60 Days
 

Till Christmas! Yay!!!

This is the official Cellar countdown.

Of course, we time superior beings in Australia and NZ, and also our asian friends, will be a day in front of you yanks and poms...and other assorted varieties. :)

Fuck off.


(j/k)

Its NOT time yet! stop that till after Thanksgiving.

Oh thats an American holiday - as you were.

At least wil til Bonfire Night!
Oh, that's an English celebration...

You're going to have to change the thread title every day.

Gag me. We have not even had Halloweenie yet and I saw some Xmas stuff in the store the other day. There should be a law, no Christmas displays or goods can be displayed until the day after Thanksgiving (which I don't think you Brits celebrate) but that should be the rule in the US dammit.

:lol: Think about it, Merc :lol:
Although the cruel amongst us might suggest we give thanks for gettig rid of those troublesome colonists...

Christmas is technically a religious holiday. The Advent season is the religious time that anticipates Christmas, starting 4 weeks (roughly, depending on the calendar that year) before Christmas. Advent doesn't include any celebrations or major decorations. It's a time for quiet reflection, and in years past even included fasting like in Lent. Christmas itself isn't celebrated until Christmas eve. It lasts until the feast of the Epiphany, which marks the visit by the wise men. This is on January 6th.

So just to recap. The "official" religious Christmas season is Dec. 24th through Jan. 6th.

I know that virtually nobody follows this schedule, (including me) but it's worthwhile to post the "official" schedule while comparing practices.

I thought Australians had Christmas in June?

Glatt - actually, growing up Catholic we did follow that schedule in our religious life.

Advent at school and at church every Sunday were given over to quiet reflection, at least as far as they could rein in excited kids. We lit the advent candles every week at both church and school (I still know most of the verse to "Light the Advent Candle") and although we opened an advent calendar, they were full of bible verses and pictures of the story of the Nativity - not Pwer Rangers and Barbie and chocolates.

But in our secular life, we laid by food for the feast. Christianity is a relative newcomer in the life of men after all.

Ya, but you guys have that "burn a dude in a bon fire" night, I think you are secretly burning those pesky Splitters. :D

Oh babba, we had people to burn before you'd even started killing Native Americans :)

No, I refuse to deal with Christmas until at least December 1st. I am not a big Christmas fan. I hate the commercialism, the crowds, the non-stop playing on the radio of "Grandma got run over by a reindeer," etc., etc. You can call me Scrooge, but I vastly prefer a quiet celebration of the solstice and the return of the light. :p

At a party on Saturday, I heard about this amazing sale that National Geographic holds each November to unload discontinued items and stuff like that. One of my friends ends up buying hundreds of dollars worth of stuff at this sale every year, and uses them throughout the year for various birthday presents. I actually end up buying one or two things from the National Geographic store anyway each Christmas for my father-in-law and others who are difficult to shop for.

With 90% discounts on much of their stuff, I think I'm going to check out the sale. National Geographic sells nice stuff. Not just maps and books, but crafts from around the world, educational toys, and clothes.

I'll go to the one in the DC Armory, but they have them in other cities around the country too. Maybe near you.

Hmm... thanks for the info, Glatt. Will have to check that out... especially since I got three birthdays in November, as well as Solstice coming up...

I went into Lowe's last week and had to wade thru christmas decorations to get to what i was after. mid october. they used to wait until after halloween at least.

59 days!

And I realise that lots of you get annoyed by Christmas preparations and decorations being about too early, but I have only one word for you...

























...scrooge. :)

I admit I've already bought 2 presents and decided on 3 more...

I haven't bought any presents yet. I'm only thinking about food right now. lol

Actually, I have thought about getting my boys surf skis for Christmas this year. It's a perfect present considering where we live now, and I know they love paddling them.

I don't know what to get Dazza though. I'm hoping there'll be some divine inspiration on that one. lol

I've started bookmarking gift ideas for the kids. But I won't even start thinking about food until we've finished the harrowing travel/schedule negotiations with the rest of the family.

*covers ears and sings loudly* Can't hear you. Can't hear you.

What about Boxing Day?? People forget it and it makes me sad....I love Boxing Day.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Day_of_Christmas

You mean cricket day of course. :)

Why, did the Australian apprentices collect their pennies in a cricket box?

Nope, we all just watch cricket on Boxing day. Unless of course you don't like cricket, in which case you go to the beach or just be generally lazy. ;)

It is way to early to even think about talking about Christmas yet.

But, ahh, boxing day ... feast-bloated belly, stinking hot outside, stretched back on the couch with a few mince pies and maybe some leftover Chrissy dinner / beverages, six hours just kicking back .... nice.

57 days to go!

Almost time to start stocking up on Christmas lights!

Oh and ZenGum...it's never too early to talk about Christmas! Shame on you!!!

Bah, HUMBUG!

Scrooge...

Well, I bought around $700 bucks worth of new computer parts, Does that count??? NO?
Now no funds for even stamps, much less the cards. :smack:

56 days to go!

Now I wont be posting again till at least sunday night but most likely Monday, so I'm going to miss a couple of days of the countdown, but I'm sure Zen will take care of it for me...knowing how much he's into thinking about Christmas early and all. ;)

Uggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg...

What? lol

Ok.....tell you what, guys, I'll grab her you bonk her on the head....ready?

Ready!

Mind her belly please.

54 Days to go!

I just thought you should all know. :)

*bangs head on giant typing*

For fuck's sake Ali!

What, you think I should make it smaller?

not likely...

btw

53 days to go!

I just got all my table ornaments for Christmas today. Have you got yours yet?

Ali, are you normally insane even when you're not pregnant? :p

Some people would say that I am.

I'm just surprised that there's not one single other person here who's looking forward to Christmas as much as me.

Maybe I am preparing a bit earlier than usual, but that does have something to do with being pregnant. On Christmas day, I'll be six calendar months pregnant which is almost 7 months if you go by weeks. I'm figuring if I leave stuff till the last minute, I'll regret it because I wont feel like going shopping in the heat and crowds here in the last few weeks before hand.

So anyway, just get bloody excited or I'll have to come down south and kick you up the clacker! ;)

I'm pleased that for once I'm with the majority. Have your fun though.

No discussions of Christmas, decorations, sales, or other references to Christmas until after Thanksgiving!

Thankyou Griff, I will. :) btw, you're not the only one around here who's often in the minority. ;)

I was talking to Dazza about this last night, and in the end, I decided I don't care about thanksgiving. :) Christmas is far more important to me. Sorry if I that upsets you yankies (well not really but it's the appropriate thing to say right?) but TG has no relevance in my life as an Australian.

Oh, and...

52 days to go!

My fruit has been soaking in brandy for a week now. One more week and it's time to bake my cake. :)

Thanksgiving has no meaning for me either.
Clocks have gone back, Halloween is done.

BUT
I have my child mentoring interview on Friday
The I find out my Secret Santa recipient on the Monday after
I go to see Monkey on Tuesday
and if I get to be a child mentor I have my training the weekend after that

So I can't start the countdown until at least the 11th and possibly not til the 16th. Mmm-kay?

You can do that. I'll be sure not to say anything you might be interested in through the course of this thread till after then. :)

51 days to go!

Time to start looking in that decorations box and find out if anything needs replacing or repairing.

Absolutely. In about 50 days.

haha...very funny.

You're not much of a boy scout are you? ;)

50 days to go!

How exciting! Have you thought about what to cook for lunch on the big day yet?

We're having cold seafood and possibly a roast pork with veges. (depends on whether my crazy MIL comes or not)

49 days to go!

It's getting close now.

Have you thought about who you're spending Christmas with yet?

I'll likely do what I always do: have a leisurely breakfast alone with my dog, then meet up with ma and her dog for a woods walk, then leave the dogs at her house and stroll down the hill to my brother's house for christmas dinner with him, his wife and the two girls.


That's as much planning as I require. In the unlikey even martin's not doin the bi family thing, me and mum will eat together.

Christmas in my family doesnt really get 'arranged'....it sort of happens. The meal gets planned, I presume.


[eta] fuck. fuck fuck fuck. you bitch, you wore me down and made me think about Christmas. Fuck fuck fuck. That's it now. The first little tinselly glimmers of christmassyess. FUCK OFF.

uuggghhhh

I should think I'll be going home.
I have a feeling the office closes over Christmas. So if my landlady & son are here, I'l politely ask them to feed Diz for a couple of days and head back to Bucks.

Otherwise I might go up for a night, then spend the rest of the time here, but I'll def do a London Walk (Christmas Eve or Boxing Day) to mark the season.

I knew it. I KNEW it! I knew I'd crack you sooner or later Dana! ;)

btw, did you know that it's only

48 days to go!

We're going to have a nice quiet Christmas this year. Just my Dad and Step Mother and Dazza's Mum and probably my boys natural father for lunch, then a quiet night at home to rest and recuperate. :)

47 days to go!

That's less than 7 weeks.

How much christmas shopping have you done?

Roasted? Broiled? BBQ'd? :unsure: