Okay okay, I should have mentioned the being a magic pixie baby from a virgin part first

Christmas rocks! For some reason I enjoy listening to Christmas music, which is why as soon as I found out this existed I went out and bought it: http://www.amazon.com/Have-Yourself-Meaty-Little-Christmas/dp/B002SSUUWA/ And I like the feeling of it being cold outside and me not having to go out for anything. And the family, and the gifts. I'm one of those.
I would miss pizza too, at least you get to have some soon!

Well while you guys get 2 days off, i'm looking at 8 weeks off. Thankyou Australia!

That's exactly how I feel. Plus it seems to make them happier when you just give a gift out of the blue. It shows that you were truly thinking about them and not just your "responsibility".

I hate Christmas lights (the string variety).
They last 2-3 seasons (if used exclusively indoors) and if the shunts* on the bulbs go bad, it is a massive pain to fix the lights.
*The so-called frustration-free lights work with broken bulb filaments. However, they can still go bad if the shunts on the bulbs fail.

I suppose.. It's just a bit suspect.
There were two links provided by Faithful, which have now been edited, but the "proof" that was offered was "passerby" accounts well after the fact.
The only account that would've been written around the time of his death was an account of an earthquake. That's it, the account was of an earthquake. The rest that followed was pure hyphothetical drivel.
A lot that "proof" was from religious texts, although not Christian ones, but religious texts anyway.
I kind of forgot my point...
So, bah humbug?
Oh. And totally agree with you. Religion deserves to be left in the past.

Brit TV channels get plastered with messages all through the programs : "If the season holidays aren't making you happy, call the suicide helpline 0845 xxx xxxx"
Not sure what help the lines actually are...."Hello, you've reached the UK National Suicide helpline, remember kiddies, down the street, not across the road!!"
:facepalm:

Yes, god forbid that the media-crazed materialist jizzbang that christmas has become makes people unhappy.

The first part of our tradition happened earlier this month: a local chamber choir in which I sing held its annual Yuletide dinners. We sing while the attendees eat. Then they leave and we eat, so we have incentive to provide good food. :)
We will probably attend Christmas Eve services. Then we'll visit with various branches of the family.
After that, our tradition is to plan to clean house over the university break but not actually get around to it.

Usually holidays here mean an excuse to blow things up with firecrackers. ; )

Is the back door draft still going on ?? I remember hearing something about a while back before I moved out of the States..

Christmas won't be as good as other years. We're just recovering from major expenses we did mid year and my mother, whom I visit every year to eat dinner with on Christmas eve and all that is spending it with my sister in the states. She'll be back for new year's though, so that's something.
Loot only includes a table game my wife and i liked, a new UPS battery for the computer and maybe a gaming mouse. Other than that, it looks like it's gonna be pretty dry.

Met some people through work and I might spend New Year's with them. Christmas I hope to get my dad to come with me and go to my aunt's place and chill with her because she is an awesome aunt.

I'm headed to Arizona to meet with my Godparents and tour the Grand Canyon.