So, Jellies, what’s up for the next month and a half?

The annual office christmas dinner. Already ordered a sweater for the occasion.

Pretty quiet over the holidays, I’ll be having Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner with some gay friends I’ve been close with for 50 years. My brother and nephew may come down for latkes. Ido have a big trip coming up later in the winter though.

Jupiter.

Working on the house.

Trying to stay afloat amongst greed-induced rent raises and my own battle with weed and Hip-Hop addiction.

I will continue going to work paying bills and wishing I never existed.

Hunkering down mostly and visiting my children and grandchildren and preparing for a trip to China early next year.

My youngest will be visiting the weekend after Thanksgiving, and I’m excited about that. Thanksgiving itself will be only me and my boyfriend. I’m cooking, which gives me joy and stress alike.

I’m having my annual Tree Trimming Party the first weekend of December, and it’s always fun. We exchange gag gifts.

My boyfriend will be away for Xmas proper, so I expect it to be a quiet time with other friends.

New Years is celebrated here with outrageous amounts of fireworks, which I will attempt to sleep through.

I am in the process of retiring by the end of the year. Doing all the things that entails. Getting ready for a craft show next week end.
Due to deaths and severe illnesses, my family is down to just three of us in town, so we aren’t planning anything special. Just getting together to eat.
@canidmajor I’m so sorry that Covid is still kicking you around. Maybe the rest for the coming weeks will heal you.
Thank you for asking this question.

Both of our kids will be home at the same time for the first time in a year and a half.

Busy as hell. This is a time of multiple conflicting priorities.

Oh @Blackberry….don’t say that. We love your existance.

I try to keep it pretty low key. I’ll be going to my sister’s house for Thanksgiving, as well my other sister and her husband. I’m in an apartment, so I don’t really have anywhere to hang lights on the outside, but I may put some over my entertainment center just to have something pretty to turn on. I’m not getting a tree this year because there’s not really a good place in my apartment to have one, as I would only want a live tree. Other than the lights, I have a number of snowmen that I like to put out in various places, and I’ll put up on Nativity scene, but that’s about the extent of it. I know family will get together for Christmas but I don’t know if it will be on Christmas day. That’s something we’ll figure out over Thanksgiving dinner I imagine.

@chyna what sort of crafts do you make to sell at your craft show?

@LifeQuestioner I make jewelry and my brother is a woodworker, so we always share a booth. It’s a lot of fun and we meet so many good people.

For Thanksgiving, someone in my family belongs to an exclusive, private club in NYC, so we’ll be going there. It’s incredibly beautiful and lavish, and they have a great spread of food. The downside is we have to get to the city, which is a pain in the ass, and there’s a dress code, which is a pain in the ass. Also, I’m kind of concerned about protests and reduction in NYPD force (just heard today on the news, Adams is saying because the migrants are costing the city so much, they’re cutting a few thousand heads of the force). Even though we enjoy each other’s company, and it’s a wonderful place to have dinner, I would give anything to have another Thanksgiving at my mom’s house, with her homecooked food and us hanging out all afternoon, casual, fun.

Christmas, not sure. New Year’s, not sure.

The last few winter breaks we’ve been going to Florida. My stepfather rents a condo and I drive down with my daughter and we stay for the week. This year, the person who owns the condo is selling it so he won’t be able to rent it. He’s not sure if he is going to be able to find another one by the winter, so I am not sure if that’s on our agenda this year. I don’t mind staying home for the week with my daughter. It’s nice going, but it’s also nice staying home and relaxing, too.

@canidmajor I think you and I are both on the same latitude and not far from each other – I don’t mind the cold until around the new year. After the new year, I kind of dread that it’s cold and snowy and unpredictable until around April. I’m glad I don’t have to work any more so I don’t have to stress about driving in it.

@chyna Congratulations on your plans to retire!

@jca2 I was in the city all day yesterday including walking down Fifth Avenue and it felt perfectly normal. Not when Adams’s police force cuts are starting though.

@janbb I think cops are going to stand back and let things happen, because only then when the crime rate goes up will there be an uproar about it. Just my theory, knowing what I know about organized labor (kind of like a work slowdown). Let the shit hit the fan, then people will be saying “we need the police.”

@chyna it’s nice to have somebody to share a booth with. Back in the day I used to do craft shows with my aunt. She did some cross stitch and then also made things out of wood and painted them. I made mainly cross stitch. But I never could have had enough to sell if it was just me. This way we could divide the cost of the space and the labor and it worked out great!

I will be in agony until I can tell the secret. It’s a wonderful one.

My tentative plan for the next few weeks is to do a deep clean of my kitchen and living room, and do a few crafts. I have a cedar chest which I want to refinish and I have some wooden things which i want to decoupage. I also want to do a gallery wall in my living room, so I have to get the framed stuff together and hang it up in an orderly and attractive fashion.

@filmfann When can we know the secret??? WE NEED TO KNOW!
And I’m so glad it’s a good secret!

I’m a wet blanket. I’m worrying about my almost 89 year old father. He’s had three falls in the past three months with significant injuries. He fell yesterday and is now at home alone with a concussion. The third fall was his wake-up call and he’s calling his realtor Monday to sell his home. The next few months will be difficult for my family.

@jonsblond I’m so sorry to hear about your father. Dealing with aging parents is very difficult and I do not look forward to the time where I am the aging parent.

It’s just me: for T’giving, I’ll fix a turkey breast with dressing, cranberry sauce, green beans, gravy and pecan pie. I almost always do holidays on the day after. I finally figured out that it’s probably because they’ve been stressful through the years. Without even realizing it, when I began being alone for them, I must have decided to avoid them. The day itself is like any other day, and I cook traditional food the day after.

For Christmas I may have a Cornish hen dinner, and will get out the decorations I’ve gotten from my Beady Bunch buddies.

New Years: well, you know what they say…“New Years is for amateurs”, and I was a pro, so I do nothing and wake up clear-headed and alert New Year’s morning. Ni-i-ice!

I love hearing all the plans, we are so diverse! It can be a depressing and difficult time, sometimes just getting through them can be rough.
For all that are struggling, my heart goes out to you, be well. <3

For whatever reasons, I spent over 30 years managing the big holiday stuff, mostly I enjoyed it a lot, but when it involved my relatives, not so much. (They were very critical, and not willing to do any of the work) The pandemic changed all that, so having a quiet time isn’t much different.
My kiddo and I may pick up some fun take-out. They are in the process of moving into a new house, so low-key is the tone this year.

I thought I might be on jury duty. I received a notice that I was on call for jury duty November 20-December 6. My instructions were to call last night and see if I have to show up at the court on Monday. Thankfully, the recording said I don’t need to show! Yay! I think it means I’m excused from the entire length of time, but I need to verify that it’s not just for the day or first week.

Thursday my husband and I are going to Thanksgiving dinner at our friends’ house. We have been with them (another married couple) since covid started and now it seems to be a tradition. Possibly, my BIL will be joining us. He left my husband’s brother a few days ago! He called asking if he could stay with us, and when he arrived he told us he is done with the marriage.

This coming week I start my three weeks of practice (just once a week) for my Menorah Lighting performance with my dance troupe.

I’m sure there will be several holiday parties to attend here where I live and then finally Christmas with my inlaws.

Somewhere in there I want to go to DisneyWorld once or twice to see the holiday decorations, possibly meet up with friends, and eat at some restaurants we still want to try.

I bought some very pretty Chanukah lovepop cards. Here’s the link: https://www.lovepop.com/products/menorah-lights-pop-up-card?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=18671988231&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIopWFuM3NggMVjZ9aBR0C3QfzEAQYBiABEgJJO_D_BwE I’m going to address them this week and get them in the mail. One of the cards I am hand delivering to a friend.

I guess I need to buy some gifts too? Waiting to see what my husband’s family decides. Sometimes they pick names (I’m not a fan of that) sometimes no definition regarding gifts. I wish they would say no gifts at Christmas Eve dinner and then anyone who wants to gift a particular person privately can. Not my party though, so I usually don’t say anything at all and let them decide. I have given an opinion once or twice in the past when asked, but mostly I stay out of it.

Having a catheter ablation (cryo balloon & radio frequency) inside my heart’s atria (right & left) done on December 21st. Why? To attempt to stop atrial flutter/atrial fibrillation and restore my heart to beating normally. Heart flipped out last August 30th.

Will be continuing to stay physically active with biweekly gym workouts, walking and canoe padding (when not too icy of windy). Also will BBQ a turkey for Thanksgiving and attend a huge Christmas party with my canoe club.

Good health! Stay strong! Aloha!

@gondwanalon Good luck with your surgery. You seem healthy otherwise, so hopefully it will be a great outcome.

@gondwanalon Catheter ablation sounds very familiar to me – I’ll be having it on 6 nerves in my back sometime in December. Best of luck with your procedure! You’ll come through with flying colors!

For Thanksgiving we’re doing Cornish game hens. Rick wanted to just do a breast but I want to be able to stuff them. I make awesome stuffing!

I’m a senior citizen, so in honor of this autumn, I’m going to take at least one fall! ;-)

Sleeping, eating and lots of Fluther, and YouTube.

@Caravanfan Thank you. <3

Sorry you’re still not feeling great.

For me, thing’s are amping up. I roasted a fresh pumpkin for puree yesterday, picked up farm fresh eggs for baking and made my lists. Wednesday is pie day with a friend and her girls, and prep later at home. Thursday is supper at the inlaws.

First holiday brunch is today with extended family at iHop. (Not my pick.)

Where I live, there’s an annual holiday party which is fun. I am also a member of two senior groups (even though I’m in my mid 50s) and one is having a holiday party at a restaurant and the other has a party, a trip, and a craft event. They’re great and well planned.

When I worked, the organization I worked for had a huge holidayi party at a fancy hotel, and I’d stay overnight at the hotel with my daughter. I would split the room with another friend, and she paid half. This year, the holiday party price is up to 100 dollars, and my friend is staying in Florida for the winter so I’d have to pay the whole cost of the room myself, so in light of the increased expense, I’m not attending that party this year. The party was a good price at 35, 40 and then 60 dollars (open bar, etc.) but at 100 dollars, I can pass it up.

@gondwanalon – my mom had that done for a similar condition. She was walking around like normal 24 hours later. Apparently she didn’t need all of her heart cells, only needed the good ones.