its nearly Christmas -a thread dedicated to the angst, the drama, & the joy!

[australiankaren]

Ok,

its that time again

share your Pre Christmas stories, we all love a bit of drama......& as we pirate ninjas say "a problem shared is a problem not quite understood"......

we await your call......

 

[areweindisneyyet]

I started shopping last week and got a great bargain for DD1. I was very excited. Then she came home on Sunday from shopping with friends and had bought it herself for heaps more than I paid. Since she had already used it I shall now add my bargain to the present cupboard and think about starting again.

I have never been this unorganised ever

On the other hand, my parents are coming to spend a week with us over Christmas and then stealing the children for two weeks so that will be nice and easy.

 

[australiankaren]

christmas will be celebrated....

ok there you go, thats all i have so far..I'm at the top of my game people!

no gifts have been bought, no tree up yet, no menu organised....10 weeks to go..

need....to...lie....down

 

[alicia1506]

my dad's birthday is today, carlo's birthday is the 23rd, so we usually have a joint birthday celebration, which my mother informs me will be held on sat 20th at my house.



my house is so not parent-&-family-visiting ready!! i have a giant tree in my backyard, we had a flood in our garage 2 weekends ago, so the house is full of stuff that we normally would keep in the garage that we had to rescue/dry out etc. we are still waiting for the garage to dry so that we can move stuff in there again.

this morning i found out we are having guests each weekend for the next month and a half... and my family wants to celebrate christmas at my place... my lovely little 2 bedroom townhouse that is great for carlo and i, but i have no idea where i'm going to put anyone else, let alone cook a giant christmas feast in my little kitchen or store food in my little 300litre fridge or stash house guests...

where are the magical fairies and woodland creatures that help the disney princesses clean up their messes? i could use a ton of those little guys right about now not exactly the relaxing weekend i was planning before going back to work next week

oy. is it blasphemous to say that i am not exactly feeling the xmas love right now? call me a blasphemer then

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I started shopping last week and got a great bargain for DD1. I was very excited. Then she came home on Sunday from shopping with friends and had bought it herself for heaps more than I paid. Since she had already used it I shall now add my bargain to the present cupboard and think about starting again.

I have never been this unorganised ever

On the other hand, my parents are coming to spend a week with us over Christmas and then stealing the children for two weeks so that will be nice and easy.

That is such a bummer about your bargain. Don't you hate that . Back to the drawing board I guess.

I've never been this disorganised for Christmas before either. I feel your pain.

christmas will be celebrated....

ok there you go, thats all i have so far..I'm at the top of my game people!

no gifts have been bought, no tree up yet, no menu organised....10 weeks to go..

need....to...lie....down

I like it - christmas will be celebrated

my dad's birthday is today, carlo's birthday is the 23rd, so we usually have a joint birthday celebration, which my mother informs me will be held on sat 20th at my house.



my house is so not parent-&-family-visiting ready!! i have a giant tree in my backyard, we had a flood in our garage 2 weekends ago, so the house is full of stuff that we normally would keep in the garage that we had to rescue/dry out etc. we are still waiting for the garage to dry so that we can move stuff in there again.

this morning i found out we are having guests each weekend for the next month and a half... and my family wants to celebrate christmas at my place... my lovely little 2 bedroom townhouse that is great for carlo and i, but i have no idea where i'm going to put anyone else, let alone cook a giant christmas feast in my little kitchen or store food in my little 300litre fridge or stash house guests...

where are the magical fairies and woodland creatures that help the disney princesses clean up their messes? i could use a ton of those little guys right about now not exactly the relaxing weekend i was planning before going back to work next week

oy. is it blasphemous to say that i am not exactly feeling the xmas love right now? call me a blasphemer then

Alicia - how many people are we talking for Christmas day???? Do you have to do hot food or can it be a cold buffet style thing? Could you do a BBQ? I'd get everyone to bring one element of the meal along with them if it's cold buffet/BBQ, have big eskys filled with ice that seal really well to store salads in. And then at the end, get those same people to take home the leftovers of what they brought.

You'll get the Christmas spirit happening soon I'm sure.

 

[Ozdisneydreamin]

We have Disneyland first in November/December so I can't even think about Christmas Day but I am buying all presents while in the US.

 

[australiankaren]

just remember that...evil pixies I say....

Just had quote for bathroom leak, happened when we were away...$20,000 +...they need to rip it out as leaking in 2 walls etc, new bathroom, carpets, walls etc...and the house is only 8 yrs old.....I hate christmas

evil pixies at work

wheres my cocktail

oh, and christmas will NOT be celebrated...it will be endured

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

As for me - hmmmm I don't have anything much organised yet. I was going to do my family's christmas card photo shoot this week between clients but the weather has been crapola. I really need to get it done though as the cards take quite a few weeks to be designed and then printed.

I have bought a couple of small present items for my kids, but nothing of any substance. I would feel better if I at least had a tangible list of present ideas to work off. Might have to get the kids onto their wish lists this weekend.

I think we will decorate the smallest of our Christmas trees on Sunday 28 October so that we get a good 5 weeks out of that puppy .

Presents for DH and I, we will just skip that and shop in the US although I do like to have something for Christmas morning so will get something small.

We won't be doing any of the usual baking or friends dinners this year but my MIL is coming to visit the weekend before we go away so if we can muster the energy we might whip up a ham because I just love ham.

Do you think it would be weird to make a gingerbread house in November? I might do that or the gingerbread men baking. I just would hate to miss a year .

LISTS - I truly love me a list and I think they make me feel more in control if I can see what I have to do. I find nothing more satisfying than being able to cross things off a list so I will be getting started on some more detailed lists for Christmas as well as truly getting down to the nitty gritty of trip stuff.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

just remember that...evil pixies I say....

Just had quote for bathroom leak, happened when we were away...$20,000 +...they need to rip it out as leaking in 2 walls etc, new bathroom, carpets, walls etc...and the house is only 8 yrs old.....I hate christmas

evil pixies at work

wheres my cocktail

oh, and christmas will NOT be celebrated...it will be endured

Yikes. Seriously????

 

[WAMUMOF4]

DH flys home Boxing Day this year so Christmas will be a totally knew experience for us i am torn over whether to keep things completely normal or wait a day, I have relatives coming over and am happy about this but they want Christmas to be a picnic at the beach to which my kids are saying no way we want a traditional lunch i am telling them they can have that with Dad on Boxing day.
I need a few nick knack things but this year we didn't let the kids have everything we purchased in the USA we put things away for Christmas but i do actually need to look at what i have and work out what we still need to get.

 

[WAMUMOF4]

just remember that...evil pixies I say....

Just had quote for bathroom leak, happened when we were away...$20,000 +...they need to rip it out as leaking in 2 walls etc, new bathroom, carpets, walls etc...and the house is only 8 yrs old.....I hate christmas

evil pixies at work

wheres my cocktail

oh, and christmas will NOT be celebrated...it will be endured

No wonder your DH wants to stay home and save some money

Ms. shuttergirl i was looking at the Gingerbread house kits yesterday thinking i wonder if we could make one now whilst he weather is cooler so nope i dont think NOV is to early to make one

 

[australiankaren]

since its structual, the cost will be covered by insurance...but i really hate mess, I'm so OCD its not funny, they will have to drug me/ deport me for the course of the reno.....but yep, 20K plus as they need to replace 2 walls and our 4 x 4 bathroom with all fittings/ tiles...replace bedroom and hall wool carpet, 2x doors, repaint bedroom and hallway etc etc....

bad pixies bad

i need chocolate

 

[Beee]

Christmas is canceled this year....I've been so caught up with trip planning haven't even thought about christmas...eek!

Need to talk to the mother about what we are doing about presents this year seeing as we'll all be in hawaii. Hoping she will say only presents for the kids which we will buy at disneyland and also need to see if she has thought about a christmas dinner of sorts over there. Other than that just need to organise dd's santa present and that is it...everyone else gets souvenirs as christmas presents lol...oh and have the mr's family over for a bbq before we fly out. Alicia, for christmas at your place can you have a bbq and just delegate portions of the meal to various people , e.g. antipasto platter to X, salad to Y, dessert to Z. This is what I do and our means the work (and cost!) is shared amongst everyone.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

since its structual, the cost will be covered by insurance...but i really hate mess, I'm so OCD its not funny, they will have to drug me/ deport me for the course of the reno.....but yep, 20K plus as they need to replace 2 walls and our 4 x 4 bathroom with all fittings/ tiles...replace bedroom and hall wool carpet, 2x doors, repaint bedroom and hallway etc etc....

bad pixies bad

i need chocolate

Just think of it as a special Christmas present for you, a brand new bathroom and bedroom, Lucky thing!!!!

Christmas is canceled this year....I've been so caught up with trip planning haven't even thought about christmas...eek!

Need to talk to the mother about what we are doing about presents this year seeing as we'll all be in hawaii. Hoping she will say only presents for the kids which we will buy at disneyland and also need to see if she has thought about a christmas dinner of sorts over there. Other than that just need to organise dd's santa present and that is it...everyone else gets souvenirs as christmas presents lol...oh and have the mr's family over for a bbq before we fly out. Alicia, for christmas at your place can you have a bbq and just delegate portions of the meal to various people , e.g. antipasto platter to X, salad to Y, dessert to Z. This is what I do and our means the work (and cost!) is shared amongst everyone.

We did the same trip last year but started in Hawaii and did Christmas to end at Disneyland. Some of our group stayed in Hawaii for Christmas and had lunch at the Sheraton. Lots of the hotels have special Christmas meals. I did all my Christmas shopping on the trip. Lots in Hawaii before hitting Disneyland. Didn't feel so bad about shopping when it was for a double purpose.

 

[australiankaren]

sorry for the segway of doom re my bathroom drama...anyway heres something to get us back in the mood

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

No wonder your DH wants to stay home and save some money

Ms. shuttergirl i was looking at the Gingerbread house kits yesterday thinking i wonder if we could make one now whilst he weather is cooler so nope i dont think NOV is to early to make one

You should get one of these, it is the simpliest most amazing thing ever:-

http://austnz.chefstoolbox.com/tctmarketing/Cooking/Gingerbread_House_Instructions.pdf

And this is the pic of the one we made with it. I cannot tell you enough how easy this is to make. Last year, my 13 year old daughter did it all herself from start to finish:-

You can thank me later

 

[Andona]

christmas will be celebrated....

ok there you go, thats all i have so far..I'm at the top of my game people!

no gifts have been bought, no tree up yet, no menu organised....10 weeks to go..

10 weeks? 10 weeks!! 10 WEEKS!??!!!

Time to start haunting the online shopping sites...

Actually, I'll be having an easy year this year as it's not our turn to host the massive family gathering with my DHs family on Boxing Day. I just have to show up and watch my SIL cope with the crowd..

I do have to feed my DH and kids and my parents on Christmas Day but that's not too hard .

Andona

 

[australiankaren]

10 weeks? 10 weeks!! 10 WEEKS!??!!!

Time to start haunting the online shopping sites...

Actually, I'll be having an easy year this year as it's not our turn to host the massive family gathering with my DHs family on Boxing Day. I just have to show up and watch my SIL cope with the crowd..

I do have to feed my DH and kids and my parents on Christmas Day but that's not too hard .

Andona

I do enjoy the time honoured spectator sport of
"Thank god its your house that's getting trashed & not mine this year as I'm still getting playdo out of my shag rug from last year & I do hope that spill/ burn/breakage is covered by home insurance but hey it adds character to your benchtop/lounge/carpet/blinds" followed by the drunken & hysterical
"why do we do this, next year we are all going on a cruise/ car trip/ voluntarily admitting ourselves into a facility"

family..gota love them

 

[Andona]

just remember that...evil pixies I say....

Just had quote for bathroom leak, happened when we were away...$20,000 +...they need to rip it out as leaking in 2 walls etc, new bathroom, carpets, walls etc...and the house is only 8 yrs old.....I hate christmas

evil pixies at work

wheres my cocktail

oh, and christmas will NOT be celebrated...it will be endured

Yowza! That's quite a leak Thank goodness for insurance.

Do you think it would be weird to make a gingerbread house in November? I might do that or the gingerbread men baking. I just would hate to miss a year .

I don't think it's ever to early to bake Gingerbread. Mmmmmm!

Andona

 

[australiankaren]

do you think it captures the joy of the season???? Oh, I do hope so