GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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"How you win matters." Ender, Ender's Game
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Dec 10, 2013 21:23:15 GMT -5
We go to Mass on Christmas Eve night so that we can relax and enjoy Christmas Day without having to dash off to church.
We'll get up (the kids are teens, we have to ask that they try and wake up by 9 although I do really miss those 6 a.m. wake up calls from years gone by), go through the family tradition of DH going downstairs to turn on the lights on the tree to see if Santa came (and plug in the percolator). He'll futz around a bit on purpose before announcing in an excited voice that "Santa did come!!!!". We'll all (partly) act surprised and fully excited and head down the stairs with the youngest (YDS) going first. We'll burst into the living room and jump for joy and then take seats for The Opening of the Gifts. We open them one at a time with each getting a turn in cycles with YDS going first.
We then enjoy coffee and fresh cinnamon rolls while listening to Christmas music for one more day and marveling at everyone's loot and opening stockings.
Sometimes we then head off to DSister's about 20 minutes away for Christmas dinner and a hilarious Yankee swap.
Other times we just stay put in our pjs and relax and enjoy the day. I'll make a nice Christmas dinner later in the day and then we'll just chill (is there a football game that day?).
I THINK this year is a "stay home and relax" day. Either way, it's all good.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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"How you win matters." Ender, Ender's Game
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Dec 10, 2013 21:24:29 GMT -5
Waffles are truly nothing but a vehicle for butter and real maple syrup.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2013 21:30:54 GMT -5
I might head down to the casino and see if I can't win a few $
This sounds like a great idea. DH isn't the slots type but at times I can talk him into it. We are invited to g-dtrs in-laws home but not sure we will go. Last Christmas I was very ill so this year we give thanks to God both of us are well. And I say Merry CHRIST-mass. Nothing says "Christmas" better than "JACKPOT!".
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sarcasticgirl
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Post by sarcasticgirl on Dec 10, 2013 22:08:31 GMT -5
Omg that sounds amazing!,of course I donated my waffle iron when i moved. May just have to buy a new one.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using proboards
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Regis
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Post by Regis on Dec 10, 2013 22:20:48 GMT -5
The joke is fairly harmless, regis, but people do take offense. Our longstanding policy is to remove.
- Virgil (Deputy P.C. Policeman) Darn... I like offensive posts. Sent from my Nexus 4 using proboards So is this the point where I'm supposed to threaten to leave the board and never come back because the man is suppressing my right to free speech?
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 11, 2013 8:39:42 GMT -5
uh, I'm happy for you....? this thread isn't on the religious discussions board, so I won't give you a history of this winter holiday and its origins....but yay for you on making sure us heathens know what the holiday is called.
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skubikky
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Post by skubikky on Dec 11, 2013 8:48:44 GMT -5
No kids here, either. Get up a little later than usual, open presents, have a small breakfast, take a walk around the neighborhood to see what the other kids got from Santa, pick up the paper, come home and get ready to spend the rest of the day with friends for an annual dinner tradition that now includes a beer tasting tradition. Everyone contributes a few bottles of weird beer. We use really small cups (or else we'd all be too plastered to sit up straight for dinner). In NYC when I was a kid, sometimes we used to go to the movies and then out for Chinese.
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skubikky
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Post by skubikky on Dec 11, 2013 8:49:36 GMT -5
Waffles are truly nothing but a vehicle for butter and real maple syrup. No truer words have been spoken today. My vote for POD!
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skubikky
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Post by skubikky on Dec 11, 2013 8:57:59 GMT -5
Since being married and havings kids, Christmas Eve at church. When DH's aunts were doing it, Feast of a Bazillion Fish Dishes...then, after midnight, Feast of a Bazillion Meat and Pasta dishes....easily, the type of gluttony that would have rivaled the ancient Roman orgies. These days Christmas eve afternoon, Feast of a Few Fish Dishes and favorite family specialties at our place. Pretty much an open house. Family, friends and neighbors stop by for a drink, nosh, and holiday well wishing. Christmas day either feasting at home, at SILs or nieces...this year, eat at home and maybe dessert at nephews. At the moment, both kids should be home as well as my sister.
We also do homemade cavatelli at our house on New Years day for the whole extended clan. And then, of course, Festival of a Bazillion Bowl Games....followed by, yes, you guessed it, Feast of a Bazillion Snack Items.
"If anything's worth doing, it's worth doing to excess"
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2013 21:41:06 GMT -5
I'm stuck with Altar Guild duty for the 10 a.m. Christmas Day service this year (first time I've been to that service in 22 years and not a prayer of getting DH there) so we're doing a de-boned Cajun chicken with a couple of sides for dinner. If DH would get his opposable thumb out of his anal orifice, we could do something cool in the afternoon like a movie but I'm guessing that won't happen.
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motherto2
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Post by motherto2 on Dec 11, 2013 22:02:39 GMT -5
I've been trying to figure out what we will be doing this year. My folks will be away for Christmas again this year. Normally we would go to their house on Christmas Eve. DD is still deployed, so this year it's just me and DS. Our normal Christmas day is up and the three of us and the pup open gifts and stockings ( I drink coffee = the kids don't, not sure where I went wrong ) while "Aunt Betty's" breakfast bakes in the oven. The folks show up mid morning for brunch and just hang out for a bit. The kids then go to their dad and his side of the family, and I nap/watch Christmas movies. Then something for dinner, nothing special. This year the ex and his wife are having a small open house for Christmas night, and they have invited me. We all get along so no issues there. So I'm not sure what DS and I will do that morning/day. Maybe a movie which is something I've thought about. Depends on what's playing. Or he may be out visiting, so I might still be napping and watching Christmas movies! There is almost nothing under the tree. Both kids have received the bulk of their presents from me already, so it's pretty skimpy. I think the pups might be getting more than the humans! Plus we want to wait and do something when DD gets home in January. Just doesn't feel like Christmas this year
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Dec 11, 2013 22:53:13 GMT -5
Pre-kid, we went over to ILs' on Christmas Eve for dinner and the white elephant exchange, spent the night there, opened gifts in the morning, then went to my mom's house to open gifts with my siblings, then to my grandpa's for the extended family exchange and a (hopefully) quick stop by my dad and stepmom's house before heading home. Exhausting!
This year we will have a 4 week old and my sister has to work Christmas night, so the extended family gathering has been moved up about 5 hours and I don't think we're staying at ILs'. Should be slightly less hectic.
(I really wish we could have a quiet day at home, especially since DH is having knee transplant surgery 12-26...)
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ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ
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Post by ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ on Dec 11, 2013 23:18:02 GMT -5
Thanx for the Belgian Waffles Recipe, milee! I had an excellet pancake/crepe recipe, but lost my perfect waffle recipe a while back.
I'll probably have to get a new waffle iron - mines' getting ancient - and I want a non-stick one. But this recipe sounds like my "original".
I'm going to my brother's this year. Lots of craziness, good food and craziness/games - but our family's dwindling - even though more nieces/nephews, great-nieces/nephews are coming into the family. They have their own Celebrations and family to share with now, so not all show up for our "big day". It will be fun though - regardless - I think there'll just be aobut 8 or 10 of us this year, as opposed to 20+ in the past.
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Dec 12, 2013 8:11:55 GMT -5
uh, I'm happy for you....? this thread isn't on the religious discussions board, so I won't give you a history of this winter holiday and its origins....but yay for you on making sure us heathens know what the holiday is called. All I see is her informing everyone of what SHE says....I don't see her telling anyone else what to call the holiday.
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Dec 12, 2013 8:16:50 GMT -5
My oldest will be 15 so I honestly don't remember Christmas before kids. I much prefer Christmas with my kids because I love to see it through their eyes. Christmas (not xmas ) we have a seafood dinner (husband is catholic and I'm not so I'm not sure if this is a religious requirement or just tradition), open the gifts from mom and dad and then drive around to see everyone's lights. When my youngest goes to bed we all pile in her bed and read Twas the Night Before Christmas. I started reading that book to my oldest at her first christmas and I read it every year until my oldest could read. Now she reads it to us while we all snuggle. Christmas morning my youngest wakes up at the butt crack of dawn...I make them wait patiently on the stairs while I take pictures and video of them walking down to see what Santa left them. I love these pictures because I take the same ones each year and am amazed when I look at them all together how big my kiddos are getting, I cook Christmas dinner and my SIL and her family and my mom and her husband come over. Anyone else that doesnt' have anywhere to go also gets invited. I'm a meanie but I can't handle the thought of someone spending Christmas alone.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Dec 12, 2013 8:28:41 GMT -5
Spoke too soon about no extras kids! That's okay, the more the merrier. I just want our gift exchange to be in private so we may do that earlier than the usual. I've bought for DDs roommate because her mom and dad have flaked out of her life so basically I have another daughter now. After having another son in HS, it's no biggie. But after making sure that none of DSs or DDs friends are without somewhere to go at the holiday and getting the they are all set signal, kids are now not all set. At least I got th heads up before food shopping! Article in the paper yesterday about college kids having nowhere to go and the dorms being closed. If we were going to be here, I'd have those kids stay with us. I find it hard to believe that no friends or profs or anyone will take these kids in for the holiday. The one college has paid for a hotel room for one of the kids. Yeah, that how she wants to spend Christmas, alone in a hotel room. Very sad indeed.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Dec 12, 2013 8:34:53 GMT -5
Christmas (not xmas ) we have a seafood dinner (husband is catholic and I'm not so I'm not sure if this is a religious requirement or just tradition), I'm Catholic. A fish dinner on Christmas Eve is not a religious requirement (i.e., the way one abstains from meat on Lenten Fridays or fasts on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday). In my experience, Italian Catholics have a 7 course fish dinner (usually including a salted cod dish -- bakala?) on Christmas Eve. Is he Italian? Or does he just love seafood and use his faith as an excuse to eat it on Christmas Eve?
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Dec 12, 2013 8:39:07 GMT -5
Please let one of my children marry someone heavily ethnic as far as cooking and may I always be invited to the feast! I hate turkey and ham.
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milee
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Post by milee on Dec 12, 2013 9:11:07 GMT -5
Please let one of my children marry someone heavily ethnic as far as cooking and may I always be invited to the feast! I hate turkey and ham. Yes! I would love to have an Asian or Indian DIL since those are cuisines that I'm not as good at cooking and/or are very time consuming so I don't bother to cook them often. Plus, Asian and Indian women are beautiful and it would be nice to mix in some pigment and good looks into our pasty white nerdy gene pool.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Dec 12, 2013 9:11:46 GMT -5
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Dec 12, 2013 9:12:43 GMT -5
I can tell you DFs DILs son is a cutie pie! Half Chinese and half whatever, but totally a munchkin!
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 12, 2013 9:25:37 GMT -5
uh, I'm happy for you....? this thread isn't on the religious discussions board, so I won't give you a history of this winter holiday and its origins....but yay for you on making sure us heathens know what the holiday is called. All I see is her informing everyone of what SHE says....I don't see her telling anyone else what to call the holiday. she quoted me and capitalized. pardon me for thinking it might have had something to do with me.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2013 9:26:55 GMT -5
I miss sleeping in on Christmas!!!! that is all.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 12, 2013 9:29:16 GMT -5
Christmas (not xmas ) we have a seafood dinner (husband is catholic and I'm not so I'm not sure if this is a religious requirement or just tradition), I'm Catholic. A fish dinner on Christmas Eve is not a religious requirement (i.e., the way one abstains from meat on Lenten Fridays or fasts on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday). In my experience, Italian Catholics have a 7 course fish dinner (usually including a salted cod dish -- bakala?) on Christmas Eve. Is he Italian? Or does he just love seafood and use his faith as an excuse to eat it on Christmas Eve? yup, baccala. most of the seven fishes celebrations I've been to have involved lots of crab-stuffed things (mushrooms, raviolis, etc) and tons of shrimp in everything. my immediate family couldn't ever do this when I was a kid. too many allergies.
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Dec 12, 2013 9:56:13 GMT -5
Christmas (not xmas ) we have a seafood dinner (husband is catholic and I'm not so I'm not sure if this is a religious requirement or just tradition), I'm Catholic. A fish dinner on Christmas Eve is not a religious requirement (i.e., the way one abstains from meat on Lenten Fridays or fasts on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday). In my experience, Italian Catholics have a 7 course fish dinner (usually including a salted cod dish -- bakala?) on Christmas Eve. Is he Italian? Or does he just love seafood and use his faith as an excuse to eat it on Christmas Eve? LOL! He mom was Slovak so it might be a Slovak thing? Or maybe they really just like seafood It gets me out of cooking (he just buys everything from a local seafood place) so I have no complaints...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2013 10:10:30 GMT -5
Wonder if the Slovakian meal is anything like the Polish one?
My MIL is Polish, and the traditional Christmas Eve meal is meatless: A traditional Christmas meal in Poland includes fish dishes and Borscht (beetroot soup) with Uszka (ravioli). Fish provides a main component of the Christmas Eve meal across Poland
AH! Here we go:
Slovakian Christmas Meal: The Christmas Eve dinner traditionally is served in 12 courses (to symbolize the 12 apostles) and each course is traditionally meatless–and vegan to boot! Why exactly the dinner is vegan, I’m having issues figuring out, other than that it’s probably symbolic of fasting or abstaining from more lush foods, but the fact that a traditional dinner for centuries has been vegan is pretty darn awesome in my book.
12 courses?!?! You'd have to roll me home!!
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Dec 12, 2013 10:13:30 GMT -5
Wonder if the Slovakian meal is anything like the Polish one? My MIL is Polish, and the traditional Christmas Eve meal is meatless: A traditional Christmas meal in Poland includes fish dishes and Borscht (beetroot soup) with Uszka (ravioli). Fish provides a main component of the Christmas Eve meal across PolandAH! Here we go: Slovakian Christmas Meal: The Christmas Eve dinner traditionally is served in 12 courses (to symbolize the 12 apostles) and each course is traditionally meatless–and vegan to boot! Why exactly the dinner is vegan, I’m having issues figuring out, other than that it’s probably symbolic of fasting or abstaining from more lush foods, but the fact that a traditional dinner for centuries has been vegan is pretty darn awesome in my book.12 courses?!?! You'd have to roll me home!! His dad was Polish (grandparents were off the boat) and his mom was Slovak (again, grandparents were off the boat)....maybe it was the dad who started it but he died when my husband was only 2 so I assumed it was the mother that started the traditions. And thank GOD that I am not expected to serve beetroot soup! That just sounds nasty!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2013 10:22:30 GMT -5
We usually have a nice standing rib roast for our Christmas Eve meal! Thankfully, MIL saves the Traditional Polish Meal for Easter.
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Dec 12, 2013 10:23:49 GMT -5
We usually have a nice standing rib roast for our Christmas Eve meal! Thankfully, MIL usually save the Traditional Polish Meal for Easter. That sounds yummy!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2013 10:24:30 GMT -5
It is! And the best part is that I don't have to cook it!!!
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