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Homepage – Forum Forums Off Topic Christmas is a-comin’!

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 30 total)
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  • #8322
    cheryl9
    Participant

    Yes, Christmas is coming. If you believe then please be a part of this thread and share what your plans are for Christmas.

    Please also remember those that are less fortunate in anyway you can. I donate to ADRA.

    For those that are doing the “ba humbug” thing this Christmas: stop. It just isn’t worth it to put that much time and energy into being miserable.

    For those that will be alone this Christmas, please let us know. We will do what we can to help you through this period.

    So, here is to getting things rolling for Christmas!

    And no, I am not one of those highly organized people that have all presents bought, all baking done and the decorations up.

    Take care!

    #20002
    cheryl9
    Participant

    My Christmas plans:

    Survive.

    This year company starts arriving Dec 20. Still don’t have a final tally as to how many people will be here through Christmas. But that is okay. I just roll with the doorbell and make sure I am well stocked with food.

    Christmas is always at my house. Includes family, friends whose family are too far away, children’s friends whose families either don’t do Christmas or do Christmas on a different day, anyone I know who I come across that will be alone. So far, company will include the traditional family members plus new ones, friends from Florida, additional family from B.C., traditional children’s friends and maybe an extra one or two this year, friends that can’t travel to family due to health issues, and memories of family that have passed on (Ukrainian tradition thing).

    Food is a really big thing throughout Christmas. Starts with Christmas eve’s supper and will be winding down with a big Boxing Day brunch. No shopping allowed on Boxing Day. Presents do happen. This lasts maybe a whole 15 minutes. Everyone that comes through the door gets a stocking full of presents. This is mostly “fun” stuff and gives everyone a good laugh. After Boxing Day come the children’s friends who spent Christmas with their family. These usually stay for a few days.

    I will spend a good week baking and prepping food for Christmas. Decorating the house and yard takes the better part of a week (3 story house, four decks, a patio, raised flower beds, two shops and 40 acres takes a while to dress up. Mostly with lights. Thank goodness for solar. This will all be covered off over the next two weeks.

    Lots of laughter, visiting and rousing episodes of board games (Life, Monopoly, Risk in various versions and sometimes all at once depending on how many players there are, Uno, Stratego, Battleship, table hockey to name a few). Wonderings through the woods if it is warm enough. Blazing fireplace and hot chocolate if it is cold enough.

    Then we do a scaled down version for Ukrainian Christmas. Main emphasis on this one is the food. Never managed all 12 courses but have made it up to 9 courses. No presents for this one. Just good food and good company.

    Here’s to Christmas!

    #20003
    marysue
    Participant

    Great idea for a post Cheryl!! Our house is a East meets West event since I’m married into an Asian family. My family is too far away to visit so we make do with phone calls and a small gift exchange. With my hubby’s family the part that lives here in town we do the big turkey dinner and gift exchange on Christmas day. Christmas eve is reserved for me, hubby and our 4 sons and any girlfriends that care to join. Our second son has mastered the fine art of doing a prime rib roast and that is his gift to the family – food. The others do the accompaniments so I don’t have to do any cooking on Christmas Eve since I do the bird for Christmas Day and then take it over to my sister-in-law’s. She either does another turkey or a ham since we are feeding 25-35 people all told. Everyone else brings appetizers, sides or desserts. Some are western, others are Asian dishes. Gifts are mostly for the little ones with small joke gifts or homemade food items for the adults. We are a food event people too. “Strays”, people with nowhere to go are welcome as well. My sister-in-law has the most wonderful gift of hospitality and generous heart and spirit – ditto for her hubby. He experienced a heart attack just before Thanksgiving and his daughter’s wedding but is fine so we have much to be thankful for this year.

    After Christmas Eve dinner, we usually have a game of family poker and the boys (weather permitting) will have their annual road hockey game. Christmas day usually is just at the in-laws and is a food event followed by movies, games and just general good conversation. There are 4 languages spoken in my hubby’s family so what you hear depends on who is talking to whom in English, Vietnamese, Chinese (Cantonese) or French.

    Since I don’t have close family on my side I’ve always been grateful for my hubby’s warm extended family. It makes the difference. We also make a point of donating to charity to help the poor this time of year as well. That was something that started when the kids were in school and their school would do events. So, yeah December is a really busy month and no, I’m not ready yet either. Despite best intentions it always goes down to the wire. LOL!!

    #20012
    cheryl9
    Participant

    Hello everyone

    No one else doing anything for Christmas?

    For those that think it is not appropriate to post anything “warm and fuzzy” but one must keep things depressing and morbid and obsessed with death, really think about what you are doing to yourself.

    Can’t quote the exact documents so I must generalize. Research is showing more and more that your state of mind has a big impact on what success cancer has with your body. Stress and depression are big no-nos. Has to do with the type and amount of hormones that go rolling around in your body and those hormones creating an environment that cancer just loves.

    As we all can attest to, we don’t thrive when we are stressed out and depressed

    After spending 17 years running my own business including all the stress of being overworked, running deadlines and having to turn people away, I finally learned. I now prefer to thrive.

    This thread is to help everyone spend a little time on something that is less stressful than cancer. Even if it is just a smile as one reads the posts.

    Even if your Christmas is a simple one with you and your hubby, that is wonderful. Wonderful because you CAN do that. Even if your family is far away and the only contact through Christmas is a phone call. Wonderful because you ARE here to do that. No matter what your Christmas is like, at some point something will make you smile. Wonderful because it shows you are STILL here and cancer can’t take that away from you.

    So, drop a quick post in here and let’s see where it goes!

    Take care
    Merry Christmas

    #20013
    cheryl9
    Participant

    CHRISTMAS

    C – charity. To remember others.
    H – healing. What we all need a little of.
    R – real. Do it from the heart not the shopping mall.
    I – immerse. With joy, love and life.
    S – smile. You owe it to yourself and all those around you.
    T – thankfulness. You are still here.
    M – music. Include some.
    A – always. Treasure life.
    S – strength. To keep fighting cancer.

    Now SMILE!!!

    #20014
    Marie 1
    Participant

    Hi Cheryl and to all.

    Just before I read your post Cheryl I was feeling a little down thinking of my upcoming TUR on Jan 5th and then I said to myself as I passed by the Christmas tree ‘I am here right now so make an effort to enjoy everything about this season.

    I am from a small family so Christmas has always been just immediate family. I have something wonderful to be thankful for as my first great nephew was born last Wednesday. This is my nieces first child. I went to see him in the hospital last Thursday and held him in my arms. He is beautiful!

    I have the lights up on the outside of the house and switched the switch last night. Have started decorating the inside and should be finished over the weekend.

    I am looking forward to holding that precious little boy (his name is Daniel) over the holidays. This is exciting as we have not had a baby in the family since my niece was born. Christmas is all about the kids and being thankful to our God.

    I hope everyone has a blessed Christmas and pray for a happy 2016!

    Please keep me in your prayers.

    Cheryl I will be thinking of you on the 16th and hope and pray you receive your second all clear.

    God bless
    Marie

    #20015
    cheryl9
    Participant

    Hello Marie

    Sounds like you will have an awesome Christmas. The size of the family is not what counts. What the family does is what counts.

    Thanks for your thoughts Marie.

    If you are reading this, you are also here on planet earth and breathing right now. Cherish that.

    Now onto putting up Christmas lights!

    #20017
    Marie 1
    Participant

    Correction. I am not having a TUR in Jan just a scope. I think I jumped the gun a little….

    Marie

    #20023
    cheryl9
    Participant

    Hello Everyone

    My church has wound up the “Walk Through Bethlehem” event. This is a highlight of the Christmas season for my community because of the life like presentation (done over the two floors of the church and even includes real animals in the stable and a real baby in the manger) that makes one feel like they are in Bethlehem 2,000+ years ago. It is an honour and thrill to be involved in this. This year I was the “cloth dyer”. Little ironic as this is a high risk occupation for BC in the real world.

    Our church also puts on a Christmas Brunch on Boxing Day. I get to supply 6 dozen muffins. There is always lots of good food and cheer and the children pretty much take over the church service.

    Moving forward and yes, I am still not ready for Christmas!

    #20026
    marysue
    Participant

    Hi Cheryl!

    That “Walk through Bethlehem” sounds awesome! I remember all the school stuff way back when – concerts, plays and the like. I do miss that. Still not ready for Christmas – got the decorating, a couple more gifts to buy and the baking to do but it will get done. I don’t freak out anymore it will be what it will be.

    #20028
    cheryl9
    Participant

    Hello

    Almost done the presents. We have an odd tradition of everyone getting stockings no matter how old they are. These are the fun gifts and it is more for the laughter than anything else. EG: my widowed mother has her first serious boyfriend. They are getting a pair of handcuffs with the note: you figure out what to do with these. Then there is the stethoscope (both of them are 77).

    The fruitcake is done but that is it for baking so far. Traditionally, have about a dozen different homemade desserts for Christmas. None of the buns, breads are made. Take note: please do not ask how much weight is gained during the season around my house. Outside lights are up. The Christmas tree boxes have made it out of storage but still sitting in the box in their respective spots. Now my oldest son looks like he is coming down with the flu. This means I have lost my main helper and I spend time freaking out about germs and keeping me from getting sick. The sanitary protocol that kicks in at my house is a bit intense but it is all to keep me from getting sick. So far, has worked as I haven’t been sick since diagnosis.

    Anyway, this evening my other son and I were selecting the games to play through Christmas and boy, are we going to make things challenging! We have selected the game “Keep talking and nobody explodes” game. This is about diffusing bombs using certain preset criteria and puzzles. Challenge is that the person with the bomb can’t see the puzzles and the person with the puzzles can’t see the bomb. Makes for some really good laughs.

    So far, I do not have a definitive number on how many will descend on my house through Christmas but this makes for some of the fun of Christmas!

    Take care and carry on!

    #20032
    Rick B
    Participant

    Hi everyone,

    Great post…wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and good health always. We had our a family get together early as we hope to head south in a couple of weeks. Our daughter and family hosted…15 over-nighters on Nov 28th and we had an awesome great time.

    I have a couple of doc follow-up appointments and hopefully everything goes ok so we can get on the road.

    Wishing you and your families the very best…may God Bless.

    Rick

    #20043
    cheryl9
    Participant

    Hello everyone

    Too much depressing news posted today so I came here to post some stuff that has nothing to do with cancer.

    A lot of my outdoor lights are solar because they are too far away from the house. They haven’t been working this year and I have been getting anxious that they are all broken. Then I decided to turn the solar panels on. Amazing. They work now. Who would have thought 🙂

    This time of year we usually run temperatures between -18 for a low and -10 for a high. Right now we are under a freezing rain warning. So, by later tonight, the Christmas lights outside may have a wonderful reflective quality to them.

    Only in Canada!

    #20049
    cheryl9
    Participant

    Hello everyone

    Did we take a butt kickin’ with the rain last night. Everything is ice this morning. Beautiful reflective quality on the outdoor lights, though!

    Christmas tree #1 is up and decorated. It is weird, but this year it looks so much nicer than in other years even though there is no difference on the decorations. Or maybe I am getting better at stopping to look at what is around me and appreciating the little things more.

    Tally ho!

    #20058
    stumblegirl14
    Participant

    Great post Cheryl. I wanted to take this chance to wish you all a Merry Christmas, hope you’re surrounded with love and joy. It’ll be different this Christmas for hubby & I. Our children are all grown up. One of our daughters now lives far away so she’ll be missed. My other daughter is planning a get away south with her hubby so it’ll be different for them also. Our grandchildren are now all grown also & they’ll enjoy time with their respective others. Hubby only gets a few days off this year for Christmas so we’re going to head to our new camp Christmas Eve. With no snow so far & the lake not frozen I guess we might be cutting the grass & fishing from the shoreline as opposed to ice fishing. Lucky we didn’t buy that snow machine yet. We’re not buying presents for ourselves so we’ll only have the cat sitting under our small tree. I’m still recovering from getting the shingles for my 3rd time (apparently us folks that have cancer are way more likely to get a recurrence) so it’ll certainly be a quiet Christmas for us. Can’t wait till 6 months is up from my getting the shingles so I can get the vaccine & perhaps it’ll at least reduce the severity of it or maybe, just maybe I’ll never get it again. We are planning on spending time with some good folks that live in the area of our camp year round. It’s been a whirl wind of a year with lots of changes in our lives – selling our beloved camp – then lucking out and purchasing a new one closer to home – travelling out west to see our niece get married – recovering from 2 turbts & many cystoscopies – helping good friends pack up their home of many years – and now trying to control neurological pain from the shingles – but alas we are blessed and thankful. I wish you all struggling this year all the best & hope brighter days ahead for you. Flo

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