CHRISTMAS PAH!!!!

[kaponium]

CHRISTMAS PAH!!!!

Hi Lila!!! Just LOVE being shallow in recovery, you see....I used to be SOOOOO serious and "fakely" pious, you know...to be honest my favourite haunts are the opportunity/charity stores - by God I love shopping!!! No tv shopping for Kaperoony! LOL. You'd be welcome to join me ANY time. Of course, expeditions must have frequent GOOD coffee pit-stops!

[Lila]

CHRISTMAS PAH!!!!

I just bought a Miss Sixty coat really cheap...it was an early Xmas gift for "number one" ha ha!!! It is adorable, white and puffy with a big puffy collar. It was at a store that buys stuff other stores can't sell, what a lovely day!
I know what you mean, it is liberating to be like, well, I don't care, but I do want to shop...

[kaponium]

CHRISTMAS PAH!!!!

:goodjob:Sounds GORGEOUS!! I scored some excellent pink vinyl-like trou recently! I live in llike a one-horse hick town, but that simply does NOT stop me wearing them!! So much fun. Love being sober and caring what I wear. When I was drinking, I didn't really care, tho I thought I did.....Blissful frivolity in sobriety!

[Lila]

CHRISTMAS PAH!!!!

that sounds great...I decided I was a special, and wasn't going to wear ordinary clothes all the time, but I am not that daring...yet! Still, I can get designer clothes for less if I dig a little!

[kaponium]

CHRISTMAS PAH!!!!

We deserve it!! When I think of the ludicrous amounts i spent on alcohol....What's your time zone, Lila. It's nice to be in touch - it is 6.20pm Thursday here

[Lila]

CHRISTMAS PAH!!!!

it is 11:20pm Wednesday evening - you are Thurs already?? I have to get to bed...yes, it has been great talking to you!

[kaponium]

CHRISTMAS PAH!!!!

Great to talk to you, too. Sleep well, Lila...see you again soon

[southernbelle47]

CHRISTMAS PAH!!!!

Ahhhhhhhh
T J Maxx...................where you don't have to pay full price!
And CHRISTmas..........instead of xmas............makes a difference........who the heck is X???????
OK though.........let's give all year.........
BTW...children spell love...........TIME...........it's free and the best gift of all........

[maddiva]

CHRISTMAS PAH!!!!

major waffle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!: H or ramblings whichever part of the ocean you are from AND MY HIPPIE IT IS A GOOD OLD RANT!!!!! GOOD FOR YOU COS EXPRESSION IS BETTER OUT THAN IN..........................TOTALLY UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU ARE COMING FROM. HOWEVER........................................... ........


Before having kids I was a 'bah humbug' person!!!! Only started when I had kids. Then in November 1999 my seven year old got encephalitis (inflammation of the brain due to a viral infection). He had such severe symptoms that he was paralysed, could not speak, move and was left with just his breathing. He was transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital from the local one as he was 'not responding to treatment'. It was 23rd December when he was transferred to this hospital. We were given a room in a house with other parents of very seriously ill children - with the dreaded phone placed centrally between the beds. My son was baptised in hospital, as it was touch and go. He was due to stay in Great Ormond Street over the Christmas period. So when he went for his tests, I found the chapel and sat there alone, crying and asking 'this god' - 'why??'. 'I promise God, I will be good'. Shortly after being baptised and when the correct medication was given he sat up in his bed and began to respond. On Christmas Eve my son was sent back to our local hospital via an ambulance through the bustling streets of London. I went back down to the chapel to say 'thank you'. Carol singers stood at the end of his bed and whilst very 'intimidating and intense' was at the same time very moving. Santa Claus came to hospital on Christmas day and all the children were so happy. On Christmas Day, my beautiful son Ryan (I shall tell you his name) took his first steps. From then on he began the slow walk to recovery. On Christmas Day night I was with a few parents as we heard the medical team fighting to save the life of a little boy who had stopped breathing. Very sobering!!! On New Years Eve Ryan was discharged from hospital and he lay in my bed all night very fragile as I listened to over London celebrating the millenium. I SAW CHRISTMAS THEN. I saw parents in hospital with such ill children, fear etched on their faces, children with conditions I never thought existed. I FELT CHRISTMAS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE. SO YES HIPPIE 100% think a lot of Christmas is sheer coomercialism, there is a very spiritual side and look hard enough and you will see it. I never go over the top now with presents. Like you feel obliged to buy things I would not normally. But I do make time to think about what happened one Christmas. Because whether we choose to believe or not for the first time in my life I met with something I thought did not exist................................ My favourite film is Charles Dickens Scrooge and you know what Charles Dickens was quite a man for he has a ward named after him in Great Ormond Street, I think he was a supporter of sick children many, many moons ago.

[Lila]

CHRISTMAS PAH!!!!

Maddiva,
that is an amazing inspirational story. Thank you for sharing it. We are never alone.
Southern Belle, I thought the X was shorthand for the cross - and yes, TJ MAxx!! Love it!
I just don't know if this thread is so much about Christmas, but about displacement and resentment, which also come along with the 'happy holidays.' It certainly is worth looking at. Hippie, if you are in a 12 step program, have you considered doing a fourth step on this? It might be very beneficial.
Lila

[LVT25]

CHRISTMAS PAH!!!!

Wow, Maddiva, thanks for sharing your experience! I'm glad your son recovered, and you gained something from the experience. One Christmas season we were at a hospital with my mom who had back surgery. This hospital is a transplant center and there were so many children there--no hair--big smiles. Thanks for reminding me about the children that can really use some cheering up. I guess that's another thing I like about Christmas. It's a REMINDER of what is important.

Thank you. :h

[hart]

CHRISTMAS PAH!!!!

I do feel X-mas is too commercialized, I mean who could disagree with that. And my stepson is spoiled rotten and given many over the top gifts. But I kind of feel like Gia. I love Christmas song, I love the X-mas movies from It's a Wonderful Life to Rudolph. I adore going to church and hearing the choir and raising my own voice in song to celebrate the day. I have a hubby and son and 5 animals so our house is full, but I remember going to my cousins after my divorce and missing my mom horribly. So there is a lot of emotions stirred up.

There is a lot of fun too. Our office party we chow down and give each other white elephant gifts wrapped up, then draw names to get a chance to exchange what we have based solely on what we THINK it might be. It's load of fun and even people than normally rub me wrong I find I like better at that time. Yes, it might be corny but I too believe in Goodwill Toward Men. I believe in the Golden rule. Look for the magic of Christmas, walk among nature if you can, look at the sky, snow or ocean. What's wrong with a day we can remember being a kid and some of the magic we felt during this time of year?

[Lila]

CHRISTMAS PAH!!!!

well here's another heartwarminig story - sort of -
To save money this year (I didn't tell them why just suggested it) , I asked the kids if they wanted to go to their dad's this time for Christmas, as he gives them TONS of stuff. They do love him. And I sure like to be alone in the house. Well, my kids certainly want stuff, but they all said they wanted to spend the actual day with me. Sigh!
I feel very loved, and as I have not felt loved for so much of my life....well, warms my SAD heart...haha!
Lila

[A Work in Progress]

CHRISTMAS PAH!!!!

Lila, LV, Hart... nice points, and you'll hear no real disagreements from me! And Lila, I'm happy for you!

One thing to remember, of course, is that not everyone has happy, warm memories of their childhood Christmases; and, for those who do not, all the advertising and imagery of warm, happy, close-knit loving families, enjoying Christmas togetherness, can trigger huge sadness. It's not something that is impossible to overcome, of course, for those with the resources and awareness to do so. But happy Christmas memories are not the norm for everyone...

When I was in training, and in graduate school, I worked part-time in psychiatric hospitals. My favorite Christmas memories of all are from the two years when I worked on Christmas, the entire day and evening shifts, with the kids who were stuck there during that time. We (staff members) had a great time with those kids, helping them have a lot of fun, on a day that otherwise would have been very sad for them (and for some of us, as well!).

[cymru]

CHRISTMAS PAH!!!!

I just HATE all the adverts for booze. Cheap booze. ?1.60 for a bottle of wine. What the F! And the constant thoughts that everyone is getting drunk at Christmas, and i am the only one not getting drunk and going out and getting plastered.
AND...the soap shows on t.v like eastenders, coranation street etc, where everyone is drinking ALL the time.
Other than that i love it!