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in reply to I hope to spend this Christmas:

Wow, there are a lot of grumpy Perlmonks this Christmas! I am not so close to my family, but I think that, even so, one can get a lot out of visits home—after all, these are the people who made us what we are, and it's a good chance to either thank or blame them, as appropriate. :-)

Anyway, eventually I decided that an intimate, personal Christmas was better than a 1500-mile trip, so I spend my Christmases (and most holidays) with my wife and my little kitty.

I'm the one who pushed for the inclusion of Miracle on 34th Street, so I'm happy to be able to give the ‘movie’ option its first vote. (Actually that, and the baking of the traditional gingersnaps—a 6-generations-old recipe—comes Christmas Eve.)

Oh, here's another one for you: Presents on Christmas Eve, midnight Christmas day, or Christmas morning? My family took almost as much pleasure in delaying the gratification as in the eventual opening of presents, so it's Christmas morning for me, despite all my wife's entreaties.

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Re^2: I hope to spend this Christmas:
by nimdokk (Vicar) on Dec 21, 2009 at 13:36 UTC
    Personally, I'm not that big on Christmas, never have been (even as a kid). But other people around me do enjoy it so I try not to be too much of a killjoy. I was the one that around the age of 5 or 6 informed several friends that there was no Santa Claus. What a right little *obscene gerund* *expletive-deleted* I was :-).

    However, when I was really young (up to about age 10 or so), presents were opened Christmas morning. Then we started doing one present each Christmas eve. Later on (after my grandfather died and my grandmother started coming to visit for Christmas), my mom and I would take my grandmother to a Christmas eve service and then look at lights. When we got home, we would open presents. More recently, things have been a bit screwier since my grandmother died a few years ago. I've been working on the tradition of: one year we visit my fiance's family for Christmas, one year my family and then one year just us (no traveling, no family).

Re^2: I hope to spend this Christmas:
by tubaandy (Deacon) on Dec 22, 2009 at 16:06 UTC
    Christmas morning, definitely.

    On Christmas Eve, I get to read the Polar Express and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to our boys (who are 13 and 10 this year), although not sure when we will do that, as my wife, sons, and I are all playing Midnight Mass at our church (with a bunch of other folks). :)

    Happy Holidays, and appropriate holiday greeting to everyone! (Merry Christmas, Happy (belated) Hannukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy New Year!)

    tubaandy