Exactly. The silly excuse thing is what always gets me and really started to grate on my nerves even while I still was watching them regularly.
It's usually Jenn that spouts it with Tim nodding "yeah."
It's always - "we didn't do / go / see
fill-in-the-blank because
x / y z fill-in-the-blank lame excuse..." The excuse will either make them seem like they're being the better person OR it will make them seem like the sad sack of the situation (the woe-is-me / us avenue).
Just like with getting steaks instead of turkey. I really think that Jenn is the catalyst for a lot of those complaints / apologies.
I'm not staying Tim isn't a charlatan / liar too but I can just see the convo going -
Tim: "I think I want to have steaks this year."
Jenn: "OK. Me too. We'll just say something about not being able to find a turkey or something."
Tim: "Yeah"