Christmas Season 2025/2026 -The Third Day of Christmas: Chrissy

 Saturday, December 27, 2025

Noel had her annual holiday party tonight. Dale wasn't feeling well so he couldn't go. 

Noel's friend Kathy joined us this year along with our friends Caroline and Stephen.

Kathy brought cranberry Cosmopolitans which I helped her out with. They were very good. We stayed away from talking politics this year but we did note that we're feeling much better now than we were a year ago. 

We opened up Christmas crackers, played some games, and...

...put on our paper crowns. And we actually sang along to Chrissy the Christmas Mouse. 

Christmas Season 2024/2025: The Third Day of Christmas - Krumkake, Barbra, and More

 Friday, December 27, 2024

Nice relaxing morning. Have a mild cold that’s making me feel a bit washed out. Told Dale that today felt like a usual Christmas morning for us. Lounging around in our robes, reading, and getting breakfast for ourselves. I had some krumkake with my morning coffee. 

Dale went to the gym this afternoon but I continued to read, blog, and lounge around. It felt quite good to do so. Not a lot of food in the house due to us being away for a while so I made some macaroni noodles with butter. 

Listened to Barbra Streisand's A Christmas Album this afternoon. Mom didn’t have this one when we were growing up but I picked it up for myself in the mid-80s on cassette tape. Can’t believe I’ve been listening to it for about 40 years now. It was the first time I’d ever heard the lead in for the song White Christmas which is often left off. You know, “The sun is shining, the grass is green, the orange and palm trees sway, there’s never been such a day, in Beverly Hills, L.A. But it’s December the 24th and I’m longing to be up North…” I think it’s included more often now on recent recordings. However up until this version I had never heard it before. Anyway, I was thinking about this intro while in Arizona for Christmas especially since John and Dianne have an orange tree in their back yard. I was surprised how well I did without the cold and the snow this year. Anyway, now we’re back home and there’s a little bit of snow on the ground. It’s raining out now so it’s a little messy looking but I guess ya can’t have it all.

I’m on something of a Barbra roll today since I also listened to her other Christmas collection, Christmas Memories. It’s got quite a few selections that are far from being over-recorded including A Christmas Love Song, Snowbound, Christmas Lullaby, and Christmas Mem’ries all of which I really enjoy listening to. And I love her version of It Must have been the Mistletoe which I find surprising hasn’t been covered more often. 

Watched Meet Me in St. Louis tonight with Dale during dinner. We usually watch this in November to tie together the time between Halloween and Christmas. This is one of my all time favorite films. Dale and I always have so much fun watching and we never seem to tire of it. Notable that the story took place only 40 years prior to the release of the film. Currently it would be 120 years ago!  It would be like making a movie now that took place in the 80s.  In fact I first watched this movie just about 40 years ago with my gay college buddies as a kind of anti-Superbowl party. We watched the movie at my friend Paul's house in the family room. His dad was sweet and kind and gave up the big tv and offered to watch the game in the bedroom. 

I was curious about the house used in the film so I used AI to find out the following information: " The 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis was filmed on a soundstage at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios in Culver City, California. St.  Louis Street: A street lined with Victorian homes built for the film on Lot 3 of the MGM backlot. The. street and the Smith family's house were demolished in 1972. The house was later used in the film Cheaper by the Dozen." I've heard the land was sold and that there are condos there now.

Dale picked up some eggnog for me at the store today. I drank some as we finished the movie after dinner.  

Christmas Season 2024/2025: The Third Day of Christmas - Sylvester the Christmas Cat

Friday, December 27, 2024

Sylvester was so happy to see us when we got home yesterday eveing. I made the following today:

He missed us. 

Christmas Season 2023/2024 - 3rd Day of Christmas: A Charlie Brown Christmas

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

The third day of Christmas.

After my cigar I came inside and made an Old Fashioned. We had left over beef bourguignon for dinner.

        

And pumpkin pie for dessert. 

We watched A Charlie Brown Christmas.

This special is one of my favorites. Dale mentioned that it was his favorite as a kid. I appreciate it for two very specific reasons both of which are things other children's holiday programs won't often touch. One, it acknowledges the angst which can often accompany Christmas. Two, it acknowledges the religious aspect of the holiday. 

Christmas Season 2023/2024 - 3rd Day of Christmas: Cigar Time

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Cooler today than on Christmas Eve but that didn't stop me from heading out to light up not one, but...

                    

...two cigars.

The first was a Romeo y Julieta...

... and the second was a Macanudo.

Listed to some Christmas music too from my own playlists.

Christmas Season 2022/2023 - 3rd Day of Christmas: More Holiday Entertaining

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Spent much of the day in a fatigued state. I took two substantial naps and felt better by the afternoon. We had our neighbors Breanna and Josh along with their kids Bran and Ada over for dinner tonight. We had a very nice time. 

Christmas Season 2022/2023 - 3rd Day of Christmas: The Joe and Noel Post Holiday Shopping Adventure (That Wasn't)

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Noel and I had every intention of hitting some sales today but, alas, it was not to be. I woke up fatigued, slightly nauseous, with a mild headache. I hated to cancel the excursion as it's quite an old tradition. However, Noel found a snowman for me on eBay she thought I might like. It's cute but I'll have to think about it. 

Christmastide 2021/2022 - 3rd Day of Christmas: Article - How Ghost Stories Became A Christmas Tradition In Victorian England

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

How did ghost stories become a tradition in Victorian England and why did the tradition never really catch on in the United States? Click on the link below for an interesting read. 

Link: 

https://www.history.com/news/christmas-tradition-ghost-stories

Christmastide 2021/2022 - 3rd Day of Christmas: Books of the Day

Monday, December 27, 2021

An Amazon order I put in a week or so ago arrived today. A received the books from Seth's A Ghost Story for Christmas series. There are three new ones this year. Today I read The Doll's Ghost by F. Marion Crawford in which the main character has an odd affinity for  dolls. 

Christmastide 2021/2022 - 3rd Day of Christmas: Christmas Season Cigar

Monday, December 27, 2021

Smoked my first cigar of the Christmas Season. Romeo y Julieta. Awesome. Lit up in my upstairs cigar lounge. 

Also noticed I had a little Bloody Mary mix left so I added a little vodka and mixed one up for myself. 

Christmastide 2021/2022 - 3rd Day of Christmas: Waking Up to a Blanket of Snow

Monday, December 27, 2021

The snow that began last evening continued overnight somewhat. I'd say Dale and I woke up to a couple of inches. Didn't take long to shovel it especially with both of us helping out. 

Christmastide 2020: The 3rd Day of Christmas - Odds & Ends

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Although I didn’t get too much done today I had a change to do a bit more decorating (finally got the tree skirt in place), and...

drink some egg nog (splash of rum), and...

eat some gingerbread cookies, and...

listen to more Christmas music (Miss Bette). 

Sometimes not doing much is more than enough. 

Christmastide 2020: The 3rd Day of Christmas - Sometimes Relaxing Isn't Easy

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Dale and I lounged around this morning forEVER! Perfectly lazy day today. That’s not to say that I’d want every vacation day to feel like this one. There’s actually a lot of discomfort involved in this this part of the process of relaxing. After many years of experiencing regular vacations of at least two weeks in length I’ve come to believe that you MUST get to the point of discomfort with unstructured time to say you’re truly starting to relax. It’s the process of going from the extreme of being overextended to the other extreme of having no commitments to remind yourself you actually crave a balance between the two.   It’s a breaking point where clarity can be achieved around what needs to be done to build yourself up again in the ongoing attempt to find equilibrium. 

The Third Day of Christmas - A Day on the Couch

Friday, December 27, 2019

The Third Day of Christmas

A day with nothing planned! I hung around the house all day. 

I got in a lot of reading. Many Christmas books to look at. I've enjoyed re-reading parts of The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater. I appreciate his full embrace of the Christmas season and his desire and effort to create a truly festive atmosphere in his home. 

I also had time to listen to Christmas music including some Bing Crosby. All in all is was a great day of relaxation. Extended time on the couch is what I've needed for a while.