The Christmas Countdown Thread!

[auntiehill]

^We did our weekly shopping last night, and there was Christmas music playing in the grocery store.

Even I--the biggest Christmas nut in the country--thought that was jumping the gun a little.

 

[Kira's Mom]

I'm going to do a big chunk of my Christmas present shopping tomorrow- Ulta is having a big sale on their cosmetics and shower smoothies. My mom and sister always get a big basket of Ulta goodies from me...and I always pick a few things up for myself, too.

 

[trekkiedane]

I'm having the usual problems regarding x-mas presents: Not a big problem as us 'adults' don't give each other presents, but a big problem as I have absolutely no idea what to give 'my three little ones'!

That 'princess T-shirt' might actually be a good thing for my niece, but I'll still have to figure out what to give the 'just turned teenager' and the 'only an adult in the eyes of the law'-one (both boys).
I'm currently thinking: some [insert brand name]-shirt for the one living with his single mum and something funny from ThinkGeek for my -in his own way- very geeky nephew (perhaps he'll just have to settle for a bottle of Absinthe... after all, it's what the young ones drink these days and he seems to like it),

 

[F. King Daniel]

-40

 

[SPCTRE]

^We did our weekly shopping last night, and there was Christmas music playing in the grocery store.

Even I--the biggest Christmas nut in the country--thought that was jumping the gun a little.

Haha yeah, some shops do start a tad bit early

 

[Mary Ann]

My daughter took all the Christmas CDs out of the cupboard yesterday, presumably to put them on her iPod. I refuse to play any Christmas music 'til December 1st. I'm Scroogy that way.

 

[Miss Chicken]

One of Son no. 2's presents arrived yesterday. He is the son that is really interested in WW2 so I bought him this

I hope he likes it.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Very nice! If he is interested in WW2 than I am quite sure he will like that clock.

I finally decided what to get my youngest sister. She will be entering high school next year, so I am going to get her a "high school survival guide" that is humorous and a fun read.

 

[F. King Daniel]

-39

 

[F. King Daniel]

-38

My town's got all their decorations up in the malls and shops. The town lights go on at the end of the month.

 

[Finn]

Decorations galore here in the DC, from McDonald's to Best Buy stores and in the supermarket aisles. It doesn't even feel like November to this native New Englander.

I'll spend Christmas out in the Shenandoah Mountains just like last Christmas, with my fiancee, my folks, her parents, her sister and hubby, the hubby's mother and maybe his brother. Big extended family, huh?

 

[Kira's Mom]

^My family at Christmas (at my sister's house) will consist of: Me, my parents, sister, brother in law, nephew, brother in law's sister and hubby (and possibly his mom), their daughter, her husband and baby, son and his wife (and their baby to be!). Plus three dogs and a cat. It's probably a good thing I'm unmarried and childless- we'd break some fire codes.

And my poor nephew is going to be recovering from back surgery...so everyone is going to be waiting on him.

 

[Sector 7]

I do not Countdown to Christmas until after Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. Perhaps my attitude of taking things one-at-a-time comes from age.

 

[WillsBabe]

I checked out Norad's Santa Tracker today. It says come back on December 1st. I knew they wouldn't be tracking Santa yet, but I just had to have a peek!

 

[Mary Ann]

^ We love Norad's Santa Tracker in our house. My boys are too old to believe in Santa but they love maps, so Norad is on the computer all of the 24th.

On Christmas day it's always just me, my husband, and our three children. My family live in Canada and the Netherlands, and though Stu's family live about an hour's drive away we never spend Christmas day with them. They're the type of people who expect everyone to come to them, and would never come here. Heck, they never did that when we lived two blocks away from them. So when our oldest child had her first Christmas I put my foot down and told my husband that we would be spending Christmas day at home. If people wanted to visit us, that was fine, but we weren't going to go anywhere. He didn't like it at first but 14 years later he appreciates it. I know it sounds nasty on my part, but I was in no mood to spend every Christmas day in the company and at the home of people who don't actually like me much.

 

[Sector 7]

^My mother's sister is like that, too. We always had to visit them, they never came to us... at any time of year. I put my foot down with the response, "It is the same distance from your home to mine as it is from my home to yours. When you come visit me, I'll be happy to visit you." In the last 30+ years we've had two visits from them.

For years I sent her (and other family members) a subscription to Guidepost magazine. It is a positive, uplifting type of publication... a fairly inoffensive gift for most. A few years ago I asked her if she got the subscription renewal. She told me that for years she has been throwing that Satanic magazine in the trash and didn't know who kept sending it to her. She found it offensive and "not really Christian, but a tool of the Devil," etc., etc. Needless to say, that is the last gift she ever received from my household.

 

[WillsBabe]

^^ Every Christmas we travel to my husband's family in the north. I am so bored by it, and for me, Christmas starts proper when I can get home again. Because the roads are so bad on Christmas eve, the rigmarole starts early on Christmas morning when we leave our house and spend four or five hours on the motorway. Then it's another 2 or 3 days in other people's homes before we can come home again. Still, got to be the dutiful wife and daughter in law and all that. *sigh*

 

[trampledamage]

^^ Every Christmas we travel to my husband's family in the north. I am so bored by it, and for me, Christmas starts proper when I can get home again. Because the roads are so bad on Christmas eve, the rigmarole starts early on Christmas morning when we leave our house and spend four or five hours on the motorway. Then it's another 2 or 3 days in other people's homes before we can come home again. Still, got to be the dutiful wife and daughter in law and all that. *sigh*

Emigrate - solves all your problems

Must remember the Norad Santa Tracker this year, the kids will love it!

 

[CaptainStoner]

humbug.

 

[trampledamage]

Oh yes, must lay in supplies of sweets