Why so angry?

[GravyAndShite]

21 days till Christmas. Angry about the shitty made up traditions? Angry about people making donations in lieu of sending Christmas cards? Angry about the nativity? Angry about the MIL taking over, the stingy SIL, the narcissistic DM...?

Come join this thread and force yourself to write one post about the good things you cherish or enjoy or value over the Christmas period!

It might even feel good!

(And for the love of god, please don't mention Christmas Pyjamas in a hamper or Elf on the Shelf!)

I'm looking forward to seeing our daughter who moved out in August (hence user name). She's driving over on Christmas Day and leaving on Boxing Day.

Fairy lights, shiny things and candles all over the house.
Looking forward to inlaws coming over and catering for them.
Looking forward to visiting mil and fil, they're fun people.
Got my youngest a laptop and enjoyed seeing my older teen set it all up for him before we wrap it. For once he is enjoying doing something for his brother
Kids have broken up from school but they're teens and will sleep in every morning. I will make sure my dp brings me a cuppa before he goes to work I wonder If he will turn our bedroom tv on too? It's an effort reaching for the remote.
We walked into town to get curryvurst from a christmas street food stall.
Looking forward to watching the new Star Wars film, sending kids home on the bus and staying out for a beer.

These are the things I like about Christmas:

Christmas trees
FOOD!
Presents
Home Alone franchise, and films in general
Christmas songs
Chocolate(!)

Back with the friends Ive made volunteering at Crisis, and seeing some of our guests again (aren't all street homeless so we get quite a few that have been coming or years) and feeling like I'm useful for a block of time (disability stops me from working full time, but can manage to do some in little blasts like being at Crisis) and hanging out with my family. Oh and singing carols, I love singing carols

The food, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings, yummmmm.
Few bits on telly to watch.
The company.
Christmas eve night. I love that part of Christmas time.

Oh, forgot the carols too!

saracen tell your daughter Einstein can explain Santa logistics, seriously, have a Google.
I like the decorations. I like the cheesy films. I like how donations to the dog shelter food bin in the supermarket increase.
Don't like how much postage abroad costs these days. £30 to cover the fam in card postage. (I like the ol' fashioned card sending).

Fairy lights
Food
Presents
The birth of the saviour

In no particular order

And I send donations instead of Christmas cards!

Yes carols too...

Having had a very difficult year, full of sadness, I have struggled to feel that Yuletide vibe.
I usually love this time of year.
However I have decorated the house and the lights make me smile.
We have a living tree in a tub; comes in for December and early January, garlanded with lights and full of the decorations we have collected over many years.
Such simple things but they do help.

I really enjoy Christmas. I love having parties and feeding people and seeing my extended family and buying my kids presents.

I love the 'wrapping up' feeling of the end of the year and the interest in a fresh one.

I am always busy, even busier at Christmas but I lime it that way and am at my best when completely flat out.

We have three 'Christmas Days' in a row and I adore all of them for different reasons.

It helps that its summer. Very poor organising putting Christmas in winter you northern types. Much more fun with a frozen Margarita and seafood.

We have rented a large house on the beach (Aussies so it will be hot yay!) and have my bestie and her family coming to stay. Our grownup kids all get along famously and she has 3 grandchildren so we will have littlies - how exciting!!!

We will have a grownup breakfast early then start preparing all our specialty dishes (I've just learnt about pigs in blankets thanks to MN so adding these to my list!) our kids will all arrive for lunch then we are having open house for all our mutual (and not so mutual) friends to bring their leftovers for an evening celebration of food, wine and merriment.

There will be no drunk siblings, no bossy MILs, no grumpy FILs, no miserable relatives at all as we've both done all the family "festivities" early.

I am so excited to be surrounded by all the people I choose to spend Christmas with this year!

Listening to Dd get really into watching worlds strongest man with her df.