[EJ711]

Friends,

I was successful in pretty much turning Thanksgiving into an un-holiday, but I have to admit Christmas with the expectations of it being a happy day is looming around the corner.

I guess I will just have to find a way to knock it down to size.

EJ

[Kiya]

oooh! ooooh! I do!! I was asked just tonight how i want to spend it. I said SLEEPING! How i always want to spend it - out of the country (but have yet to manage) ...alone!! yeah right.

[EJ711]

God came to give us peace, so if you feel peaceful when you are sleeping, then I saw go for it!

EJ

[AAAAA]

EJ711,

I envy that you were able to turn Thanksgiving into an "un-holiday". I am NOT looking forward to Christmas. I am looking forward to my daughter coming home from college for a month. I do not think that I should have to share that precious time with people that do not appreciate it. I just have not figured out how to avoid it yet.

Unfortunately family comes in a package deal, you have to put up with the jerks to see the ones that are dear to you. My goal is to spend it with my husband and kids and turn off the outside lights, draw the blinds and pretend we're not at home.

[Perna]

I figure out a couple things I like about the holiday and go for those. I still haven't decided if I want a tree or if that would be too much trouble. We haven't had a tree in this place yet. I like having a "personal" feeling of the holiday around me, kind of a Charles Dickens, look-through-the-front-window from the street sort of warmth but actually decking the halls is too much work :-) We will eventually put a few lights outside I imagine; otherwise coming home gives me a kind of sad feeling.

I love the food :-) There will be pies and cookies but I won't necessarily make them. A roast chicken in the next couple weeks with all the stuffing and cranberry sauce, mashed pots, etc.

But mostly I read books I like with Christmas scenes and I watch the "old" Christmas shows I like on TV occasionally.

There will be a couple family gatherings but they are at other people's houses and I don't have any truly obnoxious family members anymore so that's okay. And I like riding, with my husband driving, over the rivers and through the snow :-) It's a nice quiet time to talk together and plan vacations and just discuss anything and everything in our own little separate world for a bit until we get to/from wherever.

[splitimage]

I hate Christmas - too many expectations & reminders of how alone I am. This year I have an invite to spend the day with friends so that won't be too bad. But I'm still struggling because my brother wants me to fly out to Calgary to spend Christmas with his family and I have hugely mixed feelings. On the one hand i know being lonely is a dangerous trigger for me wanting to drink, but on the other he really doesn't understand my addiction / mental health issues, and while he tries to be supportive, explaining just makes it feel worse.

--splitimage

[SweetSunshine]

I normally love Christmas.. but this year I am not puting up anything. Even thinking of selling the village my dad bought for me over the years. He's no longer a part of my life.. so neither should anything he's given me. Last year I didnt put up a tree.. nothing is worth the effort it used to be.

[nothemama8]

not going to have our group here for Christmas day, just me and Papa
we're celebrating it for the Christ reasons and memories of loved ones dear to our heart, not for the commercialisim

[EJ711]

Perna,

Out here in the country I don't have to put out any lights, we have the stars!

EJ

[Perna]

I'm on the water, I almost have stars (darn Baltimore! :-)

My community has a Christmas decoration contest which is nice. I like driving around neighborhoods year-to-year looking at the lights, seeing what's "in" this year and what's unique, etc. But then, I just like riding around in the car, heater blasting and just cruisin'.

[SingDanceRunLife]

I would love to skip Christmas!

Thanksgiving was pretty much terrible for me this year, so it didn't leave me in an excited state for the next holiday (Christmas).

I mean, I guess it'll be alright seeing my extended family (my grandparents and maybe a couple aunts/uncles and cousins), but I don't care about making a big deal about the meal or the presents or anything.

I would be perfectly fine sitting on my butt all day, in my pajamas, wrapped in a blanket with some hot chocolate watching movies.

Unfortunately, on Christmas Eve I'll be required to join my family for a big meal and dress up and go to church. Christmas day, presents presents presents galore, another big deal, and socialization...Or, socialize for as little as possible then escape downstairs to watch TV or something.

[msinfiniti]

I want to skip Christmas!!! I am not ready at all. All of my decorations are at my house where my husband is living and I don't feel like calling him to set up a time to retrieve my things and then dealing with the hassle of putting everything in my very small trunk.

I am thinking of just buying a very small cheap tree (I am broke!) because I have to have something for my son, but I am not looking forward to any of it. The cooking, the baking I always do, the shopping that I can no longer afford. Ugh.

Yes, lets skip Christmas together.