NationStates Jolt Archive

It's Christmas time again, and all the family will gather together drink and eat and talk and have a good time, and see each other again after a year of seperate lives.

I hate it. For the next two weeks I'll be forced to socialize with a group of people I almost universaly either detest or find deeply iritating. Needless to say I am not having a good time, and nor will I be.

Who else hates Christmas, or am I alone, a scroogelike loner?

oh for gods sake its not like they want to see you either. spend an hour here and there and excuse yourself for the rest of the time.

we seem to be having a local-only christmas with no out of town revelers. thats good for me.

It's Christmas time again, and all the family will gather together drink and eat and talk and have a good time, and see each other again after a year of seperate lives.

I hate it. For the next two weeks I'll be forced to socialize with a group of people I almost universaly either detest or find deeply iritating. Needless to say I am not having a good time, and nor will I be.

Who else hates Christmas, or am I alone, a scroogelike loner?

Scrooge.

You have a large, extended family with whom to spend the Holidays. Surely in the whole, entire human morass there are some people you like, or at least tolerate - find them and hang with them. It's only once a year.

You are a scroogelike loner. :p It's only once a year. Suck it up, slap on a happy face, stick close to the eggnog, and chalk it up for good karma.

I generally avoid my Family's Christmas party. not for any nefarious reasons. I just feel uncomfortable with my inability to remember the names of people I only meet once a year.

I generally avoid my Family's Christmas party. not for any nefarious reasons. I just feel uncomfortable with my inability to remember the names of people I only meet once a year.

Exactly!

Does the incesant and pointless small talk anoy you too?

Scrooge.

You have a large, extended family with whom to spend the Holidays. Surely in the whole, entire human morass there are some people you like, or at least tolerate - find them and hang with them. It's only once a year.

Umm.....

Umm.....
given that there will be people of your approximate age who are as bored as you are, why not suggest a few hours at a local pub? if they still bore you, you can at least drink the boredom away.

Exactly!

Does the incesant and pointless small talk anoy you too?

that I don't mind. it's more of the...
Relative: "Hi"
Me: "uhmmm..."
person: "don't you remember me? I'm your cousin... my father is your mother's uncle's son's nephew... we met three years ago!"

Did I mention I'm terrible with remembering names? :$

oh and that living on an ISLAND... people know more about me than I tell them. :mad:

I love spending time with my family during Christmas.

How old are you? Last I checked, an adult is not legally obligated to do anything just because it's with family. I stopped keeping in touch with extended family years ago. And immediate family is kept at a minimum.

given that there will be people of your approximate age who are as bored as you are, why not suggest a few hours at a local pub? if they still bore you, you can at least drink the boredom away.

Apart from I'm sixteen and in the UK I can't do that for another year and three months. Unless they change the age for that as well.....

Due to that lovely social site, Facebook, half of my extended family hates me, and the ones I'm still friends with on there now know I'm not the angel they always knew.

Christmas might be awkward.

I love Christmas with my family, but then again, the get-together consists of my grandparents (Both sides) me, and my mother, all of whom I know very well, so...

I follow a simple method. Visit the family in the run up to christmas on a flying visit. Stay at home with immediately family over the christmas period - lock the dooor, switch of the phone, etc. then after christmas I visit my extended family again. This year I'm joining them for new year's, there'll be so much alcohol that I won't even be able to be irritated.

P.S. I always make sure I do the shopping well before xmas as well - saves having to fight old ladies in supermarkets

Spending time with the extended family at Chrissie reminds us about who we are, how we have to remember people and how we have to give (and I don't necessarily mean presents)

I hope that all of you have a good one - and a really fun 2009!
Oh and happy Chanukah!

It's Christmas time again, and all the family will gather together drink and eat and talk and have a good time, and see each other again after a year of seperate lives.

I hate it. For the next two weeks I'll be forced to socialize with a group of people I almost universaly either detest or find deeply iritating. Needless to say I am not having a good time, and nor will I be.

Who else hates Christmas, or am I alone, a scroogelike loner?

I'm the same way. I love my immediate family and I can usually stand them for about an hour, extended family annoy me.

I generally avoid my Family's Christmas party. not for any nefarious reasons. I just feel uncomfortable with my inability to remember the names of people I only meet once a year.

I have the same problem. I only know the name of my immediate family, my grandparents and one or two cousins, aunts and uncle. Everyone else is screwed. It's bad on my mom side because every year someone pops out a new kid.

Exactly!

Does the incesant and pointless small talk anoy you too?

I usually just avoid it and watch the game or whatever is on TV.

that I don't mind. it's more of the...
Relative: "Hi"
Me: "uhmmm..."
person: "don't you remember me? I'm your cousin... my father is your mother's uncle's son's nephew... we met three years ago!"

Did I mention I'm terrible with remembering names? :$

oh and that living on an ISLAND... people know more about me than I tell them. :mad:

Yea, my family gossips way too much about one another. What my extended family knows about me could probably be put in volumes of books, and it's all thanks to my mom who apparently need to tell her mother everything that's happening with me, and it goes on and on.

I'm going to a Christmas celebration tomorrow (on Yule) on my mom side, which I am dreading because 1. It's a house full of Southern Baptist, even as a Catholic I didn't have such good rapport with SBs. 2. Ever since I became a Seax Wiccan, I wore a pendent of Thor's Hammer that has a Gold Pentacle in the handle. I wonder if anyone will notice it. I may just hide it under my shirt.

I actually tried to get out of this, but I have to go because it's family and we're susspose to celebrate the holidays as a family. I only see these people two days out of the frickin year, I have a very minimal emotional connection with them, and if one of them dies I probably wouldn't cry at their funeral. I'm sorry, but that's the truth.

/rant

Oh seriously, you people are adults. Make your decisions, if you don't want to go, don't.

Oh seriously, you people are adults. Make your decisions, if you don't want to go, don't.

I'm only going for about a half an hour, I gotta duck out of there early anyways in order to make it in time for the Yule celebration.

Oh seriously, you people are adults. Make your decisions, if you don't want to go, don't.

I'm forced to, due to not being an adult.

I don't mind my family but arguments are inevitable, i mean think about it being cooped up in a stone box for a week or two would drive anyone up the wall. I usually avoid them except for dinner or in the evening when i've run out of other games to do.
i just wish i'd bought presents for them earlier i've still got 6 to buy eep!oneone!one

I moved to the other hemisphere. No more family gatherings, just the in-laws. Oh well nothings perfect.

just don't talk to them and I'm sure they will get the message

Apart from I'm sixteen and in the UK I can't do that for another year and three months. Unless they change the age for that as well.....

so? buy some vodka from one of those shifty corner shops and get pissed wherever you feel like cus nobody is out on Christmas

either that or just find a pub that doesn't ID you (not that I would be advocating illegal activity >.>)

P.S. I always make sure I do the shopping well before xmas as well - saves having to fight old ladies in supermarkets

odds are if you fighting an old lady for a present you may want to rethink what you intend to be buying :p

I'm forced to, due to not being an adult.

just sneak out and meet some friends its not that hard

I'm going to a Christmas celebration tomorrow (on Yule) on my mom side, which I am dreading because 1. It's a house full of Southern Baptist, even as a Catholic I didn't have such good rapport with SBs. 2. Ever since I became a Seax Wiccan, I wore a pendent of Thor's Hammer that has a Gold Pentacle in the handle. I wonder if anyone will notice it. I may just hide it under my shirt.



I openly wear a Pentacle wherever I am. Maybe my family is just a lot more tolerant than most but nobody ever says a thing.

I'm forced to, due to not being an adult.
my suggestion? find where the kids hang out and 'chaperone' them. they tend to not need that much watching and if you are doing that, the adults tend to leave you alone (since it allows them to not keep an eye on the kiddies.)

if you have a game system and family friendly games... then plug that in and let them go!

Yea, my family gossips way too much about one another. What my extended family knows about me could probably be put in volumes of books, and it's all thanks to my mom who apparently need to tell her mother everything that's happening with me, and it goes on and on.

I'm going to a Christmas celebration tomorrow (on Yule) on my mom side, which I am dreading because 1. It's a house full of Southern Baptist, even as a Catholic I didn't have such good rapport with SBs. 2. Ever since I became a Seax Wiccan, I wore a pendent of Thor's Hammer that has a Gold Pentacle in the handle. I wonder if anyone will notice it. I may just hide it under my shirt.

I actually tried to get out of this, but I have to go because it's family and we're susspose to celebrate the holidays as a family. I only see these people two days out of the frickin year, I have a very minimal emotional connection with them, and if one of them dies I probably wouldn't cry at their funeral. I'm sorry, but that's the truth./rant

I ended up using "I'm working" as an excuse. of course the fact that I am working that day makes it more believable.

I ended up using "I'm working" as an excuse. of course the fact that I am working that day makes it more believable.

Me too, I'll have officially worked every major holiday this year.

I'm flying 1,000 miles to avoid my family this year, if that gives you any idea.

my suggestion? find where the kids hang out and 'chaperone' them. they tend to not need that much watching and if you are doing that, the adults tend to leave you alone (since it allows them to not keep an eye on the kiddies.)

if you have a game system and family friendly games... then plug that in and let them go!

Not a bad idea. Unfortuantly I find children deeply iritating.

You know what, OP? I understand you. I feel like Scrooge this year, too. I've got my mother in one ear telling me I'm cheap (when I haven't been able to get work hours in a month), my father in the other ear telling me I'm a dumb liberal, and my brother telling me I'm imposing (did I mention that the kid sees Christmas in dollar signs?). Yeah. I feel like Scrooge. And I'm thanking God for my boyfriend, who is coming Wednesday and giving me a place to hide.

my suggestion? find where the kids hang out and 'chaperone' them. they tend to not need that much watching and if you are doing that, the adults tend to leave you alone (since it allows them to not keep an eye on the kiddies.)

if you have a game system and family friendly games... then plug that in and let them go!


"I want to play a game, the rules are simple." :p Yes, I had to put in a SAW quote.

I ended up using "I'm working" as an excuse. of course the fact that I am working that day makes it more believable.

Me too, I'll have officially worked every major holiday this year.

Well I can't really do that, because I don't have a job, so if I suddenly announce to my family that I'm working, they're either going to assume that I'm working on a street corner, or my employees are working street corners. Street corners will be involved.

I'm flying 1,000 miles to avoid my family this year, if that gives you any idea.

Take me with you?

Not a bad idea. Unfortuantly I find children deeply iritating.

Don't even get me started on children...why do people always find them so cute? They're more annoying than cute. Now kittens playing with yarn, that's cute!

I openly wear a Pentacle wherever I am. Maybe my family is just a lot more tolerant than most but nobody ever says a thing.

Wearing a Pentacle in a house filled with Southern Baptist is like walking into a Lion's Den covered in steak sauce.

Take me with you?
I got invited up north to ride snowmobiles. He says that they go about 90mph... I can't wait to try it.

Wearing a Pentacle in a house filled with Southern Baptist is like walking into a Lion's Den covered in steak sauce.

Tell them its protection against evil, and like a cross it provides comfort and peace of mind by letting you know you are close to God. (Just don't specify which god.)

Maybe that will work?

Wearing a Pentacle in a house filled with Southern Baptist is like walking into a Lion's Den covered in steak sauce.

Are we talking about a Pentacle:
http://www.christinerainbird.com/Shared/Sites/christinerainbird/Assets/Your%20Images/pentagram.jpg

Or a Pentagram:
http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/5304/pentagram9hm.gif

Are we talking about a Pentacle:
http://www.christinerainbird.com/Shared/Sites/christinerainbird/Assets/Your%20Images/pentagram.jpg

Pentacle. This is what I wear.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/PAY5353/0929081419.jpg

I think it not only shows that I'm a Wiccan, but that I'm a Seax Wiccan. :)

Tell them its protection against evil, and like a cross it provides comfort and peace of mind by letting you know you are close to God. (Just don't specify which god.)

Maybe that will work?

I'll just hide it from them, trust me, I'm dreading this family gathering enough, the smart thing to do is to not add to my grief.

This is what I wear.I wear this.
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/415B0F174QL.jpg
A friend of mine gave it to me. Haven't seen her in years.

I wear this.
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/415B0F174QL.jpg
A friend of mine gave it to me. Haven't seen her in years.

That is awesome. :) Maybe SaintB will show show his/her Pentacle. :D

That is awesome. :) Maybe SaintB will show show his/her Pentacle. :DMaybe he will. :D

Wearing a Pentacle in a house filled with Southern Baptist is like walking into a Lion's Den covered in steak sauce.

Ouch... I've heard about southern Baptists from my parents who had some as friends, when my parents had visited they had made them sit on opposing sides of the couch... even though they were engaged to be married. I gather the only thing that would get an worst reaction would you telling them you became an catholic.

I can say I only see my mother and surviving grandmother sometimes my father for christmas. My extended family(large catholic family and much smaller lutheran family) generally only gets together for weddings and funerals. Which is just as well, keeps the rioting and mayham down. ;)

Wearing a Pentacle in a house filled with Southern Baptist is like walking into a Lion's Den covered in steak sauce.Man, I live in Alabama. South central, right here. It's not that bad.

It's Christmas time again, and all the family will gather together drink and eat and talk and have a good time, and see each other again after a year of seperate lives.

I hate it. For the next two weeks I'll be forced to socialize with a group of people I almost universaly either detest or find deeply iritating. Needless to say I am not having a good time, and nor will I be.

Who else hates Christmas, or am I alone, a scroogelike loner?

I feel very much the same way. Lucky me that I only have to spend 2-3 days maximum.

I should be off enjoying time with my family (who I do like, especially in small doses), but instead I'm finishing my thesis. I spent 12 hours in the office today, I'm likely to be there as long tomorrow and then if there isn't too much snow on Monday, I'll get to go see my family.

And then on Friday, I fly off to see my bf.

I'm not generally a huge fan of Christmas, but I'm a fan of breaks from work.

I should be off enjoying time with my family (who I do like, especially in small doses), but instead I'm finishing my thesis. I spent 12 hours in the office today, I'm likely to be there as long tomorrow and then if there isn't too much snow on Monday, I'll get to go see my family.

And then on Friday, I fly off to see my bf.

I'm not generally a huge fan of Christmas, but I'm a fan of breaks from work.It sounds like your job/school is really hard work. :p

It sounds like your job/school is really hard work. :p
I'm a grad student... so my work is research and school.

I was hoping to be done this by Thursday, but my supervisor didn't give me all the comments I needed on my last draft until Thursday evening so that didn't happen.

Also, it's not that it's always hard work, but for the last month I've been in the office close to 84 hours a week (12 hour days, 7 days a week) working on the thesis + finishing up coursework + doing random TA stuff... and I really need a vacation.

Although the thing is, I don't like doing the write up (because it has to be professional and precise and all this and it ends up being very nit picky, which I can do for a while, but not as long as is necessary) but I do like that I've been spending a lot of time doing research.

I'm a grad student... so my work is research and school.

I was hoping to be done this by Thursday, but my supervisor didn't give me all the comments I needed on my last draft until Thursday evening so that didn't happen.

Also, it's not that it's always hard work, but for the last month I've been in the office close to 84 hours a week (12 hour days, 7 days a week) working on the thesis + finishing up coursework + doing random TA stuff... and I really need a vacation.

Although the thing is, I don't like doing the write up (because it has to be professional and precise and all this and it ends up being very nit picky, which I can do for a while, but not as long as is necessary) but I do like that I've been spending a lot of time doing research.What field are you in? (Sorry if you've answered this before.)

What field are you in? (Sorry if you've answered this before.)
Astronomy.

Astronomy.That must be interesting. What I want to major in is International Politics*, with a focus on International relations.

It's really just a political science major with a focus on international politics with a focus on relations. :p

Astronomy.

Wow. Difficult indeed. As I understand it, you have to have a close knowledge of various different types of physics and mathematics to even begin to understand it.

Master's or doctorate?

It's Christmas time again, and all the family will gather together drink and eat and talk and have a good time, and see each other again after a year of seperate lives.

I hate it. For the next two weeks I'll be forced to socialize with a group of people I almost universaly either detest or find deeply iritating. Needless to say I am not having a good time, and nor will I be.

Who else hates Christmas, or am I alone, a scroogelike loner?

I know Wilgrove shares the same feelings as you. You two could get together for Christmas and sit around drinking saying "Bah, Humbug" in between sips. :p

Of course maybe if you took the time to get to know them and speak to them you may just find that you enjoy spending time with them and will look forward to seeing them. Who knows you may even start seeing them more than once a year.

Apart from I'm sixteen and in the UK I can't do that for another year and three months. Unless they change the age for that as well.....

Seventeen myself, they had a vote not long ago to increase the age from 18 to 20, which would've had me royally (not) pissed. Thank god it didn't pass.

However, it confuses me a lot, a country in which you can "decide" your government by voting, you can't have a beer. Quirk of this bullshit system we call democracy, I guess.:headbang:

Eating and drinking with my family is awesome. I have no complaints.

That is awesome. :) Maybe SaintB will show show his/her Pentacle. :D

I'm a he, and I don't have any recent pictures of me, let alone my pentacle, sorry. Maybe I can find one online that looks like the one I wear. It was a gift a long time ago from a freind I will never see again. They told me it would protect me and help me think clearly and that they would always be there for me as long as I had it, I am going to eventually get a silver chain for it so I can wear it at all times, its currently attached to a shoe lace...

Seventeen myself, they had a vote not long ago to increase the age from 18 to 20, which would've had me royally (not) pissed. Thank god it didn't pass.

However, it confuses me a lot, a country in which you can "decide" your government by voting, you can't have a beer. Quirk of this bullshit system we call democracy, I guess.:headbang:

Makes perfect sense. Don't want people voting drunk, do we?

*Is now legal to drink in the UK, and thus doesn't care about all you silly kids*

Fortunately my family really doesnt get along with the rest of the family so we dont go see the relatives...just sit around eat and play with shit, lol :)

Fortunately my family really doesnt get along with the rest of the family so we dont go see the relatives...just sit around eat and play with shit, lol :)

umm....hey, whatever make ya happy man. :p

umm....hey, whatever make ya happy man. :p

Dont worry, we clean it first :wink:

Dont worry, we clean it first :wink:

Well MythBusters did prove that you can polish turd. That was an....interesting episode.

It's Christmas time again, and all the family will gather together drink and eat and talk and have a good time, and see each other again after a year of seperate lives.

I hate it. For the next two weeks I'll be forced to socialize with a group of people I almost universaly either detest or find deeply iritating. Needless to say I am not having a good time, and nor will I be.

Who else hates Christmas, or am I alone, a scroogelike loner?

You are soooooo depressing.

You are soooooo depressing.

Bah. I thought you allready knew that.

Bah. I thought you allready knew that.

There should be a humbug following that Bah, there, sir.

Well I survived another family get together on my mom side, now I won't see 99% of those people until Thanksgiving of 2009!

There should be a humbug following that Bah, there, sir.

I refuse to sterotype myself.