Strange how it's all about booze and time of and nothing about the little baby jesus.Ses it all
No, it isn't strange at all.
For the majority it hasn't been a religious celebration for decades, maybe longer.
Rather than sneering at people maybe take note of the words posted further up.
"You keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine"
Yep, don't rate myself on an out of ten scale, but feeling quite Christmassy. Put all the lights up at the start of the month.
Break up on Friday for 16 days after a very hectic year work wise.
Going to a mates family gathering at his pub/restaurant on Christmas day.
Got a lads, lads, lads Christmas bike trip to BPW planned and may do a local one too followed by a beer and curry evening. Generally intend to do quite a bit of riding.
Only aspect to take the shine off it is daughter is in Oz, but we'll video call.
Love Christmas, not overly fussed about doing much for NYE though
Well I am beginning to look forward to it. Mainly at having both kids + son-in-law here for the first time in ages (son works overseas). I feel so lucky to have a happy family, as I know not everybody does.
Also roast goose and bread pudding.
Ramping up slowly. I had a great first part of the year, including my daughter getting married, but a pretty shit second half due to some fairly serious health issues which I've mentioned on another thread. Recent treatment for which left me a bit knocked about. I had started to get a bit cynical and dismissive about Christmas in the last few years, but this year does feel a bit different for me. In a good way.
I'm starting to come out the other side of my health stuff and feeling very grateful for it. Mrs Bloke absolutely loves Christmas, and does make the house look really nice. Her enthusiasm is slowly knocking the Grinch out of me. My kids who I don't get to see often enough will be here with us. We all get along really well and it's going to be a relaxed, fun family time. I am really looking forward to that. Currently 5/10 but predicted to peak at a solid 9/10 on the big day.
I'm about a 1/10 this year, in a bit of a downer funk and really need to kick myself up the backside.
Son is older now so will be out with his mates, I don't really have any so mainly just me and the dog (and he's a social nervous wreck so walks at busy times of day are avoided).
I think I've sort of changed what I want from christmas now far enough to make it generally pleasant, it used to be I'd be just about sick with stress and performance anxiety and the total creeping dread that I might be Bad At Christmas and I might fail to have the legally mandated Most Wonderful Time and that everyone would hate me and they'd be right.
Was sat under the tree with a blanket over me reading by treelight with a rum and coke last night and thinking "christmas, **** yeah". I've more or less stopped stressing about presents- I hate giving people crap presents, it used to put me into absolute anxiety funks for weeks, but in all my life I've never once thought "this present sucks therefore you suck" and my favourite people have given me some shitty presents, so I've just about managed to turn that around and see my stuff the same way I see other people's stuff.
And christmas day will be a fairly mellow family thing where we just eat til we die and my brother makes us play playstation 1 games and I build lego. I think I've basically managed to cut out almost everything I didn't like about it and just reframed all of that as unchristmassy or irrelevant. I'll do one big trip to the shops in a stressy time basically just to remind myself why it sucks.
(this is exactly like how I am shit and cowardly at jumping so rather than fixing that I simply declared jumping to be shit and not proper mountain biking, and went all in on the 2 or 3 skills I actually have as being the Only Things That Count. Not saying it's right, but it works so screw it)
Strange how it's all about booze and time of and nothing about the little babyjesus.Sesit all
I see this as a positive. Yes, Christmas has its traditions and there could be something heartwarming about retreading some of those every year. But for most of the UK population it has nothing to do with religion anymore....because most people in the UK no longer are christian and/or believe in god.
For me a mental re-brand as a 'winter holiday festival' has kind of worked. Wrestle it back off the god botherers and return it to what it was before they started adding their religious connotations. Yeah, I'll probably still slip up and throw out a 'happy Christmas' every now and then because I'm old and it's hard to unlearn this stuff. But, once you think of it as a winter holiday festival with some oldie-but-goldie traditions thrown in for sentimental reasons it's all good. Want to spend it on your own - go for it. Want to spend it with friends or family, that's good too. Want to hand out a few small gifts - go for it, but maybe don't get hung up on the specific day - just when the mood takes you.
But some down time and indulgence to break up the dark months is a good thing for the soul - the ancients had it right.
Really not feeling it at the moment. Gonna be a shit Christmas day.
Will be the first Christmas after my younger sister died, and my mums birthday is on Christmas day as well so it's her first birthday since Katie died as well. Grandad is in hospital with dementia and just being old(94) so nana will be with out him for the first time in God knows how many years.
We won't actually be with my family until the evening as we need to do something with my wife's family this year, but her auntie is really I'll so it'll be going round to Uncle and aunties mid morning for half an hour (we would stay longer but she can't really manage too many visitors for too long) then home for Christmas dinner. me, wife, 2 kids 17&15 and mother in law...
Then at some point drive down to Leicester from Leeds to see my older sister & family and my mum, maybe nana if she's still there.
But, silver lining, boxing day we set off driving down to the Pyrenees us 4, older sis & BIL, 2 nieces and nephew (Katie's son) and 3 dogs!! Woop, Woop!! Hopefully get a couple of days snowboarding in and a decent week and a bit away.
@bigdean I hope it pans out better than you expect and that you can at least enjoy some downtime. Also that things look up for you in the near future 👍
Quiet one this year, just Ms. RM, the hound, and me.
Very much looking forward to no chaos and stress, and hoping the weather on the 25th is dry for a nice walk somewhere.
So probably around a 7/10.
The dog however is not phased.
It's the only time of the year that things really stop at work, no-one sending emails or expecting meetings, it's a pause in the otherwise incessant grind. Yes the weather will be grim and it'll be dark, but a few days of drifting will be welcome, not especially Christmassy for us as a family this year as it'll be just us and the parents in law, perhaps a tad on the quiet time though perhaps simpler for that.
Not feeling it in the slightest, burying my gran on Friday, mum is in hospital with heart problems and I've just been made redundant.
Worse things happen at sea apparently 🤨
It's the only time of the year that things really stop at work, no-one sending emails or expecting meetings, it's a pause in the otherwise incessant grind. Yes the weather will be grim and it'll be dark, but a few days of drifting will be welcome, not especially Christmassy for us as a family this year as it'll be just us and the parents in law, perhaps a tad on the quiet time though perhaps simpler for that.
Sounds good. I'm very much in a 'that's a january problem' frame of mind with work emails.
Not feeling it in the slightest, burying my gran on Friday, mum is in hospital with heart problems and I've just been made redundant.
Worse things happen at sea apparently 🤨
Christ, thats a few punches to roll with. My instinct is to ask if you're doing okay, but that seems a bit daft. That's a tough hand mate.
I've a roof over my head and food in the cupboard so I'm better off than too many folk
Strange how it's all about booze and time of and nothing about the little baby jesus.Ses it all
Does it? All it says is that people who are actually religious and believe in Christ are dropping in number every year. I’ve never believed or had any faith at all, my parents brought me up to discover for myself, and I discovered it meant nothing to me. Especially when practically every single day something happens around the world that causes death, anguish and untold pain and misery to people purely because various religions hate each other.
I will most likely be on my own Christmas Day, although I might pop down to my brothers with their presents, he’s my only close relative and we’re not that close - there’s a nine year age gap, and his wife is pretty poorly, so they can’t do large gatherings.
Boxing Day I am looking forward to, as my late partner’s family are organising a big family dinner, and I’m considered family, so her sister and aunt are coming from New York and Brussels respectively, and her mum and daughters will be there, nine of us all together, it’s going to be a really lovely day.
Yeah not very. I don't hate it, it's just a bit meh. There's not much magic in it for adults is there? Time, expense and tolerating the most tedious dickheads in your family, if you still speak to them at all.
Merry Christmas 😀
Just had 10 days travelling around Switzerland by train , visited The Matterhorn, The Eiger etc it's true the trains actually run on time ! Drinking Gluwein at proper Xmas markets not the 50 sheds of shit we have here 🤔 complete with real snow !
Got back Monday and trying to hold on to those memories under slate grey skies and wondering if it's ever going to stop raining 🙄
Although did manage a blue sky ride yesterday afternoon and according to the forecast it might settle down next week 🤞
7/10 Love the Christmas music (but only from 10th December). Love all the Christmas films (watched White Christmas for the 10th time over the years). Love meeting up with friends, finishing work and relaxing.
Obviously missing loved ones and having to put up with people who don't like us is the down side.
Also this year we've agreed with some not to buy gifts, instead providing experiences (eg taking a friend out for coffee/lunch). I too am fed up with tons of tat and plastic cr*p that ends up in landfill in January. Also I get a bit cross with young ones not thanking us for gifts of money. It's so much easier nowadays to text, you don't even have to write a letter or telephone, it's just having manners.
Weather is getting on my tits, constant grey and raining. My fault as I got a new bike 2 weeks ago.
World is going to shit so that's another minus.
Although last year my mum had a stroke and was admitted to hospital, so fingers crossed we manage to avoid that this year.
Kids are all 15 + so they're not really excited about Christmas.
But looking forward to Christmas day as it's just us, the kids and my parents.
Then meeting up with some friends we've not seen for ages the weekend after.
I'm also booked onto a Santa run on Sunday so I think that will help get me into the spirit of things.
Overall I'd say I'm around 6/10 currently, and hoping to get up to 7/10 next week.
Away on holiday week before Xmas is how we do it. Xmas is what you make of it. But I did notice there are less lights than usual and people seem to have given up cards - I think that's a reflection of apathy.
People are generally exhausted these days. And it's been a hard old slog on the bike this November/ December.
Mostly I'm glad my mother is still alive to enjoy another one - as she didn't look like it a year ago.
Can I have a minus score?. Original plan was to go away for a week’s skiing to escape the inevitable of hosting old people AGAIN. But Mrs BH has done a lot of damage to her knee in a skiing accident and we have had to bin off the Xmas break. Which would have been terrible anyway because MIL has moved from a state of gentle ageing decline to a diagnosis of terminal cancer in the last two weeks. So now we are hosting BIL and wife as the family scramble to secure care and ensure MIL affairs are in order.
So I've actually improved my rating a bit now things are getting a bit closer and we've made some plans.
We're heading over to the greyhound sanctuary on Christmas morning to help out. Not expecting many other volunteers so will probably be a good few hours walking, feeding and fussing the hounds. Then home for a cottage pie and a glass or two of stout.
Back at the sanctuary on boxing day for their festive walk to take photos of the attendee hounds, walk one of the kennel hounds and have bbq sausage cobs (hopefully it stays dry!).
Still might not be feeling festive, but quite looking forward to it now.
Maybe a 2 out of 10 but should rise to a solid 6 after the weekend?
It won't stop raining and has been properly cold about twice so far this winter so everything is either under water or a slopfest.
Which means I've barely ridden my bike in the last month, the dog needs defilthing after every walk and boots are permamuddy.
Then there is a general state of...:waves hand at the general state of the globe:...that.
That being said...
We're off to Cardiff this weekend for 2 days of festive visits which should be suitably festively chaotic and I get to see my Mum, Brother, Nieces and Nephews. Unfortunately we also "get" to see my Reform supporting Father in Law and Stepmother in Law. Just need to make sure I don't mention politics or bite on any culture war bait.
The Christmas food and booze stockpile is looking decent.
Looking forward to family secret santa (we've stopped buying shit off lists) as I have got my eldest some ace things.
There is plenty of NFL (and it's also College US Football "Bowl Season" for us Sickos) on the telly over Christmas which means I won't be bored between now and about 5th January.
8/10 for me.
A week off work. 19yo daughter (who lives at home) has a few weeks off uni and wants to do stuff with us.
All of my, and my wife's older generation are gone. Having my 2 sisters, their partners, one 19yo neice and my wife's sister over to ours for dinner so looking forward to that. Find Christmas dinner a relatively easy dinner to cook, and we agree no presents (apart from for the younger generation) so all that stress is removed.
Will be a nice relaxed chilled day.
Wife's brother died earlier his year so that will make the day a bit tougher (a lot tougher for her and her sister).
When I look at all the sh*te going on in the world and the hardships that others have to face it makes me feel grateful for the relatively good\easy life I'm lucky enough to currently live.
The dog however is not phased.
She will be once you get the Christmas clothing on her and the antlers/bells!
Meh.
Maybe this weekend will change that.
We were talking about this in the office this morning. No-one seems to be feeling the Christmas spirit here this year at all which is very unusual, but at least it all finishes with the works Christmas lunch on Friday then it's home until 5th Jan.
Like a few others here it's been a bit of a crap year, what with one thing and another but I'm putting 2025 down to some sort of weird aberration in the space time continuum and currently have all my hopes on 2026 being a much better year. I'm probably very deluded there but I feel a bit of optimism is required at the moment.
Christmas itself will be very quiet this year with me and Mrs. Pinkster spending on our own with Rolo the dog (down to 1 this year for the first time in 13 years) and with it being Mrs.P's birthday as well that will be the real focus. I think it will be a case of battening the hatches, opening some wine, and watching lots of satisfyingly crap Christmas TV.
7/10
Getting made redundant so that's put a dampener on things generally - but I'm making an effort to enjoy things like friends, family & time with my GF. So probably a bit more Christmassy than most years TBH.
I see Christmas like the the football world cup. I'm aware that it's going on and lots of people are excited about it, but it doesn't really affect me.
Mrs Elbrus is off to Switzerland for two weeks to see her family. I could go but it's very intense and there's only so much fun you can get sitting in a room full of people who are all speaking in Swiss German when you don't speak it at all. So I'll go and see Mum, but she is bed bound and can't cope with any visitor for more than a couple of hours, so I'll drop in then when she goes to sleep I'll leave her to it. I have no other family and no friends I want to socialise with within 500 miles.
I'll work most of Christmas through choice, there's lots of maintenance work I can do in empty buildings and I'll save my holiday for when it's warmer and there's more light.
I genuinely don't mind it. People are confusing, drunk people even more so and if I don't socialise I've less chance of catching plague.
I do feel very much for those who are homeless and lonely this time of year and hope that those who are surrounded by people who love them and are warm, dry and well fed are able to get some enjoyment out of it.
At the moment 0.5/10 Still at work till Friday and work is busy at the moment, so fairly knackered and drained. However on Sunday it'll rocket up to 10/10 we catch the Eurotunnel first thing. A couple of days in Belgium, then a nice quiet few days over Christmas in Paris. Just the two of us with nothing to do other than we've got tickets to go up the Arc de Triumph on Christmas morning. Then just a few days of wandering, drinking wine and eating basic but good food. Looking forward to the break.
The dog however is not phased.
She will be once you get the Christmas clothing on her and the antlers/bells!
You underestimate how chilled this hound can be. 🤣
Struggling here - we've both had a bit of the lurgy getting us down, and EpicJnr home from uni w bad tonsillitis and antibiotics and trips to A&E so that has rather taken the wind out of everyone's' sails. Pretending not to watch the news as that is too sh1te.
We have a tree waiting in the garden, and a shopping delivery on teh 22nd, so hopefully we'll feel a little more festive over the next few days.
It's very much not a religious thing for us, but a chance to spend some time with family and enjoy a fun day with good food, wine and friends popping round late afternoon for some silly games.
5/10, which is probably an improvement on recent years. My workplace has been both toxic and batshit mental since the start of COVID and the run in to Christmas has invariably been rough as guts - basically an exercise in trying to shield my team from burn-out. As a result , Christmas itself has just felt like yet another pain-in-the-arse thing to do. Thankfully, this year has been much more civilised, since the management figure behind the aforementioned chaos/toxicity has finally ****ed-up badly enough to get booted out of the picture. Office atmosphere is vastly improved.
Family are mostly well: parents still healthy; daughter doing well in school. OT having a slight midlife crisis: if she were a man, she'd be driving a Porsche and dating a 22-year-old. I've had my best year on the bike to date in terms of the volume and quality of riding (and that Summer). Lots to be grateful for.
World events do intrude a bit, despite my endeavouring to practice Radical Apathy. Generally able to focus on what I can control, but there does seem to be a real confluence of malevolent forces at work.
Tree is up and looking pretty. Just trying not to take the piss with the mince pies and cheese. Looking forward to seeing some pals over Christmas, whom I love dearly and don't see often enough. Regrettably it'll be a dry one for me, as I'm on terbinafine for a nail infection. Keeping it sexy over here...
Christmas comes but once a year - from September till December.
But for me, the thing that starts it feeling magical is closing the curtains on Christmas Eve.
I'm normally 3/10 let's get it over with kind of person.
This year it's teetering on 0/10 (or even a negative number) and I'm just wanting it to go away.
- Wife's ill (like signed off for 4 months ill.
- I've been ill on and off since October (tooth abscess, sinus infection and then flu)
- older daughter is generally lovely, but just hitting grumpy teenager.
- ASD assessments and EHCP faff with the younger one are dragging on and on.
I just want a 2 week lie in and Xmas can 🖕
Trying not to be too grumpy about it so maybe 4/10.
I like a nice roast dinner and the addition of sausages wrapped in bacon and sprouts to the normal menu.
Can't stand the rampant consumerism, being boxed up indoors or the seeming need to make everything in a public space "Christmasy" while binge drinking and eating enough for 4. All that can get in the bin.
Looking forward to a few days off, walking the dog with Mrs g-d (something we don't get to as often as we'd like in the post lockdown/WFH world).
A bit of cycling if weather is ok and I think some guitar playing. I might even risk getting my parents to bring my bass and other guitar kit down for a sort out although this may disrupt normal domestic harmony. 😂
How Christmassy am I feeling?
Well, a few times I've nearly written "Xmas" rather than "Christmas". So, as far as I am concerned, that means I really can't be bothered with it this year. It's probably because our children are now 16 so all of the childhood magic has gone, and we are also away with family in the USA for Xmas and the new year so I don't even get to spend the day making a big meal, then staying up late drinking wine/G&Ts/port/cocktails with my brother (he lives alone so always spends the day with us when we are at home). I'll probably miss that bit the most.
Almost feeling it. Just awaiting an auditor's sign off on a claim, then I can relax. Got a meal with colleagues at 4pm, but one of the bosses has just said a few of them are going for pre-drinks at 1pm, come along. This could get messy in 3 hours. Just carb loading now.
I'm at maybe a 3/10 hoping to peak at a 5/10 possibly.
Kids are older (16 and 19 now) so aren't really excited anymore.
Had 2x work nights out. First one was a good laugh, second one was at a way too noisy venue and the beer was rubbish. Went home sober!
Pretty bored of drinking/hangovers already.
Looking forward to seeing relatives who I've not seen much of lately, and looking forward to cooking/eating some nice food.
However, the flip side of that is excessive time being entrapped in idle meaningless chit chat or board games for hours and hours and hours when all I really want to do at that point is go out in the fresh air feeling the wind, rain and (maybe) sun on my face. riding my bike or failing that a run or a walk or *anything* that gets me out of the house and on my own or in a small group (natural introvert but I hide it well....chit chat for too long is *absolutely exhausting*)
Claim signed off, now waiting for the FD to add his signature. Then it can be Christmas !
My tree (black, but sparkly black, small, artificial) has been left in the loft the past 4 or 5 years. For some reason I got it down this year. I dropped it out of the loft hatch, in the process breaking most of the small number of decorative baubles that were in the box. So I went on Amazon and bought some lights (now installed) and new baubles. Lordy, what's happening to me?
Must be that woman of mine's influence. She had a party the other evening and it was down to me to put up and decorate her large tree and put up the outside lights. It's taken a couple of years, but she seems to have exorcised the grouch from my being.
6.5/10
Does waking up feeling like an Xmas head cold is brewing, count? 🤨
Trying and failing, despite having had 'A Goldie Lookin Christmas' on heavy rotation since the beginning of December. Got a Wera advent calendar this year - and it's a properly good one, rather than another slightly different bit set - but that's just feeling like a chore I want to get done, rather than a wee treat to look forward to every morning. Most of the presents are wrapped, too. But if I'm a 2/10 for Christmassyness then that's being overly generous. I'd happily hibernate...
…and now I do. Just switched off until the new year.
