Isn't it funny......

Bazey

Is it christmas soon?

Oh fook...I wondered why it's been getting colder.

DigForVictory

What stresses me about Christmas is not the several month long run up, but the expectation that I can pay for it. This year, Himself is venturing onto the Bay of E to raise funds after I handed him the credit card statement & the damage from last years is still visible.

I know, we shouldn't have done it, but my lightbulb is on. His & the lads, intermittently.

As for the big family gatherings, we've scattered & anyway met recently at a funeral.

duchy

I don't know if I'm working part of Christmas day either yet but I refuse to get stressed over the day. Last few years up until last year we had Christmas dinner either before or after I worked (and I cooked it). Last year my (then new) OH cooked and he gets really stressed wanting everything to be perfect so this year's aim is to make it utterly stress free . I'd rather have it at my house but he has the bigger and better kitchen and likes cooking and loves feeding people up so I'll just do the menu planning and make sure it all runs to plan so we can relax (and are out Boxing day so don't need to worry about that)

the_frugal_frog

I have Christmas day only off, just me and the cats, some nice wine and nibbles and probably too much Christmas telly. No stress, no worries

Saturnalia

Billie-S wrote: »

I love Christmas but do get so sick of how it's rammed down our throats from the first week in September! It is halfway through November and I don't feel the least bit Christmassy. It's so odd.

Me too, though this year I think it has been a little more restrained. Just starting to feel a little Christmassy now. Where I live, Hallow'een, Bonfire Night and Diwali have all been a big deal so I think those have held Christmas back a little!

I was planning to go North for a family Christmas, but now I'm starting a new job on 2nd Dec and don't know what time off I'll get (and by the time I do find out, fares will prob be out of my budget. I probably won't be paid until end Dec either. I suppose benefits will end from the first day of work so I have not-much-money to eek out for a long month!!!).

So now it looks likely that I'll be here by myself for Christmas Day - but I really don't mind. A few years ago I had to spend a Christmas in London by myself due to work, and I went to Borough Market and got pheasant for Christmas dinner, went to Church in the morning, ate and read books and watched films the rest of the day, spoke to my whole family on the phone, hogged the bathroom with my Lush smellies, and thoroughly enjoyed the day. Nothing nicer than a day with nothing to do and no-one to please but yourself!

Then Boxing Day when the Tube is running again, I'll get out and do something-or-other, eat dinner out if I can stretch to it, and probably by New Year friends will be drifting back here.

Then maybe I can spend my Jan birthday weekend with family.

I know I'll enjoy myself whatever happens.

MrSmartprice

There will be no festive stress here! Christmas comes and goes almost unnoticed in our house. We go to a curry house for Christmas dinner, have a lovely Indian banquet for £20 a head, and that's it. We don't exchange presents, and just give a few close friends a nice bottle of wine each.

The whole charade is of no consequence to us, so the sooner it is all over, the better!

Prothet_of_Doom

Strangely, I love the negotiations with the in laws, my parents, and my sister about who goes to whom and when. The whole thing is a mine field, but so what? Watching the manipulation is hilarious.

bargainbetty

I'm doing the cooking this year, for between 11 and 15 people (tbc). Before people scream and recoil in horror, my best mate is a chef and has offered to help me do all the prep and part-cooking possible on Xmas Eve. I also get to avoid all the arguments and stresses on the day by hiding in the kitchen attacking the cooking sherry.

It's also a great excuse to leave early, being so tired and all. Next year, I'm thinking of going abroad.

antw23uk

I put my foot down this year and announced to anyone and everyone that I would be spending Xmas day at home this year and hadnt planned to host!

We now have my MIL from Xmas eve to boxing day and my brother in law and his wife popping in Xmas day evening but you know I really dont mind :rotfl:

Hopefully the weather will be nice so I will go for a nice ride on the horse in the morning and OH and MIL can do the Xmas lunch and nibbles in the evening :T

I no longer get stressed by Xmas although I do despise the adverts and shops full of Xmassy stuff so early so as of Saturday just gone I will not step foot into another shop until the new year. Shopping will be done online. Shoppers turn blooming nuts so i avoid at all cost, lol

catkins

I love Christmas and don't get stressed about it at all. I spend Christmas Day with OH and all my family at my sister's house. Me and OH cook dinner for 16 people (sister doesn't like cooking) and even though we normally only really cook for the 2 of us the rest of the year, we don't get stressed over the dinner.

We all buy presents for each other and after lunch we sit in a circle and take it in turn to open our presents - it takes about 3 hours and we all love it. The rest of the afternoon/evening/earlier hours of Boxing Day are spent playing games.

Me and OH always buy a real tree about 2 weeks before Christmas Day and decorate that, the living room and the dining room. We buy most of our presents online or go late night shopping when the shops are never that busy. We only buy the food we need, about 4 days before. I can never understand why people shop as though the shops are going to be closed for a month.

I guess I am lucky - Christmas is always lovely and all my family get on - never any rows