Everyone was so full we didn't even have the ice cream for desert. When I was growing up, my family meals were kind of sterile... nobody talked, we just ate. Which is why I've always done everything non traditional, I just don't want reminders to those days. I like my own days.


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
12/27/2020 3:07 pm

    Quoting citizen4722:
    You had a fun day
    I was at My brother's place and had a traditional turkey dinner. He beat me in Fifa 2020 (I think it's called?)...I've beaten him just once or twice in all the soccer games we've played over the years!
I made a turkey a couple of years ago... It was a terrible experience. I don't like touching raw meat, let alone pulling organs and necks out of bird holes. Yikes... Not to mention, we had so much left over, I ended up having to throw some out. If I do turkey again, it'll have to be just a breast or something.


citizen4722 66M  
74582 posts
12/27/2020 1:12 pm

You had a fun day
I was at My brother's place and had a traditional turkey dinner. He beat me in Fifa 2020 (I think it's called?)...I've beaten him just once or twice in all the soccer games we've played over the years!


topherific 61M
5209 posts
12/26/2020 5:23 pm

reads as a wonderful Christmas dinner


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
12/26/2020 12:11 pm

    Quoting  :

Nobody tells you how hard it is to watch them become adults. Now I know what my grandma went through when I left home.... She would write letters about how quiet the house was and how empty everything felt. I know, now, how she felt.


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
12/26/2020 12:00 pm

    Quoting flannel_light:
    Christmas morning was nice. Kids were here and my mother. After they left the water works came. I was alone the rest of the day and night. I know you will be a wreak come June and you are in my thoughts.
Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts. It's very much appreciated.


flannel_light 61F
4586 posts
12/26/2020 7:30 am

Christmas morning was nice. Kids were here and my mother. After they left the water works came. I was alone the rest of the day and night. I know you will be a wreak come June and you are in my thoughts.

The Light is shinning and she is lonely and waiting in the darkness.


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
12/26/2020 6:02 am

    Quoting Paulxx001:
    It was a quiet one this year.
    Talk, 🍷🍷, shrimp 🦐, more wine, more talk, quiche, more wine 🍷 🍷, charades, those hot dogs marinated in stuff...
    more wine 🍷 🍷. We tested out the breathalyzer that my oldest got.
    She blew a 0.23 ... which freaked us out, then she read the instructions ; turns out, you're supposed to wait a couple of seconds after you gulp some alcohol _before you blow.
    Second time around it was only 0.032 which was more reasonable - since the night had just begun.
    Charades was fun. Who knew? 🤔 🍷🍷🎄🎄🎅😎❗❗
In my whole entire life, I've never played Charades. I feel like I'm missing out... LOL


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
12/26/2020 6:01 am

    Quoting  :

Happy New Year to you as well! It wouldn't be a bona fide holiday without some sort of drama!


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
12/26/2020 5:58 am

    Quoting fwblook4unow:
    Merry Christmas Secret_lade Hope your body has recovered from last sex escapade😘
Merry Christmas to you too!


secret_lade 49F
9227 posts
12/26/2020 5:58 am

    Quoting mc_justmc:
    Since the g-girls trashed the dinner table in the spring and refused to clean it off even for Thanksgiving, we've all retreated to our neutral corners and ate meals in peace. I am so done living with El Douche that this works out better for me. Just a few more weeks and I will get my whole house back.
I'm a mean mom.... My daughter pushes her boundaries a little now, but when I start to raise my voice and demand she hands over her phone, she knows I mean business. I know you probably don't want to be the bad guy because you're Grandpa, but sometimes they need that helping hand to be a better adult. It certainly sounds like El Douche isn't that helping hand that's going to mold them into good adults.

I'm glad you're getting your house back! I'll bet you're super excited!


mc_justmc 63M

12/26/2020 4:47 am

Since the g-girls trashed the dinner table in the spring and refused to clean it off even for Thanksgiving, we've all retreated to our neutral corners and ate meals in peace. I am so done living with El Douche that this works out better for me. Just a few more weeks and I will get my whole house back.


fwblook4unow 48M

12/26/2020 2:20 am

Merry Christmas Secret_lade Hope your body has recovered from last sex escapade😘


Paulxx001 66M
22642 posts
12/26/2020 12:35 am

It was a quiet one this year.
Talk, 🍷🍷, shrimp 🦐, more wine, more talk, quiche, more wine 🍷 🍷, charades, those hot dogs marinated in stuff...
more wine 🍷 🍷. We tested out the breathalyzer that my oldest got.
She blew a 0.23 ... which freaked us out, then she read the instructions ; turns out, you're supposed to wait a couple of seconds after you gulp some alcohol _before you blow.
Second time around it was only 0.032 which was more reasonable - since the night had just begun.
Charades was fun. Who knew? 🤔 🍷🍷🎄🎄🎅😎❗❗


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