It seems like almost everyone I've talked to over the past few days is saying the same thing. That is, due to the lousy weather dominating our lives, it seems like Christmas really didn't seem like Christmas this year. Traditional family gatherings couldn't happen and gifts to some family and friends remain unopened. Those same people said that they are "doing Christmas" this weekend or over New Year's.

Do you feel that the Arctic Blast ruined your Christmas this year?

I wouldn't say that it "ruined" Christmas, but I am a bit disappointed. I wanted to finish getting rid of my leaves, and I wanted to do some antenna work in the back yard so that I can operate on 80 and 160 meters. The leaves were completely covered in snow, so I couldn't do anything about them. I didn't feel too inclined to trudge in the snow to do the antenna work, especially after I noted how bad the HF propagation is right now. Last, but certainly not least, I am pissed off about the fact that I damaged my car in a weather-related fender-bender, and now I am doing the insurance shuffle to see if I can get some financial help with getting my car fixed.

Major bummer on the insurance deal Alfredo...

Been through that in the past. For what it's worth, the Leifs ads are true. There are a lot of hack and slash shops. Pick well on that, and ask for a reference for the shop you use.

If you happen to have a friend who can do the work, they can cash you out as well, with only an inspection to complete the deal. This depends on the friend and the car. In my case, I just bought replacement body parts, we did some fill in bondo, sand, and paint to call it good. It was just to pass and split the dollars. The car didn't have huge resale value, and just needed to be functional and not ugly. YMMV on that.

This storm just hammered our Christmas. Nobody was able to gather and my wife was recovering from a surgery. Very ugly times.

On the upside, I was able to rent a car and take the kids to Meadows at 9:00 AM Christmas day for picture perfect conditions and untouched snow!

I absolutely love a good, intense storm. This was a bad year for it though. Just was not ready in so many ways. Had it been next year....

The kids are pissed. They've enjoyed the snow big, as have I. However, it was timed with a break they get anyway. They would have preferred it happen after the new year!

I wouldn't do antennas right now either!

The break from work was nice. I can do a lot of what I do at home, so I did. Gonna be lots of catch up this coming Monday though. Ugly!

Maybe it's me seeing the glass half full. Even though somethings were canceled and some initial disappointment crept in, I would say it's take more than this to ruin Christmas for me.

Working from home made this easy. Actually my wife and I went for our daily 3 mile walk in this weather. The benefit from walking in all this stuff is we now have "buns of steel!!"

I couldn't get over to my own church for Christmas eve services, (of which I was to participate in...turned out the power was off at my church for the 7pm service...not to be deterred the congregation lite candles and they had an intimate service)

Our family walked to a local non-denominational Christmas eve service near our house. Different from what I'm used to but enjoyable nonetheless.

Then sloshed my way to the late service at the church my folks have attended for years. It starts with a 10:30-11pm choir concert then the service to follow. More traditional and especially nice to be with my dad for this. Since mom died 2 years ago, my siblings and I try to attend this service with dad. My sister and her partner attended as well. Very special.

Christmas day saw my family dashing through the slush over to our place. Everyone made it which made it even more special.

Not a lot "bah humbug" from this house.

Kind of hard to ruin Christs Birthday! Stuff is just Stuff, family getting together is great, but God bestowing upon us his son is the ultimate gift! Can I get and "AMEN"

For those here who are not so inclined, may your days be Merry and have a Safe and Happy New Year!

DT, very well put!

Besides, it was the first white Christmas in almost 50 years, and my grandson's first Christmas.

Can't get much better than that!

I wouldn't say that Christmas was ruined. It just seems like Christmas got overshadowed by the cold, snowy weather with concerns about getting somewhere safely. Count my family as one that will be doing our gift exchange next week. It seemed very odd to be spending Christmas Eve someplace other than my Dad's house, which is where our family has had spent Christmas Eve every year since 1952.

Since this is my son's first Christmas, I've made a point to save newspapers from the storm to put in his baby book. That will give him all the details as to why his first Christmas was so different. My wife & I also didn't feel it was safe to venture to Christmas Mass, which was a disappointment.

My son is almost five months old, which is about how old I was when the Columbus Day storm hit in 1962. So, we both have "once in a lifetime" weather events that happened when we were the same age.

No matter how you spent your Christmas, hopefully you were safe.

Happy New Year!

Rich, saving the newspapers is a great idea. I hadn't thought of that.

I'm going to have to see if I can find a couple of copies.

Thanks for the idea!

I think the snow made Christmas better this year. I'm glad it's gone now, but it was fun while it lasted.

Hey Vit! How's the new one?

As long as you weren't STUCK in the deep snow
for any long periods of time, it was beautiful

Doing good, sucking on the tiddy right now as we speak!

You or the new one?!!

Just kidding. Glad to hear all is well.

You know that feeling you get when you have been really sick, then you get healthy again and find yourself saying " MAN - I didn't realize how sick I was until I got healthy again." ?

This Christmas forced me to kinda get healthy again. And while I hate to see the economy suffer, there has been SOME benefit in my life.

And for that, I am grateful and am eager to continue a few things for 2009. It could have been so much worse. I'll take my lessons and retool things for the future.

damn right! no snow, so santy couldn't land the sled on the roof and had to skip this whole area!

That Christmas and pre-Christmas snow kept us out of the stores and saved us some $!

This Christmas was wonderful. It was a special treat to have the whole time alone with my girlfriend. We will be celebrating with our parents tomorrow. She and I have had many holiday seasons, but our families were always tops on the agenda. Cooking special meals for two, watching old movies and snuggling while the snow fell made it a Christmas to remember. I am not disappointed in the least. To top it off, I still have memories, presents and more great food on the way. It will be the year we had two Christmases. I would say that the weather probably doubled our fun.

Hold the phone!

Vitalogy, Did I miss it?

Do you have a new arrival? Details! (Or where are they, if you posted it here?

Mrs. M, It's in a thread called "Early Christmas"

The last post in it was 15-DEC at 1:32 PM.

Enjoy!