Thread: Christmas overdose....

I agree, the stores are making their pitches far too early...and lights before halloween is just tacky. But from where I come from, it gets dark at 5pm, is grey all day long, and it's colder than a witches @ss, so the Christmas lights in November is a welcome and cheery sight.

That said, we won't turn ours on until at least Nov. 20th, and since we always go get a real tree, that doesn't get put up or decorated until about Dec. 15th.

Mark

Originally Posted by WireBeard

. I just wish I had a real fireplace instead of a gas one...it's like watching your water heater...no crackle, pop, or nice wood smell.

the last christmas i was home we had no fireplace at all so my wife made one out of construction paper and taped it to the wall, it was pretty funny.

as for christmas stuff i think the earliest any of it should be out is the day after thanksgiving, my wife keeps wanting to look at christmas stuff and i keep refusing, i think it is crazy that they were playing christmas music at the mall the day after halloween!!! that is way to early for me. just my little insight

-dan-

For years my wife and I would get up early at 6a.m. on Christmas day to open our gifts (we have no children, so we have to sub in for them!), and always put on the yule log on television (they have 3 channels where we live that broadcasts this from 6am to about 9am).

Thankfully, this year we've moved into our own house that had a real fireplace (very pretty, although it sucks more heat out of the house than it gives off!).

I love the cozy construction paper fireplace, Dan - that's a memory you'll have for a lifetime! She sounds like a keeper!

Mark

The business Christmas started a little later this year than it seems like it usually does here.

I'm wondering if Jimbo will chime in on the Christmas-is-a-winter-festival theory?

I think there are two sides to Christmas: the commercialized DeBeers Christmas and real Christmas. I call the first DeBeers Christmas because it's entirely manufactured, just like the whole diamond craze. People are duped into thinking that Christmas is all about decorations and presents and great food. This is the stressful Christmas.

Real Christmas is the event, religious or not, where families and friends get together to have a good time and enjoy each other, whether that good time be giving gifts, decorating, eating, or all of the above.

I would be willing to bet that the DeBeers Christmas would go away to an extent if people would focus more on the real aspects. Will that actually happen? Probably not.

Originally Posted by Quick Orange

I would be willing to bet that the DeBeers Christmas would go away to an extent if people would focus more on the real aspects. Will that actually happen? Probably not.

I've been trying that gradually over the past few years and have discovered unsurprisingly that while people say they prefer not to commercialize Christmas, they tend to get offended if you don't take advantage of that commercialization for them. This discovery hasn't changed my approach, but the hypocrisy is as widespread as the post I have just written

Christmas is a weird thing here. I grew up watching movies where Christmas was white. People skating on lakes. Woollen sweaters and huge overcoats. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire....

WTF???? Everyone knows Christmas is conducted in the middle of a drought in the blazing summer heat. Open Fire? Chestnuts? Ice skating??

Aussies are gradually moving from a hot Christmas lunch to seafood buffets and iced egg nog. And beer - lots of cold beer.

James.

Ha! James, that's great! I live in an area of the world where people do skate on lakes, have wool coats and tuques, and have roasted chestnut trolleys in the city...but at least there's a common bond - beer! I've yet to go to a Christmas celebration where that hasn't been the libation of choice!

A world apart brought together again by the love of good drink! :

Mark

Being married to "Little Miss Christmas" I finally have put the "Man" foot down at no Christmas decorating at the house, until the day after Thanksgiving.... Rule #2.. All decorations must be in the closet by Jan 3 this allows for one extra day of hangover recovery after New Years Eve..... At least I get my way on certain things

Note to self: Fed-X Jimbo a snowball for Christmas

Originally Posted by Quick Orange

I think there are two sides to Christmas: the commercialized DeBeers Christmas and real Christmas. I call the first DeBeers Christmas because it's entirely manufactured, just like the whole diamond craze. People are duped into thinking that Christmas is all about decorations and presents and great food. This is the stressful Christmas.

Real Christmas is the event, religious or not, where families and friends get together to have a good time and enjoy each other, whether that good time be giving gifts, decorating, eating, or all of the above.

I would be willing to bet that the DeBeers Christmas would go away to an extent if people would focus more on the real aspects. Will that actually happen? Probably not.

This is why I have never given diamonds as gifts...the whole "if you lover her, you'll go in hock up to your eyeballs for a piece of carbon to prove it" campaign is annoying.

Anyone can buy someone a diamond....good luck finding a clear ruby or emerald or a string of meticulously-matched pearls.

I sat with the wife of a jeweler in Bangkok for over an hour trying to match a blue tourmaline to one I have picked to make a set of earrings to go with a pendant, as a gift. Mounted in sterling, they are a one-of-a-kind gift.

On the other extreme, when my brother married his wife, she was appalled during the first Christmas with my family that we did not leave price tags on the gifts....one year I gave her gifts from TJ Maxx and target wrapped in Saks Fifth Avenue boxes...she was thilled (I was entertained)....sadly, my niece/nephew have been raised to treat gifts as "loot" and each one has to have the same amount spent on them or there is a hissy fit. Pathetic. The girl even asked me once over the phone where her present was (and she wasn't kidding)...unfortunately, I was not able to put my size 13 through the phone as a "gift" for her.

I usually do 3 gifts - something functional, something you've asked for, and something frivolous or extravagant. For example, once for a female relative, a gift certificate for a free house cleaning by a professional service, a gift card for a day at a spa, and a piece of antique silver.

Stocking stuffers don't count....I usually fill stockings with fruit, candy, small items such as pen sets, etc.

I guess one thing to be thankful for is that I cannot think of a thing I need or really, really want....ohter than some wire cutters to address these Christmas lights.......