Who had the best Christmas?

[GMichael]

OK, let the stories begin.. How was your Christmas? What did you do? Where did you go? Who did you visit?

Mine was very nice. It was our first Christmas in our new home. Christmas eve, my parents came over, and after lunch we spent the rest of the day baking Bernd's wonderful tarts and watching football. (Man, those Giants are fantastic!)
Yesterday we made the rounds to family & friends. 6 stops in 8 hours. Parents, grandma, wifey's cousin, my God daughter, my niece & nephew, lots of friends and lots of children. I did get in some trouble though. Wifey pulls out her new camera to start taking pics and it wouldn't work. A cold shiver came over me as I remembered that I had taken the memory out to post pics of the tart. Whoops. But Honey only reminded me 3 or 4 (hundred) times during the day. Oh well, it was a good time anyhow.
So who had fun this weekend also? I know that mine seems kinda simple, but hey, that's me. I loved it.
Who's up for sharing stories?

Edit: Oh yeah, almost forgot. Wifey got me the best gift of all. Cash towards the speakers I want! All I need are 3 more Christmases and I'm in.

[basite]

Edit: Oh yeah, almost forgot. Wifey got me the best gift of all. Cash towards the speakers I want! All I need are 3 more Christmases and I'm in.


you mean money for the mini's? then i hope there are alot of christmases this year, because i think (really, i think, i'm not sure) that the special offer only goes to 27 january or something like that, but anyways,
X-mas...

well, me (and my brother and my parents) went to the rest of the family, and there we had a "family party", it was nice, food was good too, we made the dessert (we're famous for desserts you know, but no, we didn't make Bernd's tart) and we got some money, and a little present, and in a few days there will probably be a new year's family party.


Greetings,
Bert.

[GMichael]

you mean money for the mini's? then i hope there are alot of christmases this year, because i think (really, i think, i'm not sure) that the special offer only goes to 27 january or something like that, but anyways,

Greetings,
Bert.

January 1, 2007 :sad:

The best things come to those who wait.:idea:
Screw that! I want them now! NOW I TELLS YA!:mad2:

Whoops, sorry, lost my head for a bit. A merry Christmas to all.

[Bernd]

Still at it. A quick breather between visitors. Roast Goose with the family yesterday and leg of lamb with friends today.
Over and out. Update tomorrow.

Peace

Bernd :16:

[bobsticks]

Early afternoon hours spent at several gatherings AWAY from my place (horrible memories from last year's cleanup still linger). Finally gave away gifts purchased as long as five months ago, so my closets are emptier and all were genuinely well received.

My Grandmother remembered me, which sounds a lot funnier than it is under the circumstances.

I ran into my buddy Shawn fresh stateside from a year in Iraq. He got back at 4:00 a.m. on the morning of the 24th and was supposed to report for several days of debriefing until a rather humane General decided that his unit could wait until after the holidays. You can agree or oppose the war itself, but in my house everybody shows respect to soldiers. After a few stories (and beverages) I suddenly felt like my problems were pretty trivial.

The evening was spent cooking for my new little friend, the lovely and talented Kara, of whom I'll say nohing except that she's invited back.

For the record, unlike Bernd I've never acquired a skill for baking but I've got some game on a grill. The menu: homemade pumpkin soup, asparagus and seared peppers, garlic mashed potatos and baked escalore with an orange truffle sauce. I almost made my trademark Smoked Mushroom Soup, but Kara wasn't ready for it.



Cheers and continued happiness to all

[ForeverAutumn]

A quiet but lovely Christmas for me. Hubby and I got up around 9:00am. We lit a nice fire in the woodstove, made a pot of coffee, and sat around watching Christmas videos on TV and enjoying each others company until we could stand the suspense no longer and dove into the gifts that we bought for each other.

Then we made a nice breakfast which included Blueberry pancakes with fresh blueberry's (a real treat this time of year) and our Christmas tradition of aged cheddar. This year I went with a very nice 3-yr-old...not too sharp.

Afterwards, we relaxed and watched A Christmas Story, while I threw together a batch of my famous Eggnog Cookies to take to my Mother-in-Law's along with Bernd's tart. Which, by the way, was FANTASTIC!

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with my Husband's family, gorging on turkey and exchanging gifts. Christmas at his Mom's house is a quiet affair. There are only 7 of us and no kids (I'm the youngest one there). But it's nice to spend the evening with his family as we only do that a few times a year, at Easter, Thankgiving and Christmas.

[KaiWinters]

Probably one of my best Christmas' ever.
Both children came home to spend a few days with us.
We are all well with nothing but trivial complaints.

We hosted a Christmas party on the 23rd, our second one since moving to northern NY and it seems to have become a tradition, and had close to 50 family members. Some had come from all over the country to be back home for Christmas making it extra special. We have a new batch of babies a few of our nieces and nephews...did I mention my wife is one of 15 children all of whom are alive and well with kids all over the place. We were "between" babies in the family but over the past 2 years it has been baby making time.
The party was a huge success and plenty of leftover goodies to snack on later. LOL we "regifted" some rather unsuccessful pastries to my sister-in-laws home last night. We were invited over for desert and brought the "interesting" pastries that no one claimed as their own. She immediately recognized them and decried us as regifters. I challenged her to a feat of strength under Festivus rules. She handily beat me. We decided to try to regift the pastries next year hehehe.

Christmas eve was spent quietly with my wife and our 2 children, 19 and 21 son/daughter. We decorated the tree, my daughter request we wait until her arrival because she missed decorating the tree with us, listened to Christmas music and went to mass.

Christmas day was great fun. We traditionally do not make it a huge gift giving occasion but enjoy the gifts and togetherness.
We had Christmas dinner at our house, just the four of us. A lovely standing rib roast, baked potatoes, vegetables, Asiago cheese bread and Sirius wine. Wonderful meal and a wonderful time. We see our children 3 or 4 times per year as we can and it is wonderful to be with them, that is the best Christmas gift of all.

[dean_martin]

Two highlights for me this year - talking the wife into opening one of her gifts from me on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day so she could wear it out to visit family. I knew 2 things going in: 1) she would resist opening anything early and 2) she would not be happy with anything in her closet when it came time to get ready to visit family on Christmas Eve. When she started asking me how she looked in this and should she wear that, it was time to give her the jacket and top from under the tree. She loved them and I was her hero for the night!

Our last visit on Christmas Eve was with my brother and his wife. We had some excellent wine from Argentina that had arrived by way of a friend of my sister-in-law who had just returned from there and my brother (the UCLA drama major) entertained us with stories from our childhood. One story in particular had us all gasping for air we were laughing so hard. About a dozen of my relatives on my mom's side of the family rented a 15-passenger van and drove out west to visit Colorado and Arizona. I didn't make the trip, but my brother did. When he re-enacted the "fight" that broke out between my crazy uncle and my stubborn grandad, I laughed harder than I had all year.

P.S. - how did I miss the recipe for Bernd's Tart? Did he post it? Where did he post it? Someone help me out here, please!

[GMichael]

Here ya go Dean. It's post number 37. http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=20727&page=2 You'll love it.

Glad you had a nice Christmas.

[dean_martin]

Here ya go Dean. It's post number 37. http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=20727&page=2 You'll love it.

Glad you had a nice Christmas.

Thanks, GM. I need to try Bernd's hot chocolate, too! I checked out that thread early on and meant to come back to it, but I guess I got too busy.

Congrats on your first Christmas in your new home!

[Bernd]

Sounds like a nice christmas was had by many. Same here. Lots of nice food and drink. Enjoyed the company of family and friends.
Two puppies went to their new homes over the period and the remaining ones will go on Jan 2nd.
Present wise I finaly got my CD Lathe from Santa. What a tweak that is.

Peace

Bernd:16:

[ForeverAutumn]

Sounds like a nice christmas was had by many. Same here. Lots of nice food and drink. Enjoyed the company of family and friends.
Two puppies went to their new homes over the period and the remaining ones will go on Jan 2nd.
Present wise I finaly got my CD Lathe from Santa. What a tweak that is.

Peace

Bernd:16:

It must be hard to see the puppies go. Do you become attached to them over the first weeks?

Forgive my ignorance, but what the heck is a CD Lathe?

[GMichael]

Forgive my ignorance, but what the heck is a CD Lathe?

Thank you FA. I was wondering if I was the only person who had no idea what that was.
Here is what I found on my search for the answer.
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0603/audiodesk.htm

[ForeverAutumn]

Thank you FA. I was wondering if I was the only person who had no idea what that was.
Here is what I found on my search for the answer.
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0603/audiodesk.htm

Well that's just wacky! Thanks for the link GM...an interesting read.

Bernd, you'll have to let us know whether you really hear the difference.

[Bernd]

Hi guys,

Yeah, it can be tough to let the puppies go to their new homes. Hopefully we will have done our homework well and the new owners are decent and kind people.

Now to the CD Lathe.

First off I think you will have to hear the end result to believe what it does, as the results are far from subtle and readily repeatable to anyone who cares to listen.
This lathe trims the edge of the disc, delivering the preferred angle and perfect concentricity in a single operation. Hence your CDP's correction needs to work less hard. Music becomes cleaner, clearer and better focused, with greater separation of instruments and a greater sense of the space around them. Gone is the digital hash.
I have trimmed 5 discs so far (my trusted audition discs). Listening to these I have developed a permagrin. I even went out today and bought another copy of one of the discs to compare. I can hear a distinct improvement on the treated one.
I am going to be busy shaving CDs.

Peace

Bernd:16:

[Florian]

My Christmass sucked, i had a fight with my stepdad and left home to end the day listening to pipe organ music on the Grand.

-Flo

[JohnMichael]

I am with Flo, Christmas sucked! Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. Well shame on me. I have to stop believing and trusting people.

Bernd congrats on the cd lathe. For me it was one of those tweaks that made sense.

[ForeverAutumn]

I am with Flo, Christmas sucked! Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. Well shame on me. I have to stop believing and trusting people.


Oh, that sounds baaaaaad. :nonod: Especially coming from the guy who, just a short while ago, alluded to how great everything was. Man, you don't have to spill the details but let me say that if things are as grim as that little statement above makes them sound, then I hope that things look up for you real soon.

[JohnMichael]

Oh, that sounds baaaaaad. :nonod: Especially coming from the guy who, just a short while ago, alluded to how great everything was. Man, you don't have to spill the details but let me say that if things are as grim as that little statement above makes them sound, then I hope that things look up for you real soon.



It was very bad. Someone I cared about for a number of years, over 10, came back into my life. This time it was going to work. I was told to have a leap of faith. We had been planning this over time and distance. I "waited" for him and spoke of him as my partner. We had great hopes and dreams. Six weeks into our new attempt I was told by my S.O. that he was using again. He called and dropped that news and said "sorry how things worked out". I have no idea of where he is or if he is safe. Of course I can no longer be involved. I gave as much support as I could but his demon's won out.

[GMichael]

Sorry to hear about your Christmas Flo. Everyone fights. It sucks that it was on Christmas though.

John, I just don't know what to say. You deserve better. I know that you will pick up the pieces and move on, but that's a tough pill to take any time of year. Sometimes it's the people you give the most to who keep taking.

[ForeverAutumn]

It was very bad. Someone I cared about for a number of years, over 10, came back into my life. This time it was going to work. I was told to have a leap of faith. We had been planning this over time and distance. I "waited" for him and spoke of him as my partner. We had great hopes and dreams. Six weeks into our new attempt I was told by my S.O. that he was using again. He called and dropped that news and said "sorry how things worked out". I have no idea of where he is or if he is safe. Of course I can no longer be involved. I gave as much support as I could but his demon's won out.

That someone would treat you that way does suck. Your last two sentences tell me that you're going to be just fine once the shock of this wears off. Don't let his demon's become your's by turning you into a cynic. He doesn't deserve to have that kind of power over you.

I know that it's sometimes difficult to believe but, there are so many more good people in the world than there are bad ones. Don't cut yourself off from meeting those good people.
There are people who care about you, even though they've never met you :wink5:. That's how good, and how deserving of good, you are.

[Bernd]

Sorry to hear about the christmas upheavel of felow AR friends.
John, I haven't got the words. Just know that you have friends on here who do care about you. Like FA said, even though we've never met, we need to treasure the decent ones. You certainly qualify for that.
And yes the CD lathe makes a lot of sense. Just as an example. A blues disc played great on tracks 1-9, however tracks 10-14 had some dreadful HF distortion. Unlistenable. It now plays perfectly.:yesnod: Before the shaving the disc was almost eggshape.:mad:
Here's to 2007 and may it only bring peace, love and happiness to you friends.

Peace

Bernd:23:

[basite]

sorry to hear about the bad christmas Flo & John, hope this doesn't happen again...

my christmas was reasonably fun (as seen in my previous post) but santa came late, but now he came and he brought me 2 very nice (and very small) presents...


Greetings,
Bert.

[GMichael]

he came and he brought me 2 very nice (and very small) presents...


Greetings,
Bert.

2 Fillipino girls? :18:

[basite]

no,
see here for more info:

http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=20975


Greetings,
Bert.

[JohnMichael]

Thank you GMichael, Forever Autumn, Bernd and basite for kind words and support. I am lucky that I have several very good long term friends and of course my friends here with whom to share things. I have always been lucky with friends and unlucky in relationships. If you lined up 10 people and 9 were normal and 1 had problems guess who I would choose? I used to call myself the loser/abuser magnet.

[emorphien]

My Christmas was... interesting. I got to see family, and we were all together so that was good but there was some odd family news that I won't get in to hear.

I did on the other hand get the money to pay for speakers even though I didn't need it. So that is nice anyway! I thought about using that to double my speaker budget but I don't find that to be a particularly prudent thing to do right now.