Merry Xmas!

Seeing as i probably won't be here much the next couple of days i would just like to wish a Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!
I hope Santa is generous and time spent with family is good

Thank you, Yogi, and the same right back at ya!

Merry christmas mate


And merry Christmas to everyone here on BB

Yesterday I was off and it was a day too early to bake and prepare food. I have more or less been waiting for today because now, I have so much to do it seems. I am making italian bread right now but I will be getting help with the other baking though. My daughters are coming over and we I am making it a "girls" day with brunch, baking and munching.

I too wish everyone Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays. May you hall have a joyous safe and content holiday.

TIS

I would like to wish ALL of my Gangster BB Friends and their families a

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

and hope that you all enjoy the day and enjoy the time that you have spending this special day with those that you love and care about.

Merry Christmas to the BB familia!!!!

MEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYY CHRISTMAS!

These stories never cease to pull at my heartstrings. It's what Christmas is all about really.

Soldier Home From Iraq for Christmas Meets Newborn Son

TAMPA — Days before Christmas, it's the best gift a family could ask for: Specialist Robert D'Agostino is home from Iraq in time for the holiday.

The homecoming was a special present for the entire D'Agostino family, but the gift waiting for Robert was the chance to hold his 8-month-old son Nicholas, whom he'd never seen.

"It's real, it's hard to believe," Spc. D'Agostino said, holding his new son. "Wow. I'm just waiting to get home."

Also at the airport to welcome Dad home was D'Agostino's oldest son, 2-year-old Robbie, who was just a baby when his father deployed overseas.

"When he left, Robbie wasn't running around, he was toddling," said Beth Livingston, D'Agostino's mother. "He wasn't talking, and now he won't shut up."

D'Agostino's unit shipped off for Iraq one month before Nicholas was born. He's seen pictures and talked over the phone, but it's nothing like the real thing. The Army computer tech is on leave for the next 18 days, and the family plans to make the most of it.

"We've got a little party planned at home, kind of celebrate everything he's missed during the year, all at once," Livingston continued. "So we've put that together for him, kind of a surprise to him."

D'Agostino's wife Melissa has been taking care of the kids, with the help of her family since March, and for a long time, she had no idea when he would be coming home.

"It's good to know he's going to be here for his first Christmas," she said.

Now, everyone will be together again.

"I didn't think I was going to make it, but it was good," D'Agostino said of his 24-hour-trip from the Middle East. "Now I gotta do some Christmas shopping."

On behalf of The Corleones :

AWAY IN A MANGER.......

WISHING ALL OF YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HEALTHY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Great Song Mick! One of my favorites!

I remember all the songs I sang in Christmas Carol service as a junior school kid. Good times.

You served in the Christmas Carol service when you were in Junior School? That's great stuff Mick! When you come to the states I'm going to have to get you drunk on Beers so that you'll sing a few songs for us!

I had a tremendous voice. Till my balls dropped.

The Christmas Tree in front of the New York Stock Exchange 2003, early on a December morning.

Christmas time in Manhattan is very festive. Many lights and decorations. I worked two blocks from the NYSE. After 9/11 the street was closed to vehicular traffic. They placed a Christmas tree in the middle of the street. This photo was taken from the steps of Federal Hall on the corner of Wall and Broad St. Federal Hall is where George Washington was inaugurated as the 1st President of the United States.

Merry Christmas to all. May the peace of Christ be with everyone. May we never experience another day like 9/11/2001. May war be abolished. May all children sleep peacefully in their mother's arms.

New York's one of the few places in the world I associate with Christmas. I might be going there in Easter, by the way...

You'd better let us know when you get here, Mick. It would be a crime to have you so close and not get to meet you.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas to all!!

Many people travel from both around the world and from different parts of this country to New York City at this time of the year.

5th Avenue, Macy's, Rockafeller Center Ice Skating, The Lighting of The Tree, The Christmas Show at Radio City, etc.

It's something that everyone who enjoys Christmas should see at least once in their life.





Well if you do, and I am not away on holiday, I'll buy you that pitcher of beer that I've been promising to buy you when we finally meet.

I think this is a couple years old, but it's an oldie but a goodie. I'm still amazed. Of course, they probably need a 3rd job just to pay the electric bill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0IwpRzWL_4

Just curious! It's Dec. 23, has everyone completed their Christmas shopping?


TIS

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Bing Crosby - White Christmas

Judy Garland - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

I have a hectic two days lined up, so I just want to wish everyone a Happy Holiday in case I don't get the chance to later on.

Merry Christmas!

Well since we're 8 or 10 hrs in front of you guys,it's Christmas here already so i'm a little drunk and wishing you all a Merry Christmas.!!!

Maligayang Pasko

An unfortunate but sweet Christmas story: My daughter found this sofa she just loved about a year ago at a furniture store. My son-in-law wanted to surprise her and bought it yesterday. Although he had to stand it on it's end in his truck, his house was only a few blocks from the store, with no freeway driving. No problem right?

Well, enroute, the sofa fell out of his truck. That wasn't bad enough, another car ran into it. The driver of the other car came out of his car angry at first My son-in-law totally apoligized, admitted fault, they exchanged info. This guy "didn't know" if there was damage to his car, although there was no obvious damage. He was gonna check today in the daylight. So, there could be an insurance claim coming.

My SIL told my daughter he wanted to surprise her Christmas morning and set it up in the living room so when she came downstairs she'd see it. Isn't that so sweet?

We are "all" thankful though. It could have been much much worse if he or my daughter, or one of my grandkids, or anyone else for that matter was hurt. The sofa was about $1,000 and although they didn't expect the store could or would do a thing about it, since it wasn't their fault, they tried and the best the store could do is offer them $100 off the floor model (which was an exception, because they said they never sell the floor model). They may just do that.

Granted, that's a large sum of money down the drain, but it could have been much worse.

TIS

Sorry to hear that TIS. It is fortunate he didn't get in a worse accident, and that the guy behind him wasn't a road rage idiot. It's a shame. Did he give your daughter any other gift?

I'm sure she'll be grateful for the thought and glad he's ok. Afterwards I would have been, "What..you paid $1000 on a sofa?"

Bummer TIS. So I guess the sofa got destroyed, or unusable. They will laugh about this in a few years.

Sorry to hear this TIS. His intention was a good one. Thankfully no one was hurt.

Let me ask you a question : Did he put the purchase of the Sofa on a credit card by any chance?

As far as the condition of the sofa, I haven't seen it yet. However, my daughter tells me it is ruined (sounds like the frame of it is whacked) except perhaps for the cushions. Looking at a postive aspect, she suggested she could keep the cushions in case as time went on, and with three little kids, they got ruined/stained or whatever. Gotta look at any postive side I guess.

TIS

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year everyone.

....Sorry about the sofa TIS.

Merry Christmas to all

Meeeeerrrrrrrry Christmas!

And becoming a Eunuch for the sake of that voice wasn't an option for you?

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT DAY

LOVE TO YOU ALLL

NICK

Thanks Chopper! Same to you and everyone else here on the BB It's only 6:25 a.m. here and I'm already up and cooking. Lasagna is the meal today. All the time it takes to prepare and only takes about 10 minutes to eat. I am looking forward to it though.

MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIENDS!!!!

TIS

Good morning and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!

Hope Santa was good to everyone!

Enjoy the day.

Geoff, you're so bright and sparkly this early in the morning. What is your Christmas dinner?


TIS

Bright and sparkly in the AM? Hardly!

I think my mom's making a filet tonight... last night it was shrimp scampi... forgot to post that to the Dinner thread

Merry Xmas to you all!
Had a great day even though we are all full of cold.....
Santa was good to me!
I got the Sopranos 6B and the book "the Hoods" so i am happy

My daughter got a new lap top which i am doing this on.....very swanky.....

Merry Christmas everyone!! Since Becky and Frank had to go home today and since the Col. is working today we opened our presents and had our Christmas dinner on the 23rd.

Was Santa good to everybody? I hope everyone enjoys the day.

Frank is your older boy?

No, Santino Jr. is.

Well, I got back home about an hour ago after a very nice dinner with my family. It was especially nice because we did a lot of reminiscing of Christmas's past and shared old photo albums, etc. and had a lot of laughs. I'll tell you though, I don't want to eat for a week. I'm so full. It was a very long day and I think all the eating made me tired. It's good to be back home.

Santa was very good to me. I got perfume, jewelry, two sweaters, gift certificates, Bourne Supremacy video(which I was looking forward to getting)money (from my parents).

Cute little sidenote: My youngest grandaughter (3yrs) opened one of her gifts which was a dog with batteries that speaks, sits on command, burps (this dog even pees, if you can believe that) Her comment after she opened it was "this is what I wanted my whole life." So cute!!! 3 yrs old and that's what she dreamed of her whole life.

TIS

That is adorable! Her "whole life!"

I know just what you mean I don't want to see another cookie,cake, candy or turkey for a long time! I am full of it!
BUT, had a great time enjoying it all!
Hope everyone had a safe & happy Day!

OWTG

I tell ya. I feel like I should maybe run for 5 miles a day for the next week to work off all the food I ate. It's fun eating though isn't it?

Did anyone back East get any bad weather conditions?


TIS

No Frank is Becky's BF. My older son's name is Ray.

Merry Christmas to my BB family - hope you all had a beautiful day with your loved ones.

Who is this Frank fellow? What do we know about him?? How does he make his living???

I think its time Uncle Don Cardi paid him a visit to check him out.

Santa reminded me of my Brooklyn roots.... he left for me a book about Duke Snider and a DVD on the Brooklyn Dodgers!!!

Way to go, Santa!

Ah, give this to ah, DonMichaelCorleone. I want reliable people; people that aren't gonna be carried away. I'm mean, we're not murderers, despite of what this redneck says.

After 36 years of marriage, this is the first Christmas that my wife and I spent alone. It was nice and peaceful, but a bit lonely. She didn't miss all the cooking, but we missed the cacophony of family get togethers. We'll make up for it this coming 4 day weekend.

So for Christmas dinner we went to Carmine's in the Tropicana Quarter in Atlantic City. Mangia! And there I had a Godfather moment. I sat under a picture of Al Martino. He looked about 18 years old.

I think you will have to check him out DC, DMC is to busy these days. Better yet let's have the BB Weekend in VA next Summer and all of you can check him out.

Me and the Col. really like Frank. He likes the GF and gangster type movies so how bad can he be? Plus he bought me a GF script with autographs for Christmas. He will fit in great with us BBer's.

Now you're new son-in-law.....are you going to give him something important...besides your daughter.

That's really nice of him! A thoughtful present.

You tell Frank that if he wants to get "in" with the Slade family, he'll have to buy "Uncle Sonny" an autographed GF script for his birthday!

Thats really nice that Becky has found a good guy. She's a nice girl and deserves it.

Never. MIG said that she'd give him a living, but that she would never discuss the Family business with him.

Merry Xmas Fellas!

GoodFella

Hey Goodfella, nice to hear from you! Hope that you and your family had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Can't wait till 08.07 was not the best year for me.

Whisper, I hope that you get your wish!!

We had a lovely holiday. We spent Christmas Eve at my brother's and they cooked an enormous amount of food. However, unlike the slender TIS, the thought of it all is just making me hungry again. Yesterday we were at the in-laws. There was ham.

Lots of lovely gifts, although I swear that my one brother and SIL just look up stuff on the internet and think, What stupid-ass gift could we give the Babes this year?? We got a pancake warmer and this pitcher/bowl for mixing and pouring the batter. It is enormous. Where the F^^^ am I supposed to keep this thing? At Thanksgiving, we were discussing how we're all trying to downsize at this stage in our lives, that we do NOT want any more "stuff" because we all have too much, and BINGO, a giant batter pitcher/bowl!!

I will be sure and tell him Uncle Sonny's request.

Sign him up for the Yankees.

That is classic.

Belated Merry Christmas, all. I felt bad that I didn't get to post before we left to visit family for the holiday. I ate well, had some Guinness, and spent haappy time with the family.

Ha, ha, ha!! You're a riot, Alice.

sorry to hear that mate hope next years better for you

Thanks SB and Chopper.Hope you have a great new year.

Whisper, I also hope that '08 will be better for you. I will keep you in my prayers.

We used to have a saying in Brooklyn (when the baseball team, the Dodgers, was here).... "Wait 'til next year".

I hope next year is better for you.

Whisper, I can relate to a very bad year (or years). Boy does that suck. But, keep a stiff upper lip. It's gotta be better in the new year. Once down, you can only go up.

My best to you for a truly "happy" New Year.

TIS

SB, this had me laughing out loud, because I know my mom would just love hearing this. That is exactly what we've been dealing with and griping about - too much "stuff."

We actually did not exchange gifts this year, deciding that it's gotten out of hand, where we all stress out about getting stuff for people, who end up not liking it or needing it - and just the whole idea of how commercial the holiday has become. My mom and grandma took it as a relief because they're ones that have to do a lot of stressful shopping for relatives, and I sort of enjoyed it, as well. I think it made us take Christmas for what it should be, as time to spend with loved ones.

But I have to admit...I got a bit sad on Christmas day, when there was no exchange of presents. It really isn't the gifts themselves - I don't think any of us missed getting something - but just the fun of that tradition, watching everyone pass boxes around and unwrap everything, of giving somebody something you hope is special for them...it was strange not to have that. I think my dad especially wished we hadn't changed things. We visited his parents' graves Christmas Eve, and my mom made a comment about how his mom never would've let us take away the gift exchange, because she absolutely loved to give gifts. That made me realize why he probably wanted to do it, and it made me sad. But we all had a wonderful time together as family, with my dad's brother's family making it even more special, so I'm grateful for that. That alone makes for a great Christmas.

Gina, I agree with the sentiment, but understand how it must have made the day a bit empty. You always intrigue me, and I think that you're an amazing young woman. If I had told my daughters, who are only a few years younger than you, not to expect any gifts this year, I think I would have had a full-fledged rebellion on my hands!

Actually, you should have heard my other brother, who got the same pancake set! He and his wife just retired. They're spending the next few months emptying the house and getting it ready to sell, and hope to move to a condo. Sure enough - the giant batter pitcher! I know we should appreciate what we're given, but honestly! My husband, however, loves it. He thinks that the whole pancake warmer is a great idea, and can't wait to use it this weekend. I told him good luck trying to find the cabinet space for it!

Don't let him kid ya... he's gonna use it for a winter pool for Shirley.

gina, your post is very poignant. Its gotta be tough to break a long standing tradition (of sharing gifts), but I can understand your family's reasoning.

Gina, I don't know how large your family is, but perhaps next year, in lieu of buying and exchanging gifts for and with everyone or totally doing away with exchanging gifts, why not do a Kris Kringle / Secret Santa?

Everyone puts their name in a hat and each person picks a name, doesn't tell anyone else who they picked, and has to buy that person a present.

This way the gift giving does not get out of hand, there's no stressful, commercialized shopping where you just buy a bunch of gifts without putting any thought into it.

With having to buy a gift for the one person who's name you picked, you can put some thought into what to buy and also keep the enjoyment of exchanging gifts.

BTW, I thought of you on Christmas. The TNT channel played 'A Christmas Story' all day long!

Thank you all for the kind messages - I needed to vent about that, and I appreciate the responses.

I think the whole moving experience really makes one realize how much "stuff" is kept, sometimes when completely unnecessary. All throughout our moving process, my parents - especially my mom - noticed this. When you have to pack everything up in boxes, it really hits you! And their whole goal was to downsize, as you said, so we're constantly on alert for anything new coming in the house...which is hilarious when it comes to my grandma, who will send anything and everything she can think of to us. Newspaper clippings, clothing and jewelry that's been passed on, decorations, food, etc. I don't know how many times I've heard my mom tell her, "Mom! We don't need all this stuff!" or "We don't have room for all this stuff!"

DC, I think Secret Santa is a nice idea, and it'd probably be good for us. I seem to remember someone in the family suggesting that before, so I'm not sure what happened with it - but maybe we can do that next year. If anything, I'll just give baked goods to everybody - one of my uncles has done that for years, making these wonderful trays of homemade sweets. Some of my high school friends are coming over in a few days, so I'm making their Christmas gifts somewhat similar - I got tin containers at the store, made cookies, and added candy canes and chocolate in...I should've been doing it long ago!

A Christmas Story...yes! We all watched it together - it never fails to make us laugh. A true classic.

About two years ago, we were thinking of buying a new house. I was telling a friend of mine about it. She looked around her house, and said, "If someone gave me a new house for free, I'd turn it down rather than have to think about packing!"

My parents, brothers and sister and their spouses, my grandmother and an uncle and aunt do just that. I like it because it cuts down on the shopping. Also, I don't have to cram tons of presents into the car. My sister picked my name this year, and I got a shirt and tie, the new Dan Rooney book and a gift certificate from Border's. We set the amount at $75.00.

My children and their cousins do this as well.

The cold i had on Xmas Day has developed into a nasty chest infection that has laid me lower than a snakes testicles.....
No food except trusty chicken soup(sick peoples food) and certainly no alcohol has passed my lips these past 3 days.... Never mind eh?
There's always next year to look forward to.

Yogi, it stinks to be sick at this time of year, doesn't it? We've all been passing around the same cold since the week before Thanksgiving, first my husband, then my daughter, then me and my mom. It's been sort of miserable, but we seem to be past the worse now. Thankfully, my oldest daughter, who has asthma and who seems to get bronchitis and/or pneumonia at the first sign of a cold, has been spared.

Hope you're back on your feet and feeling better soon!!!!

Thanks alot SB I got your cold. Then my little man got it. So far the Col.'s been spared. I was feeling better but today I started to get the cough and the sore throat again. I guess it's back to the Nyqual(sp) and the drinking the green tea.

Klyd, we've been doing the same thing for like 6 years now. It sure does help the wallet when you have a big family.

Yep. It lets you focus on the kids a little more.

The only thing I hate is when We pick a name and that person is SOOOOO hard to shop for.