A toast to you.

Happy Christmas, Bloggess!

Merry Christmas. Enjoy your family, your gifts, and your frozen pizza. You may want to heat the pizza up first.
Laura @ Unlikely Explanations recently posted..The Pop Quiz Before Christmas

Well thanks for making me tear up! I’ll be toasting to you too! Cin cin, my friend. Cin cin.
Stephanie recently posted..I cooked dried beans in the slow cooker! Ask me how!

Happy christmas <3

Love you Jenny, and Merry Christmas. Thank you for making my life a little brighter.

Happy winter thing & stuff!
Steve D recently posted..#332 Down-Buy

Awww, thank you Jenny! And remember, if you feel just a bit down … remember the Eurovision Song Contest video clips I emailed you yesterday and you will watch in disbelief and Victor will roll his eyes and you will have plenty more material for a new blog post. xo
RP in Vancouver recently posted..Modern Film Classics: “Little Women” (Christmas Edition)

This almost made me start bawling in the middle of my living room. Merry Christmas, and thank you very muchly for the toasting and such.

From someone who is spending her second Christmas in a row away from home and the family that loves me, I have to say that I really appreciate the warm and happy thoughts. Tomorrow, I will be with the family that has adopted me in my new home, but today, I needed to read something like this. I raise my glass of white wine to you. Merry Christmas!
Cassandra recently posted..A Bookish Christmas (Photos)

Merry Christmas Jenny! A toast to you and yours, enjoy xx

Merry Christmas to you and your family, where ever they may be tonight!

Merry Christmas to you, Jenny! Presents and frozen pizza sounds amazing!
L-Kat recently posted..A very brandy Christmas to you!

Happy-Merry to you, Jenny, and to your family. Love and light.
Hot Coco recently posted..Happy-Merry, With Love!

::HUGS:: I hug you in frozen-pizza solidarity. *g*

…and I’ll be toasting you, sweetie, with a manhattan, maybe two, for all the joy and encouragement you’ve brought me this year even though you prolly didn’t know it. Best of the season to you and yours.
Jonah Gibson (@aimlessjonah) recently posted..The Ironic and the Furious: What I Want for Christmas

Thank you from the bottom of my whimsical, crazy and tonight lone heart Jenny

I’ll be toasting to you too as the woman who makes her happiness by knowing what’s it’s like to get shit from life and who never judges but supports those who, though they try everyday, sometimes get stuck in holes. For it is a pleasure to know you’re there, to know you truly understand

I’m not kidding when I say you’re my guru and spiritual mom (but don’t worry you’re way too young to be my mom you spread words that have always been dear to me and it’s a blast to see they have meaning for you too… ‘k now toast, I hope you like white wine, it’s my favourite (I’m French so don’t worry, it is class A stuff

*Cheers*

Loads of love,
Mey

I don’t think of myself as lonely, but your post made me cry. Beautifully written ode to loved ones gone. I’m gonna need something a little stronger than white wine though.
And how great is Tim Minchin?

Thank you and I raise a glass to you. I’m grateful for the honesty and laughter you bring to me and so many others. Have a joyous holiday evening with Victor and Hailey!

Merry Christmas across the ocean Jenny.
Tim Burton’s ‘Nightmare before Christmas’ is on, and the ghosts of Christmas past are here as well.

Merry Christmas to you, sweet Jenny! You are so special. I am grateful that you share your awesomeness with us all.

Thanks for this, Jenny. I am feeling sad and alone today and have not been able to get into the Christmas spirit at all this year for many reasons. I honestly and truly appreciate this post more than you could imagine.
Merry Christmas!! <3

Well said Jenny.

That made me cry a river! But in a good way; it’s really what I needed to hear to soothe some of the bittersweet sorrow that Christmas brings with itself.
Thank you for your words and merry Christmas to you and your family!

Merry Christmas, Jenny. I’m toasting YOU today because you bring so much laughter into our lives! Many of my friends received Bloggess presents this year and just yesterday I had my dad read the “Pick your battles” story and he laughed so hard, he almost peed. Then again, he had his prostate removed a few months ago, so I’m not sure his incontinence is sufficient praise for your writing. (Yes, cancer CAN be funny. My dad WOULD pee if I had read him what I wrote above. Not sure this says anything about my writing ability, either.)

A toast to you as well. This will be my first Christmas without my family, but I have a jug of wine and a box full of Caramellos to get me through it.

Here’s to the lonely, but funny, ones who know it will be better next year.
Emily Sims recently posted..I might be a lunch bully.

Well this made me weep like a small child, and I now have a favorite new Christmas song. Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, Bloggess! Cheers to you and yours, my dear! <3<3<3

This might be my favorite secular Christmas song. It's the perfect sentiment. Always makes me tear up.

First Christmas without my Dad – he’s with his girlfriend across the country. I feel ya! Merry Christmas Jenny.

I also love the magic that is Christmas Eve. Hope your pizza is AWESOME!!!

Merry Christmas
XLMIC recently posted..It’s a Secret Santa sort of day…

It’s five minutes to Christmas and I’m now sniffling… Thanks for that, Jenny…
Honestly, though… Thank you. Christmas gets harder every year, but this reminded me that while some people are gone, others haven’t even got here yet. And that is magic. So thank you.
And also: Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas, love. This was absolutely lovely. Thanks.
kim recently posted..christmas eve

Merry Christmas Jennifer

Thanks for saying exactly what I needed to hear tonight and thank you for all the things you’ve said this past year. You truly are one of a kind and I love you dearly.

Thatnks for being the sliver of sunlight poking through my cloudy days. Love from South Africa.

Byron Voogt.

Merry Christmas! I hope you sprung for the high-end frozen pizza because you deserve it!
Rease recently posted..Cheap Accommodations near Miami, Florida

Merry Christmas. All blessings be on you and your family this year. And here’s a toast to future plans.

Thank you Jenny. You brighten my life every day and this year especially as I lost so much that there’s little left. As I sit alone this Christmas, knowing that I have people like you to look up to makes it a tiny but easier to face the losses and move forward.
Much Christmas love to you and yours.

Merry Christmas to your family and loved ones (Copernicus and Beyonce too). I was actually thinking about this kind of thing yesterday as my mom and I were baking cookies and fudge. Mom’s mother was the cookie queen and used to back hundreds of dozens of cookies for our big family (and several for the local church that feeds the homeless on Christmas). Her baking was a HUGE part of Christmas for use and she was sorely missed this year. And then later, I was making fudge from my dad’s mother’s recipe and remembered how she always made multiple batches of it for us before her and Grandpa “flew south for the winter”. Even with the same recipe, it just doesn’t taste the same. It may be our 2nd Christmas without Grandparents, but missing them just seems to hurt so much more this year.
Jess K recently posted..HBBC Week 5 Summary and BAKING COOKIES!

Merry Christmas to you and yours! This was a wonderful post!

It’s always weird, being away from family for the holidays. As aggravated as I am with mine, we always have a full, happy, crazy, stressful, fun Christmas. This is the 2nd year in a row I’ve spent it with just my boyfriend, and although he tries his best, it’s sort of empty. I’m trying to keep my spirits up, and the camaraderie of the Internet is probably the greatest gift of all.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Dawne recently posted..IT’S SNOWING! IT’S SNOWING!!!

I know this is a little goofy – but your post made me a bit teary-eyed. You, more than any other person this year, have made me laugh. It’s been a very tough 2011 and your writing here has brightened my world on a regular basis For that, I say THANK YOU! I wish I could give you a hug because it really has made such a difference. Merry Christmas and cheers to you, too!

My parents moved to Chicago this summer, and I graduated college. So I don’t get a long break (have to get back to work!) and I don’t get to go back to where I grew up, with all my family. It’s the first Christmas for as long as I can remember where I don’t get to spend time with my mom’s whole side of the family. It’s the first Christmas since 1998 where I’m not going to spend at least a little bit of time with my best friend, drinking cream soda and comparing presents.

So this post hits close to home. Thank you. I’ll be toasting you too.

~Sor

This made be tear up. My husband is deployed, and I couldn’t afford to be with family this year. It’s just me and my cat, and while lonely, I’m trying to remember the good times of the past. I hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas!

Traditions and memories are great, but what’s comforting is that there’s always a chance to make new traditions and new memories. We lost a close friend of the family last night, so this year’s not going as planned. But it’s also a reminder that every day is a gift, and it’s not how you celebrate, but who you spend that time with.

A toast to you and yours. May your new memories be full of comfort and joy!
Abby recently posted..A Gnome Noel

May zombies not eat us first in the New Year. And I hoist my Judy Garland TrailMix Baggie in memory of Nancy W. Kappes, Paralegal. I am sure that wherever she is, she is laughing her ass off at all of us.

I miss you, Nancy W. Kappes, Paralegal. I Love You, Jenny. May the New Year bring you high book sales and “Kim Zolzack” Brand Confidence Wigs.

This post made me cry a bit. You get it. You really get it.

Thank you for getting it and making me cry, and laugh. A lot.

First off – could there be any more Heathers who follow your blog and comment?

Second – Jenny, as I write this I am in my hometown with my mom, just the two of us. There is no tree, no decorations – although there are presents. My father passed away in December 2009, and my brother and his family aren’t coming down this year. I was planning to spend this holiday at my home with my boyfriend – our first together – but instead am here for 26 hours so my mother isn’t completely alone.

And it can’t pass quickly enough for me. I feel like Holly Hunter’s character in Home For The Holidays. I’m over 40 but whenever I go home I feel like a kid again. And not in a good way.

Happy holidays to everyone who reads this. May your days be merry and bright.
Heather in Ottawa recently posted..Too Much of A Good Thing?

Damn woman. Were we seperated at birth? I posted this same video on my blog FB page (before I saw you do it, I swear). I am a Tim Minchin junky. Happy whatever
Kelly O’Sullivan recently posted..You Stop Believing, Santa Stops Coming, So Just Believe

Merry Christmas, Jenny! You don’t know me but I want you to know I appreciate the gifts you’ve given me over the couple of years I’ve been on Team Bloggess. Thank you for teaching me to be furiously happy and to see my own perfectly flawed beauty. And all the really, true belly laughs too. I’ll be toasting you with an Iron Butterfly (my fav!) and listening to my favorite Christmas Album. BTW- if you’ve never heard the South Park Christmas carols, you’re missing out….

Thank you, I needed that. My Dad passed a few weeks ago…. Mom has been gone 3 years. It’s just us this year for the first time ever.
Melanie G recently posted..Christmas Eve

Thanks Jenny. That was exactly what I needed at exactly that moment. Merry Christmas!

Thank you, Jenny. And warm thoughts from our little of the PNW to you this Christmas. Thank you for all your brilliance too.

Happy Christmas to you and yours, Bloggess! You rock!

Thank you. I needed to hear that.

Sure, make me cry. My family always does a big Christmas Eve. This year I’m sitting alone. A tear for things lost. And a toast for future possibilities. Now where did I put the white wine?

Going out for sushi w/ my man and our boy. We have a tree made of white shirt hangers. We’re stuck in the Midwest while our families are in NY and the ret of the people we love are in Oregon. It’s perfect and horrible at the same time. I’ll toast to you too. (but with club soda, cuz this is my first sober Christmas in 18 years.)

Cheers.

same to you, love. may your zaniness bring you many delights in the coming year. somehow, I think it will.

Love to you & yours, Ma’am. Merry Xmess

I am haunted on Christmas Eve, which is when my extended family gathered at my grandparents’ house to sing songs around the piano, exchange gifts and eat. Half of the people are gone now and the house stands empty waiting to be sold. Christmas in the mind, yes. Merry Christmas, Jenny. *clink*

Thanks so much for your post today, Jenny. Christmas just isn’t ever going to be the same anymore. I’ve been feeling a little sad. Life has changed in many ways in the past year. I really appreciate your toast: it reminds me that in time there will be new traditions. Have a wonderful Christmas! And thank you!

Sadest Christmas ever for me. Thank you for the laughter.

That got me a little misty.

I have no living grandparents anymore, and Christmas Eve was always grandparent-centered for me. It’s bittersweet, for sure.

Here’s a toast to YOU, because there have been several times over the last year or so when you were brave enough to share something about yourself, and that made ME feel less alone.
Karen recently posted..Imperfection In The Shape Of A Cookie

You’re the second person today who’s posted this video, great tune

Thank you, Bloggess… I needed this. I feel very alone. It’s my first Christmas as a separated woman and holy cow it sucks. Thank you for remembering that some of us are struggling with loneliness. I wish you the very best this holiday season…

I’m drinking white wine in the sun of Brazil. The first time away from my extended family in 43 years. Thanks for the tune. I loved it. Merry Christmas.
Kate recently posted..We Mustache You to Have a Merry Christmas

I am spending tonight and tomorrow morning with my in-laws…who are currently upstairs fighting and screaming at each other, and have been for the last hour. This is so awkward. I am alone downstairs wishing I was with my mom and sister…so toasts to you Jenny for making me smile on one of the most awkward holiday ever.

You normally make me laugh until I’m in tears, but this post was exactly what I needed to read tonight! Merry Christmas to you Jenny!

Aww shucks. Now I feel guilty having aleeady started drinking without you….

I really needed to hear this.

Merry Christmas from Nu Zillans. We beat youse guys to it again.
hogsatemysister recently posted..Christmas Torch, er, Antlers, Passed to a New Generation of Dawgs

Thank you! (Love Tim Minchin) xxx
Tanya Chappell recently posted..To Market, To Market……

Thank you Jenny. I’m having this kind of Christmas too — just me, my husband and my one year old who has completely rocked my world this year. I feel so lonely that I’m not with what is left of my family (mom died a couple of years ago)– my siblings are in Paris this year but we just couldn’t make it work. but we will start our own traditions and hopefully it will turn out okay. Love you and your honest, funny and warm blog posts. Thank you!!

Aw, you made me tear up. I was supposed to be at my sister’s, but her family has been taken down by a “violent flu”. Thank you and Happy Holidays.
Angela recently posted..Hermione

Merry Christmas! Thank you for the wonderful post and for sharing yourself with all of us throughout the year. There are many days when you pull me out of my funk. Happy New Year!

may you christmas be filled with hugs and laughter, and may the coming year bring you good healthy, great joy, and totally amazing adventures. it’s all fodder, and we, your loyal minions, await your reports with great anticipation!

Happy holidays to you, the hub, and the kid!
Sj recently posted..In Order To Form A More Perfect Union ~ Part 1

Aw, thanks! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Mayor Gia recently posted..Christmas Allie

Jenny, thank you so much for this post. I thought I was the only one feeling lonely on Xmas eve. My holidays used to be like yours — family crammed together, for better or for worse, around the table for an evening. Now I am divorced. My 5 year old daughter, the light of my life, is with her father in Argentina — and because our my ex is hostile, I can’t even talk to her on the phone. I had a falling out with my dad (related to the divorce) and haven’t spoken to him in months. My best friends went to Vegas for the holidays for a family reunion, I wouldn’t have fit in. I am alone and sad, but your blog always brings me a little joy. Thank you.

Merry Christmas Jenny! May this time catch you and take your breath away in beauty and majesty. May those memories of old be augmented by the new memories you make. The gifts of laughter you have bestowed on your fans are those that we will hold dear this year. Thanks!

Scott
WilyGuy recently posted..New Year’s Disillusions

Wow that was a first the Bloggess actually made me cry (and not from laughing this time). So well said. So exactly how I feel about the Holidays. Merry Christmas Bloggess.

Thank you, and Merry Christmas to you too. Much love from Seattle.

I am the Queen of split families. Just read this post aloud to my daughter, Vanessa, and we, and the other kids, will toast to you and Hailey, while we share our pizza and Christmas Eve events.
Love and shining memories to you

I love you.

You are blessed with a masterful way with words, and we are blessed to be the beneficiaries of that. Thank you for sharing YOU with us. Happy Holidays to you, Victor and Hailey, too.

Patti Daniels

This topped off my night. You have a gift for handing out delight like candy and I am grateful for it!!! HUGS!!!

Okay, so THIS made me cry. You summed up so beautifully exactly what I’m feeling this Christmas Eve: warmth and happiness to be with the loved ones who are here tonight, but loneliness for the ones who aren’t. Thank you, Jenny, and merry Christmas to you.
abi recently posted..Falling apart

Thank you. “Haunted with the sweet bitterness of things past” exactly describes my feelings today, although I will be lucky to spend tomorrow night with people I love. Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.
Ginny recently posted..Remembrance

thank you Jenyy. My father passed away in April, so this Cchristmas is especially difficult.

Thank you so much. This is my first Christmas that I’m not spending with my parents, and it’s been incredibly hard.

Thank You.

Merry Christmas, Jenny. I’m watching The Nerdist Year End Special and thinking of you.

Thank you for the laughs!
lisahgolden recently posted..Bazaar

This will be the first Christmas that my 19 month old daughter and I spend without my husband, who has recently decided he wants a divorce (his girlfriend objects to him being married). We’re with my parents and sister but it’s still hard. Merry Christmas! Thanks for thinking of those of us who are lonely even when we’re with others! May 2012 be the best year of your life!

That was the perfect blog post at the perfect time. Thank you for being awesome.

Thank you
My family is 3,000 miles away, celebrating the way we always do…and I’m not there. Thanks for toasting those of us who are out of our usual traditions
Merry Christmas
Megg recently posted..MIA

This was the first christmas/christmas eve without my grandmother and It was extremely painful. She’s truly irreplaceable and the hole she left behind is way to vast to ignore. But still, I want to thank you; not only for tonight’s simple yet precious and sincere post; but I want to thank you as well for a year’s worth of laughter, tears, and just pure joy and acceptance

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Merry christmas to you and to your family; and here’s to many, many, many more laughs in 2012.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Happy Christmas!

Thank you, Jenny, for this post. I feel blessed to have discovered your blog this past year and look forward to many more hours of both laughter and tears, as I continue to follow your escapades and listen to your reflections on life, the universe, and everything. My parents are both departed, and the rest of my immediate family are scattered across thousands of miles of oceans and two continents. As I sit alone in my apartment with my beloved cat on my lap, I salute you, and wish you and Victor and Hailey the merriest Christmas and best year ever in 2012.

I follow your blog daily and you have put many a smile on my face. Tonight though my dear Bloggess, tonight you brought tears to my eyes. This is the first time in 9 years that I have been with all of my family. 9 years ago, right after Christmas I lost my biggest hero…my Dad. The family became divided because I think the hurt was just too much. Tonight though we all came together to celebrate this wonderful holiday called Christmas (it was my Dad’s fave). I was flooded with past memories while mingling with his brother’s and sister’s. We have all changed so much in 9 years. I found it really hard tonight to be there with everyone, without him. Thank you for the beautiful post. Thank you for continuing to write. Just thank you for being you!

Thanks for this note, Jenny, and for the link to the song. Even though I am (I like to think) relatively young, all my immediate family is gone — they are for me “the ghosts of the people who made the holidays special.” So the holidays are more often difficult and something to get through than joyful. My husband and I are together with our two dogs, at least, just as we will be tomorrow, so I have more company and love than many, and I know I am lucky. I wish you and Hailey and Vincent a happy time together. Peace.

Merry Christmas to you and thank you for being, well…you! You make me giggle every single day.

Thank you Jenny, for making me feel a little less lonely. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Jenny, Merry Christmas to you, Victor and Hailey! Thank you for all the laughter you’ve shared (and provoked).

My family is all settled down relaxing after watching our annual Christmas Eve viewing of Die Hard though I really need to get off the computer and finish that last gift for my sister. Nothing like last minute jewelry making. Every damn year.
Bad Influence Speaks recently posted..Warehouse 13: The Greatest Gift

Merry Christmas Jenny.

Tonight I am missing the gatherings of Christmas past……before everyone died or got divorced or moved. Tonight at Church it was just my husband and me. I miss when we used to take up two rows. I miss having little ones at home to be Santa for. I miss the choas and the noice. Oh the noise, noise, noise, noise.

But those memories warm my heart and the new memories we make with our blended family and grandchildren warm my heart too.
Amy recently posted..12/9/11

Thank you Jenny, for being you. You have given me much joy and laughter with your blog and tweets. I hope your frozen pizza turned out as well as mine did tonight.

Merry Christmas and many blessings to you, Victor and Hailey.
Maureen recently posted..Christmas Eve Caturday

Thanks for this! Love your blog – so funny. I too am far away from my family in Texas. My son is asleep and my husband working late and yes I am eating frozen pizza . . . and pie. Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas!
Heather recently posted..Belated thoughts on Halloween

Thank you, Jenny.

Just a simple sincere and genuine thank you.

For everything.
Carrie recently posted..Remember what mom always said about clean underwear? Well, it now matters.

Dear Jenny,
It’s been a rough and horrible year; I won’t even go into details. Thank YOU for your posts, because it was just about the only thing that made me smile and laugh. You don’t know how your posts affect your readers, but let me tell you, they helped me a lot. Have a wonderful holiday with your family.
Laurie F. recently posted..2011 in 12 Sentences

A friend posted a link to your post and since she has awesome taste, I read it. As I’m celebrating the first Christmas since my father (whose birthday was Christmas Day) died, this one hit home. Thanks for the post. I’ve been lucky to celebrate with many family and friends, yet I still miss those who are no longer here.

I feel so sorry for the people who haven’t found you yet. May they have a Merry Christmas anyway.

Thank you!

Thank you.

I get it. We’re unfortunately living at the home I grew up in now, but for the last few years we could never make it for Christmas Eve. I thought I handled it well until after Christmas a few years ago when my sister posted the family C.E. pics on Facebook.

Holy crap, the REALLY had Christmas Eve without me!

I can now say that separation during the Christmas season and being called a bastard on Christmas Eve) sucks Oh Hell. Thanks for thinking of us with the lonely, broken spaces.
jasdye recently posted..Hark! The Herald Angels Evangelize!

Merry Christmas! I hope you feel togethery even if you might not be as togethery as you were in your memories. My family broke apart and we’re in small sects now, so I know what that’s like, but I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to have collected the memories I have. Meanwhile, every Christmas seems to be getting better and better anyway because all that togetheriness is spent on a small number of people, so the effect is so much more tangible. <3
prin recently posted..And then those things start biting my legs off…

Merry Christmas, Jenny. : )

Merry Christmas Bloggess. I needed that post. Thanks for the laughs and the deep moments!

Thank you.

Thank you for this-really.

Those ghosts that haunt us are something else, aren’t they.
Jack@TheJackB recently posted..I Hate Toys That Make Noise

Love you Jenny. Thank you for sharing your outrageous beauty. Merry merry Christmas.
Kelly recently posted..Merry Christmas with Bells On

Merry Christmas Jenny!!

This post actually means a lot to me tonight. Have a wonderful holiday and post-holiday with the people important to you.
Katy recently posted..December 22nd: Let it Snow

Yeah, I hear ya.
People put a lot of emphasis on Christmas and the Christmas familial rituals that accompany it – meaning that if circumstances change or loved ones aren’t celebrating it with them (for whatever reason) then it hits us hard. Remember that you are as well-loved and wonderful on the 24-25th Dec as you are every other day of the year.
Have yourself a v. Merry Christmas, with lots of my Best Wishes for the upcoming year.
Claire J recently posted..Switzerland: A Timeline of Happiness?

Thank You for this post, i am one you toasted and it means the world to me, Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Shit. I checked in for some funny and you almost went and made me cry. Almost. Good thing for all of us, I’m tougher than that.
But serious – I needed to hear that I’m not the only one. That’s one of the worst things about the holidays – the oppressive excessive happy family shit in every direction you look can make you feel like the only freak in town. – Thanks for reminding me that I’m not, and happy pizza

I woke up this morning to a Christmas morning unlike any others in my past. And then I read this. Although it made me cry big ugly tears for what’s missing, I noticed the smear of eye-shadow on the Kleenex, left over from last night’s Christmas Eve party with good friends. And then sometime today we will go to another good friend’s house and play with their daughter and her new toys. While my family is gone or far away, I do still have people that love and appreciate me. But I won’t let that realization stop me from eating gingerbread cookies for breakfast this morning, perhaps chased with eggnog. No, definitely chased with eggnog.

Merry Christmas, and thank you!

Happy holidays to you all and may 2012 (or in your case 2011 ) bring you nothing but joy and good things, Jenny. Your wit and candor are inspiring and you are a very special human being.

Merry Christmas, Jenny. Thank you for a year full of belly laughs, here’s a Christmas toast to you. Seems many of us have in common missing someone this time of year, and nostalgia for holidays gone by. May we always keep those precious memories, but here’s to a kick ass future *raises glass*

Merry Christmas, Jenny! Love and light to you and yours.
Johi recently posted..Tis the Season for Family!

Finally, something I can relate to.

I toast you, Bloggess! Shortly after my husband deployed this year someone introduced me to your blog. Thanks to your lovely archives, you and sometimes you alone have kept me smiling through this trial. Until this post, which made me cry, but in a good way!

And I salute you, sweet Bloggess. I’m sorry we’ve kind of drifted apart since the loss of our mutual friend. But I’ll always treasure you and your brilliant mind and your loving heart. Merry Christmas to you.

My dad always handed out the presents on Christmas Eve. His last Christmas with us was ten years ago, just before he died of lung cancer on January 19th, 2002 (splitting the difference between my sister’s BD January 5th and mine February 3rd; I swear he would be that thoughtful to make sure he didn’t pass away on our birthdays). And, I still miss him and can just envision him handing out those presents, reading our name one-by-one~a special memory I will always have.

Thanks for your post. You are wonderful in every way.
Katherine Owen recently posted..Exclusive to Kindle! “When I See You” is here! FREE 12/25 to 12/29

It’s hard to express the complex mix of extreme happiness, and also varying degrees of nostalgic sadness that Christmas always brings on me. You have finally given me a way to explain it, and I’m not sure how I can express my gratitude, except to say you always make me a little bit happier, no matter what I’m feeling. So thank you, thank you so much Jenny. I give you a toast of happiness and magic right back, and wish you a very Merry Christmas.

A perfect post. Christmas is always bittersweet for me – I celebrate with my family who is here around me, while missing my son who passed away from a neuromuscular disease. I hope that 2012 is full of love, laughter, and light for you…and for me too. Merry Christmas.
Audra recently posted..Christmas in Heaven

Apt. Today, you nailed exactly how I feel about this holiday. I thought I was weird. Maybe still weird, but not alone. Thank you.

Merry Christmas right back at you Jenny. I love the “little” family you have created here. I’m 2 family members down this year but thankful for the ones here with me. Thanks for the (very honest) window into your world.

Merry Christmas Jenny XXXOOO
Janet NZ recently posted..Happy Christmas!

Thank you. A million times over. Thank you for being wonderful you.

Couldn’t have been a better post at a better time! Thank you! I just started reading your blog about a month ago and I love it. I moved to a city in a new province so I was alone this year. I spent some time with a friend and her family, and while it was a nice gesture, it wasn’t the same. Knowing that I’m not the only lonely person out there makes me feel not so lonely. Thanks again.

Hohoho. Sentimentality, humor and sarcasm. You are the whole package!
Wishing you and yours a PERFECT holiday balancing happiness/nostalgia.

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Thank you for this. Thank you for everything. You bring so much laughter to so many – I hope even a little of our gratitude is conveyed in these comments.

This is the first Christmas Eve/Day I’ve spent “alone” — home with the dogs and no traditional celebrations. It’s, as you said, bittersweet – but has been quite joyful in other ways, and for that I am grateful.

Thank you for being you. I hope the pizza was good! Merry Christmas, Jenny! xo

This definitely gave me some tears. I’m having a particularly rough holiday this year, and for the first time in almost 8 years, I’m home sick for the holidays (I work in Antarctica). Haunting is a very good way to word it.

Bless you for your holidays, and heres to the both of us not being alone.

Well, shit, honey! I was all about hating this Christmas until I read your post! God bless you and your sweet sentimental holiday memories. I hope you enjoyed that frozen pizza and Santa delivered the very best presents to you and your family. Merry Christmas, darling… Southern style.
Jen

How Love and Kindness Grow and Spread:

I am a member of an online forum with a little over 100 people, most of whom I consider as well-chosen family members. Because of a comment I read on one of your recent blogs I made a “Give a Shit” donation to Oxfam America Unwrapped, in honor of all the wonderful people on that forum who give a shit. Now on this forum, we used to have the ability to both give and take “Karma” points from one another via a process of either “exalt” or “smite”…just a fun little something that had zero monetary value or really any other real value. Somewhere around Halloween, just for fun, our moderators changed our karma points to gummy bears and the process to receive and take them to “trick” or “treat.” As Christmas approached, this process changed to “Naughty” or Nice.” Only one give or take can occur per person, per hour. HIGH numbers for individual gummy reserves on this site normally hover around 45-50, with the record, as far as I know, being around 75. Most gummy bear reserves stay at a lot less.

Long story short, a few days ago a challenge was raised by one of our members who vowed to give $1 to charity for every gummy bear received between then and midnight on New Year’s Eve. At that time this member’s gummy bears were at -13. Yep, that’s negative thirteen. I suggested Oxfam as the charity and posted their “Give a Shit” video. He looked into the charity and agreed. As of now, in a very short time he has raised his gummy bear points to 235. At this rate he will very likely see 1,000 before it is all said and done. He’s promised to post proof of the donation after he’s made it.

He’s turned something that was otherwise utterly worthless into dollars for charity. People who like him are giving him gummy bear points to promote this charitable donation. People who don’t like him are giving him gummy bear points in order to cause him to have to shell out more money out of pocket to the charity. In a strange way this has pulled everyone together toward this common goal.

I think that what he is doing is such beautiful thing, it makes me feel very proud to be a small part of such an occurrence. It’s being left up to him to choose whether he gives a whole bunch of shit, or a cow, or goat, or chickens, or seeds, or tools, or trees, or a jackass, or give a village a well, or, or, or—–there are so many choices of ways to help through this organization. His gift to them on behalf of our forum will go a long way to help people in need. Anyway, I just wanted you to know, since your blog site inadvertently started this.

And THAT’S how Love and Kindness Grow and Spread.

Thank you, Jenny. You are greatly loved.

Bless your heart Jenny. Every holiday isn’t always as magical as the last, but it’s always special if you want it to be. I couldn’t think of anything better than spending mine with my immediate family. The rest is just a bonus.

Merry Christmas to you, Victor and Hailey.
Renee recently posted..In the words of my mother: Merry Fucking Christmas

You have this magical power to say just the right thing to make me cry. You’re wonderful like that.
Thank you for acknowledging the ghosts that some of us (like me) spend out holidays with. I feel less alone.
Happy holidays to you and yours! May Victor let you increase your taxidermied menagerie.
Brendazzle* recently posted..winter concert

I just wrote a post about the same thing. It is sad to grow up, and it is sad when things change, but some changes aren’t really all that different when you really consider them. Happy Holidays!
Youngman Brown recently posted..What I Decided to Write About on Christmas

Merry Christmas Jenny – I love you and I love what you have done to make me happy this year – you say what needs to be said and you rock. my. world. Thank you everso….. xoxo

Merry Christmas! I found your blog this year when someone gave me the link to Beyonce, the best effing chicken in the world. I almost peed myself laughing and almost do again every time it comes around in a “you have to read this” link. Thanks for all the laughs in a time when we can’t laugh enough.
Robin recently posted..Thoughts

Oh I HOPE you enjoy the heck out of the peace and quiet. But why the frozen pizza? No ham sandwich?
Love that Tim Minchin gets a run with you…
We are just finishing Boxing Day Down Under. Totally stuffed. Totally exhausted. Ready for some quiet time now. Hope everyone else out there had some great moments whether with a crowd or not.

BB
BB recently posted..Loot!

Happy New Year and a toast to you, too. Thank you for all the joy and for the moments of melancholy that go with it. And thank you for the song, which I had just heard on the radio, in the grocery store parking lot, getting eggs for a coconut cake….
Kathleen recently posted..Lo, How a Rose

Merry Christmas to you, Victor and Hailey, Jenny. I lost both my Grandparents last year just before Christmas, they practically raised me and made me feel so loved and special. I miss them tremendously. I’m crying reading your post, it’s more than a kindness for you to reach out and touch the lives of perfect strangers. You’re amazing and I hope you have an incredible Christmas.
Tara recently posted..Royal Weddings Need More Meth…

Yes, Christmas is just not the same without family. Since moving to Mexico, we are surrounded every year by my gf’s family – my family still being back home. It’s wonderful, but not the same, sometimes.

Much love to your families this year.

Thank God for the interweb of connectivityness.
Craig Norton recently posted..Christmas Eve

Jennie, I love you! Well today you made me cry by putting in words exactly how I was feeling. Merry Christmas and Happy Healthy New Year.

I just thought you might appreciate this: at Christmas dinner while my young cousin uncomfortably misinterpreted a story about how her dad tried to choke his baby sister (he apparently tried to pick her up out of her crib, but being three years old, didn’t know you shouldn’t pick a baby up by the neck), my mom chimed in with, “There’s a fine line between a hug and a strangle!” I did my best not to blurt out, “Copernicus!” because I am positive my mother has never read your blog and 99% sure no one else in my family would have known what the hell I was talking about. I’ve already got a reputation as a lush because I enjoy a glass of wine in the evenings, so I figured I better not push it with stories about homicidal toy monkeys. Merry Christmas.

As usual I’m a day late with my comment. I feel your pain about the ghosts of Christmases past. I’m 3 states away from my family in Texas and oodles of states away from my in-laws. We’re kind of just stuck in the middle of the U.S. I didn’t even get a call from my dad on Christmas this year, yet somehow I’m supposed think that he and my step-mom and one of my siblings that failed to contact me yesterday, care about me. Pfft. Yeah right! It sucks being the odd one out.

I did have a nice Christmas morning with the husband though. He makes it all okay, and even though he can be Scrooge-esque during the holiday season, I still got that sparkly holiday feeling because he was here and he cared. Just the two of us together on Christmas morning was special and sort of slow-paced and quiet, except when I squealed over the thoughtful gifts he gave to me. It was nice and I hope my family had a nice holiday too.

Maybe next year I’ll shoot off fireworks or send a skywriter over my dad’s house that says “I’m still here!” to get their attention. You never can tell what the black sheep may do. *wink*

Happy Holidays and you’re never alone when you have us!
Mrs. One Day recently posted..Big Tuna Revisted

At this time of year I can’t help but weep for all the Christmas’ that could have been but never happened because I have a really dysfunctional family. Hearing people’s stories about peoples memories of happy Christmas’ with their families make me sad.
Von recently posted..New Theme: Nuntius

It feels like you were in my head and wrote what I would if I could rub two sentences together. I have a great husband and amazing kids, but I too am haunted by the ghosts of Christmas’ past. I lost my mom 5 years ago on December 2. This time of year is wonderful, magical, and lonely. I celebrate and feel blessed, but I also yearn for the specialness of what once was and can never be again. I feel thankful that my mom got it so right that now matter how many years pass I will always want her and our holidays. I hope when my kids grow they will miss our family Christmas’ also. Better yet, I hope they keep coming back to spend it with us and their families.

Happy Holidays, Jenny. Thanks for a year of laughs.

I was left out of my family Christmas this year. Why? Because I found out that a relative had sexually abused a child in our family, and I actually had the balls to say something about it. The “I believe the child’s claim, but I can’t believe that person would do this awful thing” morphed into “abusers can celebrate with family, but tattletales not welcome here.”
Merry Fucking Christmas, Pedobear.

That’s one of my favorite holiday themed songs, I made a point of listening to it many times this year.
John recently posted..Holiday Season – 2011

I swear it’s like you read my mind. The holidays felt a little empty this year — so thanks so much for this, Jenny. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well.

thank you

The swirl has finally died down and I am reading this…a toast to you, too, Jenny. And I so appreciate the line: “this post goes out to all of you, but especially to those of you who celebrate as you are haunted with the sweet bitterness of things past, and of well-loved places that now only exist in your mind.” It is very fitting for me, and I thank you for it. Merry Recently Past Christmas, and a happy New Year to you.
LisaAR recently posted..Photo

That song is my all time favourite Christmas song. I know I’m a little late with this comment, but I wanted te say Merry Christmas to you all!

First Christmas without my son (he’s in Europe enjoying being 21 and an international student) so it’s just the hubs and me … and purposely staying away from my in-laws because of the strife … so it’s quiet and sad … at least we have the pets (7) to entertain us … they’re far more loving and entertaining than family anyway … enjoy your Holidays, you keep us laughing!

This means so much to me. I have shared Tim with many friends but most just don’t seem to get him.
I am, for the first time in my life, going through my own anxiety issues. I am about a month away from moving ‘down under,’ and far, far away from most everything I know and love. This song shows a sentimental side of Tim that we rarely see but also perfectly describes the meaning of Christmas to one who is not necessarily religious. If I close my eyes I can even see myself on Christmas morning in Australia. That’s what they do, sip white wine in the sun… on the beach… swimming with dolphins, but not at the same time, cause wine and dolphins don’t mix.
Thanks for sharing. I feel at least someone gets it even though you couldn’t possibly know.
Merry Christmas belated…

I discovered your blog over the summer and come back to it often. Thank you for the many times you’ve brought laughter to my life when all I wanted to do was cry. This post made me cry, because you put into words exactly how I was feeling. I am celebrating without loved ones who I’ve yet to meet, and it is rare for someone to understand that kind of heartache. You get it and you were one of the few who made me feel understood this Christmas. Thank You!
Miss Trace recently posted..Merry Christmas

Three days later, I’m reading this in the middle of a Big Worry, and feeling like I am the only one who could possibly understand, and then I’m crying in my tea.

Christmas Eve is magical, but I had to fake the magic this year, which only made the ache bigger.

Thank you for caring, and saying so.
Cameron recently posted..Earl Grey Tea Cake

Thank you Jenny! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas celebration.
Naked Girl in a Dress recently posted..An Act of Kindness at Christmas

I’ve been thinking about this post since my last comment above, and decided to blog about the evolution of traditions. Take the old, add some new. Over time, we drift from our former traditions, even if we cling to a few strongholds that symbolize the core of what a holiday means to us. http://wp.me/p1Mopi-rs Thanks for the inspiration for looking into how my own traditions have evolved now that the place and people who defined Christmas for me are gone. I hope you had a nice holiday. -Kat

Hope you had a great Christmas & have a great New Year! I so enjoy your posts. Sometimes I think we are the same people just living in 2 seperate countries.

Christmas makes me feel a little sad. I know I am lucky to have my mom and brother to spend time with, but I can’t help but wish for my own special someone as well as children. I know it is stupid to mourn for a family that doesn’t exist.

I recently got to see Tim sing White Wine in the Sun on guitar whilst Brian Cox played piano. This was after Tim played piano whilst Brian Cox gave a lecture on the origins of the universe. I’m geek-gasming just remembering it. Amazing.
Bachelor Who recently posted..My thought-train is being drunk-driven. Good luck interwebs.

Jenny,

Thanks for this post. This Christmas was the first one without my two year old niece. She died very suddenly a year ago on January 20th. She was my only niece and we are a very close family, so it was rough on everyone. Most of us were not looking forward to the holiday because it didn’t feel the same. We all had the memories of the previous Christmas, just before she died. Anyway, thanks again.

Patrick