What are you doing this Christmas?

So what is everyone doing differently this Christmas since they lost weight, are losing weight or preparing  for surgery?  What new Christmas tradition are you starting? What Christmas tradition are you saying good-bye to? What is the highlight of your Christmas celebration? -- Merry Christmas, Tom

Besides the obvious of eating less and eating healthier,  I am pretty much celebrating the same way.  We have a tradition of spending Christmas Eve with a lesbian friend's family who "adopted" us for the past 12 Christmas Eves. They have not seen me since I lost my 50 pounds. I am anxious to see if they see the difference. I did do some shopping today and bought some new slacks for Christmas Eve. It's cool going in a 38" waist rather than a 46" waist. I love the family and the tradition they maintain over the years.

On Christmas Day we have dinner with my family. The day after Christmas, we go to Brett's family farm for their Christmas.

Last year we began a tradition with our best friends of celebrating Christmas evening with them by attending a movie and having Chinese out. It's the only  restaurant of]pen in our area on Christmas Day. It was a fun night out.

I love tradition and like this time of family and friends.

I think the biggest thing for me is that I won't be eating anything I baked for the holidays.  which is just as good.  I did taste batters and stuff but that's all I did while I was baking.  so i think that's good.  the only other thing that's different now is that I talked to my family ahead of time and gave them some ideas of what I could eat while they pig out on chips and sandwiches and soda.  I'm really lucky to have a very supportive family.  So in a few minutes I'll be heading back to west virginia to Ripley to see mom and dad for the first time since I had surgery.  then we're off to my grandparents tonight to open presents and then to my sister's house to open more presents.  We'll probably get home tonight around 10 or 11 pm.  so not much will change.  Just things added :)

I sound like a grinch to some people about Christmas, but it is really not so. DW is working Christmas, both work the day after, and then I work the weekend. So presents with the family of choice will be the Saturday after New Years. Family presents have already been sent. Maybe next year we will join someone for the actual event, but usually we don't. We are not Christians, so the church part isn't important to us.

I'll be trying to eat less at my family's XMas dinner; I think my sister is serving filet mignon, which should help satisfy my iron quota.  Plus, on Boxing Day I'm meeting a group of friends at Jasper White's Summer Shack (a fish house) to see a friend from San Francisco who is visiting her mother for the Holidays.  I haven't seen her in years, and I'm looking forward to a double-take or two.

My SO has always flown home to Wisconsin to visit his father (now 93 years old) and his siblings.  We've never celebrated XMas together (at least not on XMas!); it sounds horrendous, but that's just the way we've always handled it with our respective familial responsibilities, and it's just a part of our annual routine.

Later today, XMas Eve, and again on New Year's Eve, I'll be baby-sitting my mother so that my sister and her husband and kids can get out of the house to visit relatives.  My mother is in the mid-late stages of Alzheimer's, though she's still at home: 4 days a week at my sister's, 3 days a week with me.  I do many of the holidays like tonight and New Year's.  Luckily, I'm not a big party kind of guy, so I'm not missing much.

/Steve

What a wonderful son you are, Foobear! And I so sorry that you and your SO can't do Xmas together, but I admire how you both handle things. A couple very dear to us down in LA have the same (sort of) situation - one goes home but can't take his SO along, as his family refuses to acknowledge their 15 year relationship) Very sad, I think - their loss; they're both terrific fellows.

Hopin' you and your love gets to spend some quality time together this season.

Steve, What a lovely gift you give your sister on Christmas Eve. My mother is in the late stages of Alzheimer's. She lives at home with my brother about 45 minutes from my home. It has been sad lately visiting them. She is very withdrawn and not the vibrant person she was.  I am fortunate to also have a brother who cares day in and day out for her. Being with her at the holidays is important. In mid January she will turn 90.  Merry Christmas, Steve. -- Tom

Due to several very unusual snowstorms the past week, we're having to postpone Xmas until the roads are clear. They've plowed the main roads and freeways, but we live on a series of hills and the roads to our house are packed with ice and snow and are very dangerous (unless you have a 4WD, which none of us do).

So, it'll be a quiet day tomorrow with just my partner and our Westie companion. We're hoping to have our Xmas dinner Sunday with my family and our very dear friends, R&W.

I'm not planning anything different from years past, other than my mother and I will have salmon instead of the prime rib, and I've added a big salad to the menu that we don't  typically do. Other than that, I will indulge a little - a deviled egg here and a sliver of pie there.

Merry Christmas, everyone. My hope for you all is that you are all with loved ones tomorrow, whether it be your family or adopted family!

 

Oh Foobear! I hope my son becomes as considerate an adult as you are.
I lost my Grandmother to Alzheimers a few years back, and my Aunts and Mother have it... Hoping there is more information by the time I get older..

As for the holiday, I am still doing all the cooking. BUT I am making a roasted chicken for myself and a few WLS friends that will be joining us, and a honeybaked ham for the rest of the family. I am making my pies with splenda so the WLS crew can have a small slice.

The one thing I will miss terribly is, my favorite dish Hushwee... I won't be able to eat it since it is made of rice and lamb, neither of which I can tolerate. But my it is my ex's and currents favorite, so I am making it for them..

Tom, cherish every moment with your mom. I lost my mother in December 2001 and miss her terribly.
It is now christmas afternoon. Last night I made a small turkey for just my brother and I. This morning I was greeted by the sweetest text message from Alan, we will have our Chrsitmas friday night. Then I made omlettes for my brother and I and we exchanged our gifts. He just left to go have dinner with his daughter and I'm going to go have dinner with my friend Mikki and her family. Alan is spending today with his parents since it will probally be his fathers last Christmas and I want him to have as much alone time with them as possible. Friday we both have to work and its also his mother's birthday and she wants me to join them for dinner at the casino so she can meet me. Time to meet the parents! Then after dinner we will go back to Alan's place and exchange our gifts.As far as I'm concerned Alan gave me the best gift on Dec 13 when he told me he loved me for the first time.