Christmas!

[The Welsh Paddy]

So, with christmas being less than two months away, I would ASSUME that everyone has started getting their christmas shopping?

I thought it would be interesting to start up a thread for people to discuss what they'll be doing for christmas this year. What are you expecting to recieve as gifts? What are you getting for friends, family or loved ones? Going somewhere nice, or just having a nice and quiet christmas at home?

And most importantly...

What do you plan on having for christmas dinner?!?!

Of course, this can be open for discussion with those who celebrate Hannukah or any other religious holiday instead of christmas. (Not sure if there are any...)

I myself am spending a (somewhat) quiet christmas at home with my fiance and our little man. We were wanting to maybe go away some place nice for christmas this year, but by the time we thought about it, it was too late to get the money together for it, so that will be our aim for next year. (Planning on doing our christmas shopping by summer next year so we can then save up to go somewhere for the holiday.)

It's only recently that we've started our christmas shopping this year, though. Getting all the little man's stuff first, then my fiance's (When I've thought of something really nice... Any ideas? ). My son is going through a bit of a Batman craze right now. He loves everything Batman and can happily sit down for hours just watching some of the animated series. So most of the stuff he'll be getting from me will be Batman related. I've already purchased all the Batman Brave and The Bold series to-date, and me and my fiance are both buying him an Imaginext Batcave Playset. I'll probably also buy a bunch of extras to go with it (It's a surprisingly huge toy-line, so this will probably end up being spread over his birthday and next christmas as well!) and my fiance is gonna buy him some other bits and bobs that he likes. Still trying to decide from a variety of Fireman Sam and Thomas The Tank playsets, etc.

Me, my fiance and the little one are gonna make a huge family photo montage for my future in-laws.

But yeah, I still don't know what I'm going to get my fiance yet. Probably wait til a bit closer to christmas because here in Cardiff we get loads of stalls that open up during christmas that sell loads of unique things that you would be hard-pressed to find in typical highstreet shops. It's mostly stuff that's actually been made by the people who open the stalls.

I've no idea what I'm getting for christmas...

For christmas dinner, we're gonna get some pheasant if they're selling down at the market. If not, then our other options are duck and guinnea fowl. I've never really liked turkey because it's too dry, and chicken is something I have quite regularly anyway. We'll probably have some ham as well though, along with a bunch of nicely seasoned roasted vegetables. Doubt I'd stock up on much alcohol because I don't drink much at all anymore. Maybe a bottle of rum or whiskey...

All in all though, I am very much looking forwards to christmas this year. It's such an exciting time, especially if you have kids.

 

[Lirael]

You beat me to this! I was gonna make the thread in a month.

Anywho, I have started Christmas shopping, though I don't have much yet. My grandparents were down this week and aren't coming down for Christmas, so I bought their gifts a little early. I'll probably buy gifts for my parents and friends a little later. I absolutely love getting people gifts, though. I always want each gift to be perfect.

This Christmas is going to be quiet! My parents and I will no doubt go walking! I may end up working for my PGCE. I go skiing for a week over New Year, so I may need to. I don't mind that too much though.

As for Christmas dinner... LOTS OF PARSNIPS! I absolutely love them. If my parents have a small turkey, I'll probably have some Quorn sausages with veg and mashed potato. I am probably one of few people who actually doesn't care for Christmas dinner or Christmas pudding. I adore the festivity of Christmas dinner though.

I'm kinda looking forward to hearing Christmas carols again. So many people get irritated by how early they appear in the shops, but they take me back to my happiest school memories! Between the ages of 6 and 10, I went to a school where I sang carols with the choir, watched others perform Christmas plays (I was in one once too! haha), where we'd truly celebrate as a school community! Kinda like a biiiiig family.

As for gifts... there's nothing I really want other than to do well on my PGCE between now and then. As long as I feel I have achieved, I'll have a fantastic Christmas. Letters from a couple of friends would also be nice. I may ask for the Vampire Hunter D artbook from my parents, since I adore Amano's work... And perhaps some money so I can save it to visit friends when I have free time later in the New year.

 

[The Welsh Paddy]

Parsnips are the tastiest vegetables going. Add some ground cloves and it's like heaven. xD It's nice to hear other people being all excited for christmas! Apart from our last three christmases, christmas has usually been quite dull. Of course, when I was much younger, I used to always get super excited. But that sorta just fizzled out when I hit my teens and it just stopped being a nice big friends and family event.

The first christmas I spent with my fiance, it was just the two of us (Well, technically my son was there as well. He just wasn't born yet. xD) and it was just very nice and relaxing. The following christmas was spent over at my fiance's parents' place. That was so much fun, because it's a big family and it was just full of good company, good food and good times in general. My son had christmas dinner for the first time ever (It was a pile of mush, since we had to blend it what with him not being able to really eat solids.) and he kept pulling the most funniest faces ever when he got a taste of mint. xD

Then last christmas was our first with just the three of us. Again, it was just nice and laid back. The little man got super excited playing with all his new toys and tired himself out by late morning so he had a nap while me and my fiance got the dinner ready.

I can imagine this christmas will be pretty much the same, but we plan on visiting some family probably early/mid December.

One thing I'm really looking forwards to is us going to see the christmas lights in Cardiff. There's gonna be a huge event in the city on the 15th of this month, including a reindeer parade, several costumed cartoon characters, live music and some street theatre.

 

[Cyanista]

I'll probably be avoiding that silly tree if we put one up. We're pretty strapped this year, so there probably will be homemade presents under there.
Maybe I'll receive a hug. Haven't had one of those in a while... *why do I feel like J.D. from 'Scrubs' allofasudden?*
For friends? Oh, nothing. I don't really have any of those. *It's not my fault, Santa!*
Family: I've been knitting and handing out socks to them since it got cold out, so they've pretty much ruined the surprise. Maybe I should get extra sneaky and get some stuff in addition to those.
Christmas dinner? Usually we have a repeat of Thanksgiving. The whole shabang if we find a cheap turkey.
I have a sneaking suspicion that we've still got a box of stuffing somewhere, but if not, I'll just make it from scratch *ridiculously easy*. Mashed potatoes, gravy, and cranberry sauce... I know I'm forgetting something... I might even have the energy to make a pie.

Oh man, now I'm hungry!

 

[Jack's Smirking Revenge]

i normally don't start my shopping until december. i refuse to acknowledge christmas until then. when i was in uni, one of my mates forbade us from talking about it until after his birthday at the end of november. anyway, i was in town last week and saw this little wooden train with building blocks on it so i got that for my one year old nephew because i know he'll absolutely love it. i'll probably buy him a big box of cars as well or something similar since he loves anything with wheels. other than that, i haven't given it any thought and don't intend to for another few weeks.

i'll be spending it back at home with the family, since it just wouldn't feel like christmas any other way.

 

[Mitsuki]

We haven't started our Christmas shopping yet, no. Typically we start towards the beginning of November, but it'll have to wait until our next paychecks, which should be next week. So around that time, as per usual, we start with our two kids. Not all at once, mind. We'll buy one item one week, and then wait another week. Usually we do our shopping at the mall, Target, and other places (online included), but for this year, we'll have to strictly stick with Target since I work for that retail store and I get 15% discount.

For my daughter, I know she wants the Stompeez slippers that we've been seeing on TV commercial, but I've been reading reviews and it's generally negative ones, so I might not make that purchase. I might get her the new Harvest Moon that recently came out (A New Beginning) for the 3DS. But other than that, we're gonna stick with clothes.

For my almost-two-year-old son, he's taken some interest in Thomas the Tank Engine lately, but those line are expensive. Maybe when he's a little older. But anything with cars, trains, trucks, the usual. It's funny, he sleeps with his cars too.

As for my husband, I probably shouldn't mention here since he has an account. I doubt he'd read it, but just in case.

Then there's my big family (grandma, great-grandparents, bunch of cousins, bunch of aunts and uncles, two brothers, sister... well, you get the idea)....and then my husband's family. His side is fairly decent, but my side is huge (we're talking about 30 in numbers), so we limit each one to $5 total. Heck, gift wraps might even cost more than the actual gifts. Aunts and uncles - we pair them up, so for each family (my grandma has 7 children, so you can get an idea how crazy that can get) they get a towel or picture frame, etc. Then individual gifts for their kids, my siblings (but they're all living in Ohio atm), etc. Old Navy is a good place to shop for that, but I think I can find something at Target and work things out a bit, especially on pay-day since I get 50% off red and khaki (blouse and pants), on top of my 15% discount...it should be doable, even though we're really tight this year. For our parents though, we like to spend a little bit more than just $5. I'm not sure what we'll be getting everyone yet.

So the 2nd or 3rd week of December, I'm busy wrapping gifts at night. I'm putting up the Christmas tree next week (I like to have it up before Thanksgiving), but I'm not placing anything under the tree until the last two weeks of December, because I know my son will just unwrap the presents.

As for Christmas itself, I still have to check my schedule at work and see if I work the next day. Hopefully not. But like all Christmas (well, the last four years anyway) my brother-in-law and sisters-in-law typically sleeps over on Christmas Eve, so I'm sure they'll be doing that again this year. We all wake up at 4 a.m, make some coffee and very light breakfast for everyone, unwrap the gifts, and by 6 or 7 a.m (depends how fast everyone gets ready), we will head over at my father-in-law's place. Open more presents, have a second breakfast around 8 or 9 a.m. Take pictures, etc.

Everything has to be timely for us, because before noon, we have to head over at my side of the family. Typically it's at L.A, but this year, Christmas will be spent up a little north at Ventura, so that's 3 hours drive for us, which I actually don't mind (we like to get away, and heading a little north of Cali is always a pleasant drive), but it'll be hard for my son. More presents to open, a feast for everyone... my grandma likes to have turkey, chicken, ham, fish, and roast beef, on top of other side dishes that everyone else brings...that's a lot. Everyone brings in something...I'm not sure what I'll be making yet. Some type of casserole. Usually we plan everything, but I haven't made phone calls yet. Then there's always music, dancing, games (for both kids and adults), competitions, karaoke, etc.

Thanksgiving is actually also at Ventura this year, but we won't be able to make it. 6 hours drive (back and forth) in one day is not ideal, and since we're already doing that on Christmas, I'd like to be more relaxed on Thanksgiving. So we'll have our own Thanksgiving at our place. It would just suck on Christmas because we won't be able to sleep over...husband has work the next day at a hospital, and even if we tried to leave early the next day, we imagined we'll be caught in traffic anyway. Plus there's a chance that I might work the next morning (my shift starts at 4 a.m, but they might have me come in earlier). It'll be pretty busy, but I look forward to it.


EDIT:

I completely forgot to mention. For me, Christmas is not complete without some Celtic Christmas music playing during the month of December, while my family and I have a quiet night together (lights dim) and stare at our Christmas tree and lights. And eat German cookies. Pfeffernüsse.[h=3][/h]

 

[Coco]

i normally don't start my shopping until december. i refuse to acknowledge christmas until then.

I'm the same. Although by then, prices here go up and I join the others in the Christmas shopping rush. I always end up regretting it but I can't bring myself to get excited until it's actually December.

I normally am in charge of putting up Christmas decorations because I love doing it. We never throw out any ornaments, ribbons, etc so I have a lot of materials to choose from. I make up themes (last year it was angels) and I spend a whole afternoon designing the house. My sister usually helps but she's turned college this year so she's away at uni and I don't know if she will this year.

We have something called Noche Buena which is a huge dinner at Christmas eve. We time it so we end at exactly midnight then we go on to opening presents.

As for gifts, I have a list written in my head. My dad's been thinking of getting a new gadget for his iPad - the detachable keyboard. I'm still thinking about it though because it costs a lot For mom, probably the lifeproof iPhone case, which costs as much as the iPad keyboard I'm still trying to find a great gift for my sister and boyfriend. My sister hasn't said anything about what she wants yet. For my friends, since I take a lot of photos, I might print out a nice candid of each of them at the photo place and buy frames. I think they might like the idea. =D

 

[Rapture]

Christmas is going to be interesting this year...since I'm not working. I'm really hoping I'll find something before then (since it was one of my personal goals), but. Fortunately, money isn't what the meaning of Christmas is about. I only had a few people I wanted to get things for, and they all understand my situation. I'll have to round up some homemade gifts and cheap little things to hold them over until I start working again. For my friend I can put together a few little things I got from the last sale at Bath and Body Works, for my dad I'll probably bake him some homemade cookies and take him out to a movie, and for whomever of my family's name I draw this year I'm sure I'll figure out something.

That night I'll dress up and we'll go to church, then we'll do our big family get-together with our family coming in from Minnesota and we'll sit down and watch tv, talk, eat a HUGE Christmas dinner with Prime Rib, duck, homemade mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, bakery rolls (would be wonderful if I got my test done before Christmas so I can eat some ), broccoli salad, fresh pies, cookies, and many other things I can't think of off of the top of my head. Then we'll eat, open presents, and have dessert. It's just nice being with everyone again and spending time together.

As far as what we'll do around my house, we'll probably sit around the tree, watching Christmas movies like It's a Wonderful Life, a Christmas story, and White Christmas (my favorite) and drink hot cocoa and look at the tree.

I'll probably put up our Christmas decorations when we get back from up North after Thanksgiving. That's one of my favorite things to do...I love putting everything up, but the house looks so empty after you take it down

 

[Squid]

I'm not sure what christmas this year will involve for me. I am trying to save my money for some other things but I'll be a bit broke, so I'll probably only be getting gifts for my Mum, Sister and the BF (if he lets me .) I usually leave my xmas shopping to the last minute. Like... literally the last minute, the week of xmas to be exact!

On Christmas day I'll probably spend the morning with dad, then afternoon with mum's side of the family for an awesome dinner, then I might have to go back to see dad to go to some lake house thing which I am dreading...mostly because dads side of the family are a pain and I really would rather not be stuck in a cabin with them for a night

 

[Steve-O]

I'm planning to get my presents in the next few weeks for christmas, tbh, most of the presents I need to get this year are well easy, both my brother and sister are just itunes/psn vouchers and my mum and dad are demanding that I don't get them a present but i'm going to get them one anyway, their my parents afterall, and they need some cheer after the year we had

as for what i'm doing over christmas, well part of the plan is to chill with my family and my brother defo, as he due to go in for his operation early next year also i'm at university til the 20th seriously UK why do you have to keep me at university for that long

 

[Bambi]

I finished all my Xmas shopping about 3 weeks ago

just want to get the boy a few extra bits as and when im out and about

 

[AuronX]

Umm....nope, I haven't even started Christmas shopping. I'm always a bit late in that regard, but never ever do I dare go out right before Christmas and brave the insane crowds (insane both due to size and disposition).

I've got a pretty big family, and now that everyone's all grow'd up and several are married and several of those who are married have kids of their own now, figuring out Christmas presents can be kind of...difficult. This year to simplify things we just paired everybody off and and drew names so that each pair will only buy for one other pair of people. What have I done about that so far? Ehrm...nothing

That will change in time though. I'm kind of like Gandalf in regard to Christmas presents, I suppose.

 

[Tucker]

I love Christmas shopping I always go within a week of Christmas...going really early doesn't built the spirit as much. For me anyways.

We always have it at my grandma's house, and it's so fun. Unfortunately, I never like Christmas dinner because I hate hate hate ham :/ But being with the family and the presents and of course celebrating the birth of Jesus is enough to overshadow that.

 

[Bambi]

i fucking hate this site, it NEVER posts my posts grrrr

Shopping a week before Xmas is my worst nightmare, im only feeling festive this year becasyue i know i can just relax knowing all my crimbo shopping is done, you must be insane. Also, it doesnt help that my bday is a week before as well. fuck to buying other people shit when its my birthday

and of course celebrating the birth of Jesus is enough to overshadow that.

He wasnt born on the 25th December anyway

 

[Kandy-Sugar]

Well now that I'm living with my parents we won't really have to go anywhere on Christmas day. We'll spend the day here and possibly go to see my dads side of the family for Christmas Eve.

Steve's family don't celebrate Christmas, so it makes it easy not having to go see them.

Present wise I honestly could care less. Some money would be nice, because we pretty much have everything we need besides our own house.

I haven't started shopping for anyone yet though. >.< I am terrible with making sure I don't leave it to the last minute. Last year was bad. I acutally went to a Bottlo on Christmas Day to get my parents some alcohol for their present. >.<

Christmas lunch/dinner will consist of either Ham or Turkey (I prefer Ham though) and a bunch of other food such as fruit, lollies, nuts etc etc etc. We'll pretty much just eat all day like we normally do on Christmas Day and lunch will just merge into dinner. XD

 

[Martel]

I only have three people to buy for, and I know what I'm getting them. I'll probably do all my Christmas shopping next week, since I'll be going into town. Since I'll buy most of what I need to get online, I don't really feel the need to rush...I have no intention of shopping in the week before again, at least. It's unmitigated chaos, and perhaps the only time when I don't enjoy shopping...or, rather, I enjoy shopping, I just don't enjoy queuing.

 

[The Welsh Paddy]

Year before last, I remember spending an hour waiting in a queue at HMV to buy a Nine Inch Nails album for my love. It didn't help that the store was absolutely jam packed either. And this was a week before christmas. And walking down Dublin's Grafton Street was a bleedin' nightmare and all. Would have hated to have to do my shopping on Christmas Eve...

Often, on christmas eve we'd actually take a wander into town or the local super market. Not with the intention of buying anything (Except a drink or a snack maybe), but just to see how busy it gets. It's actually quite entertaining watching people frantically rushing around getting some last minute presents and the like.

 

[Tyler Breeze]

We got the Christmas shopping done already (online), the tree should be coming next week and then.... We wait. As for Christmas day, we celebrate on the 24th. We're gonna have a big dinner (not sure what though) and just chill til 8pm. We used to stay up until midnight, but that ended years ago.