What are you doing for Xmas?

Lingua Franca

I was responding to a thread in afterhours when it got closed.

I have children so we do the santa thing (at least until my youngest announces that she is a non-believer) but we live in the Netherlands now and sinter klaas comes on the 5th December here so that part is over already. I'll be dropping my kids over to Ireland on the 23rd to visit their dad for christmas, returning on the 24th and... moving into a new house. We'll be hosting my mother in law for a nice lunch and enjoying our new tree- and decoration- free (and child-free) home.

The only thing my christmas will have in common with the traditional christmas is copious quantities of booze.

sbsquarepants

I have to say, i've more or less always been an atheist even as a relatively young kid, but i think i'd miss the whole christmas tree and decorations thing. My tree even has an angel on top (although i wanted a flying spaghetti monster, but couldn't find one!).
To be honest, and i know how ridiculous this sounds, in my mind i make no real connection between christmas and the little baby jeebus' birthday. The tree and the angel and so on are just there to look pretty as far as i'm concerned ( i mean the damn things are frowned upon in the bible anyway!:D) Jermiah 10:3-5

Lingua Franca

I liked all that too, but now I'm the one responsible for decorating the house... meh. I loved how homely and cosy it looked last year but I'm glad to getting the break from it this year - I've been run off my feet just getting the new house ready to move into and I really, really should be run off my feet right now getting the last of this house packed up and cleaned. Again, meh.

I'll do it all again next year but I'm honestly quite relieved to have one year off.

seamus

First Xmas with a new baby. She's barely able to focus on faces at the moment, let alone comprehend Xmas, but it does make it that bit different.

Twill be fairly traditional for us; fry-ups, booze, too much chocolate, roast spuds, veg & gravy, gambling, family movies. There never really was any connection between the christian festival and Xmas for me. Like most kids, all I cared about was getting stuff on the day, so I never really had cause to associate Xmas with Jesus.

"Happy Santy's Birthday!" is the traditional greeting on my side of the family, though the in-laws are still a little holy so my wife tuts a bit when we say it.

Lingua Franca

sbsquarepants wrote: »

IThe tree and the angel and so on are just there to look pretty as far as i'm concerned ( i mean the damn things are frowned upon in the bible anyway!:D) Jermiah 10:3-5

Oooh! Thank you for this, I'm going to further procrastinate by pestering people on facebook with it!

doctoremma

My husband and I are staying with my parents. As lapsed Catholics, they will make feeble attempts to instil in us the true meaning of Christmas, with the occasional half-hearted suggestion to attend Midnight Mass, all forgotten in favour of that bottle of Rioja I've just cracked open.

GLaDOS

Lapsing into a food coma.

Morgase

sbsquarepants wrote: »

To be honest, and i know how ridiculous this sounds, in my mind i make no real connection between christmas and the little baby jeebus' birthday. The tree and the angel and so on are just there to look pretty as far as i'm concerned ( i mean the damn things are frowned upon in the bible anyway!:D) Jermiah 10:3-5

It's not a bit ridiculous, sure wasn't there always a sort of winter festival of some sort in cold countries like Ireland before we got a whiff of Christianity. It's just nice to have a few days of good food and drink to look forward to in these dark months.

Mmmmm, Christmassy food...

Bannasidhe

Watching Dr Who of course.
May eat lots, take naps, walk dogs, eat more.

Oh - I LOVE fairy lights. Have 'em everywhere (except bathrooms as there is apparently a 'Health and Safety issue' :rolleyes:)

Tabnabs

Lingua Franca wrote: »

Oooh! Thank you for this, I'm going to further procrastinate by pestering people on facebook with it!

That refers to carving idols out of trees, not christmas trees, which come much later and are germanic in origin.

kylith

I grudgingly let OH put up the tree the other night, and I suppose I'll have to get round to decorating the smegging thing at some stage.

On the day itself there will be 1) a lie in, followed by 2) lounging around watching sci-fi, topped off by 3) the arrival of OH's mother for dinner. Dinner will be roast duck, accompanied by tense silences, as usual; my coping technique is a nice merlot.

Dades

Have two young kiddies so the house is like something from a Coke ad. Will be fitting in visits to two families on Christmas day and eating a serious amount of Chocolate Kimberlies.

Over the weekend I shall be redeeming 12 months worth of points on my O'Briens Wines loyalty card (that is always a wonderful time of the year).

Lastly, the missis is threatening to take my kids to mass on Christmas morning with her family. Grand so. That leaves me, the Chocolate Kimberlies, and *fingers crossed* Call of Duty Black Ops II for Xbox in peace for an hour or two.

Nothing says welcome to the world, baby Jesus, like shooting strangers on the Internet in the face.

Bannasidhe

Dades wrote: »

Have two young kiddies so the house is like something from a Coke ad. Will be fitting in visits to two families on Christmas day and eating a serious amount of Chocolate Kimberlies.

Over the weekend I shall be redeeming 12 months worth of points on my O'Briens Wines loyalty card (that is always a wonderful time of the year).

Lastly, the missis is threatening to take my kids to mass on Christmas morning with her family. Grand so. That leaves me, the Chocolate Kimberlies, and *fingers crossed* Call of Duty Black Ops II for Xbox in peace for an hour or two.

Nothing says welcome to the world, baby Jesus, like shooting strangers on the Internet in the face.

Oh - forgot I have to go visit family to play kill sister's plants with nasty sweet sherry.

On the way I will have my annual rant about people coming out of large churches (I pass 3) after their annual visit who just wander across the road looking neither right nor left with me loudly opining that they obviously want to die in a fecking state of b*starding grace or do they think going to Mass means they can't be hit by the large Mitsubishi heading straight for them travelling at 50 kph on a main road. EEJITS. :mad:

Then it's eat, bring dogs to field with ball to exhaust them, DR WHO!! - snooze, eat.

I'm sort of looking forward to it - hope Dr Who is better than last years Xmas special. Hated it.

Lingua Franca

Tabnabs wrote: »

That refers to carving idols out of trees, not christmas trees, which come much later and are germanic in origin.

D'ya mind not interfereing with my procrastination please, I have dust to be ignoring here!

Bloodwing

I'll be coming in from work at 7:30am and going straight to bed, get up around 2:30pm and have the dinner at around 4 then start getting ready to go back into work that evening. Just doesn't have the same appeal to it any more.

As a lapsed Catholic, I always look on Christmas as a celebration of family. We do the tree, decorations, cards and presents (pressies for immediate family only). We stuff ourselves with rich food and drink good wines. I like Carol services, as they tend to be attended by families. They are celebrating a birth, the creation of a family and that is what I find most important.

Bannasidhe

Lingua Franca wrote: »

D'ya mind not interfereing with my procrastination please, I have dust to be ignoring here!

I have some cobwebs to ignore which OH kindly informed me at 7:30 this morning are cultivating a corner of bathroom. Am thinking of telling her they are an organic substitute for fairylights as they glisten in a pleasing manner when the light hits them.

Teach her to lecture me on Health and Safety and the wisdom of placing extension leads close to showers.

Lingua Franca

I wonder would our current landlord believe that too?

"It's not dust and cobwebs, it's organic glitter and tinsel! And those fingerprints on the windows are supposed to look like snow! Have you no christmas spirit?"

Lingua Franca

Not a bother now, my maids kids are home from school to do it all help.

Bannasidhe

Lingua Franca wrote: »

Not a bother now, my maids kids are home from school to do it all help.

Well, Sinterklaas is compiling his 2013 list naughty/nice list now so they better get stuck in.

MagicMarker

Won't be doing anything, no kids in the family anymore. I won't be visiting any family and hope to christ no one visits me.

It'll be just like any other day for me, except with added mince pies, tins of roses and a bottle of rum.

yellowlabrador

I'm hoping to visit Drumbeg stone circle for the Solstice sunset on Friday. I haven't been able to go for a few years due to the weather. I love the atmosphere and the weirdness. I'm not a pagan but I love seeing newagers go into a trance and seeing them experience their magic of flying orbs, spirits and made up beliefs.
xmas day is very relaxing, quiet and peaceful, and usually involves talking to people on the phone who are stressed out or lonely.

Malari

MagicMarker wrote: »

Won't be doing anything, no kids in the family anymore. I won't be visiting any family and hope to christ no one visits me.

It'll be just like any other day for me, except with added mince pies, tins of roses and a bottle of rum.

Yo ho ho? :pac:

We do the same every year. My boyfriend and I stay in our respective parents houses xmas eve and xmas night, where there is lots of eating, drinking and presents.

Sarky

First time in 2-3 years all my siblings will be home for xmas, so it'll be a couple of nights in the old family home catching up. there I shall play with the red setter I haven't seen in 6 months and my brother's new spaniel puppy, see if my nephew remembers my face, and get good and toasted in the sitting room with a tonne of booze, cigars and excellent food. At least until I realise why I don't live in one house with my family any more and head back to Cork for some peace and quiet. :pac:

SebBerkovich

My Parents have been atheist since before i was born , but everyone in my family loves Christmas. I never even knew there was that big a link between Christmas and Jesus for years, there seemed to be a bigger link been Christmas and Coke.
for us it's just a special time of year that if i don't drop in to see my mom, she'll hunt my down a kill me.

[-0-]

Sarky wrote: »

First time in 2-3 years all my siblings will be home for xmas, so it'll be a couple of nights in the old family home catching up. there I shall play with the red setter I haven't seen in 6 months and my brother's new spaniel puppy, see if my nephew remembers my face, and get good and toasted in the sitting room with a tonne of booze, cigars and excellent food. At least until I realise why I don't live in one house with my family any more and head back to Cork for some peace and quiet. :pac:

Have you moved from Galweh?

I'm going to my wife's family for Christmas for the second time in Tennessee. Not much of a booze fest like back home at all, but the food is wonderful. To be fair I've had way too much booze over the past couple of years. I bought myself an 18 year old Jameson, 18 year old Glenmorangie, 18 year old Glenfiddich, 15 year old Redbreast about 6 weeks ago. They all have about 2 glasses left in them so I'm welcoming a drought for a few days.

I'm saving my boozing for New Years Eve when I go out in Boston with a friend of mine, and then to NYC from Jan 1st - 5th for a serious session with a friend from back home whom I haven't seen in well over a year. We're going to visit a few Irish bars in NYC, along with Mark Geary's brothers bar. He asked me to pop in so that should be a laugh, funnily enough it's called The Scratcher - great name for a bar. :pac:

After that we'll probably lock ourselves my mate's place, get locked, lash out some trad music, smoke cigars and play darts. I'm looking forward to this more than Christmas!

Sarky

I've been in Cork for 3 years. :pac:

[-0-]

Christ! I did the opposite.. Lived in Cork for a while then moved to Galway before moving to the states. You'll be off to yanksville next. :pac:

Beruthiel

As hubby is French we tend to do the big dinner on Christmas Eve.
It will consist of 6 courses which I have already planned out and buckets of wine.
Christmas Day is hangover day and will start with Baileys for breakfast.
Followed by more wine and left overs from the night before.
We'll watch a film and as the drink hits us again, a board game and cheating/fights will break out.

Mini Me has hinted that I 'might' (will) be getting my mitts on Assassins Creed 3, which means that's me sorted for ever available minute from then on.

Morag

Celebrating solstice with my kids on Saturday, then they are off to spend Christmas with their dad and his parents, while I make myself useful in my parent kitchens making dinner and play the game of sure have another one with my siblings to see who gets drunk first and who cries uncle. Mostly the next week will be spent watching the new Battle star Galatica for the first time.

Sarky

[-0-] wrote: »

Christ! I did the opposite.. Lived in Cork for a while then moved to Galway before moving to the states. You'll be off to yanksville next. :pac:

The hell I will. I'm sticking to countries that know what irony means.

Bannasidhe

Sarky wrote: »

The hell I will. I'm sticking to countries that know what irony means.

Or to translate that into the language of Sarky's current home -

He will yeah!

Knasher

Same thing I do every christmas, back home to see the parents and spend the whole week setting up some sort of electronics for the family and teaching them how to use it. Wouldn't have it any other way.

ShooterSF

Early rise as it's my only day off over the xmas. Fry up brekkie. Presents exchanged then doss around till dinner. Food then boardgames (my real big hobby with a back catalogue of almost 100 games to pick from this year!!) and drink. Then muppets xmas carol and bad santa and more drink. Then maybe some online poker as everyone is getting sick of each other

Knasher

Hotblack Desiato

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Oh - I LOVE fairy lights. Have 'em everywhere (except bathrooms as there is apparently a 'Health and Safety issue' :rolleyes:)

Would be perfectly safe to run them off a shaver socket (especially if outdoor lights - waterproof) - do lesbian bathrooms not have shaver sockets :pac:

Or get AA battery powered LED lights - fiver in Dunnes.

Blowfish

Don't really do Christmas, so it'll be the usual sitting on my arse at home making great use of the Steam Christmas sale.

Lingua Franca

I put up some fairy lights in Bannasidhe's honour. And that is the extent of my Christmas decor.

MomijiHime

The majority of my family is Catholic excluding my dad and I so we'll most likely go to mass on Christmas Eve (i won't pray but it's sweet with singing and candles). On Christmas day it'll just be the usual with a big Christmas dinner and presents! I can't wait~ My family isn't very religious even if most of them say they're Catholic so they usually don't do anything religious around Christmas other than go to mass on Christmas Eve, light candles at the window on Christmas eve and put the baby Jesus in the crib on Christmas (my mom is currently 'hiding' it behind the crib lol)

Bannasidhe

ninja900 wrote: »

Would be perfectly safe to run them off a shaver socket (especially if outdoor lights - waterproof) - do lesbian bathrooms not have shaver sockets :pac:

Or get AA battery powered LED lights - fiver in Dunnes.

Houses that were bought after the electrician had done all the wiring and whose purchaser did not want to fork out another cent as she was already paying more than enough for the damn house don't have shaver sockets in the bathroom.

Worked for Dunnes when I was in school- it will be cold day in hell before I shop in their stores. We hates 'em...

doctor who, eating steak, reading, laughing at the dogs with their doggy stockings:)
If one of them has a squeaky toy, timing how long before it stops squeaking
I think about 60 seconds...

Sin City

I cant wait, the look on my kids faces when they see what Santa has left them will be priceless. This is the one morning of the year where I actually get up earlier than the kids. Then off to the grandparents for food booze fun and druken arguments. Good craic to be had by all

MagicMarker

MagicMarker wrote: »

Won't be doing anything, no kids in the family anymore. I won't be visiting any family and hope to christ no one visits me.

It'll be just like any other day for me, except with added mince pies, tins of roses and a bottle of rum.

Slight modification on this, just dug out an xbox 360 that I bought like 2 years ago, played it for 2 months and packed it away, it's been sitting in it's box ever since (I'm really not a gamer, don't know why the fúck I bought it).

10 minutes after setting it up I get the red ring of death, but I laid it on it's side which seems to have sorted it, so I'll be doing me a bit of gaming over Xmas. So yeah, anyone recommend any games as I only own 2?

MomijiHime

MagicMarker wrote: »

Slight modification on this, just dug out an xbox 360 that I bought like 2 years ago, played it for 2 months and packed it away, it's been sitting in it's box ever since (I'm really not a gamer, don't know why the fúck I bought it).

10 minutes after setting it up I get the red ring of death, but I laid it on it's side which seems to have sorted it, so I'll be doing me a bit of gaming over Xmas. So yeah, anyone recommend any games as I only own 2?

I haven't tried them but maybe lollipop chainsaw or portal

kylith

Portal is fantastic.

Sarky

Batman. Get the Batman games. srsly. Batman.

Also, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a nice mix of action, stealth and existentialist intellectualism.

expectationlost

eating my feelings

Hotblack Desiato

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Houses that were bought after the electrician had done all the wiring and whose purchaser did not want to fork out another cent as she was already paying more than enough for the damn house don't have shaver sockets in the bathroom.

Ooh I know, had to put my own one in - for my gender neutral rechargeable toothbrush. The MAN_SHAVER was content to get a charge once a month from a normal socket through an adaptor, not so the Braun/Oral-B yoke.

Worked for Dunnes when I was in school- it will be cold day in hell before I shop in their stores. We hates 'em...

Oranges are not the only fruit Dunnes are not the only store, try one's local euro shop.

Hotblack Desiato

Sarky wrote: »

Batman. Get the Batman games. srsly. Batman.

I got the Amiga Batman Pack 20 years ago Sarky, the Batman : The Movie game was adequate at best

Bannasidhe

ninja900 wrote: »

Ooh I know, had to put my own one in - for my gender neutral rechargeable toothbrush. The MAN_SHAVER was content to get a charge once a month from a normal socket through an adaptor, not so the Braun/Oral-B yoke.



Oranges are not the only fruit Dunnes are not the only store, try one's local euro shop.

After a weekend of 4 adults, 2 children and 3 dogs in a two bedroom house I am more inclined to purchase a fecking caravan and move far far away *whinge*.

Oranges + Dunnes = very droll sir, very droll.

Two obscure(ish) references for the price of one.

Mr. CooL ICE

Parents aren't devout catholics, but still attend mass weekly. The rest of us are lapsed/atheists but never make an issue of it.

We will be doing everything as usual. Wake up, open presents, and spend approx 12 hours constantly preparing and eating food while the rest enjoy some wine, sherry, and baileys coffee. I'll be boring and sober as I will be driving to my mates house in the evening for our traditional christmas poker game while my family will stay behind and play board games.

My main fear is I volunteered to make a cheesecake for the day and I have a bad feling it will taste like crap