EP #123 Seasons beatings: holiday stress 2023 edition

Robb (: 00:02

And welcome to another show of Don't Get This Twisted. I am Rob, along with my cohost as always, Tina. How you doing, Tina?

Tina Marie Garcia (: 00:07

I'm so tired, Rob. It is such a, it's been such a good day, but a long day. We took the bikes out, we went all the way to...

Oh crap. It's so vague, thank you. I've been saying it all day, but as soon as I have to say it first, something, I can't. But yeah, so we took.

Robb (: 00:18

Solving. Yeah.

Yeah, and I wasn't even with you and I knew where you were going.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 00:29

Right? No. Yeah. So we went to Salveing and had breakfast and tooled around there and then rode home. It's the longest I've ever ridden on a bike in one shot. So...

Robb (: 00:43

That's a drive to Solvang's. That's like middle, middle California.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 00:49

Yeah, well, it's like two hours away from where I live. So that's a long push to be on a bike. It is for several reasons. You know, the hips kind of get a little sore. The arms, the shoulders and everything get tense because I'm still, you know, I wouldn't say I'm really, yeah, it's all new. So.

Robb (: 00:52

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 01:00

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Robb (: 01:12

It's still new.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 01:16

It was so much fun. We took the road back behind Santa Barbara where Lake Kachuma is. And that's all Chumash land. Actually it's Chumash highway and everything. So, which is cool for me being that I'm native in Chumash. So, um, I like that. I like that drive and I wanted, I've been pushing myself to do it on the bike and finally got it done. So that was fun, but man, am I tired. And it was cold as.

Robb (: 01:23

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 01:45

Hehehe. Colder than a well digger's ass?

Tina Marie Garcia (: 01:45

cold could be. Super windy. Yeah, I try not to cuss but not very well either by the way but so yeah I was going to come up with something but everything that I said about it being cold had a sore word in it so. I didn't do it.

Robb (: 02:01

Yeah, well, you know, it's starting to get chilly now.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 02:06

Or in the wind.

The wind was, was whipping up. It was actually moving the bikes over my friend and her husband that go with us. I went with my cousin and then my best friend and her husband. And, um, so we were on two bikes and my bike has three wheels. So it's, it's pretty easy to maneuver, but it was blowing the crap out of my bike. And then my friends who are on two wheels, they, they really had to work at it, you know, to stay upright.

Robb (: 02:28

Mm-hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 02:38

because the wind was really, really bad. It was gusty. But it made it that much fun, more fun.

Robb (: 02:42

Yeah, it's kind of the... The cool weather is coming. Yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 02:48

Yeah, yes, and I'm gonna have to put the helmet away and I don't want to do that. So I'm sure that's why we did that this weekend.

Robb (: 02:55

Yeah, this is like from what I'm looking at right now, it's supposed to be in like the mid 50s all week, with the exception of tomorrow and Tuesday. Yeah, Thursday.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 03:02

No!

Okay, for California, that is like the worst weather to be in.

Robb (: 03:08

Yeah, and at night it's supposed to be in like the mid 40s Yeah, so gonna be gonna Yeah, no more flip-flops, right? Yeah, I would say that but like Everyone I know Wears flip-flop girls still wear flip-flops. They'll wear jeans a sweatshirt all kinds of shit still be wearing flip-flops I'm like, what are you doing? My friend down the street does it all the time Mm-hmm. Yeah

Tina Marie Garcia (: 03:13

Stop! I might have to put on real shoes.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 03:20

And more flip-flops.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 03:33

that is exactly me and people make fun of me you know like are why are you wearing flip-flops in the rain why are you wearing flip-flops because it's easier to dry off my foot than the shoe you know nobody wants to see the logic in that but it's right it's like wearing shorts but i just don't like having shoes on so flip-flops work for me

Robb (: 03:46

Right?

Robb (: 03:51

Well, I mean, I wear shorts. I wear shorts in the rain. Wear shorts every day.

Robb (: 03:58

Mm-hmm. I getcha. And, you know, it's the cool weather brings the holidays. And, you know, last year we talked about the stress of the holidays and we thought, hey, we do it again this year. And I think this year is probably financially even worse for a lot of people, you know, with the economy the way it is. And

Tina Marie Garcia (: 04:24

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 04:28

I've just heard it a lot over the last probably two weeks, you know, coming into Thanksgiving, like, that the holidays were just starting to really kind of hit people and start to stress them out. So I was like, Hey, you know, we talk about that often. And, you know, I think this year is definitely a little more stressful on people that have families, the bigger families.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 04:56

I agree. Um, the economy is kind of shitty right now, at least in my profession. It's still not where we used to be. Um, I remember in the nineties when I was working, you know, you, you could make a thousand dollars in a day and just like rank it, you know, rake it in every day. If you wanted to. And, and.

It seems like these days it's much harder to get to that, but the prices are much higher because, you know, the economy's out of whack. So it kind of concerns me that it's gone down the way that it has. And it's not just me, it seems like it's across the board. So yeah, I don't know what it would be like to have kids right now and having to worry about that.

Robb (: 05:31

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 05:41

Yeah.

Robb (: 05:49

Yeah, inflation is out of control. So like go to the supermarket. Just as simple as going and buying your weekly food is. It's it's crazy. I mean, I went.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 05:57

Yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 06:01

609 for gas today.

Robb (: 06:05

Well, up there. Yeah, that's, it's always kind of crazy there. I paid, I gotta say over where I live, and it's over by my work to be fair, because where I live, it's still kind of similar, but I think I paid 4.35 by my work. So that's actually not horrible. Yeah, yeah, no joke.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 06:06

in Santa Barbara. That's some bullshit.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 06:27

I'm gonna drive all the way out there just to get a tink of gas.

Robb (: 06:33

But it's everywhere and I have some friends at work who, you know, they, two, one of them's an empty nester, actually two of them are empty nesters, but the family around them is.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 06:35

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 06:51

is getting bigger. So like both of them have daughters that are that are well one daughter that's pregnant and then one son who's having a baby. So and then so that just to hear him kind of talk like

Oh, I want to go see them and do this and babies are coming and holidays and, and it's, wow. And then I got it. I get a text the other day from my boss who wants to have a Christmas party. And now I'm like, uh, you know, and it's like, you know, bring your family. And it's like,

I mean, it's just me and my kid. So and he probably won't want to go Because he's 20 and he's like, why do I want to go to that? so for me, it's kind of it's kind of a weird thing that I don't have a girlfriend to take and They're all going to have their Their mates so for me, I'm like, do I really you know, do I want to go and then they're talking about like Dressing up and Christmas stuff. I'm like, I don't want to do that shit

So I mean, I guess I do have a little stress, but it's like minimal because I don't, you know, all my family's out of the state. So I really only have to buy Christmas presents for my son and his birthday is on the 22nd. So it's really all about him. So I'm a little easy there and he's super simple and I've been kind of.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 08:15

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 08:21

picking, you know, throughout the year, I get him stuff from here and then here and, you know, whatever, I kind of go along the year and get him stuff because it's just easier. And so I really don't have anything of that kind of stress, but I have a little bit, but I couldn't imagine having like a large family and my friend down the street, she has three kids of her own and then her daughters both have children.

So there's another five grandkids. So it's like, she's like, fuuuh, you know.

All these kids and obviously money's tight with everybody even though if you're you have a decent job you're still not wanting to overspend because Heaven forbid the economy drops out again, and then we're all screwed so and you know, covid season's coming they're gonna find a way to To you know, get us all sick again and keep us indoors or whatever the shit's happening So I get it and Thankfully The first holiday isn't horrible, right?

Tina Marie Garcia (: 09:16

I'm going to go to bed.

Robb (: 09:30

is the only stress in Thanksgiving is getting everyone there and feeding them. Right? And then hoping that Uncle Jim doesn't get hammered and shit his drawers or say something out of line. Right? You know what I mean?

Tina Marie Garcia (: 09:31

Yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 09:34

Mm-hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 09:43

That would be kind of fun though. I'd have to go outside and like laugh at that one.

Robb (: 09:51

So I think that there's a lot there. So the first one obviously is the one that gets us all started, right? We're like, okay, if you're lucky, you get a four day weekend. So like I did, I got a four day or awesome. But now it's like, okay, the countdown begins on getting everything ready for Christmas day.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 09:59

Mm-hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 10:11

Mm-hmm.

Well, they have Black Friday shit for like a week before Thanksgiving. And then there's Thanksgiving and then you have that Cyber Monday thing. Like it's the, the hype from the media is insane. So it just adds to the, the stress level.

Robb (: 10:24

Mm-hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 10:35

And I didn't even buy anything this week. And actually, that's a lie. When I was in solving today, I got four cards, one for each of my closest friends, all the same card says the same thing in it. And then I'll write something separately about them or something to them, whatever. But that's as far as I got, you know? So, and I don't care. I always make things. I always...

Robb (: 10:53

Right? Right

Tina Marie Garcia (: 11:02

You know, I could always throw something together if I need to. My friends and I, we, I've gotten them accustomed to, I want an experience. I don't want gifts. So let's go do something together. So we're all good at doing stuff together, which is nice. And I like it that way because it takes the stress off. So I'm good the way that is. And thankfully, you know,

Not thankfully, that's kind of mean. But anyway, now that I'm divorced, I don't and I don't have the family that I once had and I don't have the all the stuff going on and COVID hit. So I don't really have to buy anything for anyone. We used to get it for all the kids, which was a shit ton of presents for everybody. And then my husband and my kid and my mom was alive. So it was my mom and dad's birthdays in the month of December.

their anniversary in the month of December and then Christmas for both of them. And God forbid you, you put, you know, two gifts for, or one gift for two separate occasions, you know, that my mom would talk shit about that. So it used to be super stressful. And now it's, now it's easy. It's my niece and nephew, my dad, my brother.

I'll still get something for my ex, we still exchange like little gifts, but it's more like stuff we know the other person needs and won't buy for themselves. So nothing major. I'm kind of... I'm kind of okay now, huh?

Robb (: 12:25

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 12:34

That's kind of what I do as well. That's kind of what I do with things on like close friends. If I know they need something, it doesn't have to be massive, but it's like, oh, I got you this just because it was in passing, or I got you that just because.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 12:45

Yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 12:49

Yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 12:53

But I like to do that when it's not a holiday. Like, that's who I am. And so I can't stand the fact that because it's Christmas, we have to do it. Because that just, how do you get the perfect gift for someone if you have to do it? You know, you gotta just come across it.

Robb (: 12:59

Right.

Robb (: 13:11

That's without a doubt. My problem is, is I do that all the time and it gets me in trouble. If you're like, why are you buying me something? It's like, uh, because I was out and about. And I mean, I wanna say that. I wanna just go really, but you know, but here's the thing. I also get the flip side of that. Like I'm not really good at receiving gifts. So.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 13:25

Because I thought of you now, quit being an asshole. Ha ha.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 13:31

Right? Say it! Put...

Tina Marie Garcia (: 13:39

No, that's not your problem. That's theirs. Like seriously, if you find it in your heart to want to give something to somebody and they have a problem with it, that's on them. And you shouldn't stop being you just because they're being an asshole.

Robb (: 13:53

Right, right, right. No, no, I agree. I mean, I don't stop. I just get in trouble. I just go, okay, here you go. And yeah, well, and generally they'll say no, and I'll make them take it. So, you know, it is what it is, but yeah. It's...

Tina Marie Garcia (: 13:59

Good. Yeah, whatever. Do you want it or what?

Tina Marie Garcia (: 14:09

Ah, quit buying them things, shit. You know what's really great for people that listen when somebody gets you something and is from the heart, just freaking say thank you.

Robb (: 14:13

I just go, take it. Take it.

Robb (: 14:24

I do my best to do that now because I was so bad at it before. Oh, horrible. I mean, horribly bad at it. Like I'm just, I'm not good at it. So the last one I got is our little on air sign and I said it with a smile. And for the first time in a while, I kind of went.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 14:29

Really?

Tina Marie Garcia (: 14:40

Uh-huh.

Robb (: 14:46

Okay, someone was, you know, I don't, I shouldn't feel like I don't deserve a gift from somebody who cared. So this time I'm doing my best to get past that. But, you know, come the holidays, it's like you have to be careful with, you know, for one getting too much, you know, or

Tina Marie Garcia (: 14:59

Hmm.

Robb (: 15:10

for family getting too little. You know, when you have a bunch of children to get for, it's very hard. I couldn't imagine having, you know, like seven grandkids being grandpa and grandma. I mean, these days, I guess it's a little easier because you can just give Amazon cards, but it's so, I don't know, it's just not special. I hope that doesn't go away.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 15:34

I think that I think for me, I make birthdays more special because that's their birthday. I'm not I'm not obligated to do anything like I am on Christmas. I just don't like being told what to do if you want to know the truth. So when

When their birthdays come around or my friend's birthdays, it's like, let's go out to lunch. I may have made them something or do something special or let's go to Vegas. You know, I'm more of that person. Because again, for me, it's more about experience. Come spend some time with me. Let's have some fun. Let's joke. Let's, let's get some, you know.

together time, whether it just be going to get a massage or going to movie or going to Vegas, I don't care what we do. Let's just go do something. That's more my speed.

Robb (: 16:13

Exactly.

Robb (: 16:26

Well, and I think now, as we get older, I think you're right. Experiences are way more special because there you are. It's something that you can talk about afterwards and like bring it up instead of going, oh, I mean, you can, I guess, with a gift, which is, you know, great. But.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 16:39

Mm-hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 16:45

Yes.

Robb (: 16:54

The thing that with gifts, I think that can be also kind of a weird thing is like with friends. You have to be careful what you get friends. It can't be too much because then they're like, why did you get me this? Or and it also can't be too non-personal. Like you're not getting you're not getting a friend a toaster. You know what I mean? I mean, unless they need a toaster, I guess.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 17:19

Right?

Robb (: 17:24

I guess that would be a way to go. But, you know, I think no. Or if you're going to get something like that, I will say, because one year I got my ex-wife a KitchenAid mixer.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 17:29

Just don't get your wife a toaster. That's like...

That's, oh, I hated those gifts.

Robb (: 17:48

but I also got something very, very personal during the same Christmas. So I leveled it out with something that I knew that she really wanted, because she was getting into baking and wanted to do stuff, and I wanted a real one, like a $500 mixer. But I also got her something personal. So...

Tina Marie Garcia (: 17:55

Mm-hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 18:09

Yeah.

Mm-hmm

Robb (: 18:17

I don't think she felt like it was, you know, that non-personal gift. Cause you're right, I think with spouses or girlfriends and boyfriends, you have to be very non, you know, it has to mean something to me. But generally, you're going to run into that where you can get more than one gift for somebody.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 18:24

Let me getcha.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 18:47

I got more than one gift one year for Christmas and it was an iron and some bath towels. I was pissed. I was like, do you not know me at all? Like you couldn't do anything personal. Yeah, that wasn't a good year. I was just kind of crabby.

Robb (: 18:53

Yikes. Yeah.

Robb (: 19:00

Yeah, that's crazy. That's some shit where you that's when you as a man you wake up and go. Is that gasoline I smell? Yeah, that's the last thing you'll smell, you know, I think with men. We're just simple. So we sometimes think. That we want.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 19:11

Heheheheh

Right?

Tina Marie Garcia (: 19:22

Yeah.

Robb (: 19:29

the same kind of gift. Because as a guy, and I'll tell you, like for me, if, at least before, let's say it was Christmas time, if you bought me a hockey jersey, I'd have been like, that is the coolest fucking gift in the world.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 19:44

Well that's a personal thing for you though. It's cause you like hockey.

Robb (: 19:47

Right, but it's still like, but I also think that it's something where it'd be like, eh, it's just a jersey to some people. But you're right, to me it meant a lot because I'm into that. So I think it's a balance, but yeah, if iron and some towels, yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 19:59

Mm-hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 20:06

and bath mats, there was bath mats. Oh my God, it's all coming back to me. Oh yeah. Yeah.

Robb (: 20:10

Yikes, yeah. Nah, that's something you pick up when you're out.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 20:17

Yeah, that's something we go on Sunday and get at Target, you know?

Robb (: 20:20

Yeah. Or if you're just out and about and you're like, ah, I knew, you know, you were talking the other day about needing some new towels and I just happened to be somewhere and I bring them home and go, hey, I got some new towels for us. That's like, oh, that was considerate. You were listening to me. Yeah, that's crazy. But they're stressing that.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 20:28

Mm-hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 20:36

Yeah, no, I didn't ask for towels. I didn't ask for an ironing board either. The funny thing was, the funny thing was I was using a towel on our countertop to iron. Now that it's all coming back to me, maybe I set him up for that.

Robb (: 20:52

Wow.

Robb (: 20:56

Right, maybe. I just think that there's even stress and gifts. For a significant other, there's a massive, massive stress in that. Because you know, if you're if you're

Tina Marie Garcia (: 21:03

There is.

Robb (: 21:20

If you're giving a gift to someone.

Robb (: 21:26

Generally, their friends are gonna find out what you got them. You know what I mean? So...

Tina Marie Garcia (: 21:32

Oh yeah, I remember my friends like, what did you get? And I'm like, I don't know. Cause I hated doing that with them. Like, cause what if I got more than they did and then they were like hurt that they didn't get, I, I've done that one too many times with people where I just say, nah, I'm not doing that.

Robb (: 21:50

Right. Or you end up going, he got me an iron, and then it's a whole other conversation. Right.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 21:58

Yeah, that's a shit show. That'll make you, that'll rile you up faster than anything.

Robb (: 22:03

Right, so what I'm saying is for a guy, and I'm assuming, actually let's say spouses, because I don't even want to say that, because some guys are so simple that women think they can't shop for them. They're like, I don't know what they want. It's like he just wanted a fucking tool set, and they're like, yeah, but he already has one. Yeah, but he wants one. Just get him the fucking tool set.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 22:21

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 22:24

But on the flip side, how do you with a man to a lady, you have to be very, very careful, I think. You know, you're not getting an iron in towels, I'm sorry. That is the kiss of death. Because now, everyone's going to know that he got you an iron in a towel. It's like...

Tina Marie Garcia (: 22:33

Mm-hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 22:44

Yeah.

Robb (: 22:52

And it's hard to come back from that.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 22:54

Yeah.

Just just know that if you don't see your wife wearing it, she probably won't want it. So don't get her like a brooch. I don't know anybody that wears brooches. It's under the age of 90 right now. That would be a good thing not to buy. Like, but if she wears earrings, like, try that. Like you start with start with something that's not like out of the norm. You know, she's got a team by.

Robb (: 23:22

Right. Do not get a broach. Yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 23:26

Yeah, don't get a broach and don't get anything for the kitchen or the bathroom that you walk on Leave on the floor dry your ass with like you just don't do those things

Robb (: 23:37

Right, yeah, I mean, the other thing too is it's like for me, I love cologne. So I think that even that you have to be very careful with and you have to understand the woman you're with. Men generally, and I like to throw that term around, don't give a shit. If it smells good and the lady who got it for us likes it, that's a win, right?

with women, you have to be very careful with perfume though, I think. Um, I generally try to, um, smell them, how creepy like, um, and try to remember like, you know, is it a floral, is it sweet? Is it, you know, fruity? Um, so then you end up with something that's nice that everyone is happy with.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 24:06

No, that's how it's supposed to be.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 24:32

Mm-hmm. That's true

Robb (: 24:34

Yeah, because I had got Drakkar one time and I had remembered that since we were in high school. And it was awesome because for me, I put it on was like, this is awesome. And it reminded me of all kinds of different things. And to me, Drakkar is super manly. That's like the manly smell. And I hate to say that, but it's very true. It just reminds me of, you know, when we were younger.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 24:49

Oh yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 24:54

Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe

Well, it's a high school smell. Like when you start like wearing stuff, that's what everybody wore.

Robb (: 25:03

Yeah, but it was like, yeah, I was like, so for me it was kind of cool. So, but, and it's funny cause my boy, um, he, he'll buy clone for himself. So for me, it was very interesting. No, no, but he bought, he bought something. I forgot what the hell it was, but man, it smelled good. I was like, damn dude, you picked that out. He's like, yeah, it's pretty good. Right.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 25:10

Hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 25:17

Does he buy a jacar?

Tina Marie Garcia (: 25:25

Hmm.

Robb (: 25:28

And then I was like, how much was it? He's like, don't ask. Don't ask me how much it was. I was like, oh, okay. It's one of those, but that's why it smells so good. But yeah, I can see the stress all over. It's picking a gift, making sure you have the money, you know, having the family. And then, then after all that said and done, after you're all done with that, then there's the stress of Christmas day or Christmas Eve.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 25:32

Yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 25:36

That's why it smells so good. Yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 25:55

Well, no, you got to wrap all those gifts. You have to cook all the food you bought. You have to like you have to redecorate your house. Like, does it get any better than that? Like, why does a holiday mean you have to decorate your house?

Robb (: 26:01

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 26:05

That's right. Yeah, there's

Tina Marie Garcia (: 26:14

You're not decorating your house for you, it's for the holiday. Uh, yeah. I, my mom had like 14 bins of shit, like huge bins of Christmas stuff. And, um, we had to pull all that out of the garage every year and then set it up. It took two days. It was never a happy festive situation doing that. It was always like, get in there and get them. I'm like, Oh hell, I hate Christmas.

Robb (: 26:23

Right.

Robb (: 26:33

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 26:37

Yeah.

Yeah, it's got to be super stressful when you have, for one, a shit ton of Christmas stuff. I have a tree. That's it. And I didn't even put it up yet. But I'm gonna. But for me, I only have a... Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's a super cool one too, because the lights are already on it.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 26:48

Mm-hmm. Hehehe.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 26:57

An artificial tree? Oh shit, you could have put that up in the summer. No, people do.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 27:08

Nice.

Robb (: 27:09

So you just unfold it and plug it in. And then I have ornaments that I put on it. But although I don't know, I don't think I've done it since I had a dog. So that's gonna be kind of an interesting thing. I don't think we did it last year.

But for me, it's like, it's not a lot. I have two stockings and a tree. So there's really not a lot to do. But yeah, I remember my mom, man, she had fucking everything. I mean, there was like four or five, like.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 27:32

Nice.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 27:41

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 27:45

15 inch Santas and they were all over the place and nutcrackers and she had like a real nutcracker, like a walnut cracker that was Christmas themed in a bowl that she had nuts in. And then it was like, it was just out of control. Like I was like, holy shit. And then she had like, do you remember, I don't know if you're.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 27:58

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 28:10

Mom or grandparents had it, but it was like that angel hair shit that they used to lay on the table Yeah Spun glass. Yeah, it was class. I was just gonna say that My mom had shit tons of that and then she would lay lights underneath it and then plug that in so it lit up like It's just crazy but like to me You're right. The stress of decorating had to be out of fucking control

Tina Marie Garcia (: 28:15

Yes, and it itches like a spun glass is what it is. Yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 28:27

Woohoo

Tina Marie Garcia (: 28:39

Yeah, and then she thought it would be fun to cut down our own tree. So we'd all get up and go out on a Saturday or Sunday. We'd have to get like three or four trees because we'd go with another family. Then our grandparents both needed a tree. And then we had a van, a red van, and they'd put the kids in the back of the van with these.

Robb (: 28:54

Right.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 29:01

freaking big ass trees and they'd roll on us and my brother was allergic to the fur or the Douglas fir tree that my mom would get and if he touched it he'd hive up and we're a bunch of little kids no seat belts no we didn't even have a seat they'd take it out to go and do this shit we'd be all muddy and pissed off and cold and you'd have to get on your knees and like

Robb (: 29:10

Oh man.

Robb (: 29:18

Yeah, to get the trees in.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 29:26

cut the tree down yourself and what if you got the wrong one and or if you didn't cut it right, it was leaning to one side. My getting Christmas trees in my family was a shit show. It was a shit show. My dad was like, fuck, just go to the freaking store and get one. Yeah.

Robb (: 29:28

Right?

Robb (: 29:35

Right.

Robb (: 29:42

Ah, that sounds stressful.

Robb (: 29:50

Get one. Yeah. We, we, um, when I was married, we had a couple of different ones. We had, we got a couple of years, we did get real trees. Um, and then I believe one year it was just the next year, my ex wife was like, fuck this. We are getting a fake one. And we had a fake one for the rest of the time that I was that I was married.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 30:15

I remember when I was married, he was like, okay, yeah, let's go get a tree. It shouldn't be any more than 50 bucks. We walked out of there, $120 later. He was like, why did we do that? Like he was mad at himself for that. And I'm like, I don't know, because we needed a tree. You know, because everybody said, this is what you gotta do. We got a kid, we get a tree, you know? Stupid. Like. Ha ha ha.

Robb (: 30:25

Yeah.

Robb (: 30:31

Yeah.

Robb (: 30:36

Yeah. I get it. Like, it's funny too, because the, uh, it was not last year, maybe the year before. Anyway, I didn't, I didn't own a tree. I had a tree that I actually took from my marriage, and then I left it where I lived.

I just, I didn't think like I was gonna put up a Christmas tree in a while. I was like, I didn't have space for it in my apartment. I'm like, screw it. So I just didn't, I just left it there, which I, I don't even know if she's using now my old roommate. Um, then, uh, I get a call one time and my friend down the street is like, Hey, I'm at big lots. They have a really good sale on Christmas trees. You should come down here and get one. And I was like, I wanted to start doing my own thing again.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 30:54

funny.

Robb (: 31:23

So man, I ran down and got a tree and it's a nice one. And it was, you know, a hundred bucks. It's like six feet tall, really, really cool. But you know, the stress I can see in going to get a real tree, and you have multiple children that are now running through the lot.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 31:32

Mm-hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 31:44

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 31:44

You know, and it's that again, it's stressful. And then you have two people who have to decide on a tree and then tell the kids, do they like the tree? And then it's just, I can see how that can just get out of control. And then now you have to get the tree in the house, right? And then you gotta have the right stand for the tree because...

Tina Marie Garcia (: 32:01

I'm gonna go.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 32:06

Yeah, and don't put it under the sheet so that it doesn't track the needles through the house on the carpet. Yeah, my dad was like, this is the worst adventure ever. Because she'd call it an adventure, and he'd be like, this is not an adventure. This is the worst thing ever.

Robb (: 32:12

Everywhere. The worst the worst. Yeah That

Robb (: 32:26

Right, right. And again, like, I think it's cool. I like decorating for the holidays, but I just can't get, like, mom out of control. It has to be, you know, have a nice tree. You want to put down a train track and you want to put all the stockings if you have a fireplace or if you have a place for them in your house. I think that's cool.

But again, I've seen houses, my old boss in Camarillo, I would go over and do work in her house because she had like cameras or whatever we were working on, an alarm system there. So when we would go, we would work on our boss's house. She had two full-sized trees in her house every Christmas. One for the living area and then one in their den.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 33:11

A lot of people do that.

Robb (: 33:19

But like, and I'm talking the one for the living room was like 15 feet tall. It was massive, like this massive thing. It took her like, you know, I think she started on the week of Thanksgiving and didn't finish until the 1st of December. Like that's how much shit was out. I remember going there going, she had like six foot nutcrackers in the entryway. I walked in and I was like, where are we at? It looked like.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 33:25

Mm-mm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 33:46

And where do you store that shit?

Robb (: 33:48

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing, but I think they had a big shit on her property that they had left all the shit in. Well, just for everything. Halloween. They did the same thing for Halloween where they had. So, yeah, I just...

Tina Marie Garcia (: 33:52

Right?

Tina Marie Garcia (: 33:56

Just for Christmas stuff.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 34:03

I went over to one of my best friends on Thanksgiving night and she already had her tree up and decorated and there's stuff on the outside of her house. She's got things on the walls. I hate her. Like she does this for Valentine's Day. She does this for the Fourth of July. It's like I hate her. I tell her all the time. I'm like, I'm glad you do this because I'm never.

Robb (: 34:29

That's a bit much. Like I said, I haven't really talked to many of my friends to see if they've started yet, but generally Thanksgiving Day is the start of the holidays, right?

Tina Marie Garcia (: 34:41

Yeah, it's like, get your act together, it's happening. You can't ignore it anymore.

Robb (: 34:44

Yeah, and I'll, like I said, I'll probably throw up my Christmas tree here within the next day or two. I'll get it done before the first of December.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 34:54

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 34:54

That's what I usually do. I don't care about Thanksgiving Day and doing it. I didn't do anything this Thanksgiving. Thankfully, my friend brought me a small little thing of food after they went to do their family Thanksgiving, because my son was his mom. So I literally, I just sat around and hung out. But yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 35:17

That's what I wanted to do.

Robb (: 35:20

I look, it was nice. I mean, I'd love to tell you that it wasn't, it was a little less stressful because I didn't have to worry about getting up and going someplace and making sure this is taken care of. It was just a very chill, subtle day. So I really can't complain. And like I said, my friend down the street, she went. And I don't think it was ultra stressful, but.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 35:27

Yeah.

Robb (: 35:49

You know, she even had told me like, I'd rather just stay home and sleep. And I get that.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 35:55

Yeah, I don't like anything Thanksgiving food, not big on the turkey and ham, not big on any of it. I mean, I'll eat it, but if somebody says you want Thanksgiving dinner or you wanna go out for Mexican food, I'm never gonna pick Thanksgiving dinner. Like, I don't eat gravy. There's so many things I don't eat, so I end up.

Robb (: 36:14

Right.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 36:20

This year my cousin made an artichoke spinach dip for me and I made guacamole and we had fruit salad. Like I eat stuff like that. But I was in charge of the ham and the stuffing and the guacamole. And because of last year I was told how

Robb (: 36:28

Mm-hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 36:39

certain people didn't like the way I did certain things. They didn't ever even try it to see if they'd like it. But I was told I was doing it wrong. And then I was told that I cook too fancy, you know, so it's lost the tradition. So I'm like, what?

Robb (: 36:54

Ooh, fancy.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 36:59

Okay, so I put mustard on the ham. That's as fancy as it gets. Okay, whatever. But anyway, so this year I said, well screw that. What am I sitting in the kitchen for? Helping everybody put their dishes together because they didn't have it done. I'm house sitting. I got everything I needed to get done done. I stuck it in the car.

Robb (: 37:00

Mm.

Robb (: 37:05

Wow.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 37:22

I took it to the back of my dad's house. My cousins and my brother came out and grabbed everything. And I went and parked my car and sat my ass in the backyard and that's where I stayed all day. It was fantastic doing it that way. What I was in charge of was handled. So you guys do your own thing.

Robb (: 37:33

Nice. Right.

Robb (: 37:40

Yeah, I don't remember, I mean, since I was married, I don't remember really doing Thanksgiving.

that I had to do anything. I just went to my dad's house every year. My stepmom and my dad always did Thanksgiving. So, and I'm talking like 13 years, I haven't done anything. I just got my happy ass up, drove somewhere, ate a bunch of food, got fat and happy, and then jumped back in my car and drove home. I can't complain. And I remember one year when we were married that we did Mexican food. We made carne asada tacos and rice and beans

Tina Marie Garcia (: 37:54

Mm-hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 38:09

Came home, right?

Robb (: 38:21

and that's what we had for Thanksgiving. Because we were looking to not have that traditional, like I think every blue moon, I think that's fun to do. You know, and don't get me wrong, like I like turkey, it's good, but it's not like, yeah, I can, I'll eat it, but I don't have to. I like a good ham, but.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 38:24

Yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 38:31

It is.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 38:40

Take it or leave it? Yeah.

Robb (: 38:45

I'm a mashed potatoes and corn guy, so like I love mashed potatoes and corn, so I can eat that till I'm blue in the face.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 38:51

we never have corn on thanksgiving never thought of that

Robb (: 38:54

corn every year, but we have, oh yeah. But see, I love, I literally put, I mix the corn and my potatoes. I'm like a weirdo. But, you know, but I like, you know, I like traditional soft green beans. I had some bomb ass cranberry sauce, like with real big cranberries in it. Super good, super bomb. But, um.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 39:15

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 39:19

Look, it's stressful. These holidays are whatever we do, because we've made an expectation in our life that we do things a certain way.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 39:30

I think that's part of the problem is our expectations that it has to be a certain way. Instead of just going with the flow and like throwing up our hands and going, well, shit, I did it the best I could, you know, and I think that we've lost the fun in, I mean, I know I haven't said anything nice about the holidays in this last 40 minutes. You know, I think we've lost what's important, which is being together.

Robb (: 39:42

Right.

Robb (: 39:59

Mm-hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 39:59

You know, because if I have a problem with Thanksgiving being native, like, why in the hell are we given thanks to this day? You know?

Robb (: 40:10

Well, I could explain that one to you, but that's a whole other, that's a whole other show. It's a whole other show.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 40:16

But it's not, you know, it doesn't come from a place.

If you're native, it doesn't come from a place that you even want to be a part of it. My dad, when I asked him, why are we doing this? One time he said, because we can always be grateful and give thanks for what we have now. We don't need to celebrate what happened back in the day. Like, can we just celebrate the fact that we should be thankful now? And so I've kind of gone along with that, but as he's gotten older, he doesn't even remember saying that. So.

Robb (: 40:46

Well, I mean, to be fair, without getting too deep in it, there actually was a day before all the craziness happened that the pilgrims and natives actually did eat, and it's documented. So that day is kind of what the whole holiday was meant for. It kind of morphed as we went anyway, and like to give a day of thanks to just life. And I think that that's what most people do these days.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 40:56

Yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 41:04

Right.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 41:11

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 41:16

Cause when you say happy Thanksgiving, it's like, hey, I hope give thanks to the good shit in your life because we already got enough bad. I mean, and it's, and it's easy to find the bad these days. It really is. Um, so for me, I try to step backwards and just kind of go, all right. Cause look, I hear through a lot of my friends that, you know, things aren't the greatest.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 41:21

Yeah, absolutely.

Robb (: 41:43

They're just not, you know, it's rents high, bills are crazy, the cost of everything and the little people around us, assuming you have a family like that, they don't know, right? They don't know how the world is going right now. So to keep that part of it, you know, the excitement of Santa is amazing if you have small kids.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 41:58

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 42:09

But I think as we get older, you know, we start looking at like, okay, how do I get through these two months and get on to the rest of the year or the rest of the new year?

Tina Marie Garcia (: 42:19

Mm-hmm. I, you know, I, when I had a kid, I pretty much gave her everything. She was a really good kid, straight A, honor student, and I didn't have any reason not to. But I found out through friends that did that and myself, that we didn't make our kids better people by giving them everything. And, and.

Robb (: 42:40

Mm-hmm, I agree.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 42:42

I wish I had it to do over again because I would have done so many things different. And one thing would be is maybe change it and have it not be about what I'm going to give you, but what are we going to do to help other people? Because I think that is where things need to go. You know, everybody has what we need. In this day and age, it's not like the year, you know, the day of depression where people

didn't have food or water, everybody's got what they need or there's places they could go to get it. But what we're not seeing these days is compassion and people being good to others that may not be as fortunate. And I think that if I had kids, I would start

changing traditions and making it less about what I could give them and more about how they could be better people because the kids that are being turned out these days are kind of assholes. Like they don't they don't even look up from their phone to say hi to their grandparents anymore. Like that's just crazy and when I see that like I see it in my own family with my brother's kids I'm like dude your grandfather just said hi put the phone down acknowledge him talk to him for a couple minutes or I'm gonna wrestle you.

Robb (: 43:50

Yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 44:03

Like, I'm literally telling the kids that.

Robb (: 44:03

Eh, no, I had to do the same with my kid all the time. I think you're right though. I think we need to step back a little bit. And look, like I said, I think Christmas is great for children. It's a good, if you can relay that message inside of the Christmas holiday, it's awesome. On the flip side of that as adults, and we need to just be better people.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 44:08

Yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 44:24

Mm-hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 44:31

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 44:31

And sometimes you need a reset. You need to look deep in life and go look. Let bygones be bygones with some people and let shit go. Because again, this is gonna be the first holidays I don't have my mom. So.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 44:53

Yeah, the first ones are the hardest.

Robb (: 44:56

Yeah, it's a little surreal because it was the first time that I didn't get a call on Thanksgiving for my mom so like for me it was like It is it's very bizarre So, you know and I see it with a lot of people that have issues within the family I gotta take care of that shit. It's it's not worth It's not worth battling over some shit. That's it's minute and it's part of life anyway, so

Tina Marie Garcia (: 44:59

Mm-hmm

Tina Marie Garcia (: 45:03

That's a weird situation, isn't it? Yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 45:24

Well, there needs to be a lot of acceptance sometimes for people to be able to drop that, but they should really work on it because we all need to be forgiven for things that we've done because nobody's perfect. But on the other hand, if you absolutely can't drop it, then do something to be better.

Robb (: 45:37

Yep.

Robb (: 45:43

I agree. I totally agree. I think there's a lot to be learned by that. That in these holidays, as stressful as they can be, and they are for a lot of folks, try to find something that's good, you know, and again, be good to other people. It's, you know, sometimes life happens and, you know, you end up in a weird position.

but mostly like new starts. The new year is coming and I'm not a big person on New Year's resolutions, but you have to look at the new year as being, it's the next day. It's just the next day of the rest of your life. Every day should be that.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 46:30

Well, you just got to be grateful that you got up. My dad always says, well, I'm on the right side of the dirt. We could just start with that, you know? I think that that's important to just be grateful for what is.

Robb (: 46:35

Yeah. Yep.

Robb (: 46:43

People ask me that all the time. They're just like, so how's your day? I'm like upright, breathing and employed. You know, I mean, a lot of people can't say that, you know. And yeah, I do my best to find the positives and with the stress of the holidays, the way it is, thankfully for me, it's a little less stressful. I'm in a position where I don't have a lot of things I have to worry about with.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 46:48

Yeah.

Robb (: 47:08

the holiday season, you know, it's just me and my son, generally, with small things here and there. But I think for the people out there, you just gotta step back and try to handle that stress with the easiest way possible, the path of least resistance. And you know what, lean on your family and friends, because that's another important thing. Sometimes that's the best gift.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 47:19

Mm-hmm

Tina Marie Garcia (: 47:25

it.

Yeah.

I used to, yeah, that's true. I used to drag my feet on doing everything and just made myself miserable. And now I'm like, I'm only going to do what's in my heart and the rest of it will just have to work itself out. And when I started doing that, it did alleviate a lot of pressure. And, and somebody said once that you can't be

Depressed when you're in gratitude. So I was like, okay three things like I could be thankful for right now and it does Start to turn your thinking around so that you don't go to such a negative place. It does help you to To be like, okay life isn't that bad. I got this going for myself okay, breathe and keep going and

You know, I wasn't, when I was younger, I wouldn't say I was a happy person. I was always kind of miserable. There was a lot going on and I didn't like where everything was going and what was happening. But I found that I, I found people that were happy, like truly happy in their lives. And I wanted to be more like them. And that, you know, they kind of made me start to change my opinion on myself and on life and on things. And, and.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 48:46

I don't have as many bad days as I did before. Like, even though I've gone through some crazy shit, like, I'm like, no, it's still okay, you know? I don't have to worry about anything for Christmas if I don't want to. I was thinking, damn, I could go to Greece. Like, I wonder if I could get my passport and be there. You know, so I was like, I don't have anything to worry about. That's scary too, because I used to...

Robb (: 49:02

Right.

Robb (: 49:13

Yeah.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 49:15

grandparents, parents, kid, husband, everything. And I was the one in charge. So it's kind of nice to be in a different place, although it feels really weird.

Robb (: 49:17

Yeah.

Robb (: 49:27

Yeah, because you start questioning even that. Like, shit. Yeah, or am I sure I'm not missing something? Or, yeah, I agree. Yep. And like I said, it looks like I have a Christmas party to go to, but like I said, I'm in a place where I'm like, ugh, you know, do I really want to go alone?

Tina Marie Garcia (: 49:31

Yeah, like is it supposed to feel good? Yeah, where do I need to be?

Tina Marie Garcia (: 49:51

Ask somebody to go.

Robb (: 49:52

Yeah, I mean, I could, I guess. I mean, I could probably drag the kid if I like really, really had to, but I know he's just gonna be in his phone and be like not wanting to talk to anybody. So I think asking somebody is the way to go, but we'll see what happens. If not, I'll probably go skate around like really quick, jump in like, woo, hey, and then.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 49:59

Mm-hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 50:15

You say that and then you ham it up and you're there the whole time. I've seen it.

Robb (: 50:19

That's true generally, but this is with coworkers and I don't know. Well, we'll see, but I do find that, you know, I'm lucky that I don't have a lot of stress, but I see the people out there that do. And, you know, I say just lean on the people around you that can help you with that, because this is supposed to be a fun time of the year. For me now, it's looking at...

Tina Marie Garcia (: 50:44

Mm-hmm.

Robb (: 50:47

the new year and getting over this, getting over the hill to the new year and going, okay, what's the next fresh start for me? I have no resolutions, but I definitely look for the, hey, what can I do better for myself this year? That's what I'm trying to do. Because, you know.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 51:04

There you go.

I never think of resolutions, I'm always like, ooh.

Robb (: 51:11

I used to, but now I don't. I just go, okay, try to be better this year. Find something that makes you happy and go. And I think with that, you'll probably be less stressful. I don't know. Alrighty, so check us out on social medias, Facebook, Instagram, X, whatever else there is.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 51:22

Mm-hmm.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 51:32

Thanks.

Robb (: 51:34

Twitter, whatever you wanna call it these days. And then check us out on the places you hear podcasts, Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeartRadio, all kinds of stuff. Soon to be YouTube music, I'm working on that. And yeah, last words for this stressful holiday season.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 51:55

Let shit go. Lower your expectations of perfection and enjoy what is.

Robb (: 52:03

That's it, can't say anything else. This is Opinion Show, don't get it twisted. Keep coming back every Wednesday. And yeah, we'll see you next week. For Tina, I'm Rob, we'll talk to you later. Bye, teenagers.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 52:05

That's it. Hehehe.

Tina Marie Garcia (: 52:17

See ya!