Merry Christmas everybody!!!!
 

Ok, I thought we could maybe share our joys in the run-up to Christmas :winky: All those fears and worries and laughs and tears; the tidying and clearing, the shopping and cooking, the searching and decorating....

I'm sorry, US folk, I can't bring myself to say Happy Holidays more than once lol, it's just Christmas here, and that's the way I hope it'll always be for me!

We are now right into December, and I'm having my annual panic at having done pretty much nothing towards Christmas yet. There seems to be mountains to do, and very little time to do it in!

How are you getting on? (Oh yes, and please, if you are one of those people who have everything bought and wrapped by now, can you just say so very very very quietly??? :D)

If nothing else, maybe we could just share this shout of festive cheer.........

Aaaaaaaaaaagaagahahahahahahahahahagagagaaahahahaha h!!!!! HEEELLLPPPPP!!!!

Bram :winky:

Let me be the first to return the Yule Time pleasantries...
MERRY CHRISTMAS to you..... :hug: :) :) :hug:

Everyone have a safe and pain free MERRY Christmas... :hug:

Merry christmas....
 

Bram (it is Merry Christmas to me too)!

We haven't decorated in a couple of years, since I got so much worse. We used to decorate inside and outside a lot! My husband wanted to put up the tree and decorate a bit this past weekend, he said that he knows I like it and thought I would enjoy it since I am home all day now...he is a great guy! I wanted so badly to help decorate the tree, until I dropped and broke a couple of my favorite Peanuts/Snoopy ornaments. That was followed by a mini meltdown. I drop stuff all the time now...this RSD/CRaPS really sucks!!

One of my nieces is getting married the Sunday before Christmas and one of my nephews is getting married on the 28th, but that one is up in Washington DC. We decided not to attend his wedding because it would be too hard on me. I hate missing it but have to start to really recognize my limitations...denial just doesn't work so well anymore :rolleyes:

As far as shopping goes, we are trying to do a little at a time and online shopping is great! It is gonna be a lighter ($$) Christmas this year since I didn't get paid for 9 months (STD/LTD denied but SSD picked up in Oct :)) and my husband was furloughed twice. I have my list going and just wait for my husband to get home from work to take me out :)

I hope everyone is getting along ok.
Nanc
:hug:

never easy
 

I know things are different for all of us here.BUT we must go on and do our best to abilities.So Merry Christmas everyone.:grouphug:

Merry Christmas Bram!

Well...this is a really crazy time of year for me. I work retail so I'm working 6 days a week now with only Monday's off. We're open until midnight every night until the 20th when the company decided we're just not going to close at all until the 24th. That's going to be interesting. Last week was really rough on me...getting ready for Black Friday and then the 12 hour shift on Black Friday itself. But...that's over now and going forward most of the work I do will be less physically taxing on me since a couple months ago I started a new position that is more office work than before (but getting ready for Black Friday means we're all on the floor trying to get things ready).

Yesterday my boyfriend and I went out and got our Christmas tree. We've been getting a real one for about 5 years now and I love going out with him to pick it out. And thankfully...it was warmer yesterday so it wasn't too bad. The trip out took a toll on me though (or maybe it was just the weather changes because I woke up this morning to a terrible rain storm) and I'm glad I have the closing shift tonight to give me a few extra hours to rest up and try to make it to work.

Boyfriend brought up the rest of the Christmas decorations and started unpacking them. I'm hoping that over the next week I can get stuff put up little by little so it's all done by the weekend. Might be next Monday though since that's my next day off. Either way...I'll just be happy to get everything up and in it's place for the holidays.

I really do love this time of year even though it's crazy and there's so much to do...even though I can't do as much as I want to with putting up the Christmas decorations and all. It can be frustrating but I do my best to not push what I know are my limits.

On the other hand...I have (sorry if this annoys anything) finished my Christmas shopping between online shopping and picking some things up where I work on a slow day last week). Everything is also wrapped (managed to get that done yesterday morning). So once the Christmas tree is all decorated it will have a bunch of gifts under it too. I like to wrap all the gifts in different wrapping paper too so that it looks all eclectic and fun under the tree. Still waiting on a few online items to arrive...then it will be time to write out the Christmas cards...so much to do. If it makes you feel any better...I still do have to buy candy canes for all the associates that work for me to put on their Christmas cards. I do try and make sure I get one for all my associates around Christmas time...so that's still something I have to buy. ;)

Hope everyone is doing well and has a great holiday season!!

Catra, as you're so nice I'll let you off being so incredibly organised ;)

I wish it was because I am so organized...but the truth is that with only one day off a week for the entire month of December I know I won't want to leave the house at all. So I wanted to get all of the actual "shopping" done before that happens. Especially since they are saying this is going to be a VERY cold winter this year. :(

Hi catra - so glad you made it through Black Friday ok. I know that had to be rough! I worked retail many years ago (pre-RSD/CRPS) and Black Friday was hell then! I can't imagine working retail now, I admire you!

It is great that you have your shopping done. I used to always be done or close to it by Halloween...not anymore!! I will be lucky to finish by Christmas Eve :rolleyes: My husband said I need to wrap things up as we get them so it will be easier on me. I have to do the wrapping since he can only use one hand. He has a good point since my hands are getting so bad...I need to get to work :)

I figure that once my hands get too bad...that's what gift bags are for! :) I always stock up after Christmas when they are 80-90% off...and we reuse any gift bags we get each year too. I prefer the wrapping paper and having all those packages under the tree...but gift bags look nice too as an alternative.

Yep, I am all about the gift bags!! Use them more and more. I do have a few things that need to be wrapped, but everything that can will go into a gift bag :wink: When I was able to, my best bud and I would hit Target the day after Christmas and I would stock up! I miss that tradition :(

black friday
 

:)I remember when I was able to go shopping then..It was fun..I would meet my best buddy for shopping and breakfast.It was fun.Now I cannot go because I would need a wheelchair to go..You know that would not work..I order on line now.I felt bad you had to work,but I am glad you still can work..Hang in there.Glad to hear you went to get your tree.That is special moment to share.

We celebrate Yule in our house (aka Winter Solstice). We have a live tree outside that we'll bring in nearer to the 21st because the house doesn't get much light inside. The tree is smallish and our decorations are not much, I only really do it for DD.

But I did buy one whole present! I got a tshirt from a company that gives part of the profit back to the artist. I have a really hard time dealing with the commercialism of it all. I'll buy some more things for the kiddo online. I have a couple Doctor Who things in my Amazon cart for her. I want to get some nice geeky board games for us all. I need to find an architecture kit for the kiddo too, I've found some but deciding is hard.

(Having just finished this, I apologise in advance for the history lecture!!!)

I love the idea of celebrating the winter solstice instead chaos :) after all, the old pagan midwinter festival is the root of our modern Christmas. They would feast and sing, and bring evergreen boughs into their homes to remind them that life carried on even through the darkness and cold. The feasting part was important because many folk starved in the winter, it was a lean time, and only those with good food stores who had had a good crop made it through comfortably. That feast time probably saved a few lives.

Early Christians used several of the existing feast times as their holy days because it made sense to use something that was already there, but I hate the way the original christian idea of giving gifts (from the wise men) has eventually been warped into modern Christmas - all about excess and advertising, and spending more than you can afford, and companies trying to convince us that it's perfectly normal to spend £300 on a laptop for a gift...:rolleyes: The old midwinter festival is a much better thought, after all, it's all about family and friends having a good feast together and ignoring the weather!! Trying to hold on to your own modest ideals and traditions is very difficult when you have children whose friends will get the latest iPhone as one of their presents! :eek: Hey ho, we do our best for them, and for me that's nothing to do with how much we spend!

I like the gift bag idea, I've used them occasionally for awkward things, but it would certainly be easier on the hands. I always loved wrapping the gifts, but I usually ended up wrapping everything on Christmas Eve!!!! Always a late night! I don't think I could manage that now.

It's lovely hearing everyone's festive thoughts and ways of doing things :) Gives me a little warm Christmassy glow (no I haven't had any port yet lol).

Bram.

This is actually my favorite time of year. I too am behind, we try to do one Christmas thing every night! Maybe be something small like watch a movie maybe bake or even pick out cards to send to peoples, maybe reading a child's book. I love this time of year.

That's a really good idea Bratette, I might give that a try with the family....:winky:

Bram.

I am unapologetic about saying "MERRY CHRISTMAS"! I never say Happy Holidays. When I was in Florida last Christmas Day a sky-writing plane flew overhead and wrote "Happy Birthday Jesus" . That was cool!

Merry Christmas!

This is normally a really lovely time of year, but we're having family issues, so it's kinda sad :( But on the good side, I finally, FINALLY got smart, and kept a piece of paper in my wallet with "gift ideas" on it, and whenever I thought of something or saw something that I thought someone would like, I actually WROTE IT DOWN then and there! And I ended up with a really lovely and fun list and a lot less stress! My daughter loves wrapping presents, and this is a fun activity that we do together. We love to make them really pretty. This year, I found some really pretty black-and-white wrapping paper, and they're turning out really nice with some bright colored ribbons (love the wired type) and decorations.

I can't wait to go back to California to visit my family and spend time with them at Christmas. I found a very unique present for my parents - I bought (sharing the cost with my two sisters) one of those slide conversion machines (you can get them for under $100 so sharing it 3 ways isn't bad) and we will convert all of their vacation slides to digital images, and then load them on their laptops (yes, Grandma and Grandpa have laptops! they're so cute sitting in their two little rocking chairs together with their laptops) and have them slideshow in the background. And doing the conversions will be a team effort, and will be such a nice time together as we talk and remember our lovely vacations. I think they'll really like it!

Regarding Black Friday...just a tip for anyone who wants to go out but can't handle the crowds. My store and stores like us (Macy's, Kohls, JCPenney, etc) were completely DEAD between 2am-6am. So if you need a wheelchair, walker, cane, crutches, etc...that is actually a perfect time to go where you can be part of the experience (maybe even get breakfast after).

Personally...if I didn't have to work I would not leave the house on Black Friday for anything. But I do know that for a lot of people it's a tradition or fun thing to do...so I just wanted to say that you don't have to miss out on the experience if it's just the crowds that keep you away so long as you can make it out during those slow hours.

Hi everyone :)
Just a reminder that we would prefer members keep posts free of debates about religion.

This is a multi cultural, International community, and different members celebrate their holidays in the way that they choose.

It is fine to have a thread discussing holiday traditions etc etc...but please avoid discussion that could be seen as religious debate or that could offend those who do not celebrate in a specific way.

thanks

ps remember too that we have a Sanctuary forum for posts of a mainly religious nature http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum27.html

but even there our guidelines are:

That's a really lovely idea catra, and hopefully the stores will try to keep the Christmas spirit going through the long nights :) It's tough if crowds seem downright scary now, because there isn't a single quiet day of the week any more!

I have finally done some shopping so am feeling less freaked out lol. My lovely husband took a day off and we went into town for an hour, then had a lazy afternoon. Lovely man :p

Bram.

My younger daughter had her friend over today and they were making Christmas decorations....

OMG the mess lol!!! :eek::D They have made snowflakes from white paper, using scissors to cut out the decorations - it looked more like it had snowed in my kitchen!!! Little tiny bits of paper everywhere, bless them :p

They had also made stars out of wooden lolly sticks - ie they had used about a ton of PVA glue to stick them together, and of course that glue was also over my table, chairs and floor. And the cat's paw. Aww, they were so happy though, I went past at one point outside, and they were sat happily at the table, Christmas music playing, chatting away. Made me smile.

I cleaned up once they had finished, and tried to find some surface space to allow all the glue to dry...I foresee another crafty day tomorrow - she wants to paint them and then apply the dreaded substance - GLITTER!!! :eek:

Makes me realise how close it is now though! I've still got so little done...

Hope you little elves out there are ok and finding a smile :)

Bram.

Aw, I'm sure they had a great time. Usually, the bigger the mess, the better the kids' day. Glitter seems impossible to get rid of entirely; I think you just have to wait it out.

On Friday the folks at work decided that we should exchange Secret Santa presents and that we should do this on Tuesday. So, I had to go out shopping today as there wasn't enough time to buy something online. I felt a wee bit stressed at times because there were so many people, all zooming around me but I managed to avoid any collisions. Happily, I managed to get it done today.

I also picked myself up a lovely little gift set of coffee syrups at Next. I'm enjoying my treat now. :)

Kim

Kim, those little coffee syrups are lush.....you've made me want some now!

Well done doing your shopping, must admit I always dreaded the Secret Santa thing when I worked in a big organisation....although on the other hand, I quite miss the jolly Christmas atmosphere of working in a big building with lots of folk I knew....:D Guess you can't win 'em all!!

I confess to wondering whether any of the little darlings will give teacher a card this Christmas :winky: Last year I started a mini tradition of giving them a little something lol, lovely to see that surprised little smile! Awww...

Today I am mostly liking my ....'s :p

Bram.

Merry Christmas Everyone. Just a few more weeks now and I'm so not ready. Still need wrapping paper and presents for my canine and feline babies. And of course a HESS Truck for son and great nephew. Oh yeah, and we need a tree. That would be sort of good to have. Well I hope you all have a happy holiday season. From your friend Renee.

Thanks for starting this thread Bram!
And thanks for sharing everyone!! I feel so much better I'm not ready either.

It sounds weird but the burning pain motivated me to put up the tree finally last night. My wrist was burning so bad i put ketamine cream & a sock on it and pushed through. I guess it took my mind off the pain somewhat.
Anyway, there's a small tree with minimal decorations and I felt good I got that done.
I guess I imagined an adversary trying to keep me from doing a tree :)
I've gotten a few small gifts over the year, but i have no idea how or when
I'll be able to say I'm "done".

Good to see you, hope you're o.k.

Thanks AZ-Di. I'm feeling a little better. Last night I finally slept through the night since I lost my Great Aunt. I miss her alot but am coming to terms with the fact that she's gone. I know she's in a better place now and would want me to be brave and live my life to the fullest. That's the way she lived her life. So I'm going to get off my butt and start looking for a tree. I'm glad you got yours. You've inspired me to get one myself. First I need to break out my voltaren gel for my wrist and then off I go! Watch out trees, here I come! Take care my friend. From your friend, Renee.

That's sort of how I am with everything...my boyfriend calls it my stubbornness kicking in when I refuse to NOT do things (like work, put up the Christmas tree, garden, stitch, etc). I actually am much better mentally (if not physically) when I do these "normal" things because it gives me other things to think about besides my pain. When I was off work and home all the time (trapped on my couch is the most accurate description) I was miserable and could think of nothing but my pain and misery. I was so happy when I was able to do the dishes for the first time after that really bad patch. ME...happy doing dishes...the girl who would do just about anything else to get out of doing the dishes growing up...lol! But it felt like such a big "win" for me to do that simple little task. We all need to celebrate all those little wins every day.

Lol ditto on the stubbornness! This weekend hasn't been the best pain-wise, mainly because of the aforementioned stubborn streak :winky: My youngest wants her top bunk off (she's too tall now, bless), and to do that we needed space in the stacked-to-the-gunwales garage for the bed and mattress (in a mattress bag, I'm not chucking it out lol). Was it happening? Despite me asking nicely about six times, and nagging about three? Heck no :rolleyes:. So I basically frogmarched my darling husband out there and we've cleared a space. Screwed up my leg and feet though. It makes me so MAD that to get anything like that done, I HAVE TO DO IT WITH HIM. I mean FFS.

Then yesterday it was a nice day, and fairly mild, so after another half hour of garage fun :p I said we ought to take the dog down to the fields near town and have a coffee. Would he have thought of it himself? Would he have done it if I'd merely suggested it?! Heck no. So we all went and had a lovely walk, further than I have for a long time, it was too nice a day to waste. More ouch. Today everything is hot and protesting, and I know I completely broke all the rules about pacing, and totally overdid it, and am now paying the price.

But guess what we all know, darling ones? If we don't do these things, they just won't get done!!!!! :eek::D:cool:

I'm finding my hips are defintely sore and hot after any walking more than a few minutes now....not good. My right hand has been awful this last week, and that's a new one too. My whole left side was red and sore Friday night. Feel like I'm falling apart fast, someways I worry how much more opportunity I'll have to do these things, so maybe I should cram stuff in while I can vaguely do it ;)

Roll on Christmas! Bring it on! :D

Take care everyone x

Bram.

Thought I would share my tree that I have been working hard on decorating this past week. All it needs now are the ornaments.

http://images.yuku.com.s3.amazonaws....b39699ca_r.jpg

And our fireplace complete with stockings.

http://images.yuku.com.s3.amazonaws....4e80079c_r.jpg

It makes me feel good knowing that this monster can't hold me back (yet) from doing these things. I will continue to push through the pain to do them until it is no longer possible. Worth the extra pain every time.

christmas
 

I hear ya.I push until I cannot walk ..I am done ,need to wrap..Bought everything online..Good Luck and best wishes to everyone..

Hi Bram. I just wanted to thank you for starting this Christmas Thread. It was a really nice idea. I hope you and everyone else on this forum are doing okay today and have a wonderful holiday season! From your friend, Renee.

Hi Catra. That is a BEAUTIFUL TREE! All I can say is WOW!! It really got me in the Christmas Spirit!!! Thanks for the pictures. I'm so proud of you for decorating it. I am going this week to get a tree. (Better late than never!) I think I may get a table top tree though. It won't be as nice as yours, but it's better than no tree at all! Take care and happy holidays! Sincerely, Renee.

Getting there....
 

Well, we have made progress...husband decorated last weekend and this past weekend we did some shopping. Friday I had two dr appts and husband had one. We did some shopping in between the 2nd and 3rd appt and then again after the 3rd. Went to a couple places Saturday. By Sunday, well. I could hardly walk. My left leg hurt worse then it ever has, and it was a different kind of pain than usual. It has eased up a little today, thank goodness! This is why I have done a lot of my shopping online :)

I have wrapped most of the gifts too. Trying to do that as I go to make it easier. Making my list now for what we still need...I think we are going out again tomorrow evening. Hope to be finished soon!!

Catra, those are beautiful pictures!!! Well done, I think that's amazing, and yes, all we can do is keep pushing - because the option gets us literally nowhere lol :winky:

Please can everyone post their pics as and when they get their decorations and trees up - its so cheerful and makes me feel festive :D:p Plus it might make me get mine done a little quicker!! My youngest thinks its cruel of me to put the decs up the weekend before Christmas....lol, it used to be Christmas Eve!

Bram.

Thanks everyone!

Today I have spent my morning writing out Christmas cards and putting ornaments up on the tree. I have to admit that I'm not feeling the ornaments this year...or maybe I'm just having an off morning. Had the Christmas music playing, my glass of egg nog...and I'm just not quite my normal holiday self. Maybe it's just an overload of the Christmas decorating the past few days.

I love egg nog! I think I'll need to get some of that for Christmas dinner. That's a great idea Catra. Thanks!:)

Welcome back Renee! You are very brave, indeed.

Thanks Lottie. I'm trying to be brave, but my Great Aunt was a lot better with dealing with life's challenges than I am. She always was a very positive woman even when times were tough. I'm trying to be more like her and face the world with a more positive outlook. I have been sleeping a little better at night and my pain level from my rsd isn't as high as it was last week. That was a rough week both mentally and physically.
I appreciate your kind words and I hope you're doing okay. I am trying to get ready for Christmas now and still have to get my "table top" tree! It's snowing a lot here in New Jersey today for the first time and it's getting me in a festive mood. I'm going to see if my husband with take me to get a tree tonight after he gets home from work.
Then I need to just get a few more things like some stocking stuffers and wrapping paper. Thanks goodness for online shopping!
I wish you and your family a very happy holiday season, as well as the rest of the kind people on this forum. Take care. From your friend, Renee.