Daily Discussion Thread: Sun 24 Dec 2023

I find this time of year incredibly stressful and am just waiting for it to be over.

I'll be honest with you because I'm a little merry. I go to my mum's house every year because it makes her happy. I eat her roast lunch. I eat her pudding. There will be a day where I'll miss doing that but I'll also be at home eating prawns and pudding and barely leaving the couch. You are not alone. Hugs to you. 🫂
She also says "I fucking hate Christmas".
hugs
Me too. If not for my kids being so excited I'd have given up long ago and spent the day in a hotel or something. MIL and Mr Peeler have never gotten along consistently well and always seem to have a ripping argument on Christmas Eve and I'm the meat in the sandwich, trying to soften things up and focus on the kids not getting upset about it 😕
- Sounds like they need to get liquored up and settle it in a makeshift boxing ring with rellies placing bets /joking
  Or you and the kids can go to a separate area to do another activity and they can just go at it

I was invited to join the lead tenant and his family at a Chrissy do down in Corinella and it sounded like a good idea 2 months ago when I agreed to it, but now I'm doing that whole overthinking and stressing thing that I do well. I don't know that I really want to anymore, it's a long trip away in a teeny tiny car to a place I've never been to meet people I've never met in a situation where everybody else is very familiar with everybody else there, and I'll be the odd one out

I'll definitely be going, I'm not going to cancel this late, but I'm just nervous about it and also wondering why the fuck I signed up to go do something on like the only day of the year I don't have to do anything

Tell us how it went after, you never know... Sometimes our gut is right, sometimes these stressful and dreaded events can turn out to be a lot better than expected and change our brain wiring :D at the very least, you'll see a very different and lovely part of Vic that you wouldn't be able to go to otherwise.
Corinella is nice. Give a wave as you go through Tooradin! 👋
- It is a beautiful part of the world. I think I've stopped in Tooradin a couple of times too - also a nice part of the world

🌲>>>>🎄

It begins. Merry Christmas DT

The christmas tree made it to work in one piece. And I was able to separate the biscuits out to eat, so I am declaring the Christmas Cookie Tree a complete success. Much of it has already been eaten 😁

Getting in early as I'll be flat chat tomorrow... Hope everyone is safe and healthy and either has a great day tomorrow, or is able to get through the day and make it to the next one. Much love.

If you're inclined, this station from somafm is good to have on in the background....

Christmas Lounge

Good stuff. I was sitting here ignoring the last of the cleaning drinking a beer and listening to Hendrix. Just thinking that it's nearly time for Christmas tooons. Have a great one. Stay safe and go gently.
To add to that every year on Christmas day Smooth fm 91.5 play Christmas songs all day. The same songs play over and over but still.

Arsehole ex landlord has not let out house yet. Went to neighbour's bleating aww i don't know why they moved, aww they shoulda put in an offer i woulda sold, awww the agent told me none of this

Thing is, said neighbour is the tree-swinging little old indian dude. Who i've basically been the surrogate daughter to for the past decade. And knows every intimate detail of how it actually went down.

Suffice to say, Don was pissed and that narrative-spinning conversation did not go as hoped.

Very satisfying coda to the saga of the shitty ex-landbastard. Surprising he can't let out a whole house in a good area in this housing crisis! Mayhaps it wasn't fit to be rented out...?
- I propose..
  Landbasturd
- He can't. The roof issue means it fails minimum standards - as officially stated by a CAV building inspector - and has already been flagged with VCAT as such. He's gotta do those repairs we were on his arse for for fourteen fucking years first
Merry Xmas! 🎄
E: that was aimed at Almut’s post, but merry Xmas to you, too! Also, nothing like a bit of cold revenge on a nasty landlord, either

I was today days old when I learned why Die Hard is an xmas movie...

Somehow I'd completely blanked out the entire massive chunks of the movie that reference xmas and only remembered Alan Rickman, and Bruce Willis crawling in vents

Lord of the Rings is the Christmas movie
😂😂😂 @ both you
Now I have a machine gun Ho Ho Ho!
Die hard is always a fond Xmas movie for me. Disappointed it’s not on tonight.

Every Christmas my aim is to do less and less. This year I have out done myself. I make no apologies. Now could someone please wrap these 3 gifts that I forgot to buy gift bags for.

I bought 4 random gifts (big fancy gingerbread candles) and I'm so disinterested in wrapping them, I'm just going to put one of those stick-on ribbon things on the top. They come in fancy Christmas themed boxes anyway so screw it.
- Whoever invented the gift bag was a genius.

Dammit, forgot to inflict my Christmas Adam joke on yesterday's thread.

:::Comes before Christmas Eve:::

Why can't Eve come first?
- Because Adam is a very selfish lover. It's why they got kicked outta paradise
grone

Dearest Santa, if you read this could I please get a new fence cos the one I have is hanging by a thread and it may not last much longer. I don't wanna see the neighbour's putrid yard. I've been good I promise. Love CEO. oxoxox.

Prawns are in the fridge, pork is wrap up for an overnight dry out, beer has been opened!

So on a final festive note I will say, Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays or neither and all at once to the DT! I hope your pants stretch out comfortably, that one weird family member doesn't approach you, may no spikey seafood stab you, and if you want the day just to end may it do so swiftly.

xmas dinner with my daughter's relos tomorrow is potentially fraught

I feel like a pilgrim in an unholy land

Here! coughs Take this! It's not covid but might be enough to get you out of that.

I have managed to make my summer pudding without turning the kitchen into a crime scene, so that's a win. Bit of lunch, then off to pick up seafood, then all my Christmasly duties are done and I can curl up with a book.

oohh what's a summer pudding??
- It involves bread, berries, and sugar syrup. The bread soaks in all the berry juice & syrup overnight to turn into a gorgeous spongy mush. I use defrosted frozen berries for extra juice, so it can get messy.

I NEED THE BOM WALL OF YELLOW AND RED TO HIT ME.. HIT ME GODDAMIT.

Come to Ballarat. It's been pissing down cold rain for a while now

The storm has arrived in Melton. It'll be heading to the rest of most of you soon.

I can confirm that.
- BOOM!!!
I am nervous for my garden. It it damaging rain, or just lot of rain?
- It's bucketing down but usually these things ease to a steady down pour.
Tiz doozy. Hasn't reached Thornbury yet. Have gone around the house and closed all the windows in anticipation of the big event.
Nothing where I am yet but should hit me anytime now.
Nah you can keep your shitty weather. If I wanted winter weather at Christmas I'd go visit family in the USA.

Just some basic cleaning to do, will put up tree, then the christmas cooking commences. I'll be doing a big loaf of olive bread, a few dozen iced shortbread biscuits and double amount waldorf salad. 😊

For the resident lazy bum, I managed to squeeze every last bit out of today’s glorious sun.

And also got blasted by sand in Port Melbourne.

Our weather, right?

I’ve seen some ridiculous footwear choices in this gym. But none more so than this guy who is currently walking barefoot around the gym. Isn’t that an OH&S issue? Also, it’s gross.

Tinea toes. Ewwww 🤮
I normally squat/deadlift in socks but sometimes my socks are too slippery for the platforms so I need to take them off and i'm too lazy to put them back on in-between sets if I need to grab some water. They do however stay on for every other exercise!
- This person was using upper body machines. If they were squatting/deadlifting I would have been more forgiving!

Breakfast 🍏🍎🍐🍊🍋🍈🫐🍓🍇🍉🍌🍒🍑🥭🍍🥥🥦🥑🫛🍆🍅🥝🥬🥒🌽🥕🥐🍠🫚🥔🧅🥯🍞🥖🥨🧀🧇🥞🧈🍳🥚🥓🥩🍗🍖🫓🍕🍟🍔🌭🥙🧆🌮🌯🥗🍲🍜🍝🥘🍛🍣🍱🥟🦪🍥🍘🍚🍙🐠🍤🪼🦀🐙 🍗🥮🍢🍡🍧🍰🧁🥧🍦🍨🎂🍮🍭🍬🍫🥜🌰🍪🍿🍯🥛☕️🍵🍺🍶🥤🧋🧃🥂🍷🥃🍸🍹🧉🔋

If it's not too much trouble may I have a seafood platter and a bit of meat for my dog.
- 🦐🦞🦀🪼🐙🦑🐡
  🦵
One humungous fatty burrito please
- 🌯
Steak, eggs, grilled tomato and a hash brown with lots of tea please.
- 🥩🍳🍳🍅🥔☕️🫖🫖🫖🫖🫖🫖
5oz broth and a celery stick please
- 🍯🎋

Hot Cross Buns reported in Queensland. What the fuck is a seasonal treat anyway?

😨
Aldi just gave up and sells them year-round.

i'm just chilling here because minus tomorrow's Christmas texts, I've already completed my Christmas activities

I'm about to play trivia where I get every question wrong because I sampled the chardonnay.
- Just don’t make any unnecessary wagers like you did last night and you’ll be fine.
- Hoddle Grid

I accidentally typed reindeer as raindeer, and that does seem like a more appropriate spelling tonight.

Rudolph, who was teased until his disability made him useful.
Vixen, the sexiest of the reindeer.

aunt marge not missing christmas huh

Just had a look at the radar - some beaut little storms coming in from the top left hand corner. Not going out again today just in case.
- Le BOM said the beauts will be around for another two days
- I'm just hoping it holds off until I get home from work and get the dog walked. And then I'm hoping I don't get stuck driving through it tomorrow.

Merry Yule everybody!
OK, so I'm a minute early.

I have hiccups :( I love you all merry xmas.

Same to you B. Racer.

Got some Christmas lights in the yard and wrote cards for everyone at work, that's as far as I've gotten with Christmas this year. Still enjoying the season and am happy to be spending tomorrow with the boyfriend's family for lunch before indulging in my own tradition of mac n cheese in my jamis... if the house survives the night and we don't even up in Oz!

Hope you're all having a delightful evening!

She's pissing down now. Sorry for all those with tin roofs.

Hmmmm. So that Christmas Eve after the kids go to bed set up of the outdoor based present for the kids might be a bit tricky
Edit. It's been abandoned, currently sketching and colouring a descriptive note ....still feel like a Grinch
- I am thanking the lord above that I don't have anything to assemble this year. The swimming pool last year nearly killed me!
still waiting for mine so i can get the free car wash
- Quick run out and soap it because it's coming.

I thought I was on top of everything, but I decided to leave making the cheesecake until today, but now I've realised we don't have the right kind of pan. Recipe calls for a 22cm round spring form, we don't even have any round pans, let alone a spring form one :/

We also only have baking trays (like what you'd make cookies on), so I can't even substitute it for a rectangle or square pan

The only thing I can think of is we have cupcake trays, so I'm wondering if I should try to make cheesecake cupcakes instead. I realllllllly don't want to have to venture on the bus down to Kmart

Cupcake cheesecakes will be madly delicious. Just use a packet biscuit of some sort on the bottom and fill up the cupcake with the cheesecake mixture and set overnight in the fridge. As per @CEOofmyhouse56@aussie.zone 's recipie from a few weeks back. Might help to line the cupcake tray with clingfilm to make getting them out of the tray easier. That is, grease the cupcake tray, then put the clingfilm on loosely and poke it into the holes until it's tight up against the sides. Or use paper cupcake cases if you have these available. Easy to serve too - one each. Maybe put some berries or jam on the top of each one for fancy.
- Spot on.
- Thanks for the tips. Apparently we did have a circle cake pan hidden away so we used that. Before I was told about it, I had actually greased up the tin with butter and used baking paper rather than glad wrap. Unfortunately we realised that the base on the one we were making was too thick (I was following a rocky road cheesecake recipe) and even spread as thinly as possible it still took up 3 quarters of the (very shallow) cupcake tray
  It's all good now though. I'll post a pic in today's dt
Cup cake cheescakes are awesome .
- I've never tried one, but it looks like tomorrow's going to be the day I do....
  At least it'll save me from a sugar induced coma though 😂
Kmart, woolies etc are open until 10pm in most locations.
$7 for this https://www.kmart.com.au/product/23cm-springform-cake-tin-43153312/
- My old Melbourne Kmart was 24hr. I wonder whether it stayed open for Christmas?
  Edit: just looked them up - no longer 24hr. Can't say I'm too surprised, I always wondered who would visit Kmart at 3am and why. They're open 8-Midnight these days. And yes, they close at 10pm tonight.
- My Kmart is open til 8 (which was like an hour after I posted that), and I don't have a car so it would've been a walk, bus, and another walk

I for one am liking this rainy Christmas Eve. Feels like I could be overseas having a winter Christmas. Also having the oven going tonight was not sweaty work. I did want to go look at Christmas lights tho, not going to happen.

Yeah I am sitting here having finished all my jobs. Glass of wine. Window open listening to the rain. I feel more peaceful then I have for months.

Home Alone done, Die Hard on now.

Stuffed full of cheese and about to down some doughnuts.

Dinner of champions. 😂

I'm on my 4th vrsion of a christmas carol and eating shortbread

♡ ´･ᴗ･ `♡

Instead of a White Christmas, it's looking to be a Wet Christmas instead.

I've got a sore throat and am feeling a bit stressed out... I probably won't go to Christmas at my sisters. Maybe just send Merry Xmas texts. Lemmy gets to deal with me instead.

I finished a practice piece, challenging myself to just do the work and not get it perfect (ie get bogged down). It is done and I learned a lot on a couple of skills I set out to practice but I still hate it in another way. Also it was digital not traditional so I worry that I'm just taking shortcuts rather than training muscle memory and learning properly.

Sometimes the lurge is lurge, sometimes its your body externalising mental stress. Listen to the lurge and rest.
- I think it's both.

Christmas pudding icecream made, roast turkey done and carved and carefully stored, last of the presents wrapped, arguments between the other adults in the house mediated. Tablets taken for sudden migraine caused by the arguing. Minipeelers and I went to bed, a little subdued and somewhat downhearted about the arguing. Could they not even have one Christmas without it? Just for a change? Just once?

The Minipeelers really got involved in the food prep this year and I enjoyed sharing my knowledge with them. A treasured family member who lives at the end of our street came to visit in the afternoon, which I thought worthy of cracking open the Bailey's Tiramisu I received as a gift from a colleague. Bloody nice, so smooth.

There is a bird on a nest just outside my loungeroom window and there is a baby bird. It's only a blackbird, but they're not a problem in my yard and far from pestiferous. I find myself hoping they're ok in all this rain, and worrying about them a bit.

A lot to unpack here. Tell me all about the Christmas pudding. Slowly in detail. Don't skip anything. I need to imagine things.
- You get your favourite rich creamy vanilla icecream (I like Streets Blue Ribbon) and any dark fruitcake or rich Christmas cake or pudding you like (has to be a dark style of cake, rich and fragrant). You break up the cake/pudding and crumble it up as best you can while allowing an equal amount of icecream to soften slightly. You then mix them with a fork until well combined. You have to take another bowl the appropriate size for the quantity you're making and line it with cling wrap (I've got a favourite ceramic mixing bowl that's kind of pudding shaped that I always use). Spread the icecream mixture out as flat as you can into the bowl and freeze until ready to use. When ready to serve, take the bowl out of the freezer, allow to sit for a moment, then invert onto a serving plate, remove all plastic and cut into slices. It became a tradition at Christmas time after too much dithering and debate (and a couple of doses of awful cheap clearance microwave puddings MIL got from NQR) about whether we should bother with Christmas pudding at all. The kids aren't huge Christmas pudding fans, MIL can't be bothered, Mr P insists on a sweet and I like tradition with a twist. This way everyone gets what they want.
I think there needs to be a conversation with one or both of them about the arguing, because it's just rude to ruin the day for everyone else. Especially every year. Buttt... I'm aware some people who are unaware or uncaring enough to do this stuff will only double down and make it even harder on you for having tried to have the conversation/set a limit. So then you're left with the original problem plus being punished with passive aggressive butthurt.
A more subtle way might be in order.
It could be that there's a blanket rule about not arguing at the dinner table (make sure others back you up). And there's conveniently some post meal activities for you and the kids to remove yourselves to if they start beefing. A Christmas movie is a good one because it's obviously gonna be rude to argue during a movie. Or perhaps you and the kids 'found the meal a bit heavy and need a post prandial walk'.
They're adults. They choose to get into conflict. It's not your job to mediate and make things easier for them. It's not your problem. Your duty of care is to yourself and your children.
I have no idea who the instigator is (or if it's both) but I'll leave you with this. https://community.babycenter.com/post/a73920524/dont-rock-the-boat

I've made a boo boo. I bought Chardonnay to have with limoncello but I've realised it's pinot noir which if not mistaken is red bubbles. I do have lemon, lime and bitters mineral water so I could just use that instead.

Hrmm pinot shouldn't be bubbles.
Still drink it though with limoncello for science :)
- Yeah fuck it I'm gonna do it! After all it does say it has citrus notes so that's good enough for me.
Pinot can be white bubbles, tastes a bit like cashews. The noir bit would mean red though.
- All I saw was the green bottle and the gold covered cork and went yep bubbles. Luckily for me it's Aldi's award winning top shelf fizz so I should be alright.
  What's the worst that can happen? An atrocious colour. Meh.

It's rained 33mm so far and is 11C feels like 1C here in Ballarat. I think that's enough, surely. Alas, no. And I didn't bring any warm socks. Stoopid...

Ballarat pulled a swifty on me in Jan when it somehow went from 35+ to 10C within a couple of days and I had no winter clothes. Because it was bloody January. I'm treating all future trips there as though it's the middle of winter and packing accordingly, even if I'm just popping in for an hour.
It does get a little chilly there in Ballarat. Always bring a jumper.

First batch of shortbread is in the oven. Bread is rising. Xmas tree is up. :)

Don’t jinx us!!

I used to record short clips of me singing Christmas songs each day in December in the lead up to Christmas and send them to a bunch of my friends over Facebook Messenger for a laugh. I called this event my Bradvent Calendar.

This weather is reminding me of the first year I did it, 2017. This was the second Bradvent Calendar clip I ever made which I recorded while it was piiiiishing down rain. It flooded pretty bad that year.

http://sndup.net/r9s4

You can hold a note!

does anybody have any experience with massage guns? Could you recommend any good ones?

I need it specifically for knee pain (relieve ITB muscles) and also calf muscles for my Achilles Tendonitis 😩

I got this one off catch, works damned well. Has an achilles specific attachment. I use it for beating on my meniscus
Surprisingly, ones from eBay hold up pretty well. I have 3 and have not had an issue with any of them. If you’re testing any in person, like at the shopping centre stands, turn them up and press them with some force against yourself. If the motor chokes a little, that means the quality isn’t quite there.
But most friends I’ve known who’ve bought various brands have not had any issues with ones up to $100. Also just be mindful of where you press. Hitting areas of inflammation (burning/electrical feeling) can aggravate the area.
Edit: Also, make sure you have a good knee strengthening routine. A lot of good free information out there.

Fallout 3 GOTY free on epic. Daily freebies for xmas.

Watched The Holdovers last night. Now that was a good film and an Xmas one no less. Aside from the setting and characters feeling very authentic, the film's writing and direction really had the solid and unpretentious feel of films from the 70s. It's a slow burn and there's no jawdropping twists or anything, but the characters felt so real. And there's no pat, easy endings either.

My back neighbours are having a Christmas Eve rager. They’re drunk singing “simply the best” at the moment.

Limoncello is some poignant stuff. So many possibilities.

- I'm having a blast. Luckily I'm not driving tomorrow.
I've been curious about this stuff lately. My Italian boss said he'd bring some homemade stuff into work sometime. Apparently his family have been making it for a long time.
- Refreshing. It won't be the first time I buy this stuff at 25% alcohol. Whoa.

Hooray wall of rain.

tm will be better.

We will miss this over the next decade.

Anyone else watching Carols By Candlelight? It used to be a family tradition but it’s getting steadily worse and worse every year.

True facts. Carols by candlelight started in Melbourne in 1938 after some dude (can't remember his name) saw a woman in the window singing Away In A Manger by candlelight in 1937. The next year he got the neighbourhood together to sing in the park. Awww.
I used to love it so much, but it's become some overly sponsored commmericalised crap that I just can't be bothered :( instead I'm thinking of watching the X Files Christmas episode with the ghosts because why not.
I don't think it is possible for it to have been getting worse every year for the length of time people have been saying this. I've been hearing this for at least 30 years, I can only assume that it is people's nostalgia that gives the past a warm glow rather than the show itself deteriorating.
For the last few years, I've done the Cambridge option. https://youtu.be/A5LNpKdgig8?si=0sJHEOD6e7ydvRjo
Doesn't even need to be the current year. It's the classic, beautiful choir carols that I remember from my youth.

Potatoes are prepped for tomorrow, which is my contribution to Christmas dinner done.

I tried to interest Miss Meow in the festive season, however as a black cat who is still rather fond of her Halloween house she has decided to continue with her Halloween celebrations indefinitely instead.

Mr Woof has declared that if some fat guy and a herd of raindeers land on the roof he will be barking them on their way just like he does with the possums, so I don't think he can be said to be getting into the spirit of Christmas either.

I guess experiencing the joy and magic of Christmas through your children's eyes does not really work with fur kids.

Miss Meow might be interested if you allow her to re-assume her Yule Cat duties.
- I believe her lack of teeth disqualifies her from that role, as she would be unable to eat the Naughty children.

oh noes , it's the giant Ted Cat. Just look at how huge he is compared to that normal size Christmas Tree. 🐈🌲😱😱😱

It's like that episode of The Goodies with the kitten destroying the city!
- Kitten Kong grr grr stomp stomp 🤭

Batteries - purchased, along with stuff I sorta needed but didn't want to make a trip solely for. Tree - up with large lights after the original ones failed. Last batch of chocs - made. Loungeroom - to be tidied after I have a breather. Decorating - will be done tonight as is traditional chez ours. Hoping you're having a good one, DT.

People are putting up trees today? I'm sure I saw someone else make a similar comment. We always put ours up the first week of December.

You too can have a White Christmas

Current obsession: Mik conversion on bike and purchase of fuckoff huge crates for tinnie trucking to the CDS

You all remember that beautiful Snowman Christmas cartoon with David Bowie? This isn't it . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yZOab5gl-4 This isn't the sequel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8WBStu4STY

Watch for all the Scottish icons.

now i want one but the shops are closed tomorrow

My fifth A Christmas Carol for today. This one with Jim Carrey.