Here we can all be heard for a little while. Part 3

Pyxis

Wow! Great home! Pets are sooooo therapeutic!

Torry_Quine

So good to hear WaS that she is blossoming in the home

mellymoo74

It depends on the pet

onomatopoeia99

Not long back home, house is at 12C as I set the central heating into "holiday mode" for one day too many. Brrr!

Best go unpack, and will catch up tomorrow.

Izadora

Sorry for belated wishes but I hope everyone had a good Christmas. I seem to have spent the past two days in the kitchen and have eaten and drunk pretty much continuously. It's been great

codemonkey

Hate to be a Debbie downer but...

I feel really let down by Christmas this year. Family didn't invite us anywhere - we didn't even get invited for Boxing day dinner anywhere, Mr CP went in a huff because he wanted something different for dinner then (didn't tell me until after I'd started buying stuff) , so he filled up on other stuff and was too full to eat the dinner I made, the weather has been awful since 23rd so we couldn't even go for a walk, seasonal telly has been rubbish (currently watching Home Alone 2 for the 5 millionth time this year as there is nothing else worth watching) and I feel like I made a massive effort to make everything nice and special and it's just been ignored by everyone, especially Mr CP who has made no effort beyond gifts and just moaned about everything all day. To be fair, he did give me some lovely presents, but Christmas is about more than that. I think I'm mainly hurt that despite the fact we both have family in the area, nobody invited us anywhere. We dropped off presents to people yesterday and it felt a bit like pressing our notes against the windows watching everyone else be family.

TL;DR codemonkey tries to have a nice Christmas. Everyone !!!!es on it. Codemonkey is left feeling sad and down.

calleyw

Evening my Lovelies,

Just a very quick flying visit.

yesterday was fine went to see husband and action man went off to his parents. Took for ever for him to open his presents as I got him loads but it was all low cost to meant he could have more. I got 3 presents from him. One was a soft toy wombat as I call him a wombat. And another soft toy and a toy vw camper van for my collection.

Today we went to the coast with doggy. Action man was very happy with my suggestion of going to the coast. Almost as busy as a summers day.

Sorry to hear that some people did not have such a good time. Don't forget that christmas does not have to be perfect. Just the way that you want it.

Massive hugs and squishes and hugs all around.

Wish me luck as tomorrow I have Action man, my husband, his two adult children their partners and grand children coming to tea :eek:

Take care and catch you all soon.

Yours

Calley X

tea_lover

That home sounds amazing WaS..... shall we all put our names on their waiting list??

(((code)))

Hope everyone's doing ok today.

whitewing

I am having a good Christmas, and I think that is because over the years had learned to do what I like to do but have fewer expectations of other people.

I like giving presents so I put a lot of thought into that but don't expect the same in return. I have presents that I will really enjoy, and others (eg the influx of chocolates and biscuits that are too many) that I will regift to eg the nursing home etc. At one point it would have frustrated me to get massive piles of 'unhealthy' stuff. These days it is minimised with the people I can influence, and appreciated and shared when I can't influence.

I like seeing family but I need my own space too. I don't always get this right. My family are not at all spontaneous so I make sure we state if we are having a day to ourselves so they don't just sucker the children into their routines.

I like alcohol (not too much). So I get some regardless of whether I'm on my own or not.

I like candles. A present to myself if I don't get given any.

I like wrapping paper and Christmas cards and advent calendars and decorations. So I buy them in the sales to make the money go further. As much as possible I plan gifts and buy throughout the year, or if I am on holiday, so I can splurge but not regret it. (Sometimes I just like to spend money!)

I like food. We buy daily around this time of year as otherwise we buy but don't enjoy. We get a bit carried away if we do a big shop and wasting the money frustrates me.

I think for me now I have learnt to have the factors that I enjoy for Christmas and then be chilled out about the rest. We do have family over and sometimes the days are not the most convenient but I would not let that make them unwelcome.

I do sometimes sit and read in the gathering. (Not out loud!). This would only be with close family, and only if there are enough people around that no one feels neglected.

I try and tidy up the house. I wouldn't do it for myself but it does make DH happy.

Really now I celebrate Christmas whether I am on my own or have twenty family members. The loneliness I felt in a crowd was more to do with not understanding myself.

Pyxis

That's a beautiful analysis, Whitewing.