Some of my christmas tree baubles have been handed down through the family for ...oh..probably nearly 100 years. It's a nice thought. 

I have no idea how I am feeling about xmas.
This year is going to be a bit frazzled. The family home is sold and we have a completion date of 4th January .
So I am between lives at the moment.I go back to the old house and pack and sort and throw away. Then I come to my new life where there is warmth and love and peace and the tree in the corner.
At the moment I am sitting in my living room, the fire place looks lovely with the new decorations I bought and the tree is twinkling blue and white lights. The turkey is ordered and I have bought most of the pressies.
I am having a day off today from packing the house up - the ex is down and he can jolly well have a turn. i really don't like being in the same room as him anyway. So I am going to write the cards, look at what I have bought so far and wrap the pressies I need to send through the post. I have also been told that I am going to have a fuss made of me today so that will be rather lovely..

Xmas day I will be working first thing and then will be having a very relaxing day probably eating far too much.

Then chaos for the next fortnight...

Then hopefully peace and a new house to look forward to.

BUT  NO SNOW PLEASE!!!!

Wow that a lot issy!



I hope the move transition goes smoothly for you and that Santa takes extra good care of you this year :-)



I have a lovely green tree in the living room and a pretty White one in an upstairs window!

I put the tree and decorations up, yesterday.
Cards are written and ready to be posted.
Still have some pressies to buy, but I am getting there.

.

I know - it all came out in a whoosh this morning - sorry folks for rambling..

I'm sure that next year will be wonderful for you. After having so much turmoil you'll really appreciate all that's coming.

what if you have no family?  What if Xmas day is the day the last of your family passed away. . and all around you there is talk about it being the time of year for family and friends so you are constantly reminded  how alone in the world you are, unlike other times of the year when you can forget about that..?

for me Xmas time is the saddest time of the year and I suspect I am not alone in being in that position. . I really hope everybody else  has a great time and is truly thankful for all they have cos you never know how long you have it for .... For me..   I shall be as grumpy as I like and sod any of ya's that don't like it. . 

Thanks Sooz.. I saw in another thread you are doing the children's stockings..

What are you going to put in them?

You do that .

You are spot on - Xmas can be a lonely time as well xxxx

Reference:

So far I've got blow bubbles, crayons, paints, slinkies, squidgy ball animal things, a watch, farting putty, whoopee cushions, fake rotten teeth and loads of stuff coming from Hakins Bazzar that I've forgotten.

Tube of maltesers, chocolate santas, chocolate balls and the PG Tips (or is it TyPhho) monkey to be looking out of the top. Everything will be loosely wrapped in red and green tissue paper except the monkey. Just as I used to do it for my kids.

yes Issy and it never ceases to amaze me just how unthoughtful some people can be .. only takes a minute to stop and think before putting foot in gob..

Olly ..............it must be hard for you - I'm sure that Christmas can be a sad time for many as it's a nostalgiac time of year. I just hope you have a peaceful day and can get some enjoyment - perhaps a small treat for yourself.

I hope things do improve and that maybe future Christmases will be fantastic for you. Peoples circumstances can change I'm sure or hope at least that better times will come your way again

I really want one - they sound great

thanks Soozy..    tho I didn't post what I posted for any hugs or for people to feel sorry for me [am fine, there's no need to ]  I just wanted to make a point that there are usually reasons why people may be a tad grumpy, or extra grumpy in my case, around Xmas time.. just used my position as an example..

 I think it is heartless to dismiss the grumps as kill joys without asking yourself why they may be like that in the first place.. and again I don't mean it's all about me I meant for people out there that have it a lot worse than I do.. and tbh I don't have it so bad. .I have food, heat and a roof over my head.. that's gotta be a plus 

Having said all that even if I did have family around I still think no mention of Xmas should be in the shops or anywhere else  til at least the 1st Dec ..  

oh and for Xmas day I stuff and cook a huge turkey in the same way my mother used to and cook it slowly overnight so I wake to the smell of it cooking and it's all for me me me.. . it does last quite a long time tho but I love Turkey and all the trimmings so never get fed up of it..

I have got a large turkey ( well 11lb) - there is just me and the OH and the cat, BUT I think of it as an investment cos it will make loads of meals for us plus a huge vat of soup.. I also cook mine slowly over night - I give it a blast of heat at the beginning to kill any bugs and then cook it slowly.
Best smell ever to wake up to in the morning.

I hate turkey crowns cos I think you need the dark meat for added flavour.

me too. .  I much prefer the darker meat.. I usually use the crown for curries or sandwich stuff and yeah you can't beat waking up to the smell of it cooking...

Surprisingly my current cat is petrified of meat whereas others I've had would take my fingers off .. .his ears go back, his eyes go wide and wild looking and he's out the catflap like a bat out of hell.. maybe he thinks I am about to poison him. ....

I've read it all now
How can a cat be scared of meat 
Maybe he has had a meat related trauma that you are not party to. Perhaps a large raw chicken fell on top of him once

I've no idea why he's like that tbh. . he was a rescue cat so maybe he got a whallop as a teeny baby for trying to nick some meat.. he came as a pair sadly the other one got deaded by a car and this one very nearly did too but escaped with just a broken pelvis.. they were 8 mths when I got them and would only eat dry food.. all my other cats ate meat and cheese and yoghurt and well pretty much anything hanging around ...

He does like a bit of Sheba Tuna and shrimp but a small pot last 3 days.. he's a totally bonkers type of cat for sure

Right I am about to get extra grumpy now. .tis card writing time   laters

oooooooooh and chocolate money of course - a stockings not a stocking without chocolate money is it?

Absolutely not - I always put chocolate money in my two's and they are 20 and 24

Mine always get a choc0late orange in their stockings!

Budgens were doing buy one get one free a few weeks ago.

Cant get organised this year at all, it will be Christmas Eve at this rate before i get the tree up  I always put chocolate coins in everyone,s prezzie, no matter the age     Oh and no snow at Christmas, please, seen enough of it this year to last a lifetime

I'm exactly the same as this ^

I thought I was organised until the postman delivered a parcel containing the Inception DVD this morning. According to my records (yes, I am that anal!), I have already received this and wrapped it up.

Am confused

wish I was organised. I've got masses of parcels arriving daily ..............some of the stuff I'd completely forgotten about. We didn't get post for over a week .......................poor postie doesn't know what's hit her. My daughters having all her stuff sent here too!

In my head I am very organised. I was going to write my Xmas cards today but I have got this rotten cold bug and feel like crap

trees been up since before the start of december

Nope.

Its been up since the first weekend of December. Traditional.

Mine went up about a week ago and I keep adding bits to it and tweaking the beads. I think I need to move it into the loo or something cos I can't help staring at it and thinking things could be moved around. I wouldn't be surprised if the tree gets up and moves out soon.

QUOTE Satasoomawoo:   Thank God for Christmas.....  well that just made me HOWL out loud.   God bless ya  

Put a tree up where? No I haven't.

NO

We put ours up this afternoon - it's always smaller than I remember

Nope.
Although we got home and someone had kindly put up all the outside lights and decorated Claude and Maude with antlers and tinsel.  They're our two great dane statues........

Put the tree up today and we bought some new lights to put on it. Only snag was the wire woldnt reach the plug. So i had to cobble up an extention which we had on the old lights onto the new set. Will start on the tree decorations tomorrow now. Also wrote all the christmas cards and i swear the pile was nearly a foot tall. Gonna cost a fortune in stamps.
 Do any of you still put up the trimmings on the ceiling? Not me nowadays, unsteady on ladders.

dont they? i think i might move there, i've always thought New Year was overrated

Noooooo, Saz..!  It's MY night.

I'll willingly cater for anyone and everyone over Crimbo but once NYE arrives that's it.  Me and Mr. C get with our mates and head off to a party at our fave local restaurant.  We get fed, glasses filled continuously, the chairs are pushed back and we go mental until at least 3 am.

It's brilliant.  And it embarrasses the kids enormously when we arrive home later than them.