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cbscreative
12-23-2013, 01:14 PM
It's only a couple days away so I guess I'll be the one to start a Christmas thread wishing everyone here the best for the holidays. I hope everyone has a great time celebrating with family and that 2014 will be your best year for business yet.

And for those who are Jewish, a Happy Hanukkah to you and I hope I spelled it correctly.

vangogh
12-24-2013, 02:33 AM
Merry Christmas Steve. Do you have any plans for the holidays? Here's hoping the new year is a good one for all of us.

By the way Hanukah is over. The first day coincided with Thanksgiving this year. It was the first time it's happened in many years, and possibly the last time it ever does.

Freelancier
12-24-2013, 06:41 PM
I think the previous time Hanukkah and Thanksgiving coincided was in the 1880's and the next time is in something like 70,000 years. Pretty sure I won't be around to see it again.

Anyway, Merry Christmas to all who swing that way :) We took the kids to Utah this week so they could learn to ski. I got to ski with them today after they had 3 days of classes and they definitely have the "snow plow" down.

A happy and healthy New Year to all.

billbenson
12-25-2013, 04:29 PM
Merry Christmas to all. Don't have kids which is what makes Christmas fun. I'm a bit of a Scrooge. Don't like all the shopping pressure and card pressure the season puts on people (me). First year I didn't have a Christmas tree.The beauty is I didn't get one work phone call today. I had a couple of calls on the Sunday following Thanksgiving. People actually thought I would be working...

Anyway Scrooge or not, Merry Christmas.

cbscreative
12-26-2013, 04:31 PM
Late response since I stayed off the computer the last couple days except for a couple quick checks of email. After I posted it dawned on me that I could have just checked the Israel the Beautiful calendar I've had right above my desk only 2 feet to the left of my keyboard all year. It has all the Jewish holidays marked so I should have noticed the last day of Hanukkah on the 5th. Kind of embarrassing after having it all year.

Yes vg, I had plans and I'm taking the rest of this week as light as I can because from next week on I will be VERY busy for some time. One of my daughters got married a little over a year ago (I have two plus my son who is the youngest at 19). We had her and my SIL over in the afternoon and evening Christmas Eve. Had a great time with very good food. My wife and I are both food enthusiasts and teamed up to make dinner. Great family time!

Yesterday was Christmas at my wife's family gathering from late afternoon on. Also a great time and my daughter and SIL were there for that one too. Since we do our Christmas on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day was sleeping in and taking it easy.

My side of the family has a clever strategy to avoid holiday chaos. We get together a week or so before so all my siblings can gather with spouse families on the holiday itself without stress. My brother discovered a log cabin in the woods this year by the Grand River that is available for rental. We got together there for Thanksgiving and everyone liked it so much that we rented it again for Christmas. We did have to bump the celebration to Dec 14 because the 21st wasn't available on such late notice, but had a great time there too.

Skiing sounds great, Freelancier. I do a lot of XC and would do more downhill if I lived closer to the better ski resorts. There are a couple local ones but it's about the smallest hills that qualify for skiing and the best ones are 4 hours away. Since I can get to nice XC trails in less than 15 min I opt for better exercise. Nothing like vangogh's pristine skiing opportunities though. He's close to probably the best places in the country from what I understand.

I can relate to your Scroogeness bill, I'm not fond of the commercialization and the shopping chaos is crazy. Thank the Lord for point, click, and UPS. I've lightened up a lot though as I get older. I'm not going to be able to stop the madness or control the greed, so I laugh at it and enjoy the liberty of not having to get caught up in it other than the "obligation" that diminishes real giving.

And now Happy New Year and may all of us here have an awesome 2014.

Harold Mansfield
12-29-2013, 05:45 PM
Just got back from a cross country train trip to Michigan and back. Hope everyone had a Happy Holiday.

ZooFender
12-30-2013, 12:18 PM
Thanx!!!
Happy new year to all!!

Freelancier
12-30-2013, 12:30 PM
Steve, I don't ski for exercise (although it's still pretty good at working my quads). I do downhill skiing because I'm really happy when I'm out there doing it. I tried XC years ago on the edge of a ski resort... ended up popping out onto one of the ski runs and "skinny-skied" (really, sliding and skidding) my way to the bottom, hopped on a lift and did it again and decided I liked going downhill more than walking up and down hills. I figure XC is a lot like jogging or running... some people love it, I find it boring. But put me on a bike and I can go for hours.

KristineS
12-30-2013, 04:05 PM
Just got back from a cross country train trip to Michigan and back. Hope everyone had a Happy Holiday.

Harold, just curious, where in Michigan? That's my neck of the woods.

Harold Mansfield
12-30-2013, 04:36 PM
Harold, just curious, where in Michigan? That's my neck of the woods.
Detroit. That's where I'm originally from.

cbscreative
12-30-2013, 04:48 PM
For sure, XC is nowhere near as exciting as downhill but it is an exceptionally good workout. With the time I spend at the computer it's very much needed.

Although, without fresh powder snow, XC can get a bit too exciting. XC skis have very little steering control and with hard packed snow on hills the adrenaline rush is exhilarating. After too many days without fresh snow I won't even go because avoiding trees becomes impossible.