|
|
Post by dgan on May 5, 2005 1:40:24 GMT -5
OK - two factors at work here. First, my would-be grandparents raised 5 boys. Therefore, in order for Christmas to last more than 12 seconds, they would take turns standing up in front of everyone opening one present at a time. Unfortunately, this practice continued until grandchildren and great-grandchildren expanded the family to well over 40, causing a dreaded 5 hour ordeal for me called "Christmas at Grandma's".
Secondly, my Grandma had a habit of buying presents year round. A seemingly frugal and economically sound plan. Here's the problem: she would wrap them when she bought them. What's the problem with that, you say? Well, she didn't write the person's name on the present. That's right. She would wrap dozens of gifts, then forget what they were or who they were for.
The result - about an hour into one Christmas, my dad gets up in front of his expansive (and rather edgy, by this time) family. He has a gift from his mom (my grandma) - I say "a gift" because it isn't "his gift." It's just "a gift."
We all busted out laughing for 20 minutes straight as my dad held up a pair of supersize Leggs nylons.
|
|
|
|
Post by Untainted on May 5, 2005 16:17:00 GMT -5
The stretch of my family oddity is competiveness to the point of bodily injury. And I do not fall far from the tree...
Case in point: This morning I was working at the drug/alcohol rehab center as usual, and the other asst. councilors and I decided to allow the kids get out for some fresh air and a small run. During this run I remarked on the slow movement of one of the kids and kindly jested him about being slow, or something to that effect. At this he issued a challenge, and being much like Cynan Machae, would not turn down a challenge.
As it was, I happened to be wearing sandals so I decided to go shoeless on the pavement of the parking lot out front. One of my fellow employees advised against it, and oh if I would have heeded her wise council. The race started out well, I the boy (14 years younger than I) leading me just a bit, a ruse on my part as I knew I could take hime on the leg back. However, in the heat of the competition I failed to realize how cold the cement was, and half way back from the dumpster to the finish line I realized my toes were numb.
I knew instantly without the feeling of my toes that I would go down, so I opted to go with my Marine training and made a "perfect" roll. Perfect in that it was so smooth that I didnt break or even badly bruise anything. In fact it was so perfect the kids thought I was joking around and did it on purpose to let the kid win. Because of this the 16 kids and fellow employee laughed good and long at me. But as I approached my big toe started to tingle and I looked down to see that when I started my roll I had scraped the front inside part of my foot tearing off a calouse I had, and with it came a good amount of good skin as well.
All in all, it wasnt a bad wound, but it bled like I had stepped on a land mine. The most embarrasing part was while I was cleaning it out and trying to stop the bleeding I got queezy and almost lost my breakfast. HA big bad Marine! Anyway, I was taught a lesson in humility, and all that was hurt was my foot and pride.
|
|
|
|
Post by Daae on May 5, 2005 17:03:47 GMT -5
Well, there are the stories of my parent's wedding, where A) my dad showed up late and in jeans and a T-shirt, B) my dad kept going cross eyed during the vows because of the fly buzzing around his head, and C) my mom tied her bouquet to her wrist.
For my sixteenth birthday my dad took me, my sister, and some friends laser tagging. We didn't have enough people for even teams, so my dad played. Well I'm walking through the maze like set up of the place, when I hear "Die Jedi scum!" from around the corner, and my vest goes out. Sure enough, I see my dad dart away.
As for my mom, she randomly quotes The Princess Bride, and sings showtunes. And my dad is a Trekkie, so that about says it all.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hinata on May 5, 2005 18:23:29 GMT -5
For my sixteenth birthday my dad took me, my sister, and some friends laser tagging. We didn't have enough people for even teams, so my dad played. Well I'm walking through the maze like set up of the place, when I hear "Die Jedi scum!" from around the corner, and my vest goes out. Sure enough, I see my dad dart away. lol! That's just great! I want to do that to my children one day!  Now, those sound like fun parents. . .mine just keep telling me to stop watching Princess Bride  I love it too much! |
|
|
|
Post by laurelin on May 5, 2005 18:55:53 GMT -5
Seriously. That sounds like fun ;D
|
|
|
|
Post by dinadan on May 5, 2005 19:14:22 GMT -5
For my sixteenth birthday my dad took me, my sister, and some friends laser tagging. We didn't have enough people for even teams, so my dad played. Well I'm walking through the maze like set up of the place, when I hear "Die Jedi scum!" from around the corner, and my vest goes out. Sure enough, I see my dad dart away. Your dad is my hero of the week. |
|
|
|
Post by twyrch on May 6, 2005 12:57:44 GMT -5
My family/friends and I dressed up for LotR... Q: is this for immediate families only? I'd say it can be for anything. I don't see any reason to limit the stories. ;D |
|
|
|
Post by twyrch on May 6, 2005 13:11:06 GMT -5
First self embarrassing story (I have many of these. . .my parents LOVE to tell them. . .): When I was like 3 or 4, I was at the library with my parents and my father had just finished reading me a book. I decided I want another story read to me, so I took it to my mother and asked her to read it to me. She was busy and so she told me to have my father read it to me. I, being a wise and literal child. . .having only seen my father read the newspaper, declared in as LOUD of a voice as I could "But Daddy can't read!" First family embarrassing story: My older brother is not very. . .wise when it comes to common sense. . .he's very lacking. . . but the lacking is mostly displayed when I point out his story of his apartment. See, he got married in February of last year (2004) and he moved into his apartment in January. Since my family and his fiance's family were still planning the wedding, my brother invited them down to the apartment to discuss the plans. He spent all day cleaning up his apartment but he noticed a horrible smell and decided to light a candle to cover the smell. When my parents arrived at the house, the identified the smell. . .natural gas. ..amazing the rocket scientist didn't blow himself and the apartment complex up. OMG! Your brother is insane!! ;D I love that story. |
|
|
|
Post by twyrch on May 6, 2005 13:12:10 GMT -5
OK - two factors at work here. First, my would-be grandparents raised 5 boys. Therefore, in order for Christmas to last more than 12 seconds, they would take turns standing up in front of everyone opening one present at a time. Unfortunately, this practice continued until grandchildren and great-grandchildren expanded the family to well over 40, causing a dreaded 5 hour ordeal for me called "Christmas at Grandma's". Secondly, my Grandma had a habit of buying presents year round. A seemingly frugal and economically sound plan. Here's the problem: she would wrap them when she bought them. What's the problem with that, you say? Well, she didn't write the person's name on the present. That's right. She would wrap dozens of gifts, then forget what they were or who they were for. The result - about an hour into one Christmas, my dad gets up in front of his expansive (and rather edgy, by this time) family. He has a gift from his mom (my grandma) - I say "a gift" because it isn't "his gift." It's just "a gift." We all busted out laughing for 20 minutes straight as my dad held up a pair of supersize Leggs nylons. Christmas at your house sounds like mine except my grandparents only had 2 boys. only 20 of us, et all... |
|
|
|
Post by twyrch on May 6, 2005 13:13:51 GMT -5
All in all, it wasnt a bad wound, but it bled like I had stepped on a land mine. The most embarrasing part was while I was cleaning it out and trying to stop the bleeding I got queezy and almost lost my breakfast. HA big bad Marine! Anyway, I was taught a lesson in humility, and all that was hurt was my foot and pride. That's hilarious! I'm glad that you weren't hurt any worse. |
|
|
|
Post by twyrch on May 6, 2005 13:14:32 GMT -5
Well, there are the stories of my parent's wedding, where A) my dad showed up late and in jeans and a T-shirt, B) my dad kept going cross eyed during the vows because of the fly buzzing around his head, and C) my mom tied her bouquet to her wrist. For my sixteenth birthday my dad took me, my sister, and some friends laser tagging. We didn't have enough people for even teams, so my dad played. Well I'm walking through the maze like set up of the place, when I hear "Die Jedi scum!" from around the corner, and my vest goes out. Sure enough, I see my dad dart away. As for my mom, she randomly quotes The Princess Bride, and sings showtunes. And my dad is a Trekkie, so that about says it all. Your dad sounds awesome!!!! w00t! |
|
|
|
Post by Janikz Rex on May 9, 2005 8:29:56 GMT -5
my pops is the funniest dude.. he can fall asleep just about anywhere ... movie theaters, church, anywhere...
he'll be in the living room "watching tv" (more like the tv is watching him) snoring away. i change the channel and he'll wake up instantly in a storm "Why did u change the channel i was watching that!!!!!!"
|
|
|
|
Post by twyrch on May 9, 2005 17:41:27 GMT -5
my pops is the funniest dude.. he can fall asleep just about anywhere ... movie theaters, church, anywhere... he'll be in the living room "watching tv" (more like the tv is watching him) snoring away. i change the channel and he'll wake up instantly in a storm "Why did u change the channel i was watching that!!!!!!" LOL! My dad and grandpa do that too. That's awesome. |
|
|
|
Post by Lady Bookwyrm on May 10, 2005 21:30:05 GMT -5
Ever seen My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding? Yeah, that's my family...only we're Italian and Lebanese. I have a TON of relatives...and we eat constantly. We are loud, obnoxious, extremely protective...but dang, we love each other.
|
|
|
|
Post by dinadan on May 10, 2005 21:33:56 GMT -5
Ever seen My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding? Yeah, that's my family...only we're Italian and Lebanese. I have a TON of relatives...and we eat constantly. We are loud, obnoxious, extremely protective...but dang, we love each other. Yeah, that's kind of like my family...except without the ethnic reference. |
|
I love it too much!
Twyrch /|\
