December 25, 2014

Christmas, alone and together.



Merry Christmas, everyone. It's pre-dawn here in Austin, Texas, and I'm in the hotel alone. Meade is back home in Madison, muddling through somehow. I'll be celebrating with my 2 sons (and their father) later in the morning, but for now, it's quiet time. Maybe it's quiet for you too, or maybe you're in some delightfully rambunctious stage of the day, with children clamoring for Christmas action.

43 comments:

Saint Croix said...

Merry Christmas, Althouse!

Humperdink said...

Merry Christmas Ann to you and your family.

I will endeavor to use your Amazon portal more this year as your blog gives me me more reading enjoyment than any other.

Quiet at our house this AM. Just the spouse and I. About to stuff the turkey and put in the oven. The mob arrives at 3PM - 3 children + spouses and 4 grand children. The house will be a wreck at 4PM. Great fun though.

Rusty said...

Merry Christmas, Ann. And sons and Meade and dogs.
God bless us, everyone!

Tank said...

All quiet at the Tank house. Kids and dog still snoozing. The calm before the storm. I already peeld fifty garlic cloves, but Mrs. T is doing most of the work (magic).

Merry Chrstmas !

Oso Negro said...

Poor Meade is left in the frozen north for the post-nuclear family experience! Not that I can throw any stones. I am enjoying the morning with the son of my first marriage and the adopted daughter of my second, which also ended in divorce. I will be patching in the intended third from overseas via Skype later. As the man said, ho ho ho!

Quayle said...

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."


Merry Christmas to you, Ann, to Meade, to your loved ones, and to all.

Ron said...

Merry Christmas to all!

Things are not good for me this day....no family, and I may be evicted on Monday...

But today is good.

Paul said...

Austin? Well howdy partner!

I'm not 250 miles from you (and that's a piddling distance in Texas.)

Merry Christmas!

Big Mike said...

@Althouse, Merry Christmas to you and Meade and your sons.

paminwi said...

Merry Christmas to Ann, Meade and all the posters here who randomly make me smile, make me scream and many times educate me!

My two adult children are home together for Christmas for the first time in a really long time! It feels good to know they are sleeping in their "home" beds while I wait patiently for them to wake up to enjoy another day with them!

MadisonMan said...

0830 and the kids are still asleep.

I greatly miss lying in bed upstairs and hearing one -- usually the girl -- get out of bed, run to the living room, then run back to get her brother. That would be the cue to get out of bed.

Louis said...

Merry Christmas!

ganderson said...

Merry Christmas Professor! Thanks for this blog- one of my first stops in my daily surf.

Meade said...

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Zeus and I have already exchanged gifts.

Patrick said...

Kid no. 3 woke up at midnight, 2, 3:30,4 and 5:45 in anticipation. He seemed to think we agreed that he could go see what Santa brought at 3:30. Fun to see him so excited, but tired!

Merry Christmas, all. Ron, I hope things get better for you.

Patrick said...

Made, awful kind of you to hold down the fort. I'm sure Zeus appreciates it too!

Irene said...

Merry Christmas, Althouse!

Gahrie said...

Maybe too personal...but why didn't Meade come with you?

MayBee said...

Merry Christmas all of you people!!

Laslo Spatula said...

My Emotional Support Negro and I were enjoying a peaceful Christmas Eve -- I had my Organic Tea with a touch of almond milk and he had a Grape Soda -- when we heard some loud bangs go off outside.

"Do you think those were gunshots?" I asked.

"Sure, ask the Black Guy if those were gunshots. Cause all black men know the sound of gunshots, it's a street thing, right?"

"That's not what I meant..."

"You think that is how blacks celebrate Christmas Eve, Little Bitch? Smoke some chronic, listen to some Lil Weezy and pop off a few shots?"

"It was probably just some fireworks..."

"Or maybe it was some brothers driving around in an Impala, shooting at Plastic Santas and Candy Cane shit on white people's lawns. I mean, Santa is YOUR boy, not ours."

"What do you mean by that? Christmas isn't about race."

"Little Pussy, Christmas is when white people buy other white people shit they don't need. And drink Egg Nog."

"There's more to it then THAT..."

"Little Bitch, ask some black kids in the hood what your fat-ass jolly white boy brought THEM. No Presents, No Peace, understand me?"

Now, I dislike it when my Emotional Support Negro calls me names like "Little Bitch" and "Little Pussy" but I understand that it is a cultural thing, and it does not necessarily mean he views me with disrespect; as such, I sublimate any hurt feelings that I may have incurred and continue our constructive conversation.

"It isn't all about gifts. It is a time for ALL people to contemplate Peace and Good Will, not just whites."

"Peace and Good Will is a white thing, and then you only preach about it one day out of the year."

"Well, people of every race have their hypocrites..."

"So now you are saying black people are hypocritical, too? C'mon, white boy: mention Al Sharpton to my face, just once."

"I just mean that no one is perfect..."

"I love it when white people say that shit, like it lets them off the hook."

"Maybe I'm not making myself clear..."

"Oh, THAT must be it. Can't be that you're wrong, only that you need to dumb it down for us black people to understand: I get it."

"Maybe we need to just respect each other's cultures --"

"--now you're going to bring up Kwanzaa, aren't you Little Bitch? Every time you whites lose on Christmas you have to bring up Kwanzaa to make yourself look all fair and shit."

"Wait --"

"Did you get me a gift, Little Pussy?"

"As a matter of fact, I did..."

"Is it a Christmas gift or a Kwanzaa gift?"

"Umm, I guess it could be either, really..."

"Ahhh, sticking to your Christmas guns I see. You buy me a Christmas gift and now you're afraid to even call it that..."

"It's a Christmas gift. It's a Christmas gift."

"See, I'm cool with that. Is it a big silver luxury car with a big-ass red bow on the roof?"

"Ummm...No..."

"Cause I watch your white people Christmas commercials, and it seems you white people like to buy each other fancy new cars with big-ass bows on top."

"How about you just open it tomorrow. I'm going to get myself another cup of tea..."

"While you're at it can you get me an Egg Nog?"

"Egg Nog? Really?"

"What? Black people can't like Egg Nog? What is it with you white people?"

"It's just fine, I'll get you an Egg Nog."

"And pour some Hennessy in it, will you, Little Bitch? Let's light this Christmas UP..."


Merry Christmas, everyone.

I am Laslo.

Original Mike said...

" Meade is back home in Madison, muddling through somehow."

Riiiight. Just make sure to clean up the mess before Althouse gets home.

Anonymous said...

Welcome (back) to Texas. Remember the Alamo!

FWBuff said...

Merry Christmas, Althouse and Meade!

Big Mike said...

One of the good things about having grown-up children is sleeping in on Christmas morning. I got the books I wanted, and a few that I can't wait to read but which weren't on my list.

(I hope the wife and sons bought them through the Althouse portal.)

C R Krieger said...

Merry Christmas Meade.  It takes a supportive Husband to agree to the Wife going off to Texas, but it is to see her sons, which is important.  Christmas is first about Jesus, but it is also about Family.

Regards  —  Cliff

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Merry Christmas to all! Hang tough, Ron. Never give up. God bless us, everyone.

Bill Crawford said...

Merry Christmas all!

Like others, Althouse is a place to visit many times throughout the day.

As for me, I arrived in Costa Rica yesterday. Christmas eve with tico and tica friends. Baby, it's not cold outside.

Today, alone, but will FaceTime kids and grandkids later

rhhardin said...

Setting up for Limbaugh's dreaded Christmas Music show

$ delayto.sh 12:5:0; randomsteyn.sh
sleep 589 Thu Dec 25 11:45:22 EST 2014

It will play a randomly selected Mark Steyn hosted Limbaugh at 12:05pm.

Meade said...

"Riiiight. Just make sure to clean up the mess before Althouse gets home."

Oh, we will.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Merry Christmas to Meadhouse and all her commenters!

David said...

Merry Christmas to all, and thanks to Althouse for the continuously interesting blog.

caplight45 said...

Have a blessed Christmas.

FleetUSA said...

Prof, Go Home Soon

cognito said...

Austin is over run and it's just getting worse.

Have a nice time. And then leave. Please.

William said...

Merry Christmas, Professor --

Thanks for all you do

Laslo Spatula said...

Christmas Memoirs of a Foggy Whore:
It was 1934 or 1939 maybe, I have trouble with dates, and -- where was I? -- oh yes, it was Christmas in Hollywood, I remember it was Hollywood because of the biscuits. Clark Gable really liked biscuits, I remember that. They said Clark Gable could eat a girl's biscuits all day. Or maybe that was Myrna Loy...

Anyway, it was Errol Flynn, or Tyrone Power, I can't remember which -- one of them had a hand-held movie camera. Well, there was a lot of champagne, and the next thing I know I'm tipsy and being filmed giving Wallace Berry a Christmas 'Carole Lombard'; all the men in Hollywood back then wanted to get 'Carole Lombards', it was quite the thing -- of course, you had to have the eyelashes for it...

Did I mention that Errol Flynn shaved his scrotum? Or maybe that was Tyrone Power: anyway, one of them, I learned that when giving a 'Backwards Betty Boop'. Or maybe it was sideways, which wasn't really a 'Betty Boop' by definition, but everyone knew what everyone meant. Wild times, from what I can remember...

I am Laslo.

caplight45 said...

Laslo is slowly getting drunk at the party at Meade House which will definitely have to be cleaned up with a back hoe or Kelly LaBrock ala "Weird Science."

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas!

Thank you, Ann and Meade, for living your lives so publicly. You are my blogging reality show.

Thank you, clever and serious commenters, for providing me with new ideas and jokes I can share.

It is a little early for New Year's resolutions but this phrase struck me yesterday as a good theme for the new year--"Joyful and Triumphant." Feel free to adopt it for your year, too.

Freeman Hunt said...

Our seven year old wanted a bugle more than anything, so we got him one. He was thrilled when he opened it this morning and has been practicing on and off all day. I think this makes us the World's Second Nicest Parents behind whoever bought their kids drums.

ken in tx said...

Hey Freeman, I once bought my kids a drum set, but they were living with my ex-wife.

Michael K said...

Merry Christmas. We went to my son's home to watch his children open presents. They then headed for Disneyland for the day only to find it closed already as overcrowded. They will be at my house for dinner as we are cooking a large standing rib roast big enough for the 9 that will be here.

I am reassured when I can see this many people singing Ode to Joy this morning.

madAsHell said...

Just returned from "Wild" with Reese Witherspoon. I would not have guessed she had such a performance in her. It's a good movie.

Merry Christmas!

Simon Kenton said...

@Doctor K 6:00 That was superb. Thank you. I loved the principal bass, was startled at the alteration in horns since my day, delighted that either the camera people or the editor can read the score enough to focus where needed when needed, and actually worried the conductor might burst his great heart at certain moments.