Share The Struggle
Share The Struggle
Turn Holiday Hustle Into Memories
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Snow outside, lights low, coffee at night, and a toddler determined to cameo—this Christmas special is equal parts cozy and chaotic. We leaned into it. From goofy elf names to heartfelt family memories, we explore how the holidays feel when traditions shift and real life spills across the wrapping paper.
We start with humor—Minty McCandy Cane, Happy Stocking Stuffer, and the legend of Jingle Pickle Pants—then move into the scents and stories that anchor the season: pine on the dashboard, a battery four-wheeler sending a kid up the Christmas tree, and a giant stocking that turned generosity into sport. Along the way we talk honestly about what happens when grandparents are gone and the old scripts fade. If the big gatherings have dwindled, how do you rebuild? Our answer: make smaller rituals that still feel big. Walk through a mile of lights. Stretch celebrations across days, not hours. Keep stockings, but fill them smart.
We also share the case for practical presents—deodorant, gloves, toothpaste, a renewed registration, even a AAA membership. Not glamorous, but deeply kind when money is tight and January is coming. And then there’s Spirit, the horse that became family—a story of late-night deals, a perfect card, and a room full of tears that still feels like a warm fire. That’s the energy we carry forward: not bigger, but deeper. Make memories that last longer than the bow.
If you’re craving a holiday that’s warm, real, and a little messy, you’re in the right place. Laugh with us, reminisce with us, and take away ideas you can use tonight. Subscribe, share this with someone who loves a good Christmas story, and leave a review with your most practical gift that meant the most—we’ll read our favorites next time.
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Ho ho ho! It's that time of year again, boys and girls, chipmunks and squirrels, gather around for the Liberty Family tradition. That's right, folks, for the fifth year counting. It is the Loud Proud American Liberty Family Share the Struggle Podcast Christmas special. Let me tell you something. Everybody struggles. The difference is some people choose to go through it and some choose to grow through it. The choice is completely yours. Which one you choose will have a very profound effect on the way you live your life. If you find strength in the struggle, then this podcast is for you. Uncomfortable conversations. Uncomfortable conversations. Precisely, perfectly, beautifully named. Share the struggle podcast. Brought to you for them fine folks over to the Loud Proud American, where y'all should be getting your gifts this holiday season. If you're listening to this episode on Christmas Eve, then it's probably too late for you to get your gifts for Christmas, unless you're local. Then you can swing by and I'll give them to you. Otherwise, here's the spoiler. You're gonna get some gifts this Christmas that you probably didn't want, okay? You're gonna get the socks that you didn't want, the tie you already have, the coffee cup that is funny, but you're never gonna use it. You're gonna get those things, okay? The orange and the sock, you know what I'm saying? Those things are gonna happen, and you're gonna have a bunch of gifts that you really didn't need, you really don't want. So, what I want to encourage you to do is to treat yourself. Get get through Christmas, okay? Realize you missed out on some great gifts for yourself, and then uh circle on back to loudbrotamerican.shop and treat yourself in the new year. That's my secret, that's my super secret, super special advice, Christmas advice for all y'all right there. Take that, love that, enjoy that.
SPEAKER_03:Or maybe you are holding now because you are hoping that there is some LPA swag under the Christmas tree for you. And you will go and open up that wonderful sweater that Nana made you.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:You know, that uh just ain't the same, is it? Wool socks to keep you warm.
SPEAKER_05:Get them itchy toes.
SPEAKER_03:Those things are all a blessing. Oh. But not as much of a blessing as LPA swag.
SPEAKER_05:Heck no, you bring up a fine point. Almost a point almost as fine as you, F-I-N-E-T-B. True. Y'all, some of you are gonna get disappointed on Christmas. You're not gonna get that LPA swag that you need. So circle on back, Lapad American.shop. And I tell you what, we'll do a post-Christmas extravaganza on our site. We're gonna do that for all y'all.
SPEAKER_03:We should have done the 12 days of Christmas.
SPEAKER_05:I did it a couple years ago. I dropped the ball this year. We have a toddler, basically, okay? Life's not as coordinated as it once was. But we are proud to be back, and I can say we, because I am joined by my lovely, beautiful brushing blad over there with her howdy Christmas PJs on. That's Christmas, right? Or is it just howdy in general?
SPEAKER_04:Howdy in general. Either way. This is just my life.
SPEAKER_05:Feels festive. Welcome. Thanks. This is the Liberty Family Christmas, the annual Christmas soiree that we do here. Hey, those match your new sweater pretty nicely, actually.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, it does pretty nice. I was just sizing that up.
SPEAKER_05:Oh, soundtrack from the back. Um, a little queenie than Gweenie on the Bubba. I think she might make her way on over here. Here's the thing. Let's put out the PSA for the day, the public service announcement. It's crunch time. We're recording this on uh Tuesday evening. When y'all get this episode, it's gonna drop on Christmas Eve. Okay? We are recording on Eve Eve.
SPEAKER_03:The wife is 9:30 in the af night time.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, this is not the afternoon. They don't make it 9:30 afternoon.
SPEAKER_03:That's why we're having a uh 7 o'clock ice coffee.
SPEAKER_05:Malcolm Donuts ice coffees for the win. And uh when this podcast here is done, little Miss Thang across from me here is gonna be getting another Christmas rapping. Not just gangster rapping, but Christmas rapping. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I haven't even started.
SPEAKER_05:So uh that's all ahead of us.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:I'm giving you this PSA because we have Queenie Linguini in the other room watching the rotating Christmas tree and Christmas vacations on TV. She's having a bubble. She might just pass out, or she might decide to join us.
SPEAKER_04:She's nuzzled in right now.
SPEAKER_05:And we have uh three hooligans over here by our feet. One of them is an extensive heavy breather. The other one snores like a locomotive. And the smallest, Frenchest one usually toots in her sleep and might gag a maggot. So there could be some background noise. This is Christmas, okay?
SPEAKER_03:This is the Liberty Chaos.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. If you're listening on Christmas Eve, we're just a part of your hustle and bustle, okay? It is what it is. But here's the thing, folks. I do believe this is our fifth year doing a Christmas special. In the beginning, early stages, I used to do a Christmas with Clark episode, and then we could never uh coordinate our schedules. And me and Clark talked about it again this year. We're gonna do a post-holiday extravaganza because we talked about getting reunited. But uh, my lovely wife has joined me the past few years, and it's been fun. We uh tackle a lot of holiday questions, have some fun off the cuff topics, and that's what we're gonna be getting on to today. But there's a few things that get out the way. We've set the scene. I want to welcome y'all into the Liberty Snow Globe, okay? We have the lighted village going, we have the rotating Christmas tree. Christmas vacation is on the TV with the sound off because I could tell what the what the words are, and I just want to let the people know. I put the movie on with the sound off, and in my mind I said, I can look up and know what he's saying. And I sat down, what about my business? You went over there to put little Paisley down, and then began to finish lines from the movie with the sound off. That's how I know I picked the right one.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you. Thanks. So that's going on.
SPEAKER_03:You've only made me watch the movie 400 times. Well.
SPEAKER_05:You could have just said we're meant to be, you know. That's another option.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, that's true.
SPEAKER_05:Also, behind me, for your viewing pleasure, uh, we are in the in the kitchen area here, and I have the the blinds open or the curtains open with the deck lights on, the outside lights on, and it is snowing. We are encapsulated.
SPEAKER_01:The Dickens.
SPEAKER_05:It is the beat the dickens. We are encapsulated in our own little snow globe. The weatherman is calling from one to 180 inches, somewhere in between there. I don't know. It might stop tomorrow, it might stop in the new year. We don't really know.
SPEAKER_04:I don't think I've ever heard anyone say inches that amount, like without going into like feet before.
SPEAKER_05:Well, what I'm gonna say, I just stole it from a Facebook post when I was cruising while you were waiting for for pace, but it was um uh Robin River, you had this big post and it says snow anywhere from one to 180 inches. And I said, that's actually that's actually pretty fitting. But to surprise you here, to set the move, because I didn't want you to be the only one over there with festive PJs on.
SPEAKER_01:Oh God.
SPEAKER_05:I'm gonna break something out for you here.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, jeez.
SPEAKER_05:It's gonna be a little snugger than predicted.
SPEAKER_04:Oh I got that for you years ago.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I was a little thinner then. I will say that. Let me stand up for you.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, that's classy.
SPEAKER_05:This here, folks, is my Saturday Night Live dick in a box sweater.
SPEAKER_04:It even has the gold chain.
SPEAKER_05:The gold chain's one of my favorite parts.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:It has the big fat gold chain. The uh sleeves are now about four inches too short. I feel like I might have gained circumference in the biceps, which I'll take. But it's just the waistline that's really troubling. But I wanted to wear something festive and wanted to surprise you, so I have the dick in a box Christmas sweater. Yeah, baby?
SPEAKER_06:Da-da.
SPEAKER_05:Well, we had a feeling we wouldn't make it through this. Yeah, yeah. This kid loves a microphone. Don't lick it. She has her own microphone, she has her own karaoke set and her own DJ turntable already, and I think she might already be better than her dad. So that is what it is.
SPEAKER_06:Hi.
SPEAKER_03:Hi, da-da.
SPEAKER_05:Hi, babe. Okay, don't shake the microphone. Okay. Alright, awesome. Now, to get things started, before we get into all of our questions and such, we're gonna start off with Oh, the voice of an angel. We're gonna start off with the voice You're gonna blow people's speakers out.
SPEAKER_04:Alright, let me get you yours.
SPEAKER_05:Crazy cuda.
SPEAKER_04:You want yours?
unknown:Look, your microphone.
SPEAKER_05:Alright, give her her own microphone. She has her own microphone, which means she's still gonna be hooting and hollering in the background. But we're gonna do the best we can here, folks. This is Christmas. This is what it is. Before we get moving here today, we need to discover our elf names.
SPEAKER_03:Oh.
SPEAKER_05:Okay. I have two little pop quizzes here to get our elf names together, and then you can pick your favorite of the two. All right.
SPEAKER_03:These always make me laugh because they never sound like elf names, they always sound like stripper names to me.
SPEAKER_05:Well, elves and strippers are the same thing. You ever been to an elf stripper night? You know what I mean? Midget night? Hey, people can't say that anymore. Alright, here's the deal. Two elf names. Here is our potential options, and it starts with the first letter of your first name. So for you, your first name would be Minty.
SPEAKER_04:Okay.
SPEAKER_05:And then the month you were born. So Which is June, which would make you Minty McCandy Cane.
SPEAKER_04:Okay. Not bad. Alright.
SPEAKER_05:That's option one for you. Okay. Minty McCandy Cane. Alright. And for me, option one would be Happy Stocking Stuffer. So you are a Minty McCandy Cane, and I would be Happy Stocking Stuffer.
SPEAKER_04:Okay. Option number two.
SPEAKER_05:And Baisley would be Twinkle. Twinkle Stocking Stuffer. Option number two for the elf name game. You would be, let me write these down so we can pick what we like here. You would be Perky. Seems pretty solid. Yeah, May, June. Ooh! Perky glitterballs.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, that's definitely a stripper name.
SPEAKER_05:Perky glitterballs. So your options are minty McCandy Cane or Perky Glitterballs.
SPEAKER_03:Well, if we're making selections on elf names, I'm going with option number one. If we're picking stripper names, I'm going number two.
SPEAKER_05:Well, this is gonna be your choice. So uh then for me would be the next one is cookie.
SPEAKER_03:I have an aunt named Cookie.
SPEAKER_05:And the last part is monster. Just kidding. Cookie monster. It makes sense. Uh here you go. Pickle pants. Good old cookie pickle pants.
SPEAKER_01:Hmm, interesting. Combination there.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, and then what's Miss Paisley's? Paisley would be jingle pickle pants.
SPEAKER_04:She is a jingle pickle pants.
SPEAKER_05:She is jingle pickle pants.
SPEAKER_04:That's her for sure.
SPEAKER_05:So we have uh perky glitter balls or a minty McCandy Cane.
SPEAKER_03:For my elf name?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:McCandy Cane.
SPEAKER_05:Alright, so for the remainder of today's show, I will refer to you as Minty McCandy Cane.
SPEAKER_04:Okay.
SPEAKER_05:And the options for me are cookie pickle pants or happy stocking stuffer. I think I'm going happy stocking stuffer. And then the baby can be jingle pickle pants.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, for certain.
SPEAKER_05:And jingle pickle pants is the reason why this episode's gonna run a little shorter because she just made us delay the podcast by what, two, three hours? It's now 11:44 p.m.
SPEAKER_03:We started recording this at 9 40.
SPEAKER_05:Right. Oh, she's finally laying down. So good old jingle pickle pants, hopefully asleep for the evening, which leaves the remainder of the show to Minty McCandy King and Happy Stalking Steffi. Well there, Minty. I lost track of what we were doing and where we were headed because of the chaos that ensued in the household.
SPEAKER_03:But uh Lucky for you, I don't think we got very far.
SPEAKER_05:Okay, good. Good.
SPEAKER_03:We were going over our stripper names. I mean elf names.
SPEAKER_05:They're elves. Okay, get it right.
SPEAKER_03:Hey, on certain nights, we're they're all elves. That's true at the strip club.
SPEAKER_05:I don't have the knees for it anymore. I still don't have them. They get knobby. And since we paused the recording and came back, that that snow globe, we're we're trending more towards the 180 inches than we are the one.
SPEAKER_01:This is true.
SPEAKER_05:It's snowing to beat the dickens. I would say idea. So over the past few years, we've done a few different um games and such for our Christmas special. We had the candy cane game where we were literally just purchased a uh Christmas game and we were firing off questions. We researched questions, we had the bowl of curiosity last year. So I think we're just gonna kind of hover around some of that, share some Christmas pleasantries, have some memories, some stories, all those all those good things. Um as I was going through some of these, and we're gonna shoot a lot of them just completely off the hip. But the first thing I did see was do you have a favorite holiday smell?
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_05:What is it? Minty. It's don't steal mine.
SPEAKER_03:I'm not it's not pine.
SPEAKER_05:Um how did you know?
SPEAKER_03:It's actually frosted cranberry. Okay. For Breeze used to carry it, and it was my absolute favorite, and then they stopped carrying it for some reason. I know. Ridiculous.
SPEAKER_05:And yeah, it's Frosted Cranberry. That could have been your elf name, really.
SPEAKER_04:Frosted cranberry.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, but I'm in seeing McCandy Cane works.
SPEAKER_04:Because I do like to go to the McDonald's a lot.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. For me, it's pretty easy, hands down, it's pine. I love pine.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:I know where you're headed with this.
SPEAKER_01:Where?
SPEAKER_05:Tell the people. We stopped the tractor supply. It was early on in our relationship. Tractor supply. Might have even been like our first Christmas together. Which we started dating in like what, October?
SPEAKER_03:November.
SPEAKER_05:No, we became like Facebook official. Right? We were like FB certified in November, I think. 111213.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, well done.
SPEAKER_05:Um Tell the folks what happened.
SPEAKER_03:I wasn't even thinking about the tractor supply scenario because that was that is funny. I was actually thinking about how long you drove around town with the when we got our first Christmas tree here. Yeah. You drove around with pine b bushels.
SPEAKER_05:No, that came from the tractor supply. We that's the same story, but we were confused on the connection. We pulled into a tractor supply in like, I don't know, Oxford or something. We pulled in there looking around and they had Christmas trees for sale outside, and there was a broken branches everywhere, and I just picked one up and started huffing it. And then I threw it on the dashboard of the truck, turned the heat on high, and made me own AFRS. Yeah, but then that had dried up and we had got dried up to crispy cream, I'll tell you.
SPEAKER_03:Right, but then when we moved in to our house, it was years later. Right, Christmas Eve. That's the one that I remember. It's like you did the same thing. You took when it when we took it out, you took a branch and threw it in the same truck.
SPEAKER_05:I thought I was like MacGyver McClever pants. When I took pine limbs and threw them on my dash and turned the defrost on, it smelled glorious, okay?
SPEAKER_03:It did until you realized how many pine needles were in.
SPEAKER_05:I'm not sure how we didn't catch on fire, but pine. That's an easy one for good old happy stalking stuffer. Do you have any questions for me over there? Any holiday memories, festivities? What are you thinking? We're a little disheveled because here we are now, approaching midnight, trying to figure out how to finish this podcast to have the kid derailed us, but it's almost Christmas Eve, so maybe this just seems that much more fitting.
SPEAKER_03:This is perfect because every other year it was on Christmas Eve that we quite basically.
SPEAKER_05:Here we are now.
SPEAKER_03:Quite basically.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. Well, last year I think we recorded on Christmas Eve, but I mean obviously every year it changes, you know what I mean? But we try to do it as closely as we can to the whole festive festivitize.
SPEAKER_03:Hmm, let's see. Is there a family tradition that you recall as a kid?
SPEAKER_05:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:This is like childhood that you like really, really enjoyed.
SPEAKER_05:Family tradition.
SPEAKER_03:And it could be as simple as like you pulled out a eggnog bowl that you always used or something.
SPEAKER_05:Like just like it doesn't have to be like There is a lot of those little random things that I remember. As a kid, like I had this, and they're making a comeback. I had this glass Christmas tree. Oh, I want to find one of those so these little um holes all through it, and you put these plastic little ornaments inside the holes, and then the bulb on the inside would illuminate those out. And it was always my job to decorate that. I remember that for the longest time. I don't know whatever happened. I'm sure I got to a point of just being like, well, this thing's dumb. But I remember doing that forever. And um that was definitely one of those, but I think like tradition-wise, and I've said this for years, but traditions go by the wayside when we lose our grandparents, you know. And I hate to just keep being that broken record, but I feel like that generation is the ones that bred traditions into families. And um every year on Christmas Eve, that was like my grandparents' Christmas. We would go to their house for Christmas Eve, and then our family Christmas, like when my mom and dad would be on Christmas Day, but I really just miss being able to go to my grandparents' house and at least doing something with them. And I think this is like kind of the lesson that and it's funny as we're having this that I think is going to continue throughout the night, but there's so many things you did as a kid that you didn't really appreciate, and now like you just wish you could have those. Back or you appreciate them. You know what I mean? Because in the time it's like as a kid, you're like, I don't want to get off the couch and go over to my grandparents' house and deal with my cousins. You know, and then now you're like, man, what I wouldn't do to be able to do that again.
SPEAKER_03:For sure, for sure.
SPEAKER_05:How about you?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, mine definitely has to be um going to Meme's and Nana's and Graham's house. Like you would kind of like make your rounds, and if you like took too long at like one of those three houses, you did it on Christmas Day.
SPEAKER_06:No, okay.
SPEAKER_03:Um, except for like Nana's was always set in stone. So like everybody always had like Christmas dinner um there. Um so you kind of had to pick Meme or Graham's house based on like when Nana was gonna have dinner in it, right? Which dinner to them is lunch, really. Yes. So confusing to me. Um, but yeah, that was always like super fun because like all of us kids got together cousins, and um there was this big great room that we always used to play in, and all of us kids would open our presents. But what's funny is that we would end up sometimes when the adults like went up in the house and we were still us kids were playing with our toys down in the great room. Like us kids would actually like trade our toys.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, really?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and like, but nobody like yeah, the par our parents might have noticed, but like Nana never noticed, but we were always like playing with the toys. So like Nana recently passed away, if you've listened to the podcast, at 104. So, like I mean, let's be honest, when I'm talking about her having like Christmas with us, like she was older, older.
SPEAKER_05:Right, you know what I mean at that time, like so Yeah, when you die at 104, then you've always been old in your life, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_05:So think about that. If you're in your 30s and she's like the youngest you've ever known her as was 70.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, right. So at the point of like being senile, like she was a hundred and four when she was senile, but like she would tell you all the things about like each one of you, but would never remember what our interests were. Like she would get us kind of confused when it comes to incredible to think about. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:She was like the youngest you really ever knew her was like 70. That's crazy.
SPEAKER_04:And the oldest that I ever knew her was 104. That's amazing. When she passed away, yeah. Great.
SPEAKER_05:It's pretty cool because I've heard those stories from you for you know the 13 years wherever we've been we've been together. Um, but over the past few years getting to like know Nana, so then actually go there. And I actually had the opportunity to attend a party there. It was her hundredth birthday party, you know? Yeah. But I actually can say, because it's not often we have that where I can say, like, yeah, I sat in that great room. I know what you're talking about. So that's yeah.
SPEAKER_03:It was always really fun because it was always like super crazy and like hustle and bustle and kids running around, and like there was there was grandkids, there was great grandkids, there was whole families.
SPEAKER_05:I missed that element about the holidays, and I don't know, I'm sure there's people listening that still have that, but it's been jealous of it. It's been a hundred years since I've had that. You know what I mean? Yeah, there's no kids in the same age bracket, like the kids that we grew up with that were our age, we don't talk anymore. You know what I mean? Right. Um, when you start losing parents and grandparents and all those things just go away. And I mean, I love our Christmases, but it's always just is and is going to be like you, me, Paisley, my mom.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and I think at that point, like so for us, like it's a lot. Like it's it's a lot to be going from this house to this house, and and you're you're right. Like at some point you like sit down on the couch and you're like, I'm done. Like, I don't want to, even as a kid, you're like, this is a lot. Like you're so grateful for all the presents and stuff, but at the same time, you're like, God, like, I feel like I just ran a marathon because you're like hanging out with these cousins, and then you go and hang out with these cousins, and you're eating the whole time.
SPEAKER_05:It's one of the like a full day is one of the things that I really appreciated about my my family, is like and I'm starting to learn some of these things are probably like my dad's decisions, but my dad was like, hell no, we'll not leave him. We're gonna do this with me. So um I'm fortunate in that. So I love the fact that I never really had to leave my house on Christmas. So my dad was always like, I'll make the exception for like my mom's family or whatever. I'll make I'll do all the running around on Christmas Eve, and for other people, I'll do it post-Christmas. But Christmas, I'm not leaving my damn house. That was like my dad's rule, and I appreciated that. Like, I love not having to go somewhere on Thanksgiving. I love not having to go somewhere on Christmas. Like you're just home, you're present, and uh you are where your feet are. And how often is it that you have a day at home and you just say, like, I'm not doing anything but what I'm doing? You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00:Like, I'm not being in the moment.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I'm not I'm not turning the laptop on, I'm not doing this, I'm just I'm just doing that, I'm doing what I need to do. And as a kid, I was just I always appreciated the fact that we didn't have to leave on Christmas. My parents were really good about um stretching some of those things out, and I think as we've gone through the years, you know me to be like getting a little seasonal depression because I feel like the holidays come and go so quick. And I think part of that's because as a kid they didn't, yeah, you know. Um, like Christmas Eve was massive to do with my grandparents' house, but one of the traditions that I really miss is that my mom and I, and everybody used to just do all this cooking. Like my mom would be baking for days, and this this tradition came from my grandmother because my grandmother would make all these you know desserts, pies, and cookies, and she would just go around and delivering food to neighbors and stuff. And my mom adopted that tradition. So as a kid, I grew up with those things where my mom would just bake for days. I bet today, with the prices at the supermarket, like we just came back from Walmart and you spent a hundred dollars on nothing, right?
SPEAKER_03:Nothing, absolutely nothing.
SPEAKER_05:I bet it would cost my mom fifteen hundred bucks two grand to do the amount of cooking she used to do, and then we used to just go give it away. But it was so much fun just to go to people's houses and just knock on the door and like, hey man, here's your apple pie. We made this apple pie for you. And you would just get invited into Christmas parties and you would just stay for 10 minutes and leave, and you would just go around and be like, Who's next on my list? And my parents would know, like, so-and-so is doing this on this day at this time, this is when we're dropping the stuff off, and like I just remember all the decorated desserts and stuff, and that was just so much that's cool, so much fun. And you know, Christmas was always home. We always everybody that wanted to see us came to us, but my my dad was also good about stretching things out, so like the day after Christmas, we might go to like my aunt and uncle Joe's, like my Aunt Helen and Uncle Joe's house, you know. A couple days later we might be somewhere else. Um, and then we always had friends that came over for Christmas that were my mom's friends, but then my parents were known to do a big New Year's party a week later. And it was like my mom would bake lasagna, and we would have just multiple amounts of friends over. And like the holidays around here lasted for a couple of weeks. Uh and it was constant traffic, and I don't think we're ever gonna have that. I don't know if maybe there's families out there that still have that, and I'm and I'm I'm jealous of that, I guess, but um I don't know how it's uh ever replaced that. I know we had this conversation a little while ago, but like what do we do to make the holidays the holidays? And unfortunately, we just don't have the people. It's crazy.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_05:You have a question for me?
SPEAKER_02:I just asked you a question. You did? That was my question.
SPEAKER_05:I don't believe it. Oh my god. Do you have uh like can you recall one of your earliest Christmas memories? Like a big memory, something that you loved. I mean, it could be like a gift or something, or just like a a certain memory. Is there something about Christmas that you just remember?
SPEAKER_03:Um I know we're really creating suspense on air because we literally did not prep each other with these questions, so that a lot of times there's just time to think to figure things out, but I remember it was always um a gathering of us grandkids at my Graham's house uh before I moved in with her, that we would decorate her tree in her great room, not Nana's great room, uh Graham's great room, and um she would have a massive, massive tree. Um, and in order to put the star on the tree, she actually had these like two sets of stairs that went up on the side, and it was a landing because like the great room, so it used to be um a house on the side, it was like a trailer, and they built onto it, and they built this big, giant great room with cathedral ceilings. Um and so the tree was easily 10 or 12 feet. Wow, like ginormous.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So in order to get into the house, you had to go up these set of stairs and to this landing. And so we would go on the landing and we would put the whoever was the tallest on the landing could put the star on. But all of us kids would show up and we would have um a sleepover at Graham's, and um, we all got to like decorate um Christmas cookies, and we would put our ornaments on the tree and help Graham put the um the lights up and all that kind of stuff. So she would always get um a real tree, and then um we would help her kind of set it up from bare guns. Yeah, and that was like a family tradition, like and it just continued.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, yeah. For me, there's one Christmas memory that for some reason just I always remember it, and it was before my parents moved into the house that is right next to us that we have now. It was when we lived across the street in this little tiny trailer, and I remember my mom and dad got me a electric, like a battery-operated four-wheeler. And I remember getting this and I was sitting on it, and I was so excited, and whoever put it underneath the Christmas tree left it in reverse.
SPEAKER_06:Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_05:And I had no clue, and I've never driven anything. This is my first time on wheels, you know. I got on that sucker, and what does any kid do? Floor it, goose the hell out of that thing. I hammered on it in reverse, up over the tree, right up the Christmas tree. That sum of my biscuit was halfway up the tree just eating freaking garland and tinsel and ornaments and shit was flying, and I'm just right on the hammer.
SPEAKER_04:Throwing his hands out.
SPEAKER_05:Oh my god, it was it was hellacious. I still remember that. I don't know how old I was, but um, I remember that. I remember when my parents built the house that they have, um, and I remember I didn't even have my bedroom done. I think I might have slept on an air mattress, but we moved in like Christmas Eve. Same scenario. It was kind of fitting that you and me moved into our house on Christmas Eve. So those I really really remember those, and it's one as I'm talking that's kind of funny. Is my parents gave me this Christmas sock. My dad must have thought it was hilarious. Did you ever get a chance to see my sock?
SPEAKER_01:Maybe I don't remember.
SPEAKER_05:I had a Christmas sock that was probably five, five and a half feet tall.
SPEAKER_03:It was I didn't see it, but I have heard about it.
SPEAKER_05:My dad got it, he must have thought it was hilarious, and you could just put me in it for the longest time, you know. So I had this massive, ridiculous Christmas sock. It was like the jack and the bean stock of socks, you know? And you could put a Christmas tree worth of presents in my socks. My mom had to be pissed to be like, I gotta fill this damn thing. But I kept that thing forever. Remember, we got to a point my mom was like, Okay, I think we're done with a sock. And I was like, Well, I don't know. And she was like, Listen, here's the deal. You're not getting any more or any less presents, bud. It's always this, it's gonna be the same. You're just gonna have more under the tree or more in that big ass sock. But I'm done with this. So we retired it. And I remember if my name was on it in glitter.
SPEAKER_03:You know when you we all had those.
SPEAKER_05:You take the Elmer's glue and you glue out your name and then you sprinkle the glitter on it. Would you eat it? What's that look for?
SPEAKER_03:No, by the time we did that, we actually just had like a paint.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, yeah, because I'm old it in.
SPEAKER_03:There was glitter in the little puff paint and all that. And actually, so what had happened is like um Graham got those standard red stockings with the white trim and wrote all of our name. Someone wrote um our name on all of them. So we got to go and like decorate them. So you like literally have to take that puff paint and like trace your name in the puff paint. So yeah. But speaking of um battery operated, when you that four-wheeler.
SPEAKER_05:Oh, geez, I thought we were going a whole different direction.
SPEAKER_03:Oh my god, no. I just thought of about a memory. It wasn't even like a Christmas present for me, but well, sort of. We were um having Christmas. It was so I remember this like so confusing part of Christmas because um Graham and Papa came to my house for Christmas, which was like never a thing, like never a thing. Um, we always went to their house and um I didn't understand why, but Graham was there before Papa got there, which again, super bizarre. Like I don't understand, like they drove together, they were very old school, like Papa drives everywhere. So Graham gets to the house and I'm in my room playing, and all of a sudden they like drive this pink convertible like Corvette.
SPEAKER_05:The grandparents here?
SPEAKER_03:No, no, just like my Graham and my parents are like drive it into my car, do, do, do, do, uh, into my bedroom. I mean and I'm like, what the heck is going on? Like, it's not even Christmas. But apparently, like I'm getting this car, but I need the car in order to surprise my gr my papa with his present. But I don't know, I don't know anything what's going on. I don't know anything that's going on other than like, here's your Christmas present. Like, my parents couldn't wait.
SPEAKER_05:Like, did he get a car?
SPEAKER_03:No. No.
SPEAKER_05:What did he do?
SPEAKER_03:I'm confused, right? Like, they're like you gotta drive this out to Papa. And I was like, Well, where is where is Papa? And he was like, he's gonna be in the living room, just just stay here. And I'm like, again, still lost. I'm playing in my room, probably with my Barbies or something.
SPEAKER_05:So you lost your opening of the major Christmas present because you're trying to surprise somebody else. First off, we could have to accomplish this in a whole different direction.
SPEAKER_03:Right. So then I hear my papa, and so I'm like, Papa, and I'm like going around, and they're they were like, Nope, can't come out. Shut my door, right?
SPEAKER_05:Oh boy.
SPEAKER_03:While they're shutting the door, they throw a dog in my room. I'm young. I have no idea, right? My mom's like shut up. They put this dog in my Corvette, and I have to drive the dog out.
SPEAKER_05:Oh my god.
SPEAKER_03:I didn't know I was getting the Corvette number one.
SPEAKER_05:Now you're thinking you're getting a dog.
SPEAKER_03:I have no idea what's happening. I'm like so confused. But then at the end of it.
SPEAKER_05:Why wouldn't they just give you the car in front of everybody and then have you practice driving it and then drive up with a dog?
SPEAKER_03:Oh yeah. Oh no. It was hilarious. And I was also so confused because like we never did Christmas.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:But like they were trying to get my papa away from the house, and so apparently the dog was with my Graham, and so I gotcha. I'm getting it. Yeah. So my Graham had gone to go get the dog, said, meet me at the um at the house, and we'll do Christmas with them. Like they can't do Christmas. I I don't know the scenario, but I can pretty much put A and B together. It was so ridiculous that I was like so confused. But there's pictures like downstairs of me in the Corvette, and here's my Papa's dog. He wanted a little collie. Yeah. And he loved that dog. Loved that dog. Like that's all he wanted. Um, and he had talked about it and talked about it, and my grandmother was like, I do not want to hear about another damn dog ever again.
SPEAKER_05:That's funny. I I got bamboozled once for Christmas. We were um Christmas is a big deal with my mom, right? So she's always on the hunt to get something important for somebody, to get something that somebody, something somebody really wants. There's always at least one person on the list that, you know, like she's it's a mission to do something.
SPEAKER_03:She's like an elephant when it comes to like you tell her something or you say something, like she's on it. She like writes that down in her phone or something. I don't know, because she'll remember things from like last year.
SPEAKER_05:I've inherited her traits of trying to find the most sentimental thing possible for Christmas because it's not about the money, it's about the feeling, I feel like. Which I'm disappointed because I think my most sentimental gift of the season might not show up on time.
SPEAKER_03:But um one year sentimental presents always make us cry, and you're not supposed to cry on Christmas.
SPEAKER_05:No, no, it's crying on Christmas is cool. So um I remember one year me and my dad used to hunt together all the time, and my mom, I I don't know, I must have had a conversation with her and said that my dad needed a new black powder rifle. Ever tell you the story? And he wanted a modern black powder rifle because he didn't want to deal with all the nonsense, and they had all these new fancy black powder rifles that basically the old school rifles that we used to use would be like you would have to take your black powder, measure it out, pour it down the barrel, then you you have like a little sack, like a piece of fabric, and you you take this big long rod and you have to pound it down the barrel. Have you ever seen this? You take the ball, you pound that down, and then when you when you basically you have a little cap, like a cap gun that goes on there that has the spark. With those things, when you're done in the woods, you have to shoot it because you have a live round packed in the gun. Right. So you come out of the woods, touch it off every single time. My dad wanted a newer model where it's not like that, it's just more compact, it's easier to deal with the nonsense. I, on the other hand, love the idea of being like a pilgrim, and I like the I like that that theory. So, anyways, we were gonna start Black Powder hide hunting as a family, and um so I went with my mom and we went and we picked out and and and Dave Lambert was involved in the scenario and and Judy. Lambert as well. My dad and Dave hung out all the time with us. Time my mom and Judy hung out all the time. So we bought my dad this newer black powder, it's a composite black powder rifle. And then what was weird in the red flag in this, but I didn't get it, was we didn't take it home. Judy took it home to Dave. And the explanation was that he was gonna get it set up and he was gonna clean it and make sure everything was good. And Christmas Eve, they come over, or Christmas night, I think it was Christmas Eve, they come over, and uh they have my dad's present, right? And it gets given to me, and uh they're like, You gotta sneak this in, you gotta hide this from your dad. So I'm all giddy because I have the big gift of the season, and I'm sneaking by to hide it. Now, the funny thing is on Christmas morning, I'm all excited handing my dad his Christmas present, and as I do it, my mom's like, That's not for your dad. And I was like, What are you talking about? And then she's like, That present there's for you, and I'm like, Wait, what? So me and my dad open presents at the same time, and he gets the brand new modern black powder rifle, and I open the vintage old school black powder rifle. Oh, cool, like, and it wasn't my dad's, it was one that my dad found. So we're shopping for a black powder rifle for my dad. My dad's shopping for an old school 54 caliber Hawkins black powder rifle for me.
SPEAKER_06:Cool.
SPEAKER_05:Both guns go to Dave Lambert, and then when he comes in, they trick both of us. So I'm trying to hide my dad's gun, my dad is trying to hide my gun, and then to make it even more of a kick in the pants, they made us hide our own stuff. So they thought it was funny to give me my Christmas present and give my dad his Christmas present. Yeah, yeah. So then when we come to bring them out, it's like, wait a minute, you you guys gotta switch. You know what I mean? And it was the coolest thing because we both got and what family? What redneck backwoods hillbilly family gets black powder rifles for Christmas, father and son?
SPEAKER_04:That's cool.
SPEAKER_05:I wish I still had that gun. That was That was a good time. I don't know where that came from, but on the side note, happy Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas Eve. Jesus, it's maybe by 13 minutes. It's uh 1213. We've which I don't know why, but for the past month, we do not go to sleep until 12.30 every single night. We can lay in bed at 10.8 p.m. We don't go to bed till 12 30.
SPEAKER_04:It's because we have a one and a half year old.
SPEAKER_05:Oh my god, she's a savage right now.
SPEAKER_04:Brewing two and terrible twos.
SPEAKER_05:Good old jingle pickle pants is a real in the band. It's funny that my elf name is Happy Stalking Stuffer. One of my memories was I was a stalking stuffer. I was literally in the big ass stocking. Makes sense. I think I asked you a question. Do you have one more for me? I know that's tough. I know. I put you on the spot, but you told me to do it.
SPEAKER_03:This is gonna be a two-part question. Okay. Okay. As a kid, okay, I want to hear your best and worst present that you ever got.
SPEAKER_05:I don't know, man. That um It doesn't have to be like that black powder. I just heard pickle pants. She's talking to herself. Oh my god, jingle. She's jingling herself right now. I'm so scared. I was talking stuff pretty much. I can't start this clock all over again. Took us two and a half hours. Oh Lord. Uh the black powder was tremendous. I think one of my other favorite Christmas gifts, I got a 12-gauge shotgun for Christmas one year. That was pretty pretty amazing. That's cool. Um it's weird. I I don't always remember gifts, I remember moments. Um And then you asked me what was the worst gift I've ever gotten. Geez. I have that one in the bag, but hit me with it, because I'm still thinking about what it what it might have been. I'm sure there's something, but I gotta think of my best. Hit me your worst. I gave the best, you gave me the worst. We'll see if we can figure out the rest.
SPEAKER_00:I owe you.
SPEAKER_05:That'll do it. That will do it. Yeah. That is pretty bad.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. And a Christmas card.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Worst part is like you didn't get it from your high school boyfriend. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_03:Uh no. Nope. It was yeah, definitely uh from family.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, that's tough. That's a tough one.
SPEAKER_04:When you're waking up in the morning, you're expecting it to come. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:I don't know if you recall this, and I guess if we're having these um family conversations, and my dad keeps coming back up, but when we first started dating and my dad got to know you, he was hell bent that your first Christmas was here was gonna be the best Christmas you've ever had. And I don't know if you remember I specifically remember talking to him in our laundry room in the basement and him saying that you were gonna have a great Christmas. And I remember on Christmas morning when we're done opening presents, he had asked you, he was like, Is that better than an IOU? So I remember he was all he was all hellbent about it.
SPEAKER_03:I don't know if I remember he was a part of the conversation, like we're taking out all the decorations, and your dad was one to like we were just talking about it, like in his room, like yeah, out in the commotion, like he was out there enjoying every moment of it, and like I can I can see him sitting over there, like in the chair, like just grinning from eye to ear to ear, like just watching me open the presents because I probably looked like a child. He just excited.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, for sure. You were beyond excited, and it didn't matter. Reminds me a lot of Paisley. It could have been a bag of socks, or I mean, I the big gift I got you for your first Christmas year was a photo shoot with a professional photographer that was the best photographer in the state.
SPEAKER_03:But I mean, not only that, like it was I got a couple of pairs of bear paws that that year. I never owned a pair of bear paws.
SPEAKER_05:But I was just saying, like between your your moment of appreciation, whether it was bear paw boots or a professional photo shoot or socks, you were just stoked about it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I think that Christmas was different because it was like things that like you you showed me like what Christmases are supposed to be like, I guess. And and it's not about the presents or what's under the tree. It's not that's not what I'm saying. It's like this is you're supposed to buy for the loved ones, for your loved ones or whatnot.
SPEAKER_05:I've gotten to a point where I think that or I I know that I've been too commercialized with Christmas, right? Like I have to buy a certain amount of things and I'm like depressed if I can't figure it out for people, you know what I mean? When it's not what it's about, when ultimately, like I'd rather give you things that I know either you're gonna love, you're gonna use, or it's gonna like be sentimental. You know what I mean? Right, like where I think that's where the big thing is if you can do something that really just gives somebody a memory or a moment, then I think that's like the best thing that you can.
SPEAKER_03:I think um my best present, it wasn't as like I can't really recall as a child like what my best present was, to be honest. Um I mean, hands down, one of the best presents that I've gotten at all is when you bought Spirit for me. Like I've had horses my entire life, but never had one of my own. So like that was like a full-rounded moment as like as a child, you know what I mean? Like I always wished that, like every little girl wishes that she gets a pony. Yeah, you know what I mean? So like that's that's like a full round life moment for me, you know.
SPEAKER_05:Pretty hard to beat getting a horse for Christmas. I did pull off a good one there, yeah, on Christmas Eve. Yeah, I didn't, I I I mean, I'm if people have been listening to this, then they would know the story. But real quick, we had um, and it's a long story because we had we're trying to get a horse for a long time, and then we did a free lease on one. Basically, he we brought we were boarding him somewhere, he got kicked out of there. We had to move him home. When we moved him home, we had to buy a barn, we had to build fences. Me and my dad did all the work. We get the boy here, and then the whole family becomes attached to him. My dad's taking him for walks every night. Uh, we're all being attached to him, and the person that owned him, we always had the fear that someday, somehow, somehow, she might just come take him back because now he's healthy and happy, and we rehabbed him and he's he's doing great. And um I got to a point where I I wrote to the person that owned him right before Christmas. It was the day before Christmas Eve, and I said, Here's the deal. We love this horse, he's part of the family. We've spent this amount of money on barns and and and you know, and fencing and this and that, and we just it would mean more to us to make him part of the family, and um I knew that I didn't have a lot of money, but I made an offer because I also knew it was Christmas Eve almost, right? And that um she had a family and it was just it was gonna work out both ways, and she turned me down and we were at a Christmas party, Byron and Vanessa's Christmas party. And he was late, like late, late. This is Christmas Eve Eve, and um she's messaging me when I'm in the bathroom and getting ready to leave. And I remember on the way home, you were so mad at me, you're like, Who the freak are you talking to at like one in the morning? And I sealed the deal, leaving that Christmas party, and then I drove to on the border Mexican restaurant on Christmas Eve in front of the main mall and did the purchase of the of the horse and got the paperwork and did it all up. I found a card that looked just like him. I still remembered when you were reading the card out loud, and everybody was crying, and my dad's crying, and when it was all said and done, he's like, Why are we crying? I don't even know what we're talking about.
SPEAKER_03:He's like, What am I crying about?
SPEAKER_05:He was crying, but he had no clue that what the scenario was.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and then when you told him, he like really got emotional.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, yeah, that was pretty amazing. That was a great it's funny. I was I was putting him in tonight doing chores, and he was just letting me scratch his head, and I was talking to him, and I was like, Man, it's been some years now before since we had that conversation. Because I told him, I couldn't tell anybody else. Yeah, I needed to surprise everybody, so I I told the horse. I was like leading up to it, I'd have conversations with him.
SPEAKER_03:You actually got all of us muck boots that year. Yeah. From from spirit, or like something, yeah. I think it was all from spirit.
SPEAKER_05:Something like that.
SPEAKER_03:We all got muck boots.
SPEAKER_05:I um I remember talking to him, like, hey, bud, I don't know if I can do this, man, but I'm trying to trying to pull this off. And then I remember literally talking to the horse on Christmas Eve being like, I did it, buddy. Your family, you're staying here. So I was talking to him tonight and I was like, Man, been a little while since we did that, pal. Now you just take us for granted. Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_03:For sure.
SPEAKER_05:Is there any gifts that you used to get as a kid or you know, any time in life, like before like adolescence, before you were a full-on adult, that you were just like, Oh, that's cool, or that's strange, and then now you look at it as an adult and you're like, damn, that was actually really cool. I know that's a really particular random thing, but I thought of something that I used to get today, and I was like, son of a biscuit, that's a was a great idea.
SPEAKER_03:Well, earlier we were re-listening to our episode.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. And making sure we didn't repeat ourselves.
SPEAKER_03:And I've literally been saying recently, like, we I love stockings, and we've talked about this before. And stockings for us as a kid were always like the things that you need. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:So like you might which does make sense.
SPEAKER_03:You might need some new body wash, you might need a toothbrush, you might need what have you, like those sort of things. Um, small things that'll fit in your um in your stocking. But you don't want those under the Christmas tree. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, it's not exciting to open the toothbrush up underneath the pine needles, you know what I mean? Like it just comes out of the sock.
SPEAKER_03:So here I am, like saying that was dumb. Like I hated that. But my parents would always and grandparents, because we used to get stockings kind of everywhere. But that was always the theme. Like you'd get a stocking at Meme's, it was the same idea. You'd get a stocking at grams, there's gonna be like trinkets and toy, like tiny little toys and candy, but there's also gonna be some things that you need, you know what I mean? Um it does make sense. You might get gloves and a hat and that sort of thing. And I was always just like, this is dumb. Like, can we get to the presence already? Like, can we just get to like I don't care about what's in here? Like, all of us kids used to hate them so much because we knew that that's what was in there that we would just like leave them on the candy.
SPEAKER_05:Whatever, I'll like our name. I'll open this a day or so later.
SPEAKER_03:I'll open these on the ride home. Yeah, like whatever, we don't care because we'll get to the bottom where all the candy is kind of thing.
SPEAKER_05:But now it makes a lot of sense.
SPEAKER_03:Now it makes complete sense. Because guess what? Like, as a as a teenager, I'm thinking back to it. Like, all right, like I'm sick of my body wash at that point because like you've you get sick of smelling the same. Your deodorants probably run out, and you like you know, that sort of thing. And now I'm like, that was probably like that's it's probably a really good idea. And that's what I've been saying to you. I'm like, we always get to like Christmas Eve Eve or Christmas Eve, and we're like, damn it, like we didn't plan anything for the stockings.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, because all I do is when I wrap, I and this is my spoiler sticker for people, I will take a paper bag and I will write the person's name on it, and I'll leave it. And as I'm wrapping presents, the items that I wrap that are not of uh big value that I can fit in the sock, I throw them in the bag with your name on it without putting a sticker on the or like a tag on it, and then I just cram jam all those into your sock.
SPEAKER_03:And that's what we've done for a few years. Yeah, and there has been times where we've gotten ourselves in a pickle because of the fact that we started a tradition where on Christmas Eve we open up our stockings and our Christmas VJs, and it's just like a tradition that we've tried to do as adults, yeah. Um, because it's always that like itch you want to scratch about opening something on Christmas Eve. And so, in order to not ruin what's under the Christmas tree, like we started doing kind of just that, like doing stockings and stuff. Um, I'd like to continue doing that, but I also don't want to be my parents and like hate this. I don't want Paisley to hate the stocking idea because there's gonna be like things that she needs in there.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, you can mix some stuff in there, right?
SPEAKER_03:And I think that's what we used to do, that's what they used to do too, but it was like stupid stuff.
SPEAKER_05:My mom, and I I know I've told you this before, but my mom used to put different things in your sock too that were like you'd get all that stuff, right? Toothbrush and everything, and then it was like you're gonna get an orange, you're gonna get a couple apples, banana, and I think you're just trying to fill my sock at this point. Nuts, the loose nuts that are like macadama, macadamia nuts, walnuts, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_03:I can picture your mom because she works at Shaw's, she works at the supermarket. I can picture her just going, like, oh shit, just grab, just grab the big thing.
SPEAKER_05:The funny thing is this shit was happening to me long before she ever worked at a supermarket. I grew up to this, and uh, so it's you know, they would all just end up back in the fruit bowl, whatever.
SPEAKER_03:But um But I feel like that's where it originally started, and then there were pomegranate just do it. I did that.
SPEAKER_05:I don't want to forget that. Yeah, yeah, you did. It was delicious.
SPEAKER_03:Pomegranate, orange, and an apple, I think it did.
SPEAKER_05:The um the thing is, like if you think about it too, like deodorant's expensive, toothbrushes, toothpaste, all that stuff's expensive now. And it's all stuff that you're gonna have to go buy yourself. And here's the other thing you skimp on things for yourself during the Christmas season. For sure. So you spend all the money you have, you max out everything you possibly can to get through the holidays, and then a week later you're like, I ain't got no damn deodorant, I got no fucking toothpaste, and you're like, I gotta go to the store now and drop 75 bucks. Where if you would just put it in my sock, I wouldn't have to deal with it. It's a pretty good deal.
SPEAKER_03:Exactly. And I mean, like, so as a kid, like when I started to get into like my teenage years, like I would start to see like maybe some nail polish in there or like a perfume or l uh what do they call it? Um toilet spray.
SPEAKER_05:Oh, de toilette. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um, so you used to see like those sort of things, like things you might need.
SPEAKER_05:Um sprinkle in some fun with the necessity items, and I think it's I did get a box of tampons in my oh that's good. That's good.
SPEAKER_04:Hey, things you need, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_03:Like, but you know, you do get like it's just it's a really good idea, but at the same time, like I would want to sprinkle in some fun things.
SPEAKER_05:You know, one gift my mom started doing for me when I was out of high school and um I was driving. One gift my mom used to get for me that I I took for granted, and then now you're like, my god, that was an amazing gift and an idea. My mom used to register my truck for Christmas. And then when I was older in my twenties, and I bought a brand new truck, and um my registration you'd run out every year in December, and my mom would steal my registration and she would register my truck for Christmas, and it would be in an envelope, and you'd get to the bottom of your sock or whatever, and you'd open it up, and there's my stickers for my license plates. I just registered my vehicle. So if you think about it, when you talk about like your your random items that like necessities, now imagine coming out of Christmas and you have to go register your vehicle and you just spent all the money you had. My mom knew that I would coast out at Christmas with nothing in my bank account, and then I'd be riding dirty on expired plates and making bad choices because I was in my 20s. So my mom would register my truck, and man, I don't know why we stopped that tradition. Maybe because now we have like five vehicles outside, but now because it's expensive, it was expensive then too. It was a couple hundred dollars. And here's the thing, too, is like, I mean, you're renewing, I mean it's worse now, but she used to do it on my Dodged pickup truck. It was brand new, like that wasn't cheap, you know. Right. Uh but as a as a kid trying to make it, like, it's hard to have the two three hundred dollars to register your vehicle, you know?
SPEAKER_06:For sure.
SPEAKER_05:Um, but that's one that was with my mom. How do you sit around and think, like, I got an idea for Christmas, I'm gonna register my son's truck. And then it became a thing. That and getting a triple A membership, you know? Um but choose to do that for you? Still does. Uh I think um this year, I I think this is be the first year I don't get it. Um so Pretty crazy, but that's how mom thinking. Dad used to Yeah, used to get both used to get memberships. It uh things you don't really get excited about, but now you don't have them for the while and you're like, wow, that was pretty genius, man. Like getting actual items you could use and your stocking and maybe registering your vehicle. I think right now some people might be like, Man, if I register my wife's vehicle for Christmas, she'd probably punch me in the face. But it's not a bad idea, dude. It really isn't.
SPEAKER_04:No. Because right now, like mine is about to expire, and I need brakes on my car.
SPEAKER_05:So I'm like, when you think about people that you're like, oh, they have everything, and our focus is on the kids for Christmas, you know. You're both gonna come out of the holidays broke, right? If you could help each other out, and I know usually it's a community experience, you're all paying for stuff together, you know. But if it's like, hey man, yeah, registered your vehicle and this and that. I think it's pretty cool, actually. Pretty nice. Yeah. Well, it's officially 12 30 a.m. This is this has been our go time for going to sleep. It is Christmas Eve.
SPEAKER_01:It is Christmas Eve, and it's still snowing.
SPEAKER_05:It's still snowing. I'm gonna have to plow tomorrow. This is this is ridiculous. Whoa, whoa, whoa. I was hoping to plow tonight. Hey oh what? Baby's waking up. Good old happy stocking stuffer. Gonna be coming right after old Minty.
SPEAKER_04:Might have to bring out my stripper name.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, Minty McCandy Kane. No. Perky glitter balls.
SPEAKER_04:There you go.
SPEAKER_05:I'm gonna show you my pickle pants as I use my stocking stuffer. Anyways. Merry Christmas to everybody out there. If you're listening to this on Christmas Eve on a winning Wednesday, we appreciate you.
SPEAKER_03:You're really winning because it's Christmas Eve.
SPEAKER_05:Think about it. Man.
SPEAKER_03:Next year's gonna be great though.
SPEAKER_05:Why?
SPEAKER_03:Because Christmas is gonna fall on a Friday. There you go. So it's gonna be a long weekend for everyone.
SPEAKER_05:It's uh it's crazy to think this is our first Christmas with Paisley up walking, tearing into gifts, pickle pants, pickle pantsing everything.
SPEAKER_03:She's already tried to rip open gifts.
SPEAKER_05:No, she's getting the itch now.
SPEAKER_03:Um we should have never let her open up that gift for Montjanine.
SPEAKER_05:It was a problem, yeah. My brother's home for Christmas for the first time and forever. Um it's it's different. Things are different this year.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Even I mean, even on my side of the side of life, things are different.
SPEAKER_05:So everything's different. We don't know who's coming over, who's not coming over this year. We'll um let the chips lie where they where they may. Doors open. Figure it out, doors open. Whoever shows, shows, and let it blossom, let it grow. It's gonna be different. But for sure.
SPEAKER_02:But sometimes different is good.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. Embrace the different, figure it out.
SPEAKER_03:Yep. What do you say? You gotta go through it to grow through it.
SPEAKER_05:Feels like we're doing a lot of that lately. Hasn't felt like Christmas, and we've talked about it over the past couple weeks about trying to do different things, and one of the things we did since that conversation and that promise was we did that big lighted um walk tour. I don't even know what you call that thing. I don't know it's like a northern lights experience, Sandy Hill, something um 14 acres of Christmas lights. It was incredible.
SPEAKER_03:It was a mile walk, it was really awesome.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, it was a lot of people. All of us enjoyed it. Yeah, we had a great time, including Paisley. So that was a memory we were able to make, and we talked about to making the time to have moments and to create memories, and that's one way in which we we were able to do that, and hopefully over the next couple days we can continue on that and make this Christmas season the best we possibly can and spread some cheer. And I hope that that's what happens to everybody listening out there.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. Merry Christmas.
SPEAKER_05:Merry Christmas, y'all. It's gonna be a light one. Got trees sagging out there. I didn't get to generate a service, so that'll keep me up at night. Anyways. Hopefully, sweatshirt and get ready to do some plowing. Get ready to do some plowing. Anyways. On behalf of Minty McCandy Cane Jingle Pickle Pants, I'm happy stalking stuff for saying Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. Now go wash your filthy hands. Filthy savage. Your filthy animal. That's what he says. Your filthy animal. Anyways. Ho ho ho. That's it, and that's all, Biggie Smalls. If you're a Loud Proud American and you find yourself just wanting more, find me on YouTube and Facebook at Loud Proud American or Facebook, as my mama calls it. If you're a fan of the Grand Cracker, you want to find me on Instagram or all the kids tickety talkin' on the TikTok, you can find me on both of those at Loud underscore Proud underscore American. Big old thank you to the boys from the Gut Truckers for the background beats and the theme song to your podcast. If you are enjoying what you're hearing, track down the gut truckers on Facebook just third gut truckers. Give that motherfucker a like too. I truly thank you for supporting my American dream. Now go wash your fucking hands, you filthy savage.