If you could spend Christmas anywhere...

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ChemGal

ChemGal

One with keen eye
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Where would it be and who with?

A few rules:
Time off, cost of transportation, rentals, etc. is not an issue
Logistics of getting others there isn't an issue. They all want to be there and don't mind being separated from others not included in your plan.
This is temporary - 2 weeks max. It can be a childhood home, mansion, whatever, but after two weeks is over you're not staying there anymore, unless that's already the real life plan :)
 
The general "where" is in Texas. Not sure of a more specific where than that. At one of the state's best hotels or inns. As for the "who," I'd include my wife's side of our family from South Korea - and my side from Ontario - Saskatchewan - and Texas. Not all of them have met - and I can't imagine a better occasion.

Why Texas? Well - my youngest sister feels trapped down there by the state's family court system.
 
We would all be on my street, with each individual family having their own furnished, rented house. This would include DH and I, my sister and my BIL, my parents, immediate inlaws (parents, brother & sister) and all my grandparents. I find most people do well with a bit of down time/privacy and this way showers, sleeping, etc won't be too affected. We could take turns hosting the various meals, including some potlucks - most being non-large holiday feasts. Everyone would have all the stuff in the kitchen they wanted for the meal they were hosting, stocked in a way that seem intuitive. My parents would host Christmas Eve dinner with help from my grandma for the important stuff, others would bring dishes. My sister host Christmas Day dinner - she gets to call the shots of who can bring what types of dishes and what helps she gets so others don't take over when she doesn't want it.
 
crazyheart said:
As one gets older, I have found, one doesn't want to go anywhere for Christmas. It is nice that the family come home.
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Yes - that would be nice - as long as one's whole family can get home. Such won't be the case with my family this year. We have been broken by the tragedies of marital separations and divorces.
 
crazyheart said:
As one gets older, I have found, one doesn't want to go anywhere for Christmas. It is nice that the family come home.
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CH, I thought about this for a while before starting the thread. It was a tossup between here and Winnipeg, with Christmas Eve at one of my grandparents. I really like being in my own home though.
 
Christmas -
My son would be home from Korea before Dec. 19th (his birthday) and be planning to stay until after New Years (no jet lag, no rushing to get everything into the holiday). If he is in relationship I would hope that he would also bring his special friend.
My daughter, her family.
Christmas Eve - everyone to my house for wine and cheese and special treats after the church service.
Morning - light breakfast, checking Santa's gifts in our Christmas stockings, opening gifts. Then out to my daughter's for their gift opening and brunch.
Home for a quiet time, rest - maybe phone calls.
Then back to my daughter's for dinner.

Boxing day - family come to our house for visit and dinner

Hey, expense, health problems, travel don't matter - both my sisters with their husbands visit over the next few days.

And friends call and drop in for snacks and a game of cards (or to help with the new Christmas puzzle).


Failing having family around - (Just Seelerman and I)
Christmas eve service at church - friends in for wine and cheese
Quiet Christmas morning at home
A nice drive in the country, then check in to a nice hotel.
Christmas dinner in the dinning room (no preparation; no clean-up)
Perhaps the hotel will have music in the lounge
Then spend the night in a nice room.
Go down for breakfast - have a swim in the hotel pool.
Perhaps a walk along the river after lunch.
Invite friends to join us for dinner, and join us in our room for a game of cards.
Another day or so of relaxation, swimming, walks, meals prepared for us.
When too much relaxation and being waited on starts to get tiresome, then go home.
 
after some thought I'd choose a cruise to somewhere warm. Me-and my 3 offspring, Sisters(2) and their (each) 2 kids, 1 brother in law (that's all in the picture) and my 2 parents. How about suites for all of us 4 in a row. A cruise does all the cooking, it's neutral ground, a variety of activities to do ie swimming, snorkelling, reading. 8 days Christmas eve to Jan.1st would also take in Mom's birthday. Note: I did not invite nieces BF. And my middle child comes.

A very unlikely scenario but hey I was asked to dream....
 
I'm in a similar state to Tabitha, but I picked Hawaii.
I've never been, and a quick trip away would be nice.
My challenge is that the folks still have to be able to tweak their nose to get to the other family occasions they need to get to.
I'm including that the insurance is there for dad, and that he could also tweek there so that his anxiety didn't get over him over the edge with flights, etc. (ok, reality sucks!)
I'd love all the traditional meal, I'd like to be able to go for a walk along cliffs, and later beaches, let kids play in the water, and big guys surf.
 
ok, let me redo that one.....I like the concept of snowed in, wih a big fire, lots of games, snowshoes, cross country skis, popcorn..

Thanks Hermann...that one I can imagine.
 
chansen said:
My family, my parent's cottage, snowing, roaring fire, skis ready for the next day to spend with my wife and daughter.

Can't guaranty the snow, but everything else should be like that this year.
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(At Christmas do you and yours make any note of what you might call the alleged birth of Christ? Do you include the Santa tradition? Is it about lights - tinsel etc.? Just curious.)
 
I kind of like our current Christmases. Church on Christmas Eve (yes, I go) then family time on Christmas Day with the location for the get-together with extended family rotating from year-to-year. That said, I'd love to do it at the cottage again sometime. We did that fifteen-ish years ago. It was a pain to get there and get back but we had a blast. It's one of only two times I've seen the lake in winter (the other was when I crashed with my aunt and uncle for a night while in the area on business). However, we needed to borrow (the owner didn't charge any rent) the cottage next door to house everyone and it has changed hands so I'm not sure we can ever do it that way again.
 
Pr. Jae said:
(At Christmas do you and yours make any note of what you might call the alleged birth of Christ? Do you include the Santa tradition? Is it about lights - tinsel etc.? Just curious.)
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Jesus just isn't mentioned. Christmas for us, like much of the country, is just a cultural norm. It's a time for family. It's a time to work harder at getting along. It's a time of reflection. Two years ago, my daughter announced she didn't believe in Santa She was 5. Then this last month, she started talking about writing to Santa again. We played along, thinking that she may have changed her mind, but the other night she whispered to me, "I know there is no Santa, and it's you and mom who buy presents for me, but it's fun to pretend."

And I think that's how a lot of people approach it. If you need a reason to gather, to be good, then pretend that Jesus was real and just go with it. It doesn't even occur to us, but I can see people playing along with it for the sake of the season.
 
chansen said:
Jesus just isn't mentioned. Christmas for us, like much of the country, is just a cultural norm. It's a time for family. It's a time to work harder at getting along. It's a time of reflection. Two years ago, my daughter announced she didn't believe in Santa She was 5. Then this last month, she started talking about writing to Santa again. We played along, thinking that she may have changed her mind, but the other night she whispered to me, "I know there is no Santa, and it's you and mom who buy presents for me, but it's fun to pretend."

And I think that's how a lot of people approach it. If you need a reason to gather, to be good, then pretend that Jesus was real and just go with it. It doesn't even occur to us, but I can see people playing along with it for the sake of the season.
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I think that five is about the age my son stopped believing in Santa. I was a bit slower, in school, probably about seven on my December birthday when I realize that the whole legend (work shop at the northpole - sure, on the ice cap over the Arctic ocean; raindeer - aren't they domestic caribou? - down the chimney - you've got to be kidding; and every house in the world in one night?????) I was in a multi-grade classroom - I spent a lot of time paying attention to the older classes history, geography and natural science classes. Seventy years later I still hang up my stocking and get gifts from Santa.
 
Pinga said:
ok, let me redo that one.....I like the concept of snowed in, wih a big fire, lots of games, snowshoes, cross country skis, popcorn..

Thanks Hermann...that one I can imagine.
Click to expand...


Count me in or that one too - but make me five years younger.
 
There are others I like spending Christmas with, but if I had more I think it would become way too overwhelming and too many different family dynamics start to create a negative situation.
 
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