Me, Christmas.
Christmas, then New Years. Happy holidays to all!
I’m not sure why I’m checking out completely this year. My wife and I are just not doing this anymore. We told the kids (mostly grown). No Christmas, no nothing. I’m quite happy about it. No xmas village, no lights on the house. No tree. No shopping. It’s very peaceful and wonderful.
I picked “Christmas” because we’re going to the relatives’ house Christmas Eve (at least that’s the plan) and “Nothing” because this has been a pretty sucky holiday season for me and we don’t really celebrate Christmas all that much these days anyway. We’ll probably just stay home Christmas Day, watch the Doctor Who special, and eat something boring and nontraditional, then go out and shop when the crowds die down.
Isaac Newton’s Birthday.
St. Lucy’s Day (Dec. 13th) - my daughter is named Lucy.
Then Christmas, New Year’s, and Epiphany.
Secular American Christmas for us, with a quiet undertone of winter solstice. As my husband puts it, solstice recognizes something that actually happened, and still happens.
edit: eh, i’m not as clever as I thought
A secular Christmas, officially. But in reality, this year is ending in such a chaotic mess that I’m having a hard time really making an effort. There’s a tree, and presents, and there will be dinner at the in-laws. But I’m skipping many other traditions for lack of time and energy.
Christmas but the secular version. I used to go to Mass but I’ve lapsed. I still enjoy the trappings of Christmas, however and we put up the tree, send cards, decorate the house and so on.
This year we’re having to bring our Christmas Day forward to the coming weekend (not sure whether Saturday or Sunday) because I’m working on the 25th. I haven’t worked a Christmas Day shift since 1979. This is going to feel really strange.
Christmas for certain. We often talk about doing something to observe the Solstice, but never seem to get around to it. Since it falls on Saturday this year, perhaps we’ll remember…
Somewhere between a secular Christmas, and the SUMMER solstice.
There will be much eating and drinking, swimming in the pool, barbecues in the sun, and going to the beach. And fighting with siblings and complaining about parents. And then more drinking.
It ended two weeks ago, but Hanukkah.
Christmas.
We did the candle lighting and latke thing at the beginning of the month. Unlike many American Jews, we keep the gift giving to a minimum.
We’re going to a Solstice Day open house that friends are throwing down in Denver on Saturday, but I don’t expect anything more elaborate than canapés and wine.
Sunday, we celebrate my wife’s 50th birthday (which is today!) with an open house of our own.
Christmas day we will probably eat Chinese food with the rest of the local Jewish community.
Winter solstice, because it’s the shortest day of the year and after that it just gets better! Wheeeeee!
I’m up for anything where alcohol is served-- preferably good wine, but I can be flexible.
I’d like to say the same about the summer solstice but, for reasons I’ve never been able to fathom, summer just gets hotter and hotter (and more and more humid) after the longest day.
Just have a hit of whatever’s in the Kwanzaa chalice.
Nothing, I specifically volunteered to come to our Kabul office over the holiday so that I could avoid Christmas.