Turn Holiday Hustle Into Memories

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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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_05 (00:02):
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 thefifth year counting.
It is the Loud Proud AmericanLiberty Family Share the
Struggle Podcast Christmasspecial.
Let me tell you something.

(00:23):
Everybody struggles.
The difference is some peoplechoose to go through it and some
choose to grow through it.
The choice is completely yours.
Which one you choose will have avery profound effect on the way
you live your life.
If you find strength in thestruggle, then this podcast is

(00:45):
for you.
Uncomfortable conversations.
Uncomfortable conversations.

(01:31):
Precisely, perfectly,beautifully named.
Share the struggle podcast.
Brought to you for them finefolks over to the Loud Proud
American, where y'all should begetting your gifts this holiday
season.
If you're listening to thisepisode on Christmas Eve, then
it's probably too late for youto get your gifts for Christmas,

(01:51):
unless you're local.
Then you can swing by and I'llgive them to you.
Otherwise, here's the spoiler.
You're gonna get some gifts thisChristmas that you probably
didn't want, okay?
You're gonna get the socks thatyou didn't want, the tie you
already have, the coffee cupthat is funny, but you're never
gonna use it.

(02:11):
You're gonna get those things,okay?
The orange and the sock, youknow what I'm saying?
Those things are gonna happen,and you're gonna have a bunch of
gifts that you really didn'tneed, you really don't want.
So, what I want to encourage youto do is to treat yourself.
Get get through Christmas, okay?
Realize you missed out on somegreat gifts for yourself, and

(02:32):
then uh circle on back toloudbrotamerican.shop and treat
yourself in the new year.
That's my secret, that's mysuper secret, super special
advice, Christmas advice for ally'all right there.
Take that, love that, enjoythat.

SPEAKER_03 (02:48):
Or maybe you are holding now because you are
hoping that there is some LPAswag under the Christmas tree
for you.
And you will go and open up thatwonderful sweater that Nana made
you.

SPEAKER_05 (03:01):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (03:02):
You know, that uh just ain't the same, is it?
Wool socks to keep you warm.

SPEAKER_05 (03:07):
Get them itchy toes.

SPEAKER_03 (03:09):
Those things are all a blessing.
Oh.
But not as much of a blessing asLPA swag.

SPEAKER_05 (03:14):
Heck no, you bring up a fine point.
Almost a point almost as fine asyou, F-I-N-E-T-B.
True.
Y'all, some of you are gonna getdisappointed on Christmas.
You're not gonna get that LPAswag that you need.
So circle on back, LapadAmerican.shop.
And I tell you what, we'll do apost-Christmas extravaganza on
our site.
We're gonna do that for ally'all.

SPEAKER_03 (03:34):
We should have done the 12 days of Christmas.

SPEAKER_05 (03:36):
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 itonce was.
But we are proud to be back, andI can say we, because I am
joined by my lovely, beautifulbrushing blad over there with
her howdy Christmas PJs on.

(03:58):
That's Christmas, right?
Or is it just howdy in general?

SPEAKER_04 (04:00):
Howdy in general.
Either way.
This is just my life.

SPEAKER_05 (04:02):
Feels festive.
Welcome.
Thanks.
This is the Liberty FamilyChristmas, the annual Christmas
soiree that we do here.
Hey, those match your newsweater pretty nicely, actually.

SPEAKER_04 (04:15):
Yeah, it does pretty nice.
I was just sizing that up.

SPEAKER_05 (04:18):
Oh, soundtrack from the back.
Um, a little queenie thanGweenie on the Bubba.
I think she might make her wayon over here.
Here's the thing.
Let's put out the PSA for theday, the public service
announcement.
It's crunch time.
We're recording this on uhTuesday evening.
When y'all get this episode,it's gonna drop on Christmas

(04:39):
Eve.
Okay?
We are recording on Eve Eve.

SPEAKER_03 (04:43):
The wife is 9:30 in the af night time.

SPEAKER_05 (04:46):
Yeah, this is not the afternoon.
They don't make it 9:30afternoon.

SPEAKER_03 (04:48):
That's why we're having a uh 7 o'clock ice
coffee.

SPEAKER_05 (04:52):
Malcolm Donuts ice coffees for the win.
And uh when this podcast here isdone, little Miss Thang across
from me here is gonna be gettinganother Christmas rapping.
Not just gangster rapping, butChristmas rapping.
You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 (05:04):
Yeah, I haven't even started.

SPEAKER_05 (05:06):
So uh that's all ahead of us.

SPEAKER_01 (05:08):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (05:09):
I'm giving you this PSA because we have Queenie
Linguini in the other roomwatching the rotating Christmas
tree and Christmas vacations onTV.
She's having a bubble.
She might just pass out, or shemight decide to join us.

SPEAKER_04 (05:20):
She's nuzzled in right now.

SPEAKER_05 (05:22):
And we have uh three hooligans over here by our feet.
One of them is an extensiveheavy breather.
The other one snores like alocomotive.
And the smallest, Frenchest oneusually toots in her sleep and
might gag a maggot.
So there could be somebackground noise.
This is Christmas, okay?

SPEAKER_03 (05:38):
This is the Liberty Chaos.

SPEAKER_05 (05:39):
Yeah.
If you're listening on ChristmasEve, 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 fifthyear doing a Christmas special.
In the beginning, early stages,I used to do a Christmas with
Clark episode, and then we couldnever uh coordinate our
schedules.
And me and Clark talked about itagain this year.
We're gonna do a post-holidayextravaganza because we talked

(06:01):
about getting reunited.
But uh, my lovely wife hasjoined me the past few years,
and it's been fun.
We uh tackle a lot of holidayquestions, have some fun off the
cuff topics, and that's whatwe're gonna be getting on to
today.
But there's a few things thatget out the way.
We've set the scene.
I want to welcome y'all into theLiberty Snow Globe, okay?
We have the lighted villagegoing, we have the rotating

(06:22):
Christmas tree.
Christmas vacation is on the TVwith the sound off because I
could tell what the what thewords are, and I just want to
let the people know.
I put the movie on with thesound off, and in my mind I
said, I can look up and knowwhat he's saying.
And I sat down, what about mybusiness?
You went over there to putlittle Paisley down, and then

(06:43):
began to finish lines from themovie with the sound off.
That's how I know I picked theright one.

SPEAKER_03 (06:49):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (06:49):
I'm proud of you.
I'm proud of you.
Thanks.
So that's going on.

SPEAKER_03 (06:52):
You've only made me watch the movie 400 times.
Well.

SPEAKER_05 (06:57):
You could have just said we're meant to be, you
know.
That's another option.

SPEAKER_01 (07:00):
Yes, that's true.

SPEAKER_05 (07:01):
Also, behind me, for your viewing pleasure, uh, we
are in the in the kitchen areahere, and I have the the blinds
open or the curtains open withthe deck lights on, the outside
lights on, and it is snowing.
We are encapsulated.

SPEAKER_01 (07:16):
The Dickens.

SPEAKER_05 (07:17):
It is the beat the dickens.
We are encapsulated in our ownlittle snow globe.
The weatherman is calling fromone to 180 inches, somewhere in
between there.
I don't know.
It might stop tomorrow, it mightstop in the new year.
We don't really know.

SPEAKER_04 (07:28):
I don't think I've ever heard anyone say inches
that amount, like without goinginto like feet before.

SPEAKER_05 (07:36):
Well, what I'm gonna say, I just stole it from a
Facebook post when I wascruising while you were waiting
for for pace, but it was um uhRobin River, you had this big
post and it says snow anywherefrom one to 180 inches.
And I said, that's actuallythat's actually pretty fitting.
But to surprise you here, to setthe move, because I didn't want
you to be the only one overthere with festive PJs on.

SPEAKER_01 (07:57):
Oh God.

SPEAKER_05 (07:58):
I'm gonna break something out for you here.

SPEAKER_01 (08:00):
Oh, jeez.

SPEAKER_05 (08:01):
It's gonna be a little snugger than predicted.

SPEAKER_04 (08:07):
Oh I got that for you years ago.

SPEAKER_05 (08:10):
Yeah, I was a little thinner then.
I will say that.
Let me stand up for you.

SPEAKER_04 (08:15):
Oh, that's classy.

SPEAKER_05 (08:17):
This here, folks, is my Saturday Night Live dick in a
box sweater.

SPEAKER_04 (08:23):
It even has the gold chain.

SPEAKER_05 (08:25):
The gold chain's one of my favorite parts.

SPEAKER_04 (08:27):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (08:27):
It has the big fat gold chain.
The uh sleeves are now aboutfour inches too short.
I feel like I might have gainedcircumference in the biceps,
which I'll take.
But it's just the waistlinethat's really troubling.
But I wanted to wear somethingfestive and wanted to surprise
you, so I have the dick in a boxChristmas sweater.
Yeah, baby?

SPEAKER_06 (08:49):
Da-da.

SPEAKER_05 (08:50):
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, shehas her own karaoke set and her
own DJ turntable already, and Ithink she might already be
better than her dad.
So that is what it is.

SPEAKER_06 (09:07):
Hi.

SPEAKER_03 (09:08):
Hi, da-da.

SPEAKER_05 (09:10):
Hi, babe.
Okay, don't shake themicrophone.
Okay.
Alright, awesome.
Now, to get things started,before we get into all of our
questions and such, we're gonnastart off with Oh, the voice of
an angel.
We're gonna start off with thevoice You're gonna blow people's

(09:31):
speakers out.

SPEAKER_04 (09:33):
Alright, let me get you yours.

SPEAKER_05 (09:34):
Crazy cuda.

SPEAKER_04 (09:35):
You want yours?

unknown (09:36):
Look, your microphone.

SPEAKER_05 (09:37):
Alright, give her her own microphone.
She has her own microphone,which means she's still gonna be
hooting and hollering in thebackground.
But we're gonna do the best wecan 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 (09:52):
Oh.

SPEAKER_05 (09:53):
Okay.
I have two little pop quizzeshere to get our elf names
together, and then you can pickyour favorite of the two.
All right.

SPEAKER_03 (09:59):
These always make me laugh because they never sound
like elf names, they alwayssound like stripper names to me.

SPEAKER_05 (10:04):
Well, elves and strippers are the same thing.
You ever been to an elf strippernight?
You know what I mean?
Midget night?
Hey, people can't say thatanymore.
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 namewould be Minty.

SPEAKER_04 (10:29):
Okay.

SPEAKER_05 (10:30):
And then the month you were born.
So Which is June, which wouldmake you Minty McCandy Cane.

SPEAKER_04 (10:44):
Okay.
Not bad.
Alright.

SPEAKER_05 (10:46):
That's option one for you.
Okay.
Minty McCandy Cane.
Alright.
And for me, option one would beHappy Stocking Stuffer.
So you are a Minty McCandy Cane,and I would be Happy Stocking
Stuffer.

SPEAKER_04 (11:04):
Okay.
Option number two.

SPEAKER_05 (11:05):
And Baisley would be Twinkle.
Twinkle Stocking Stuffer.
Option number two for the elfname game.
You would be, let me write thesedown so we can pick what we like
here.
You would be Perky.
Seems pretty solid.
Yeah, May, June.

(11:27):
Ooh! Perky glitterballs.

SPEAKER_03 (11:31):
Oh, that's definitely a stripper name.

SPEAKER_05 (11:33):
Perky glitterballs.
So your options are mintyMcCandy Cane or Perky
Glitterballs.

SPEAKER_03 (11:41):
Well, if we're making selections on elf names,
I'm going with option numberone.
If we're picking stripper names,I'm going number two.

SPEAKER_05 (11:48):
Well, this is gonna be your choice.
So uh then for me would be thenext one is cookie.

SPEAKER_03 (11:56):
I have an aunt named Cookie.

SPEAKER_05 (11:58):
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 (12:08):
Hmm, interesting.
Combination there.

SPEAKER_05 (12:12):
Yeah, and then what's Miss Paisley's?
Paisley would be jingle picklepants.

SPEAKER_04 (12:20):
She is a jingle pickle pants.

SPEAKER_05 (12:22):
She is jingle pickle pants.

SPEAKER_04 (12:24):
That's her for sure.

SPEAKER_05 (12:25):
So we have uh perky glitter balls or a minty McCandy
Cane.

SPEAKER_03 (12:30):
For my elf name?

SPEAKER_05 (12:31):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (12:32):
McCandy Cane.

SPEAKER_05 (12:33):
Alright, so for the remainder of today's show, I
will refer to you as MintyMcCandy Cane.

SPEAKER_04 (12:41):
Okay.

SPEAKER_05 (12:42):
And the options for me are cookie pickle pants or
happy stocking stuffer.
I think I'm going happy stockingstuffer.
And then the baby can be jinglepickle pants.

SPEAKER_03 (12:55):
Oh, for certain.

SPEAKER_05 (12:56):
And jingle pickle pants is the reason why this
episode's gonna run a littleshorter because she just made us
delay the podcast by what, two,three hours?
It's now 11:44 p.m.

SPEAKER_03 (13:10):
We started recording this at 9 40.

SPEAKER_05 (13:13):
Right.
Oh, she's finally laying down.
So good old jingle pickle pants,hopefully asleep for the
evening, which leaves theremainder of the show to Minty
McCandy King and Happy StalkingSteffi.
Well there, Minty.
I lost track of what we weredoing and where we were headed

(13:36):
because of the chaos that ensuedin the household.

SPEAKER_03 (13:38):
But uh Lucky for you, I don't think we got very
far.

SPEAKER_05 (13:41):
Okay, good.
Good.

SPEAKER_03 (13:42):
We were going over our stripper names.
I mean elf names.

SPEAKER_05 (13:45):
They're elves.
Okay, get it right.

SPEAKER_03 (13:48):
Hey, on certain nights, we're they're all elves.
That's true at the strip club.

SPEAKER_05 (13:52):
I don't have the knees for it anymore.
I still don't have them.
They get knobby.
And since we paused therecording and came back, that
that snow globe, we're we'retrending more towards the 180
inches than we are the one.

SPEAKER_01 (14:06):
This is true.

SPEAKER_05 (14:07):
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 Christmasspecial.
We had the candy cane game wherewe were literally just purchased
a uh Christmas game and we werefiring off questions.
We researched questions, we hadthe bowl of curiosity last year.

(14:30):
So I think we're just gonna kindof hover around some of that,
share some Christmaspleasantries, have some
memories, some stories, allthose all those good things.
Um as I was going through someof these, and we're gonna shoot
a lot of them just completelyoff the hip.
But the first thing I did seewas do you have a favorite
holiday smell?

SPEAKER_01 (14:51):
Yes.

SPEAKER_05 (14:52):
What is it?
Minty.
It's don't steal mine.

SPEAKER_03 (14:57):
I'm not it's not pine.

SPEAKER_05 (14:59):
Um how did you know?

SPEAKER_03 (15:02):
It's actually frosted cranberry.
Okay.
For Breeze used to carry it, andit was my absolute favorite, and
then they stopped carrying itfor some reason.
I know.
Ridiculous.

SPEAKER_05 (15:14):
And yeah, it's Frosted Cranberry.
That could have been your elfname, really.

SPEAKER_04 (15:21):
Frosted cranberry.

SPEAKER_05 (15:23):
Yeah, but I'm in seeing McCandy Cane works.

SPEAKER_04 (15:25):
Because I do like to go to the McDonald's a lot.

SPEAKER_05 (15:28):
Yeah.
For me, it's pretty easy, handsdown, it's pine.
I love pine.

SPEAKER_01 (15:33):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (15:35):
I know where you're headed with this.

SPEAKER_01 (15:36):
Where?

SPEAKER_05 (15:37):
Tell the people.
We stopped the tractor supply.
It was early on in ourrelationship.
Tractor supply.
Might have even been like ourfirst Christmas together.
Which we started dating in likewhat, October?

SPEAKER_03 (15:50):
November.

SPEAKER_05 (15:52):
No, we became like Facebook official.
Right?
We were like FB certified inNovember, I think.
111213.

SPEAKER_02 (16:00):
Yeah, well done.

SPEAKER_05 (16:02):
Um Tell the folks what happened.

SPEAKER_03 (16:04):
I wasn't even thinking about the tractor
supply scenario because that wasthat is funny.
I was actually thinking abouthow long you drove around town
with the when we got our firstChristmas tree here.
Yeah.
You drove around with pine bbushels.

SPEAKER_05 (16:21):
No, that came from the tractor supply.
We that's the same story, but wewere confused on the connection.
We pulled into a tractor supplyin like, I don't know, Oxford or
something.
We pulled in there lookingaround and they had Christmas
trees for sale outside, andthere was a broken branches
everywhere, and I just pickedone up and started huffing it.
And then I threw it on thedashboard of the truck, turned

(16:41):
the heat on high, and made meown AFRS.
Yeah, but then that had dried upand we had got dried up to
crispy cream, I'll tell you.

SPEAKER_03 (16:50):
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 samething.
You took when it when we took itout, you took a branch and threw
it in the same truck.

SPEAKER_05 (17:04):
I thought I was like MacGyver McClever pants.
When I took pine limbs and threwthem on my dash and turned the
defrost on, it smelled glorious,okay?

SPEAKER_03 (17:13):
It did until you realized how many pine needles
were in.

SPEAKER_05 (17:21):
I'm not sure how we didn't catch on fire, but pine.
That's an easy one for good oldhappy stalking stuffer.
Do you have any questions for meover there?
Any holiday memories,festivities?
What are you thinking?
We're a little disheveledbecause here we are now,
approaching midnight, trying tofigure out how to finish this
podcast to have the kid derailedus, but it's almost Christmas

(17:42):
Eve, so maybe this just seemsthat much more fitting.

SPEAKER_03 (17:45):
This is perfect because every other year it was
on Christmas Eve that we quitebasically.

SPEAKER_05 (17:50):
Here we are now.

SPEAKER_03 (17:51):
Quite basically.

SPEAKER_05 (17:52):
Yeah.
Well, last year I think werecorded on Christmas Eve, but I
mean obviously every year itchanges, you know what I mean?
But we try to do it as closelyas we can to the whole festive
festivitize.

SPEAKER_03 (18:02):
Hmm, let's see.
Is there a family tradition thatyou recall as a kid?

SPEAKER_05 (18:11):
Okay.

SPEAKER_03 (18:12):
This is like childhood that you like really,
really enjoyed.

SPEAKER_05 (18:19):
Family tradition.

SPEAKER_03 (18:21):
And it could be as simple as like you pulled out a
eggnog bowl that you always usedor something.

SPEAKER_05 (18:29):
Like just like it doesn't have to be like There is
a lot of those little randomthings that I remember.
As a kid, like I had this, andthey're making a comeback.
I had this glass Christmas tree.
Oh, I want to find one of thoseso these little um holes all
through it, and you put theseplastic little ornaments inside

(18:49):
the holes, and then the bulb onthe inside would illuminate
those out.
And it was always my job todecorate that.
I remember that for the longesttime.
I don't know whatever happened.
I'm sure I got to a point ofjust being like, well, this
thing's dumb.
But I remember doing thatforever.
And um that was definitely oneof those, but I think like

(19:12):
tradition-wise, and I've saidthis for years, but traditions
go by the wayside when we loseour grandparents, you know.
And I hate to just keep beingthat broken record, but I feel
like that generation is the onesthat bred traditions into
families.
And um every year on ChristmasEve, that was like my

(19:34):
grandparents' Christmas.
We would go to their house forChristmas Eve, and then our
family Christmas, like when mymom and dad would be on
Christmas Day, but I really justmiss being able to go to my
grandparents' house and at leastdoing something with them.
And I think this is like kind ofthe lesson that and it's funny
as we're having this that Ithink is going to continue
throughout the night, butthere's so many things you did

(19:56):
as a kid that you didn't reallyappreciate, 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 asa kid, you're like, I don't want
to get off the couch and go overto my grandparents' house and
deal with my cousins.
You know, and then now you'relike, man, what I wouldn't do to
be able to do that again.

SPEAKER_03 (20:13):
For sure, for sure.

SPEAKER_05 (20:14):
How about you?

SPEAKER_03 (20:16):
Yeah, mine definitely has to be um going to
Meme's and Nana's and Graham'shouse.
Like you would kind of like makeyour rounds, and if you like
took too long at like one ofthose three houses, you did it
on Christmas Day.

SPEAKER_06 (20:32):
No, okay.

SPEAKER_03 (20:32):
Um, except for like Nana's was always set in stone.
So like everybody always hadlike Christmas dinner um there.
Um so you kind of had to pickMeme or Graham's house based on
like when Nana was gonna havedinner in it, right?
Which dinner to them is lunch,really.

(20:55):
Yes.
So confusing to me.
Um, but yeah, that was alwayslike super fun because like all
of us kids got together cousins,and um there was this big great
room that we always used to playin, and all of us kids would
open our presents.
But what's funny is that wewould end up sometimes when the

(21:18):
adults like went up in the houseand we were still us kids were
playing with our toys down inthe great room.
Like us kids would actually liketrade our toys.

SPEAKER_00 (21:26):
Oh, really?

SPEAKER_03 (21:26):
Yeah, and like, but nobody like yeah, the par our
parents might have noticed, butlike Nana never noticed, but we
were always like playing withthe toys.
So like Nana recently passedaway, if you've listened to the
podcast, at 104.
So, like I mean, let's behonest, when I'm talking about

(21:46):
her having like Christmas withus, like she was older, older.

SPEAKER_05 (21:53):
Right, you know what I mean at that time, like so
Yeah, when you die at 104, thenyou've always been old in your
life, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 (22:01):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_05 (22:03):
So think about that.
If you're in your 30s and she'slike the youngest you've ever
known her as was 70.

SPEAKER_03 (22:10):
Yeah, right.
So at the point of like beingsenile, like she was a hundred
and four when she was senile,but like she would tell you all
the things about like each oneof you, but would never remember
what our interests were.
Like she would get us kind ofconfused when it comes to
incredible to think about.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (22:30):
She was like the youngest you really ever knew
her was like 70.
That's crazy.

SPEAKER_04 (22:34):
And the oldest that I ever knew her was 104.
That's amazing.
When she passed away, yeah.
Great.

SPEAKER_05 (22:39):
It's pretty cool because I've heard those stories
from you for you know the 13years wherever we've been we've
been together.
Um, but over the past few yearsgetting to like know Nana, so
then actually go there.
And I actually had theopportunity to attend a party
there.
It was her hundredth birthdayparty, you know?
Yeah.
But I actually can say, becauseit's not often we have that

(22:59):
where I can say, like, yeah, Isat in that great room.
I know what you're talkingabout.
So that's yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (23:04):
It was always really fun because it was always like
super crazy and like hustle andbustle and kids running around,
and like there was there wasgrandkids, there was great
grandkids, there was wholefamilies.

SPEAKER_05 (23:19):
I missed that element about the holidays, and
I don't know, I'm sure there'speople listening that still have
that, but it's been jealous ofit.
It's been a hundred years sinceI've had that.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, there's no kids in thesame age bracket, like the kids
that we grew up with that wereour age, we don't talk anymore.
You know what I mean?
Right.
Um, when you start losingparents and grandparents and all

(23:41):
those things just go away.
And I mean, I love ourChristmases, but it's always
just is and is going to be likeyou, me, Paisley, my mom.

SPEAKER_03 (23:49):
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 goingfrom this house to this house,
and and you're you're right.
Like at some point you like sitdown on the couch and you're
like, I'm done.
Like, I don't want to, even as akid, you're like, this is a lot.
Like you're so grateful for allthe presents and stuff, but at
the same time, you're like, God,like, I feel like I just ran a

(24:12):
marathon because you're likehanging out with these cousins,
and then you go and hang outwith these cousins, and you're
eating the whole time.

SPEAKER_05 (24:19):
It's one of the like a full day is one of the things
that I really appreciated aboutmy my family, is like and I'm
starting to learn some of thesethings are probably like my
dad's decisions, but my dad waslike, 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 neverreally had to leave my house on

(24:42):
Christmas.
So my dad was always like, I'llmake the exception for like my
mom's family or whatever.
I'll make I'll do all therunning around on Christmas Eve,
and for other people, I'll do itpost-Christmas.
But Christmas, I'm not leavingmy damn house.
That was like my dad's rule, andI appreciated that.
Like, I love not having to gosomewhere on Thanksgiving.
I love not having to gosomewhere on Christmas.

(25:03):
Like you're just home, you'represent, and uh you are where
your feet are.
And how often is it that youhave a day at home and you just
say, like, I'm not doinganything but what I'm doing?
You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 (25:14):
Like, I'm not being in the moment.

SPEAKER_05 (25:16):
Yeah, I'm not I'm not turning the laptop on, I'm
not doing this, I'm just I'mjust doing that, I'm doing what
I need to do.
And as a kid, I was just Ialways appreciated the fact that
we didn't have to leave onChristmas.
My parents were really goodabout um stretching some of
those things out, and I think aswe've gone through the years,
you know me to be like getting alittle seasonal depression
because I feel like the holidayscome and go so quick.

(25:38):
And I think part of that'sbecause as a kid they didn't,
yeah, you know.
Um, like Christmas Eve wasmassive to do with my
grandparents' house, but one ofthe traditions that I really
miss is that my mom and I, andeverybody used to just do all
this cooking.
Like my mom would be baking fordays, and this this tradition

(25:59):
came from my grandmother becausemy grandmother would make all
these you know desserts, pies,and cookies, and she would just
go around and delivering food toneighbors and stuff.
And my mom adopted thattradition.
So as a kid, I grew up withthose things where my mom would
just bake for days.
I bet today, with the prices atthe supermarket, like we just
came back from Walmart and youspent a hundred dollars on

(26:21):
nothing, right?

SPEAKER_03 (26:22):
Nothing, absolutely nothing.

SPEAKER_05 (26:23):
I bet it would cost my mom fifteen hundred bucks two
grand to do the amount ofcooking she used to do, and then
we used to just go give it away.
But it was so much fun just togo to people's houses and just
knock on the door and like, heyman, here's your apple pie.
We made this apple pie for you.
And you would just get invitedinto Christmas parties and you
would just stay for 10 minutesand leave, and you would just go
around and be like, Who's nexton my list?

(26:45):
And my parents would know, like,so-and-so is doing this on this
day at this time, this is whenwe're dropping the stuff off,
and like I just remember all thedecorated desserts and stuff,
and that was just so much that'scool, so much fun.
And you know, Christmas wasalways home.
We always everybody that wantedto see us came to us, but my my

(27:05):
dad was also good aboutstretching things out, so like
the day after Christmas, wemight go to like my aunt and
uncle Joe's, like my Aunt Helenand Uncle Joe's house, you know.
A couple days later we might besomewhere else.
Um, and then we always hadfriends that came over for
Christmas that were my mom'sfriends, but then my parents

(27:26):
were known to do a big NewYear's party a week later.
And it was like my mom wouldbake lasagna, and we would have
just multiple amounts of friendsover.
And like the holidays aroundhere 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'sfamilies out there that still

(27:48):
have that, and I'm and I'm I'mjealous of that, I guess, but um
I don't know how it's uh everreplaced that.
I know we had this conversationa little while ago, but like
what do we do to make theholidays the holidays?
And unfortunately, we just don'thave the people.
It's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 (28:04):
Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_05 (28:07):
You have a question for me?

SPEAKER_02 (28:08):
I just asked you a question.
You did?
That was my question.

SPEAKER_05 (28:11):
I don't believe it.
Oh my god.
Do you have uh like can yourecall one of your earliest
Christmas memories?
Like a big memory, somethingthat you loved.
I mean, it could be like a giftor something, or just like a a

(28:31):
certain memory.
Is there something aboutChristmas that you just
remember?

SPEAKER_03 (28:36):
Um I know we're really creating suspense on air
because we literally did notprep each other with these
questions, so that a lot oftimes there's just time to think
to figure things out, but Iremember it was always um a
gathering of us grandkids at myGraham's house uh before I moved

(28:59):
in with her, that we woulddecorate her tree in her great
room, not Nana's great room, uhGraham's great room, and um she
would have a massive, massivetree.
Um, and in order to put the staron the tree, she actually had
these like two sets of stairsthat went up on the side, and it

(29:20):
was a landing because like thegreat room, so it used to be um
a house on the side, it was likea trailer, and they built onto
it, and they built this big,giant great room with cathedral
ceilings.
Um and so the tree was easily 10or 12 feet.

(29:41):
Wow, like ginormous.

SPEAKER_05 (29:42):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (29:43):
So in order to get into the house, you had to go up
these set of stairs and to thislanding.
And so we would go on thelanding and we would put the
whoever was the tallest on thelanding could put the star on.
But all of us kids would show upand we would have um a sleepover
at Graham's, and um, we all gotto like decorate um Christmas

(30:03):
cookies, and we would put ourornaments on the tree and help
Graham put the um the lights upand all that kind of stuff.
So she would always get um areal tree, and then um we would
help her kind of set it up frombare guns.
Yeah, and that was like a familytradition, like and it just
continued.

SPEAKER_05 (30:22):
Yeah, yeah.
For me, there's one Christmasmemory that for some reason just
I always remember it, and it wasbefore my parents moved into the
house that is right next to usthat we have now.
It was when we lived across thestreet in this little tiny
trailer, and I remember my momand dad got me a electric, like

(30:44):
a battery-operated four-wheeler.
And I remember getting this andI was sitting on it, and I was
so excited, and whoever put itunderneath the Christmas tree
left it in reverse.

SPEAKER_06 (30:55):
Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (30:59):
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 whatdoes any kid do?
Floor it, goose the hell out ofthat thing.
I hammered on it in reverse, upover the tree, right up the
Christmas tree.
That sum of my biscuit washalfway up the tree just eating

(31:21):
freaking garland and tinsel andornaments and shit was flying,
and I'm just right on thehammer.

SPEAKER_04 (31:27):
Throwing his hands out.

SPEAKER_05 (31:28):
Oh my god, it was it was hellacious.
I still remember that.
I don't know how old I was, butum, I remember that.
I remember when my parents builtthe house that they have, um,
and I remember I didn't evenhave my bedroom done.
I think I might have slept on anair mattress, but we moved in

(31:49):
like Christmas Eve.
Same scenario.
It was kind of fitting that youand me moved into our house on
Christmas Eve.
So those I really reallyremember those, and it's one as
I'm talking that's kind offunny.
Is my parents gave me thisChristmas sock.
My dad must have thought it washilarious.
Did you ever get a chance to seemy sock?

SPEAKER_01 (32:10):
Maybe I don't remember.

SPEAKER_05 (32:12):
I had a Christmas sock that was probably five,
five and a half feet tall.

SPEAKER_03 (32:18):
It was I didn't see it, but I have heard about it.

SPEAKER_05 (32:21):
My dad got it, he must have thought it was
hilarious, and you could justput me in it for the longest
time, you know.
So I had this massive,ridiculous Christmas sock.
It was like the jack and thebean stock of socks, you know?
And you could put a Christmastree worth of presents in my
socks.
My mom had to be pissed to belike, I gotta fill this damn
thing.
But I kept that thing forever.

(32:41):
Remember, we got to a point mymom was like, Okay, I think
we're done with a sock.
And I was like, Well, I don'tknow.
And she was like, Listen, here'sthe deal.
You're not getting any more orany less presents, bud.
It's always this, it's gonna bethe same.
You're just gonna have moreunder 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 onit in glitter.

SPEAKER_03 (33:02):
You know when you we all had those.

SPEAKER_05 (33:04):
You take the Elmer's glue and you glue out your name
and then you sprinkle theglitter on it.
Would you eat it?
What's that look for?

SPEAKER_03 (33:12):
No, by the time we did that, we actually just had
like a paint.

SPEAKER_05 (33:18):
Yeah, yeah, because I'm old it in.

SPEAKER_03 (33:20):
There was glitter in the little puff paint and all
that.
And actually, so what hadhappened is like um Graham got
those standard red stockingswith the white trim and wrote
all of our name.
Someone wrote um our name on allof them.
So we got to go and likedecorate them.
So you like literally have totake that puff paint and like

(33:42):
trace your name in the puffpaint.
So yeah.
But speaking of um batteryoperated, when you that
four-wheeler.

SPEAKER_05 (33:52):
Oh, geez, I thought we were going a whole different
direction.

SPEAKER_03 (33:55):
Oh my god, no.
I just thought of about amemory.
It wasn't even like a Christmaspresent for me, but well, sort
of.
We were um having Christmas.
It was so I remember this likeso confusing part of Christmas

(34:15):
because um Graham and Papa cameto my house for Christmas, which
was like never a thing, likenever a thing.
Um, we always went to theirhouse and um I didn't understand
why, but Graham was there beforePapa got there, which again,
super bizarre.
Like I don't understand, likethey drove together, they were

(34:38):
very old school, like Papadrives everywhere.
So Graham gets to the house andI'm in my room playing, and all
of a sudden they like drive thispink convertible like Corvette.

SPEAKER_05 (34:59):
The grandparents here?

SPEAKER_03 (35:00):
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 theheck is going on?
Like, it's not even Christmas.
But apparently, like I'm gettingthis car, but I need the car in
order to surprise my gr my papawith his present.
But I don't know, I don't knowanything what's going on.

(35:21):
I don't know anything that'sgoing on other than like, here's
your Christmas present.
Like, my parents couldn't wait.

SPEAKER_05 (35:26):
Like, did he get a car?

SPEAKER_03 (35:28):
No.
No.

SPEAKER_05 (35:30):
What did he do?

SPEAKER_03 (35:31):
I'm confused, right?
Like, they're like you gottadrive this out to Papa.
And I was like, Well, where iswhere is Papa?
And he was like, he's gonna bein the living room, just just
stay here.
And I'm like, again, still lost.
I'm playing in my room, probablywith my Barbies or something.

SPEAKER_05 (35:44):
So you lost your opening of the major Christmas
present because you're trying tosurprise somebody else.
First off, we could have toaccomplish this in a whole
different direction.

SPEAKER_03 (35:52):
Right.
So then I hear my papa, and soI'm like, Papa, and I'm like
going around, and they're theywere like, Nope, can't come out.
Shut my door, right?

SPEAKER_05 (36:04):
Oh boy.

SPEAKER_03 (36:04):
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 myCorvette, and I have to drive
the dog out.

SPEAKER_05 (36:18):
Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 (36:20):
I didn't know I was getting the Corvette number one.

SPEAKER_05 (36:22):
Now you're thinking you're getting a dog.

SPEAKER_03 (36:26):
I have no idea what's happening.
I'm like so confused.
But then at the end of it.

SPEAKER_05 (36:31):
Why wouldn't they just give you the car in front
of everybody and then have youpractice driving it and then
drive up with a dog?

SPEAKER_03 (36:40):
Oh yeah.
Oh no.
It was hilarious.
And I was also so confusedbecause like we never did
Christmas.

SPEAKER_06 (36:45):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (36:46):
But like they were trying to get my papa away from
the house, and so apparently thedog was with my Graham, and so I
gotcha.
I'm getting it.
Yeah.
So my Graham had gone to go getthe dog, said, meet me at the um
at the house, and we'll doChristmas with them.
Like they can't do Christmas.

(37:06):
I I don't know the scenario, butI can pretty much put A and B
together.
It was so ridiculous that I waslike so confused.
But there's pictures likedownstairs of me in the
Corvette, and here's my Papa'sdog.
He wanted a little collie.
Yeah.
And he loved that dog.
Loved that dog.

(37:27):
Like that's all he wanted.
Um, and he had talked about itand talked about it, and my
grandmother was like, I do notwant to hear about another damn
dog ever again.

SPEAKER_05 (37:35):
That's funny.
I I got bamboozled once forChristmas.
We were um Christmas is a bigdeal with my mom, right?
So she's always on the hunt toget something important for
somebody, to get something thatsomebody, something somebody
really wants.
There's always at least oneperson on the list that, you
know, like she's it's a missionto do something.

SPEAKER_03 (37:57):
She's like an elephant when it comes to like
you tell her something or yousay something, like she's on it.
She like writes that down in herphone or something.
I don't know, because she'llremember things from like last
year.

SPEAKER_05 (38:08):
I've inherited her traits of trying to find the
most sentimental thing possiblefor Christmas because it's not
about the money, it's about thefeeling, I feel like.
Which I'm disappointed because Ithink my most sentimental gift
of the season might not show upon time.

SPEAKER_03 (38:20):
But um one year sentimental presents always make
us cry, and you're not supposedto cry on Christmas.

SPEAKER_05 (38:26):
No, no, it's crying on Christmas is cool.
So um I remember one year me andmy dad used to hunt together all
the time, and my mom, I I don'tknow, I must have had a
conversation with her and saidthat my dad needed a new black
powder rifle.
Ever tell you the story?

(38:46):
And he wanted a modern blackpowder rifle because he didn't
want to deal with all thenonsense, and they had all these
new fancy black powder riflesthat basically the old school
rifles that we used to use wouldbe like you would have to take
your black powder, measure itout, pour it down the barrel,
then you you have like a littlesack, like a piece of fabric,

(39:10):
and you you take this big longrod and you have to pound it
down the barrel.
Have you ever seen this?
You take the ball, you poundthat down, and then when you
when you basically you have alittle cap, like a cap gun that
goes on there that has thespark.
With those things, when you'redone in the woods, you have to
shoot it because you have a liveround packed in the gun.
Right.
So you come out of the woods,touch it off every single time.

(39:32):
My dad wanted a newer modelwhere it's not like that, it's
just more compact, it's easierto deal with the nonsense.
I, on the other hand, love theidea of being like a pilgrim,
and I like the I like that thattheory.
So, anyways, we were gonna startBlack Powder hide hunting as a
family, and um so I went with mymom and we went and we picked

(39:55):
out and and and Dave Lambert wasinvolved in the scenario and and
Judy.
Lambert as well.
My dad and Dave hung out all thetime with us.
Time my mom and Judy hung outall the time.
So we bought my dad this newerblack powder, it's a composite
black powder rifle.
And then what was weird in thered flag in this, but I didn't

(40:17):
get it, was we didn't take ithome.
Judy took it home to Dave.
And the explanation was that hewas gonna get it set up and he
was gonna clean it and make sureeverything was good.
And Christmas Eve, they comeover, or Christmas night, I
think it was Christmas Eve, theycome over, and uh they have my

(40:38):
dad's present, right?
And it gets given to me, and uhthey're like, You gotta sneak
this in, you gotta hide thisfrom your dad.
So I'm all giddy because I havethe big gift of the season, and
I'm sneaking by to hide it.
Now, the funny thing is onChristmas morning, I'm all
excited handing my dad hisChristmas present, and as I do

(41:00):
it, my mom's like, That's notfor your dad.
And I was like, What are youtalking about?
And then she's like, Thatpresent there's for you, and I'm
like, Wait, what?
So me and my dad open presentsat the same time, and he gets
the brand new modern blackpowder rifle, and I open the
vintage old school black powderrifle.

(41:22):
Oh, cool, like, and it wasn't mydad's, it was one that my dad
found.
So we're shopping for a blackpowder rifle for my dad.
My dad's shopping for an oldschool 54 caliber Hawkins black
powder rifle for me.

SPEAKER_06 (41:36):
Cool.

SPEAKER_05 (41:36):
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'sgun, my dad is trying to hide my
gun, and then to make it evenmore of a kick in the pants,
they made us hide our own stuff.
So they thought it was funny togive me my Christmas present and

(41:59):
give my dad his Christmaspresent.
Yeah, yeah.
So then when we come to bringthem out, it's like, wait a
minute, you you guys gottaswitch.
You know what I mean?
And it was the coolest thingbecause we both got and what
family?
What redneck backwoods hillbillyfamily gets black powder rifles
for Christmas, father and son?

SPEAKER_04 (42:18):
That's cool.

SPEAKER_05 (42:18):
I wish I still had that gun.
That was That was a good time.
I don't know where that camefrom, 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 12.30every single night.

(42:40):
We can lay in bed at 10.8 p.m.
We don't go to bed till 12 30.

SPEAKER_04 (42:44):
It's because we have a one and a half year old.

SPEAKER_05 (42:45):
Oh my god, she's a savage right now.

SPEAKER_04 (42:47):
Brewing two and terrible twos.

SPEAKER_05 (42:50):
Good old jingle pickle pants is a real in the
band.
It's funny that my elf name isHappy Stalking Stuffer.
One of my memories was I was astalking stuffer.
I was literally in the big assstocking.
Makes sense.
I think I asked you a question.
Do you have one more for me?

(43:15):
I know that's tough.
I know.
I put you on the spot, but youtold me to do it.

SPEAKER_03 (43:19):
This is gonna be a two-part question.
Okay.
Okay.
As a kid, okay, I want to hearyour best and worst present that
you ever got.

SPEAKER_05 (43:36):
I don't know, man.
That um It doesn't have to belike that black powder.
I just heard pickle pants.
She's talking to herself.
Oh my god, jingle.
She's jingling herself rightnow.
I'm so scared.
I was talking stuff pretty much.
I can't start this clock allover again.
Took us two and a half hours.

(43:56):
Oh Lord.
Uh the black powder wastremendous.
I think one of my other favoriteChristmas gifts, I got a
12-gauge shotgun for Christmasone year.
That was pretty pretty amazing.
That's cool.
Um it's weird.
I I don't always remember gifts,I remember moments.

(44:18):
Um And then you asked me whatwas the worst gift I've ever
gotten.
Geez.
I have that one in the bag, buthit me with it, because I'm
still thinking about what itwhat it might have been.
I'm sure there's something, butI gotta think of my best.
Hit me your worst.
I gave the best, you gave me theworst.
We'll see if we can figure outthe rest.

SPEAKER_00 (44:39):
I owe you.

SPEAKER_05 (44:41):
That'll do it.
That will do it.
Yeah.
That is pretty bad.

SPEAKER_03 (44:46):
Yeah.
And a Christmas card.

SPEAKER_05 (44:48):
Yeah.

unknown (44:50):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (44:52):
Worst part is like you didn't get it from your high
school boyfriend.
You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 (44:56):
Uh no.
Nope.
It was yeah, definitely uh fromfamily.

SPEAKER_05 (45:02):
Yeah, that's tough.
That's a tough one.

SPEAKER_04 (45:05):
When you're waking up in the morning, you're
expecting it to come.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (45:11):
I don't know if you recall this, and I guess if
we're having these um familyconversations, and my dad keeps
coming back up, but when wefirst started dating and my dad
got to know you, he was hellbent that your first Christmas
was here was gonna be the bestChristmas you've ever had.
And I don't know if you rememberI specifically remember talking

(45:32):
to him in our laundry room inthe basement and him saying that
you were gonna have a greatChristmas.
And I remember on Christmasmorning when we're done opening
presents, he had asked you, hewas like, Is that better than an
IOU?
So I remember he was all he wasall hellbent about it.

SPEAKER_03 (45:47):
I don't know if I remember he was a part of the
conversation, like we're takingout all the decorations, and
your dad was one to like we werejust talking about it, like in
his room, like yeah, out in thecommotion, like he was out there
enjoying every moment of it, andlike I can I can see him sitting
over there, like in the chair,like just grinning from eye to
ear to ear, like just watchingme open the presents because I

(46:10):
probably looked like a child.
He just excited.

SPEAKER_05 (46:14):
Yeah, for sure.
You were beyond excited, and itdidn't matter.
Reminds me a lot of Paisley.
It could have been a bag ofsocks, or I mean, I the big gift
I got you for your firstChristmas year was a photo shoot
with a professional photographerthat was the best photographer
in the state.

SPEAKER_03 (46:31):
But I mean, not only that, like it was I got a couple
of pairs of bear paws that thatyear.
I never owned a pair of bearpaws.

SPEAKER_05 (46:38):
But I was just saying, like between your your
moment of appreciation, whetherit was bear paw boots or a
professional photo shoot orsocks, you were just stoked
about it.

SPEAKER_03 (46:47):
Yeah, I think that Christmas was different because
it was like things that like youyou showed me like what
Christmases are supposed to belike, I guess.
And and it's not about thepresents or what's under the
tree.
It's not that's not what I'msaying.
It's like this is you'resupposed to buy for the loved
ones, for your loved ones orwhatnot.

SPEAKER_05 (47:09):
I've gotten to a point where I think that or I I
know that I've been toocommercialized with Christmas,
right?
Like I have to buy a certainamount of things and I'm like
depressed if I can't figure itout 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 knoweither you're gonna love, you're

(47:31):
gonna use, or it's gonna like besentimental.
You know what I mean?
Right, like where I think that'swhere the big thing is if you
can do something that reallyjust gives somebody a memory or
a moment, then I think that'slike the best thing that you
can.

SPEAKER_03 (47:44):
I think um my best present, it wasn't as like I
can't really recall as a childlike what my best present was,
to be honest.
Um I mean, hands down, one ofthe best presents that I've
gotten at all is when you boughtSpirit for me.

(48:06):
Like I've had horses my entirelife, but never had one of my
own.
So like that was like afull-rounded moment as like as a
child, you know what I mean?
Like I always wished that, likeevery little girl wishes that
she gets a pony.
Yeah, you know what I mean?
So like that's that's like afull round life moment for me,

(48:26):
you know.

SPEAKER_05 (48:27):
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'mif people have been listening to
this, then they would know thestory.
But real quick, we had um, andit's a long story because we had
we're trying to get a horse fora long time, and then we did a
free lease on one.
Basically, he we brought we wereboarding him somewhere, he got

(48:48):
kicked out of there.
We had to move him home.
When we moved him home, we hadto buy a barn, we had to build
fences.
Me and my dad did all the work.
We get the boy here, and thenthe whole family becomes
attached to him.
My dad's taking him for walksevery night.
Uh, we're all being attached tohim, and the person that owned
him, we always had the fear thatsomeday, somehow, somehow, she
might just come take him backbecause now he's healthy and
happy, and we rehabbed him andhe's he's doing great.

(49:12):
And um I got to a point where II wrote to the person that owned
him right before Christmas.
It was the day before ChristmasEve, and I said, Here's the
deal.
We love this horse, he's part ofthe family.
We've spent this amount of moneyon barns and and and you know,
and fencing and this and that,and we just it would mean more

(49:35):
to us to make him part of thefamily, and um I knew that I
didn't have a lot of money, butI made an offer because I also
knew it was Christmas Evealmost, right?
And that um she had a family andit was just it was gonna work
out both ways, and she turned medown and we were at a Christmas
party, Byron and Vanessa'sChristmas party.

(49:55):
And he was late, like late,late.
This is Christmas Eve Eve, andum she's messaging me when I'm
in the bathroom and gettingready to leave.
And I remember on the way home,you were so mad at me, you're
like, Who the freak are youtalking to at like one in the
morning?
And I sealed the deal, leavingthat Christmas party, and then I
drove to on the border Mexicanrestaurant on Christmas Eve in

(50:17):
front of the main mall and didthe purchase of the of the horse
and got the paperwork and did itall up.
I found a card that looked justlike him.
I still remembered when you werereading the card out loud, and
everybody was crying, and mydad's crying, and when it was
all said and done, he's like,Why are we crying?
I don't even know what we'retalking about.

SPEAKER_03 (50:37):
He's like, What am I crying about?

SPEAKER_05 (50:38):
He was crying, but he had no clue that what the
scenario was.

SPEAKER_03 (50:41):
Yeah, and then when you told him, he like really got
emotional.

SPEAKER_05 (50:45):
Yeah, yeah, that was pretty amazing.
That was a great it's funny.
I was I was putting him intonight doing chores, and he was
just letting me scratch hishead, and I was talking to him,
and I was like, Man, it's beensome years now before since we
had that conversation.
Because I told him, I couldn'ttell anybody else.
Yeah, I needed to surpriseeverybody, so I I told the

(51:06):
horse.
I was like leading up to it, I'dhave conversations with him.

SPEAKER_03 (51:09):
You actually got all of us muck boots that year.
Yeah.
From from spirit, or likesomething, yeah.
I think it was all from spirit.

SPEAKER_05 (51:16):
Something like that.

SPEAKER_03 (51:17):
We all got muck boots.

SPEAKER_05 (51:18):
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 literallytalking to the horse on
Christmas Eve being like, I didit, buddy.
Your family, you're stayinghere.
So I was talking to him tonightand I was like, Man, been a
little while since we did that,pal.
Now you just take us forgranted.
Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 (51:38):
For sure.

SPEAKER_05 (51:40):
Is there any gifts that you used to get as a kid or
you know, any time in life, likebefore like adolescence, before
you were a full-on adult, thatyou were just like, Oh, that's
cool, or that's strange, andthen now you look at it as an
adult and you're like, damn,that was actually really cool.
I know that's a reallyparticular random thing, but I

(52:03):
thought of something that I usedto get today, and I was like,
son of a biscuit, that's a was agreat idea.

SPEAKER_03 (52:10):
Well, earlier we were re-listening to our
episode.

SPEAKER_05 (52:14):
Yeah.
And making sure we didn't repeatourselves.

SPEAKER_03 (52:16):
And I've literally been saying recently, like, we I
love stockings, and we've talkedabout this before.
And stockings for us as a kidwere always like the things that
you need.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (52:32):
So like you might which does make sense.

SPEAKER_03 (52:34):
You might need some new body wash, you might need a
toothbrush, you might need whathave you, like those sort of
things.
Um, small things that'll fit inyour um in your stocking.
But you don't want those underthe Christmas tree.
You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_05 (52:50):
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 thesock.

SPEAKER_03 (52:55):
So here I am, like saying that was dumb.
Like I hated that.
But my parents would always andgrandparents, because we used to
get stockings kind ofeverywhere.
But that was always the theme.
Like you'd get a stocking atMeme's, it was the same idea.
You'd get a stocking at grams,there's gonna be like trinkets

(53:16):
and toy, like tiny little toysand candy, but there's also
gonna be some things that youneed, you know what I mean?
Um it does make sense.
You might get gloves and a hatand that sort of thing.
And I was always just like, thisis dumb.
Like, can we get to the presencealready?
Like, can we just get to like Idon't care about what's in here?
Like, all of us kids used tohate them so much because we

(53:37):
knew that that's what was inthere that we would just like
leave them on the candy.

SPEAKER_05 (53:43):
Whatever, I'll like our name.
I'll open this a day or solater.

SPEAKER_03 (53:46):
I'll open these on the ride home.
Yeah, like whatever, we don'tcare because we'll get to the
bottom where all the candy iskind of thing.

SPEAKER_05 (53:51):
But now it makes a lot of sense.

SPEAKER_03 (53:52):
Now it makes complete sense.
Because guess what?
Like, as a as a teenager, I'mthinking back to it.
Like, all right, like I'm sickof my body wash at that point
because like you've you get sickof smelling the same.
Your deodorants probably runout, and you like you know, that
sort of thing.
And now I'm like, that wasprobably like that's it's
probably a really good idea.

(54:13):
And that's what I've been sayingto you.
I'm like, we always get to likeChristmas Eve Eve or Christmas
Eve, and we're like, damn it,like we didn't plan anything for
the stockings.

SPEAKER_05 (54:22):
Yeah, because all I do is when I wrap, I and this is
my spoiler sticker for people, Iwill 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 canfit in the sock, I throw them in

(54:43):
the bag with your name on itwithout putting a sticker on the
or like a tag on it, and then Ijust cram jam all those into
your sock.

SPEAKER_03 (54:50):
And that's what we've done for a few years.
Yeah, and there has been timeswhere we've gotten ourselves in
a pickle because of the factthat we started a tradition
where on Christmas Eve we openup our stockings and our
Christmas VJs, and it's justlike a tradition that we've
tried to do as adults, yeah.

(55:12):
Um, because it's always thatlike itch you want to scratch
about opening something onChristmas Eve.
And so, in order to not ruinwhat's under the Christmas tree,
like we started doing kind ofjust that, like doing stockings
and stuff.
Um, I'd like to continue doingthat, but I also don't want to
be my parents and like hatethis.

(55:33):
I don't want Paisley to hate thestocking idea because there's
gonna be like things that sheneeds in there.

SPEAKER_05 (55:38):
Yeah, you can mix some stuff in there, right?

SPEAKER_03 (55:39):
And I think that's what we used to do, that's what
they used to do too, but it waslike stupid stuff.

SPEAKER_05 (55:45):
My mom, and I I know I've told you this before, but
my mom used to put differentthings in your sock too that
were like you'd get all thatstuff, right?
Toothbrush and everything, andthen it was like you're gonna
get an orange, you're gonna geta couple apples, banana, and I
think you're just trying to fillmy sock at this point.
Nuts, the loose nuts that arelike macadama, macadamia nuts,

(56:06):
walnuts, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 (56:08):
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 (56:15):
The funny thing is this shit was happening to me
long before she ever worked at asupermarket.
I grew up to this, and uh, soit's you know, they would all
just end up back in the fruitbowl, whatever.

SPEAKER_03 (56:25):
But um But I feel like that's where it originally
started, and then there werepomegranate just do it.
I did that.

SPEAKER_05 (56:31):
I don't want to forget that.
Yeah, yeah, you did.
It was delicious.

SPEAKER_03 (56:34):
Pomegranate, orange, and an apple, I think it did.

SPEAKER_05 (56:39):
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'regonna have to go buy yourself.
And here's the other thing youskimp on things for yourself
during the Christmas season.
For sure.
So you spend all the money youhave, you max out everything you
possibly can to get through theholidays, and then a week later
you're like, I ain't got no damndeodorant, I got no fucking

(57:01):
toothpaste, and you're like, Igotta go to the store now and
drop 75 bucks.
Where if you would just put itin my sock, I wouldn't have to
deal with it.
It's a pretty good deal.

SPEAKER_03 (57:08):
Exactly.
And I mean, like, so as a kid,like when I started to get into
like my teenage years, like Iwould start to see like maybe
some nail polish in there orlike a perfume or l uh what do
they call it?
Um toilet spray.

SPEAKER_05 (57:26):
Oh, de toilette.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (57:29):
Um, so you used to see like those sort of things,
like things you might need.

SPEAKER_05 (57:33):
Um sprinkle in some fun with the necessity items,
and I think it's I did get a boxof tampons in my oh that's good.
That's good.

SPEAKER_04 (57:44):
Hey, things you need, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 (57:46):
Like, but you know, you do get like it's just it's a
really good idea, but at thesame time, like I would want to
sprinkle in some fun things.

SPEAKER_05 (57:56):
You know, one gift my mom started doing for me when
I was out of high school and umI was driving.
One gift my mom used to get forme that I I took for granted,
and then now you're like, mygod, that was an amazing gift
and an idea.

(58:17):
My mom used to register my truckfor Christmas.
And then when I was older in mytwenties, and I bought a brand
new truck, and um myregistration you'd run out every
year in December, and my momwould steal my registration and
she would register my truck forChristmas, and it would be in an
envelope, and you'd get to thebottom of your sock or whatever,

(58:39):
and you'd open it up, andthere's my stickers for my
license plates.
I just registered my vehicle.
So if you think about it, whenyou talk about like your your
random items that likenecessities, now imagine coming
out of Christmas and you have togo register your vehicle and you
just spent all the money youhad.
My mom knew that I would coastout at Christmas with nothing in

(59:00):
my bank account, and then I'd beriding dirty on expired plates
and making bad choices because Iwas in my 20s.
So my mom would register mytruck, and man, I don't know why
we stopped that tradition.
Maybe because now we have likefive vehicles outside, but now
because it's expensive, it wasexpensive then too.
It was a couple hundred dollars.
And here's the thing, too, islike, I mean, you're renewing, I

(59:22):
mean it's worse now, but sheused to do it on my Dodged
pickup truck.
It was brand new, like thatwasn't cheap, you know.
Right.
Uh but as a as a kid trying tomake it, like, it's hard to have
the two three hundred dollars toregister your vehicle, you know?

SPEAKER_06 (59:37):
For sure.

SPEAKER_05 (59:37):
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 myson's truck.
And then it became a thing.
That and getting a triple Amembership, you know?
Um but choose to do that foryou?
Still does.
Uh I think um this year, I Ithink this is be the first year
I don't get it.

(59:57):
Um so Pretty crazy, but that'show mom thinking.
Dad used to Yeah, used to getboth used to get memberships.
It uh things you don't reallyget excited about, but now you
don't have them for the whileand you're like, wow, that was
pretty genius, man.
Like getting actual items youcould use and your stocking and

(01:00:19):
maybe registering your vehicle.
I think right now some peoplemight be like, Man, if I
register my wife's vehicle forChristmas, she'd probably punch
me in the face.
But it's not a bad idea, dude.
It really isn't.

SPEAKER_04 (01:00:30):
No.
Because right now, like mine isabout to expire, and I need
brakes on my car.

SPEAKER_05 (01:00:35):
So I'm like, when you think about people that
you're like, oh, they haveeverything, and our focus is on
the kids for Christmas, youknow.
You're both gonna come out ofthe holidays broke, right?
If you could help each otherout, and I know usually it's a
community experience, you're allpaying 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.

(01:00:55):
Pretty nice.
Yeah.
Well, it's officially 12 30 a.m.
This is this has been our gotime for going to sleep.
It is Christmas Eve.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:06):
It is Christmas Eve, and it's still snowing.

SPEAKER_05 (01:01:08):
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 oldMinty.

SPEAKER_04 (01:01:26):
Might have to bring out my stripper name.

SPEAKER_05 (01:01:28):
Yeah, Minty McCandy Kane.
No.
Perky glitter balls.

SPEAKER_04 (01:01:32):
There you go.

SPEAKER_05 (01:01:33):
I'm gonna show you my pickle pants as I use my
stocking stuffer.
Anyways.
Merry Christmas to everybody outthere.
If you're listening to this onChristmas Eve on a winning
Wednesday, we appreciate you.

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:46):
You're really winning because it's Christmas
Eve.

SPEAKER_05 (01:01:49):
Think about it.
Man.

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:53):
Next year's gonna be great though.

SPEAKER_05 (01:01:55):
Why?

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:56):
Because Christmas is gonna fall on a Friday.
There you go.
So it's gonna be a long weekendfor everyone.

SPEAKER_05 (01:02:05):
It's uh it's crazy to think this is our first
Christmas with Paisley upwalking, tearing into gifts,
pickle pants, pickle pantsingeverything.

SPEAKER_03 (01:02:18):
She's already tried to rip open gifts.

SPEAKER_05 (01:02:20):
No, she's getting the itch now.

SPEAKER_03 (01:02:21):
Um we should have never let her open up that gift
for Montjanine.

SPEAKER_05 (01:02:25):
It was a problem, yeah.
My brother's home for Christmasfor the first time and forever.
Um it's it's different.
Things are different this year.

SPEAKER_03 (01:02:34):
Yeah.
Even I mean, even on my side ofthe side of life, things are
different.

SPEAKER_05 (01:02:41):
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 wherethey where they may.
Doors open.
Figure it out, doors open.
Whoever shows, shows, and let itblossom, let it grow.
It's gonna be different.
But for sure.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:00):
But sometimes different is good.

SPEAKER_05 (01:03:02):
Yeah.
Embrace the different, figure itout.

SPEAKER_03 (01:03:06):
Yep.
What do you say?
You gotta go through it to growthrough it.

SPEAKER_05 (01:03:12):
Feels like we're doing a lot of that lately.
Hasn't felt like Christmas, andwe've talked about it over the
past couple weeks about tryingto do different things, and one
of the things we did since thatconversation and that promise
was we did that big lighted umwalk tour.
I don't even know what you callthat thing.

(01:03:32):
I don't know it's like anorthern lights experience,
Sandy Hill, something um 14acres of Christmas lights.
It was incredible.

SPEAKER_03 (01:03:41):
It was a mile walk, it was really awesome.

SPEAKER_05 (01:03:43):
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 wereable to make, and we talked
about to making the time to havemoments and to create memories,
and that's one way in which wewe were able to do that, and
hopefully over the next coupledays we can continue on that and
make this Christmas season thebest we possibly can and spread

(01:04:08):
some cheer.
And I hope that that's whathappens to everybody listening
out there.

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:13):
Absolutely.
Merry Christmas.

SPEAKER_05 (01:04:15):
Merry Christmas, y'all.
It's gonna be a light one.
Got trees sagging out there.
I didn't get to generate aservice, so that'll keep me up
at night.
Anyways.
Hopefully, sweatshirt and getready to do some plowing.
Get ready to do some plowing.

(01:04:36):
Anyways.
On behalf of Minty McCandy CaneJingle Pickle Pants, I'm happy
stalking stuff for saying MerryChristmas to all and to all a
good night.
Now go wash your filthy hands.
Filthy savage.

(01:04:57):
Your filthy animal.
That's what he says.
Your filthy animal.
Anyways.
Ho ho ho.
That's it, and that's all,Biggie Smalls.

(01:05:21):
If you're a Loud Proud Americanand you find yourself just
wanting more, find me on YouTubeand Facebook at Loud Proud
American or Facebook, as my mamacalls it.
If you're a fan of the GrandCracker, you want to find me on
Instagram or all the kidstickety talkin' on the TikTok,

(01:05:41):
you can find me on both of thoseat Loud underscore Proud
underscore American.
Big old thank you to the boysfrom the Gut Truckers for the
background beats and the themesong to your podcast.

(01:06:05):
If you are enjoying what you'rehearing, track down the gut
truckers on Facebook just thirdgut truckers.
Give that motherfucker a liketoo.

(01:06:33):
I truly thank you for supportingmy American dream.
Now go wash your fucking hands,you filthy savage.