Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:28 pm
Oh no! Working on Christmas day is rather cruel. I hope you had double time or something to make up for it! 
What's NORAD's Santa Tracker? I've googled it, but I don't think I've got a proper idea of what it is!
Hehe, me and my sister used to be the same. When she was too young to wake up that early, I used to pad out to the Christmas tree in my pyjamas and sneak a peek at all the presents. Then for a while, we both used to do it! And then she'd come back to my room and we'd try and sleep... though usually not very successfully
We're both getting a bit old now, I think I slept in til 9 last Christmas *shockhorror*
What's NORAD's Santa Tracker? I've googled it, but I don't think I've got a proper idea of what it is!
It used to be that my brothers and I would all sleep together for christmas eve and would wake up at like 5:00 or something, without an alarm clock or anything. We'd then spend the next couple of hours playing games while we waited for my parents to wake up.
Hehe, me and my sister used to be the same. When she was too young to wake up that early, I used to pad out to the Christmas tree in my pyjamas and sneak a peek at all the presents. Then for a while, we both used to do it! And then she'd come back to my room and we'd try and sleep... though usually not very successfully
We're both getting a bit old now, I think I slept in til 9 last Christmas *shockhorror*
Wed Dec 06, 2006 9:01 pm
My grandparents arrive at our house on Christmas Eve with sack loads of pressies. In the evening, me my mom, brother and grandma will sit upstairs eating chocolate and watching tv and we'll go to bed around 11pm after putting all of the presents under the Christmas tree. We'll come downstairs at around 7:00am the next morning and open our pressies in our dressing gowns. Then we'll have breakfast which usually consists of bacon, eggs, sausages and fried bread. At about 3:00pm we'll come down and have Christmas dinner in the living room - we set up a massive table that takes up most of the space! We usually have a cockerel for meat and that's what we're having this year too. After that, we'll have pudding, some unlucky soul does the washing up afterwards (which is usually my grandad lol) and then we just lounge about eating chocolates and enjoying our presents ^^
The Boxing Day meal consists of salad stuff, cockerel, stuffing and jacket potatoes and the meal after that is sort of like a mini-buffet where mom and grandma set up loads of nice foods and we just help ourselves. We don't really have a tradition, as you can see, but this is the way we like it and that's all that matters. Christmas is a special time of year for me ^^
EDIT: Just remembered something awful. Mom won't be with us this Christmas as she is working both Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Great...she does 12 hour shifts, 8am to 8pm, both days...shucks.
The Boxing Day meal consists of salad stuff, cockerel, stuffing and jacket potatoes and the meal after that is sort of like a mini-buffet where mom and grandma set up loads of nice foods and we just help ourselves. We don't really have a tradition, as you can see, but this is the way we like it and that's all that matters. Christmas is a special time of year for me ^^
EDIT: Just remembered something awful. Mom won't be with us this Christmas as she is working both Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Great...she does 12 hour shifts, 8am to 8pm, both days...shucks.
Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:16 pm
We go out to Southern Lights (this awesome light display at the Kentucky Horse Park) at some point in early December. That really inaugurates the holiday season for me.
I usually make latkes on Hanukkah, inexplicably enough. I like latkes.
We always put up a fake tree. My sister objected to real trees pretty much from birth. We're kind of lazy about decorating otherwise--a holly wreath is about the extent of it outside.
While Santa Claus and I have had our differences in the past, I still do bake cookies for him on Christmas Eve. I'm thinking some sort of chocolate pecan thing this year.
We open one present each on Christmas Eve, and the rest early on Christmas Day. These days, we mostly just give each other one or two practical gifts and donate some money to charity in each others' names. The whole thing has gotten a little scarily commercial for my blood.
Usually we watch It's a Wonderful Life for the millionth time late on Christmas Day. I love it.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command tracks Santa Claus on his journey around the world with their radar. They started doing it in 1955 when Sears misprinted the phone number they provided to call Santa and the number went to NORAD.
I usually make latkes on Hanukkah, inexplicably enough. I like latkes.
We always put up a fake tree. My sister objected to real trees pretty much from birth. We're kind of lazy about decorating otherwise--a holly wreath is about the extent of it outside.
While Santa Claus and I have had our differences in the past, I still do bake cookies for him on Christmas Eve. I'm thinking some sort of chocolate pecan thing this year.
We open one present each on Christmas Eve, and the rest early on Christmas Day. These days, we mostly just give each other one or two practical gifts and donate some money to charity in each others' names. The whole thing has gotten a little scarily commercial for my blood.
Usually we watch It's a Wonderful Life for the millionth time late on Christmas Day. I love it.
mazil wrote:What's NORAD's Santa Tracker? I've googled it, but I don't think I've got a proper idea of what it is!
The North American Aerospace Defense Command tracks Santa Claus on his journey around the world with their radar. They started doing it in 1955 when Sears misprinted the phone number they provided to call Santa and the number went to NORAD.
Thu Dec 07, 2006 3:51 am
PuddingofEvil wrote:mazil wrote:What's NORAD's Santa Tracker? I've googled it, but I don't think I've got a proper idea of what it is!
The North American Aerospace Defense Command tracks Santa Claus on his journey around the world with their radar. They started doing it in 1955 when Sears misprinted the phone number they provided to call Santa and the number went to NORAD.
This is a totally awesome world to live in.
Thu Dec 07, 2006 4:29 am
Depend on who I am with and it has changed over the years.
Olden days: Christmas at the grandparents' house (dad's side). Everyone would open presents in order from oldest to youngest. I would go last since I was the youngest.
Grade - High School: Christmas at with either family. We would do the usual present thing with dad's before we just spend the day playing with the gifts. With mom, we go to one of the fam's house and have a small party with a break for presents before dinner and present play after dinner. We normally open immediate family gifts before the extended family session.
Now: I have gone to mom's fam every year since I moved away. If it is at Mary's house (which is often), we do the presnet thing and dinner. If at Bob's house, we don't do the presents, but still give gifts, then have dinner.
X-mas related activities:
Drive around and view lights (both parents, but mostly mom) [go to LB and hit the streets around the traffic circle off Bellflower for one of the best light shows], lights! (esp dad), play with the home Nativity, read various 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' versions (Cajun version is my fave), dress the cats up in wrapping (mom), dress the dogs up in wrapping (dad), newspaper wrapping paper! (dad actually had wrapping paper produced by the local newspaper. The jokes that year were killer), [most importantly] Christmas movies and shows out the wazoo!
PS: NORAD's Santa Tracker is also great!
One last thing I do: set the digital radio to the Christmas song channel and just jam for countless hours
Olden days: Christmas at the grandparents' house (dad's side). Everyone would open presents in order from oldest to youngest. I would go last since I was the youngest.
Grade - High School: Christmas at with either family. We would do the usual present thing with dad's before we just spend the day playing with the gifts. With mom, we go to one of the fam's house and have a small party with a break for presents before dinner and present play after dinner. We normally open immediate family gifts before the extended family session.
Now: I have gone to mom's fam every year since I moved away. If it is at Mary's house (which is often), we do the presnet thing and dinner. If at Bob's house, we don't do the presents, but still give gifts, then have dinner.
X-mas related activities:
Drive around and view lights (both parents, but mostly mom) [go to LB and hit the streets around the traffic circle off Bellflower for one of the best light shows], lights! (esp dad), play with the home Nativity, read various 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' versions (Cajun version is my fave), dress the cats up in wrapping (mom), dress the dogs up in wrapping (dad), newspaper wrapping paper! (dad actually had wrapping paper produced by the local newspaper. The jokes that year were killer), [most importantly] Christmas movies and shows out the wazoo!
PS: NORAD's Santa Tracker is also great!
One last thing I do: set the digital radio to the Christmas song channel and just jam for countless hours
Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:14 am
Moongewl wrote:PuddingofEvil wrote:mazil wrote:What's NORAD's Santa Tracker? I've googled it, but I don't think I've got a proper idea of what it is!
The North American Aerospace Defense Command tracks Santa Claus on his journey around the world with their radar. They started doing it in 1955 when Sears misprinted the phone number they provided to call Santa and the number went to NORAD.
This is a totally awesome world to live in.
Haha! That's great! Thanks for enlightening me, Pudding
So, do you just visit the website? Or is there something on TV?
Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:35 am
mazil wrote:Haha! That's great! Thanks for enlightening me, Pudding
So, do you just visit the website? Or is there something on TV?
Yeah, you just visit the website and it's updated throughout the night. Here in the US, some news stations will use it in their broadcasts (usually when they do the weather).
Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:58 am
mazil wrote:So, do you just visit the website? Or is there something on TV?
Website link in my stories
Fri Dec 08, 2006 6:53 pm
It's become apparent that despite getting older (21 and 25), my brother and I are still big kids and would wake our parents up at 5 am given the chance. So the past several years our family's been opening presents on Christmas Eve so we can sleep in.
Other than that, we always eat Christmas Eve dinner together, just us. And my boyfriend and I try to find somewhere Christmasy to go, like a Christmas Village or light display.
Other than that, we always eat Christmas Eve dinner together, just us. And my boyfriend and I try to find somewhere Christmasy to go, like a Christmas Village or light display.
Sat Dec 09, 2006 11:42 pm
Nobody in my family celebrates Christmas. The area I live in is mostly Jewish.
Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:07 pm
Now that I have a whole new home and "an extra family" I'm not exactly sure what will happen. And that makes me nervous. ANYWAY.
We'll get out Christmas tree this week since we're having a party next Saturday, but usually the tree is brought in and decorated only a few days before Christmas eve. We've never bought a tree really, you just need to go outside and chop one down in the woods
Here we only celebrate on Christmas eve, that's when the gift are handed out etc. etc. (no, they are not under the tree). As for food, well, here's a list: ham, vegetable casseroles of all sorts (rutabaga, carrot etc.), rice pudding, Christmas pastries and gingerbread. Then all of that mixed with Swedish traditions, since we're Finland-swedes: meatballs, pickled herring, lutefisk and so on.
The days after Christmas eve will probably be spent on admiring the gifts everyone got and visiting my boyfriend's relatives as they want to arrange small Christmas dinners of their own.
And that's about it, I hope.
We'll get out Christmas tree this week since we're having a party next Saturday, but usually the tree is brought in and decorated only a few days before Christmas eve. We've never bought a tree really, you just need to go outside and chop one down in the woods
Here we only celebrate on Christmas eve, that's when the gift are handed out etc. etc. (no, they are not under the tree). As for food, well, here's a list: ham, vegetable casseroles of all sorts (rutabaga, carrot etc.), rice pudding, Christmas pastries and gingerbread. Then all of that mixed with Swedish traditions, since we're Finland-swedes: meatballs, pickled herring, lutefisk and so on.
The days after Christmas eve will probably be spent on admiring the gifts everyone got and visiting my boyfriend's relatives as they want to arrange small Christmas dinners of their own.
And that's about it, I hope.