Christmas 2020
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@Catogrande said in Christmas 2020:
All sounds pretty good though I’m surprised you can ever remember any of it after all the wine, whiskey, port and Tia Maria.
With the exception of Christmas Eve, we don't actually drink all that much in reality over Christmas. I like to push the boat out a little and have 3-4 types of wine with Christmas meal though.
Christmas Eve there will be talk of midnight mass but we won’t go.
When the kids were younger we'd head off to Christingle on Christmas Eve. Aiming to do a Christmas Eve whanau carol service by Zoom this year
Actually I’m quite looking forward to it all this year
I feel weird about this one. Not looking forward to it, but knowing it will all be OK in the end.
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@Catogrande said in Christmas 2020:
Christmas Eve there will be talk of midnight mass but we won’t go.
There's a Tongan Methodist Church Mo'unga Heamoni not far from the Northcote Tavern near where I live. Every Xmas Eve at 6.00 pm the road from the boozer to the church is closed and a flat deck truck with a (very dark) Santa on the back slowly proceeds down to the church followed by the curch choir and oom pah band. Santa throughs out lollies to the kids.
Good fun to watch (from the pub) and the closest I've ever got to midnight mass. The choir then sing in the church till midnight. I've heard them as I have staggered home.
Unfortunately the last few years I have been stuck in the office and missed this. Which is the only bit of Xmas I have actually enjoyed.
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The wife and I try to make Christmas a special time for the boys and we have a few traditions going, some from her childhood some from mine.
Come the 1st December we have the house decorated, big fake Xmas tree complete with a village and train at the bottom. We then go and cut down a real tree to go next to it to give the place a "Christmas" smell.
Christmas eve we'll do a big seafood cook up (wife grew up on seafood in PNG) and I'll generally smoke a brisket or a shoulder to go with it as I'm not a big fan of seafood. We'll then head to our local Catholic church for mass; the wife is Catholic but not particularly religious so this is our yearly trip to church, but it means a lot to her as it's what she did with her (now passed) adoptive parents back in PNG.
We'll then head home and open our "Xmas eve present" - this must be a book, no toys allowed. For Santa we fill the boys stockings up with little presents and they get one big present under the tree. The 7 year old confided in me that he knows Santa isn't real and that it's just me, but said he would keep the secret for his little brothers, so we'll keep doing it for him as well (I mean he benefits massively from the whole deal so was smart enough to make sure it keeps going).
This year things have been thrown up in the air a bit as our 3rd son was born on 12th December, and it wasn't a birth without complications. We've been in and out of hospital since which means we don't have much sorted. My Mum is up from Welly helping out thankfully. For dinner we've decided to just order from 'Woop' (like My Food Bag) which gets delivered on 23rd so we'll see how that goes, but at least that sorts out food on the day. Otherwise we'll keep things pretty low key and try and relax as much as we can given we have a new born in the house again.
Anyway that's enough rambling. Merry Christmas to all on here, it's been some fucking year eh. This place has an awesome little online community going and it's been great coming here to talk shit and try to make sense of everything going on in the world. Hope you all get to relax a bit, flush the dunny on 2020, and look forward to a bit more normalcy in 2021.
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@voodoo said in Christmas 2020:
We will go to my wife's cousins this year for lunch. Should be 40-odd people there, they have a pool and its usually hot, so that's the kids amd their cousins sorted. Food is divided out, this year I have the pork duties again, so will be a 5kg rolled loin with gravy and stuffing, no pressure!
Kids get heaps of presents, not so much for the adults which I'm totally fine with.
Morning before lunch is spent at home - our actual fucking home! - which will be awesome. Small presents for the kids, brekkie, a swim etc.
Cant fucken wait
Oh, and if anyone has any present ideas for a wife of > 15yrs, please shout!
This would appear to have been a premature post. There has been a revolt from the Eastern Suburbs part of the whanau who are now hosting their own Xmas. Even those on the northside are looking like not being able to mingle with us Northern Beaches lepers.
We may be going from 40 extended family to just the 5 of us.
I'm ok with that given its not my extended family anyway, but the wife will be depressed as.
One benefit is that I will get to devour a 5kg rolled pork loin on my own over the break....😬
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@dogmeat said in Christmas 2020:
The choir then sing in the church till midnight. I've heard them as I have staggered home.
My ex used to sing with the Eton and Windsor Choral society and we went to their traditional Christmas concert at Eton College. Magical memories.
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Not a huge amount further to add aside from the fact I've actually made an effort with my folks pressy this Xmas. A mate of mine who is an artist has done a portrait of the boys and their little siblings at mates rates for me......so watching the folks open their pressy will be as rewarding as the little ones
Also driving back for an "orphans" xmas ( pissup ) with a mate who lives up the road. Head might be a bit sore when I wake up for cricket viewing the next morning.
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Christmas Eve to my MIL
Stay that night, Christmas Day, back home on Boxing Day
Just her, my missus, the dog and meSkiing on the 28th hopefully
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@MiketheSnow said in Christmas 2020:
Christmas Eve to my MIL
Stay that night, Christmas Day, back home on Boxing Day
Just her, my missus, the dog and meSkiing on the 28th hopefully
Whereabouts?
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@Catogrande France obviously.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Christmas 2020:
@dogmeat said in Christmas 2020:
The choir then sing in the church till midnight. I've heard them as I have staggered home.
My ex used to sing with the Eton and Windsor Choral society and we went to their traditional Christmas concert at Eton College. Magical memories.
That sounds really cool. My last choral experience was not successful. Ms Cato’s 6thform choir at the cathedral. I had already lunched very well and stood up/sat down/sang in all the wrong places. Add in that my voice is as flat as a shovel...
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@Catogrande said in Christmas 2020:
@MiketheSnow said in Christmas 2020:
Christmas Eve to my MIL
Stay that night, Christmas Day, back home on Boxing Day
Just her, my missus, the dog and meSkiing on the 28th hopefully
Whereabouts?
Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales
From 06 December 2020
Sean Manley letting rip
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Brilliant!
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We were planning to go to Exeter Christmas market again this year and take in a carol service. Maybe next year
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Right, said the Meldrew whanau, let's think positive. So we have.
Christmas celebrations, except for the kids, has effectively been postponed 6 months to 25 June in Kent, with Boxing Day to 26 August in Cornwall.
We thinking we might go for an antipodean theme - fake snow on windows etc.
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@MiketheSnow Looks great. Not much in the way of ski lifts though I guess? Hardcore though mate, so well done - and good luck with the snow.
Looking more and more like my proposed trip to France at the end of January is going to be a non-starter
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@Catogrande said in Christmas 2020:
@MiketheSnow Looks great. Not much in the way of ski lifts though I guess? Hardcore though mate, so well done - and good luck with the snow.
Looking more and more like my proposed trip to France at the end of January is going to be a non-starter
Cheers
Yep all walking up. Worth it though.
Yours truly
Yeah the European winter season looks fucked
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@MiketheSnow said in Christmas 2020:
Yeah the European winter season looks fucked
Not sure if I flicked past this on a French news channel but there was a severe shortage of snow at some resorts ?
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@Victor-Meldrew Did they cover The Jam?
Would be brill if they did
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@NTA said in Christmas 2020:
@MiketheSnow said in Christmas 2020:
Yeah the European winter season looks fucked
Not sure if I flicked past this on a French news channel but there was a severe shortage of snow at some resorts ?
Down low yes
Up high more than enough