Xmas

[xSilverPhinx]

That's crap advice, the North Pole has Russians all over it,
arresting Greenpeacians and trying to justify there claims.

Sounds like they're too busy to even notice Christmas will come and pass, then. 

[Harmonie]

I don't have too many people to please... Not like I have a love life, or much of a social life at this point or anything...  So stress level is extremely low.

Would love to surprise my mom with a double bass, since that is her dream instrument. She'd surely get onto me for that, though. lol

[Pasta Chick]

The thing that gets me most about Xmas is that everyone - including myself - in my family has a birthday within 2 months on either side. So it's basically double the gifting all at once. For the most part we've dealt with this by just going all in on Xmas, since it's tough to get all of us in one place these days. That also raises your per gift budget, which is especially helpful as things are costing and over half of us are in that "just starting out" phase of life.

[Harmonie]

The thing that gets me most about Xmas is that everyone - including myself - in my family has a birthday within 2 months on either side. So it's basically double the gifting all at once. For the most part we've dealt with this by just going all in on Xmas, since it's tough to get all of us in one place these days. That also raises your per gift budget, which is especially helpful as things are costing and over half of us are in that "just starting out" phase of life.

It's the same way in my family, actually! My birthday is actually the day after Christmas, and my sister's is in early December.

The concept of having a birthday separate from Christmas is very foreign to me. Lol.

[solidsquid]

Any reason to party is good for me.  I enjoy food.  I enjoy spending times with friends and family.  I enjoy getting gifts and giving gifts.  I enjoy time off from work.

[Sandra Craft]

Any reason to party is good for me.  I enjoy food.  I enjoy spending times with friends and family.  I enjoy getting gifts and giving gifts.  I enjoy time off from work.

Ditto.  Plus picking out cards for everyone, and the baking.  I particularly like the baking.

[xSilverPhinx]

I love the idea of baking, but when I try baking something it seems everything is a literal recipe for disaster. 

[Ecurb Noselrub]

Separate and apart from my theism, a world without Christmas would be a bleak place.  If I were to renounce my faith (not likely at this stage in my life), I would retain the good things from it, and Christmas would be in the "Top 10" of those.

I agree with the sentiment that Christmas is generally a fun holiday, even with the added stresses of having to buy gifts for everyone and having to occasionally contort your face into something that resembles a happy expression when you receive a gift you don't like.

What aspects of Christmas would you retain exactly if you were no longer a believer? Its pagan roots? The more modern tradition of gift-giving? Would you make it a holiday more focused on family and friends instead of the Bible and Jesus?

I think the aspect of it that really attracts me is the light, the hope, in the darkest time of the year.  In the Northern Hemisphere, where it originated, Christmas is sort of the turning point, where we've reached the most lifeless part of the cycle, but the beginning of new life is just a few months away, so we celebrate light and life - trees, gifts, fire, warmth, candles, etc.  That's one reason Christians co-opted it, because of it's hope and joy in the midst of deadness.  Actually, my Christmases now are focused on family and friends.  There is the religious aspect, but what people really look forward to is not really religious - and I think that's probably true for most Christians.

[xSilverPhinx]

Separate and apart from my theism, a world without Christmas would be a bleak place.  If I were to renounce my faith (not likely at this stage in my life), I would retain the good things from it, and Christmas would be in the "Top 10" of those.

I agree with the sentiment that Christmas is generally a fun holiday, even with the added stresses of having to buy gifts for everyone and having to occasionally contort your face into something that resembles a happy expression when you receive a gift you don't like.

What aspects of Christmas would you retain exactly if you were no longer a believer? Its pagan roots? The more modern tradition of gift-giving? Would you make it a holiday more focused on family and friends instead of the Bible and Jesus?

I think the aspect of it that really attracts me is the light, the hope, in the darkest time of the year.  In the Northern Hemisphere, where it originated, Christmas is sort of the turning point, where we've reached the most lifeless part of the cycle, but the beginning of new life is just a few months away, so we celebrate light and life - trees, gifts, fire, warmth, candles, etc.  That's one reason Christians co-opted it, because of it's hope and joy in the midst of deadness.  Actually, my Christmases now are focused on family and friends.  There is the religious aspect, but what people really look forward to is not really religious - and I think that's probably true for most Christians.

That's not so bad, kind of poetic, even.  In this part of the world where it nears 40 degrees Celsius that time of the year and lack of sunlight is really not a problem, I like to see stuffed snowmen, fake snow and evergreen trees to remind me that eventually the heat wave will pass and we won't feel like we're melting all the time. So there's also looking forward to better days, albeit in a different way. 

My idea of a Christian Christmas is based on my religious grandparent's conception of the holiday, which, quite frankly, is rather...hellish.  My mother and her father have divergent views on the Bible and how to lead a Christian life. They're both really stubborn and when they gather (which only happens on Christmas)...

Seriously, who needs an atheist in the mix when you have other Christians with different views on the matter? 

[Sandra Craft]

I love the idea of baking, but when I try baking something it seems everything is a literal recipe for disaster. 

It's definitely a hit and miss process.  I've been baking for over 40 yrs and I'm still finding out which things I just can't do and which things I can.  The year of the Jule Kake disaster is balanced by the St. Lucia's Crown triumph, and so on.

[xSilverPhinx]

I love the idea of baking, but when I try baking something it seems everything is a literal recipe for disaster. 

It's definitely a hit and miss process.  I've been baking for over 40 yrs and I'm still finding out which things I just can't do and which things I can.  The year of the Jule Kake disaster is balanced by the St. Lucia's Crown triumph, and so on.

I envy people who can cook things even slightly more complex than 2 minute noodles, I really do. I can read instructions easily enough, but when  following them things usually don't turn out as planned.  One of these days I'll try to make something and hopefully it won't look like something out of a B-rated horror movie. If anything goes wrong then I can always cheat and put some frozen lasagna into the microwave and press a button.

[Sandra Craft]

If anything goes wrong then I can always cheat and put some frozen lasagna into the microwave and press a button.

There you go.  Baking may just never be your thing -- perhaps you're a wiz at wrapping gifts?

[xSilverPhinx]

If anything goes wrong then I can always cheat and put some frozen lasagna into the microwave and press a button.

There you go.  Baking may just never be your thing -- perhaps you're a wiz at wrapping gifts?

LOL no, it's one of those that no matter how much I practice, I never seem to get better with it. Can't seem to wrap a gift without totally uneven edges! Always best left to somebody else.

I'm a competent drink pourer though. It never spills. That I can say with pride! 

[Sandra Craft]

I'm a competent drink pourer though. It never spills. That I can say with pride! 

And who doesn't need somebody with those skills around for holiday parties!

[xSilverPhinx]

I'm a competent drink pourer though. It never spills. That I can say with pride! 

And who doesn't need somebody with those skills around for holiday parties!

Exactly.