awwwwwwwww.

Wookienopants wrote:

Ill join in on this thread then.  My family doesn't really do Xmas now that we're all grown up with careers and adult life and such, so this year I've been invited to join my gf's family in Jersey for the week of Xmas. Apparently her parents host the worlds most over the top family Xmas, complete with big meal, Xmas jumpers, carol singing, decorations everywhere etc. I'm equal parts excited and also scared... This will also be the first time I've met them.  I smell a tv sitcom episode

Meet the Parents vs National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I'll watch that..

Postman Patel?

Christmas is supposed to be at my sister-in-law's, as they've just moved into a new place, which breaks the eight year trend of me hosting the family dinner, which is a bit annoying.  On the plus side, they've had a leak and their kitchen is currently being heated and ventilated, and will probably need a refit, so I'm on standby.  On the minus side for them, their pikie chancer neighbours have claimed the leak has ruined all the furniture in their front room, and have already put two old sofas, a table and an armchair on a skip (where it's been handily been getting soaked by the rain).  Must've been some damp.

daviedigi wrote:

i always want to go to tokyo.
i never will, this saddens me.

reg has a cinema room!!!!

Correction- REG'S PARENTS HAVE A CINEMA ROOM COZ THEY ARE MONEYBAGS

Presents and food and drink and family and friends and kisses and handshakes and snow and shit TV and games and time off fucking work and lots of happiness. 

Religion isn't even an afterthought, glorious. In your face Baby Jebus.

Christmas is a bit more difficult as my GFs family is in Torquay, and we live in Bristol. She doesn't really get on with her sisters (they are both 20 years or so older) so it would just be seeing her mum and dad. Now we have the kid, this makes things tricky.

I've got two brothers, a sister in law, and a nephew here. We have Christmas dinner with the whole bunch, and my grandparents on Christmas eve, and Christmas day is a really fun day of presents, drinking, eating and just having a good time. Normally the consoles are out for some gaming with my bros, board games are played and so on. It's awesome.

My GFs parents just basically sit in their front room all day, watch TV, and have dinner. Boring as fuck, for someone like me who wants the time to spend with my family playing games and having a laugh.

Normally, I would suggest that the parents come and stay with us for a few days, that way we can see them, but also do my family thing. Trouble is, GFs mum isn't very well at the moment so travelling might be out of the question, which could throw up the issue of us going down to them. Obviously my GF wants to see them, but I reallllly don't want to go, and I would imagine our son would go with her so there is the possibility of not seeing him Christmas day. He'd also have a much better time at my families on the day.

So a nice, difficult conversation to be had pretty soon.

I've asked if I could have all 3 days off this year (so Eve, and both the Christmas days), as Sinterklaas (which is officially 5 and/or 6 December) is already proving to be a pain in the ass to organise. After quite a bit of discussion (apparently, is close to madness to some people in Bas his family that I asked for them to come over, as I have to work both days this weekend. 1,5 hour in the car is too much for some) my weekend will look like this: work 12-7, than probably no time to redress or get a shower, drive south for 1,5 hour, have a few hours of presents/sarcastic poems and probably silly costumes, go to bed not too late, than in the morning drive north for 1,5 hours to be at work again at 12. Not looking forward to that.

So Christmas here is usually about the food, no presents, my mom has already claimed us to come over for dinner at the 1st Christmas day (which is apparently at my godfather's pub, the two seem to have gotten quite close over time, but no speak of a relationship yet, confuses the hell out of me), so we'll have to see which day suits Bas his mom (which will probably be the same day, these things are never easy) and hopefully I'll have some time with just Bas, or maybe some friends as well.
So Christmas will be spend driving around the country again, we live in Amsterdam, Bas his mom 1,5 hours southwards, from there it's about 1 hour eastwards to get to my mom, than about 2 hours towards the north again to get home.

Hmpf.

We were always told Sinterklaas was here first, and Santa Claus is just the way the Americans pronounced it, and made their own party around it all.

Not sure if it's true, at least Santa's little helpers aren't that much a problem in the current world. Sinterklaas has loads of black men walking around on the roofs in the winter, to push presents into the chimney. There is talk in this country that it's wrong to have black men working for you in this day and age, but it's all about tradition, right?

I bought my new neice a snare drum and some drumsticks because she bangs her fists on every surface she can, which amuses her greatly, but as she's only nine months old I guess I'll be playing it all day, pretending to be The Stone Roses' very own Reni now then now then.

Yes, it was Saint!

I've got Christmas and Boxing Day off this year.  Parents can't come, as they're visiting my brother in New Zealand, so will just be the 4 of us, my step brother, and my brother in law.  Christmas will go something like this:

Woken by sound of kids arguing about whether or not it's too early to wake us.
Groan and tell kids it's alright to come in.
Get jumped on, then feign surprise at the wonderful things Santa has brought them.
Read thrilling letter from Santa I wrote the night before.
Open my own stocking and show genuine surprise at the wonderful things Santa's brought me.
Insist the kids at least eat breakfast before they can open any of the pressies under the tree.
Eat breakfast, then open presents.  (Mine will take 5 minutes, and consist mainly of bottles of whiskey from well meaning patients who don't know I'm teetotal.  The kids will take all morning courtesy of various benevolent relatives.)
Cook Christmas dinner.
Eat Christmas dinner.
Feel slightly sick. 
Play with kids and/or toys.
Watch Doctor Who.  (For a variety of long winded reasons TV is banned on Christmas Day except for Who.)  Complain that it was a bit rubbish.
Point out to the kids that they don't need an evening meal because they've spent the entire day eating already.
Make something quick for the kids to have as an evening meal.
Persuade kids to sleep.
Start watching movie/ playing game that wasn't suitable in front of a child audience.
Get interrupted at an inopportune moment by a child who can't get to sleep.
Watch rest.  Eat chocolate.
Sleep.

Boxing Day will be spent with my In-Laws, who being Muslim don't actually celebrate Christmas, but being In-Laws are none the less very insulted if we don't come over.

Its just the two of us this year, I'll wake up alone 'cause the lady is sleeping at work on Chrimbo Eve.
She'll get home at 0800ish and I'll bust out some Michael Bubble whilst singing along, totally ruining the classics but getting right into the festive spirit. I'll make her a fancy poached egg on toast and I'll stuff as much smoked salmon and Philly in my mouth as I can. We start with a nice champagne.

After that we fully get into the swing of things, tear open all the presents and polish off the bubbly whilst trying to eat the small mountain of snacks, sweets and nuts we've squirrelled away over the last month.

Lunch gets kicked off, probably with her shouting at me 'cause I'll be on Halo/Dishonoured/Far Cry 3/something and will take command of the lunch by standing around, stirring the occasional pot and generally doing nothing bar singing shockingly badly.

Dr Who is my 1 tv show, she'll have the standard Enders/Corrie and we'll just lay around in a typical Christmas food coma. Cheese, biscuits and few glasses of port will be had and two individual small puddings to really hammer home that great feeling of a day well spent.

Oh and I'll probably phone around the folks/friends at some point and discuss the day and spoils.

I have to say it is tinsel-fest with me - exterior decorations (not OTT mind), a brace of artificial trees inside and the odd battery powered singing reindeer head - all up by the 2nd weekend in December.

Church on Xmas Eve - I'm not a follower but the wife is and it's a tiny sacrifice for the general peace-on-my-earth that results - I also feel a bit self-rightous even though it isn't "my" church (I crossed the great N.Ireland divide when I married).

Two daughters are breaking into teens but still behind the average a tiny bit on the maturity curve (there's enough time for growing up) and way on up girlie curve - adds to the occasion.

Day has mother-in-law and bro-in-law over for food etc.

Day after is at my mother's for second wave of gift swap - generally knee deep in babies and noise generated from my siblings and their boistrous offspring.

I try and get the next few days off ( at my level I usually can - sometimes go in for a day because it's really quiet and a piece of piss - also much craic to be had with half-pissed or recovering singletons).

English in-law mob usually arrives during this period.

New Year's Eve is at ours - I'm dishing out cocktails to a smorgasbord of neighbours, friends and the odd relative...

Usually head to back work day kids drag themselves back to school - usually feel a bit down after it but that feeling has eased in recent years for some reason - probably because the years are going by far too quickly and there's always another event on the horizon seemingly.

Understanding wife usually gets me some sort of gadgetry or game-related nonsense - or even the odd nicety such as Miles Davis Bitches Brew collectors edition with vinyl, CD and DVD etc. which was nice surprise last year.

You may join me for xmas Tempu.