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Post by kflute on Nov 8, 2006 22:28:33 GMT
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Post by princessmoose on Nov 8, 2006 22:29:19 GMT
I was waiting for this . I hate Christmas .
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Post by kflute on Nov 8, 2006 22:30:12 GMT
Baaaaaaaaaaaaa humbug!!!!
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Post by Steve Hopwood on Nov 8, 2006 23:03:19 GMT
Hehe. I belong to the bah humbug brigade. The one way anybody has of ensuring a long and agonising death is to ask me the question, "Are you ready for Christmas" before the 22nd of Dec. Bear in mind, you lot, that I have a dreadful virus I can send down the internet to you, so instantly lining up to ask, "Are you ready for Christmas" could be regarded as a poor career move. ;D
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Post by princessmoose on Nov 8, 2006 23:05:11 GMT
I love the build up to it, it's the actual day that's rubbish.
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Post by anacrusis on Nov 8, 2006 23:58:57 GMT
I hate the run-up, and my own Christmas day often ends up an anticlimax, even if everyone else enjoyed it... Shopping; presents for the kids, one of which is programmed to be disappointed because of too much TV propaganda; present for spouse, and he never gives any indication of what might go down well; presents for parents, for sister and her husband (they all seem to have had all the good idea gifts already) and their kids; chivvying spouse to do similar for his lot. Catering; I bake biscuits (why? I hate baking, but everyone likes the results : and a Stollen (breakfast on Christmas day not complete without); food must be purchased in obscene amounts because of course the shops will be closed for a whole.....er....24 hours? The food then gets crammed into the fridge, overspill in the Arctic wasteland which is our kitchen, and nibbles on top of the cupboard to keep them from the grazing of the kids. Then we forget about them and they go out of date. Oh, and then there is the consultation with Santa, who needs guidance on his stocking-filling exploits. Forgot the wrapping paper. Cards....AAAAAARGHHHH! Tree-decorating is OK, and lighting the candles on it the highlight of my Christmas. But the rest of it all - bah humbug indeed.
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Post by Steve Hopwood on Nov 9, 2006 0:03:04 GMT
Can you self-prescribe some pretty pink pills perhaps, anacrusis? ;D
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Post by anacrusis on Nov 9, 2006 0:54:24 GMT
Steve, you've just made things worse. I forgot about the work side of the run-up to Christmas. Women coming in depressed about how crap it is - only with tons of financial misery and gastroenteritis from the half-defrosted turkey as well, and kids with coughs who are also home from school and stir-crazy, and dads who forget each year that this is when they hit the bevvy and tip over... Not even little blue and pink pills would fix all that! Am I glad that we got the obligation to be on call overnight removed from our contracts...
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Post by Dulciana on Nov 9, 2006 9:53:02 GMT
The Bad Things Scouring the shops for things you can't afford for people who don't need them. Argos bags with no handles. A granny who drinks too much wine and sits and burps and grunts. Her frame is too light to deal with it, but she's too damned heavy to carry to bed. An overflowing bin, which means you're wading through turkey carcasses, packaging and wrapping paper for a week after the event. The grease all over the floor. The in-laws arriving dressed to kill when you're still in your grubby dressing gown, usually with a hangover and with very little sleep, having been up till 4.30 a.m. building castles, sticking on stickers, looking for batteries for things that you assumed would have them included, and reading instructions. The worst was the year no. 2 son got the drumkit and no 4 got the Fisher Price castle. We discovered long after midnight and after copious quantities of alcohol had been consumed that the castle was still at granny's, so we had to pay double fare in a taxi to go and get it - granny couldn't find her keys in her state of inebriation - and we still had to build the damned thing when we got back. The drumkit was finally erected at 5.45 and no. 2 was sitting on the stool at 6.30... The Good ThingsOpening the wine once the tree is finally vertical. Getting to redo the tree on your own once smallest child has gone to bed - since all the decorations are below waist height and at one side only. Finding that the odd set of last year's lights actually works. Waving goodby to the inlaws (who go out for Christmas dinner) so you can get your own beast into the oven and start chopping carrots. Handel's Messiah - a serious one - always a little oasis of calm excitement a few nights before total chaos takes over.
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Post by jod on Nov 9, 2006 12:41:33 GMT
Being married to an NSM Curate and having a child whose birthday is on 14th December puts things in a different light.
For me Christmas is centered around Church. Of course there is the tree and the catering to deal with, but we have a very good farm-shop that I'm going to use to help with that.
I'm making my own mincemeat and mincepies in November and freezing them. I'm making Sausage rolls in November and freezing them. The farm shop will supply the Goose, bread sauce, and Christmas Pud. I'll make the Christmas cake with the kids, and as for pressies, I don't tend to give elaborate pressies (except to the children). The trouble is relatives expect me to sort out pressies for the kids and offer a gift wrapping service.
Christmas Cards will be home-made courtesy of the local print shop, I'm just finalising the design. I have a Christmas Card Label file to address the envelopes, and we've given up writing round-robin letters.
My highlight this year will be getting back from nine lessons and carols from our Parish Church on Christmas Eve. Opening up some sparkiling wine and tucking into a mince pie. Bliss!
I have a well trained Father in Law who preps all my veggies for me on Christmas Eve, so all I have to do on the day is shove things in the Oven at the right time.
For me Christmas is about Church and having loved ones around me. Sure the catering is exhausting, but at least I see the people who are closest to me.
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Post by princessmoose on Nov 9, 2006 14:42:11 GMT
You think 14th Dec is bad? How about Christmas Day , my brother is 4 then.
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Post by stumac on Nov 9, 2006 14:59:27 GMT
Christmas has become a little frought with us. My sister has 3 children and 2 step children. This means that it's difficult for her to come and see our parents as it would mean that her step kids won't be able to see their own mother; which means that our mother gets a bit annoyed cos she doesn't see her grandchildren!
I used to like boxing day, as the house is usually quite again and I can have turkey sandwiches, which I recon are better than the turkey itself!
However, my mother has recently started making it a special day, as my sisters kids usually come over. This means that we have two "special days" in a row, which the rest of us find hard going.
A bit difficult to explain but I'm sure you catch my drift. All good family fun!!!
I always say I'll learn some Christmas music, but end up leaving it too late. My favorite Carol is "in the Deep Mid Winter". I have a really simple arrangement of it somewhere. Just after I'd started playing the piano i worked out the melody by ear, and a friend of mine put some simple chords to it so I could play a "proper" version with parts for both hands.
I'd really love to find a nice piano arrangement to work on.
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Post by chocolatedog on Nov 9, 2006 16:42:46 GMT
Baaaaaaaaaaaaa humbug!!!! My sentiments exactly.........
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Post by petite joueuse on Nov 9, 2006 16:46:47 GMT
Well I LOVE it! All the music for my recorder consort is sorted (Christmas carols around the world); school choir music is sorted (more Christmassy stuff); lessons for last week of term sorted (Christmas worksheets); lots of Christmas songs in my adult choir....etc....etc.....
And then there's Handel's Messiah, Corelli's Christmas Concerto just to mention two
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Post by hoxie on Nov 9, 2006 20:24:31 GMT
I always forget cards until the very last minute. I then go and dig out our bag of half-boxes of cards and proceed to quickly scribble names and a standard message to everyone I can think of, then attempt to remember to hand them out. I find cards a bit pointless to be honest, I know it looks nice and pretty to have cards around the house but no one ever seems to bother reading them and I always spend ages trying to make sure I haven't missed anyone out. Then there is the strange politics (at school) of trying to figure out who to get a present & card for etc. - my 'group' is pretty big and thankfully we now do secret santa, but before this it used to cost an absolute fortune and it was really hard to draw the line of where to stop buying presents, as I did my close friends, then the rest of the group, then had to stop where the rest of the group merged into different groups who appeared sometimes It's so confusing!!
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