What does Christmas hold in store for you?

[El Presidente]

I think we are all winding down to Christmas day. A difficult year for many and we could all use a break to freshen up for 2011.

Over at Kens yesterday shooting one of the last video reviews for the year. Seriously if I hear Bruce Springsteen one more time (three hours yesterday...non stop ) I going to have a breakdown. Talk turned to Christmas day and what we had planned.

Christmas eve is a madhouse, midnight mass, putting presents under the tree and firing up the 4x4 at 1:30am, getting it up to 80kmh in the font paddock and slamming on the hand break....then reversing carefully over the tracks. You see... This is where Santa's Sleigh landed I am pretty sure all the kids have cottoned on to the fraud but we have hope for Tommy who is 10. Even he was disillusioned a little ast year when he followed the tracks in the morning and found Santa had run over nesting plovers killing mum and 3 eggs.

"Casualties of Christmas Son. Santa needs to lay off the wine" This year we are leaving out a glass of milk for Santa as opposed to the traditional glass of wine."

Christmas for me is all about kids, extended family, seafood, white wines, sparkling shiraz, Partagas cigars, morning swim in the pool, a game of cricket in the afternoon. I will receive 2-3 dodgy presents, get a speech from my mum, try not to raise any contentious international issues with my greeny niece, try to stay relatively sober. Needless to say I will be on the latest playstation game early evening (reflexes dulled) copping a hiding from the kids as each one steps up to beat up on me more.

Boxing day arrives and we head to the beach to stay with mum and dad. Too much food, wine, watch the opening couple of hours of the cricket test match, head to the beach for a fish with dad and Ben, dust off the old surfboard for a twilight surf with my brother and son Ben, get dumped five times, sit on the board behind the breakers in the early evening and thank God for living in one of the great countries of the world. 10pm a quiet cigar sitting on the dunes overlooking the moon and surf.

Do the above for a couple of days and head back home by myself to commence preparing for 2011. Lots of things to do. All next to the pool with a laptop, cigar, Cohiba (dog) next to me, a bottle of Champagne. This works well for a few days but I start to miss Lise/Smithy/Diana.

I love Christmas

[adic88]

Merry Christmas, Rob. May the roads be safe and your ashes be long.

[Colt45]

Hopefully some peace and quiet.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and wishes of good will to all.

[maximus]

i at sea for xmas and new years...woooppppeeeee

[First Lady]

Christmas Eve lunch with the Czar family on the deck to open our Christmas Presents and start to wind down for our Christmas Break

Christmas Morning wake up the husband to get him to wake up to open our presents, (the animals get restless as they know they have presents as well )

Start cooking for Christmas Lunch with the whole family (I am in charge of the Christmas Ham and Christmas pudding this year again - could be all the alchol I pour over the pudding the month of December) than we head to lunch with my side of the family all 42 of us, a big loud and nosy Christmas lunch and I wouldn't have it any other way

Thank head to my In-laws for dinner, God not more Turkey than head home to pack for our trip to the beach for 6 days.... 6 glorious days of nothing but swiming and sleep

Have a safe Holiday break guys and don't miss us too much LOLOL

[CanuckSARTech]

....and firing up the 4x4 at 1:30am, getting it up to 80kmh in the font paddock and slamming on the hand break....then reversing carefully over the tracks. You see... This is where Santa's Sleigh landed I am pretty sure all the kids have cottoned on to the fraud but we have hope for Tommy who is 10. Even he was disillusioned a little ast year when he followed the tracks in the morning and found Santa had run over nesting plovers killing mum and 3 eggs.

"Casualties of Christmas Son. Santa needs to lay off the wine" This year we are leaving out a glass of milk for Santa as opposed to the traditional glass of wine."

....I love Christmas

LOL. Wiseass.

But I gotta hand it to you. What BETTER way to use as an excuse to explain to the Mrs. (and maybe sometimes local police) as to why you're drunkenly driving across multiple neighbours' yards.

****, who needs a nice pretty lawn??!?! We've got Santa's sleigh marks, BABY!!!!!

Classic, Rob. Another example of your willingness to do whatever it takes to make people happy (no fun could be had by you in doing this, of course, of course!)

[First Lady]

That's Rob's excuse for the tire marks LOLOL

[docbp87]

As crazy as it may sound, I am working on Christmas Eve (I'm a pharmacy Technician) until about 5pm. I am also looking forward to it (even crazier, I know), mostly because we just have a big party at the store, everyone brings food and what not, and we don't do much work. I will get off work just in time to head over to my parents' place, where my Mom's sister and her family (my uncle, and their son, who is my age) will come over. My brother will be home from college as well. Everyone will get drunk as hell (I drink rum, my old man drinks bourbon, my ma and her sister are wine drinkers, my brother drinks gin, and my cousin drinks... I don't know, whatever those alcoholic energy drinks are called... yuck), and eat a ton (cooking a huge roast this year), then we will sit around the fire place, exchange gifts, and proceed to get even more plastered.

Eventually, the cousins will leave for the night, and we will all crawl into bed (and in my case, I'll probably pass out on a couch lol) until morning. At 7am or so, the old man will roll me off the couch, and the men (my brother, father, and I) all get dressed up to go to the early Christmas mass service. Once we are done there, we usually grab a cup of coffee, and come home, where ma has been cooking steak and eggs for breakfast. We drink mimosas, eat, and then open presents. Then we all go to the Cousin's home and drink, eat, and open more gifts, and just have a good old time.

Gotta love the holidays.

[BigGuns]

Christmas Eve is with the in-laws after church. Christmas morning will be fun around the tree watching my son open gifts he will soon destroy. A light, but decent breakfast followed by watching my beloved Lakers curb stomp Dywane Wade's POS Heat in the early afternoon. Then off to my parents' house for the formal Christmas dinner.

I hope to smoke some nice sticks somewhere in there, but it usually doesn't work out until after it is all over...

Best wishes to all. Enjoy the times you have...

[mazolaman]

we'll be driving from London to the Lakes,which could take a while,as Britains roads are frozen up.

Luckily,I have a good 4x4,powered by veggie oil.

-14 at my parents,where we will be having chrissy dinner,and from then on we will be catching up with friends on the east coast,Scotland,and in my own region.

Meeting friends and having a laugh,a drink,and a smoke!

[mrbagel]

Rob maybe this year you can just shovel some **** around your yard and tell the son that Santas reindeer went poo poo.

Not looking forward to Cristmas, My family believes it will be a great idea for me to take my Grandmother for a ride on my motorcycle. Its a Sport Bike and the Pillion seat is very high so im not looking forward to just sitting on my Bike for a number of hours while they work out how to get her on it and then how to get her off.

[samb]

Gotta work both the Eve and the Day, but after work, will be heading off to do the family thing. Father-in-law for Christmas Eve, and my mom's on Christmas Day. All of our parents are divorced, so we have the potential for four christmas gatherings. Havent heard anything about my dad coming to town or my mother-in-law. We shall see.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all who celebrate.

[CigarB]

First on the list now is to get over to Australia for Christmas, sounds like a great time! I love the Santa tracks, that has classic video written all over it...."Casualty of Christmas" LOL. Happy Holidays to all, take time to relax and forget your stresses!

[thechenman]

The markets are open on Christmas Eve, so I will be working a full day. I'll meet up with my niece, or is it niece-in-law, at Grand Central and hop the train home. My wife usually makes Cornish Game Hens for Christmas Eve. It will just be my son Dylan (8), my daughter Ella (2), my wife Mary, my niece Kimberly and myself that evening. I'll play with the kids and get them ready for bed as my wife preps the Rib Roast and what not for X-Mas Dinner @ her parents place in the city on Christmas Day.

After I get the kids played out, cleaned up, read to and in bed...I get to work on assembling their presents (the big ones, doll house, kitchen, motorized scooter etc.) and wrapping everything. I'll cuddle with my wife in front of the fireplace, and have a nightcap with her. She'll tidy up, I'll walk the dogs and then it is off to bed.

Up early on X-Mas Day as the kids won't be sleeping in. Open presents and while the kids play my wife makes her tradtional X-Mas Day breakfast of waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, and bagels while the kids play with their new toys and I clean up.

After that it is off to her parents to meet up with her brother and sister's families for another round of gift giving and feasting. Hopefully I can get in a few cigars.

Monday...back to work! Somebody's gotta pay for all this stuff.

[mbrody]

Crap, I'm coming to your House Chen... except for the part where I am going to go back to my house for a Christmas Eve smoke...

BTW, I am working on Friday too...

[Mr.T]

Fun to see what everyone is doing. The family and I will spend Christams Eve at my folks house, which will be a mad house (25 people) as well as Christmas morning and the in the afnternoon to my aunt's house. It's a farily basic and easy to follow routine for the next 3 to 4 days: eat, drink, sleep, eat, drink, sleep.....and along the way I plan to enjoy some good cubans and watch the premiership.....if they can clear away that blanket of snow covering parts of England.

To those who celebrate have a merry and safe Christams!

[olotti]

Interesting to see what everyone has in store for the holidays, Prez your's sounds awesome. This year I have to work on xmas, part of being a civil servant, some years I have it off others I'll be at the publics beck and call. So this year my wife and I moved into our new house so we'll be celebrating xmas on Sunday when she gets back from her parents place. So far though it's been one of the better holiday seasons. Just being able to have our firsts as a married couple, ie putting up lights, getting the tree up and decorating the house has all made it real special as will Sunday when we get to spend time together exchanging gifts, making some good meals and drinking some wine and I'll be putting some good cigars to flame. Hope everyone has a very healthy, safe and happy holiday.

[thechenman]

Crap, I'm coming to your House Chen... except for the part where I am going to go back to my house for a Christmas Eve smoke...

BTW, I am working on Friday too...

You are welcome anytime buddy...

[Rogers72]

On Christmas Eve, I'll go to the kid's program at church then probably a light dinner. We'll try to get our 3yr old down early and go ahead and put out her Santa. I will then send my wife to bed and I'll put out a few things for her from Santa. Then I'll sit on the porch with a cigar and scotch and look for the sleigh flying by. On Christmas day, I'll start a dozen or so Boston Butts around 5am, then wake the girls up to see what Santa brought. We'll just relax/cook/drink/smoke for most of the day and then have a small group of family and friends over that night for BBQ. I wish all of you the best!

[eman67]

I will be putting together my daughters doll house and sons airhockey table together Christmas Eve night so when they get up they see it Christmas morning...a bottle of scotch will be involved as well to ease my nerves whilst deciphering the directions. Then off to in-laws and my families houses in the afternoon..let the fun begin.

[android]

Family, Lot's of Laughter, Prime Rib, Booze, and Cuban Cigars...perfect

[cadillacdoc]

12/22: 2004 Mumm Napa DVX Rose', Oysters Rockefeller as beginnings. 1998 Penfolds Grange, Brussells sprouts, Beef Tenderloin and baked potato. Undecided sweet wine after dinner and LGC Deliciosos by the fire. Just my wife, 25 year old twin sons (turning 26 on Christmas day) and 21 year old daughter in attendence. Let the debauchery begin. The next four days will be brutal. Undecided bubbly in the morning and I can do what I want to for the next two days (rearranging the cellar will occupy most of tomorrow). Hope I can be alert enough to continue posting. A nine liter Schramsberg Blanc de Blanc will be opened tomorrow night!