That someone else always cooks 'em.

And that I won't be seeing my fambly this year :(

lunch dads dinner - the missus folks boxing day- mum's 4 bbq

be polite, dont stress then go to tassies for holidays

i'm sure there will be plenty to eat

It's very important not to stress. My brother usually insures this by getting pissed on old crow and cola cans and walking around the house going ''Just chill everyone! Don't fucken stress!'' But he's staying in Queensland this year so who knows what could happen.

plum pudding is awesome. making it is my job every year. and i love it.

also made the mince for the mince pies this year too, but mum made the pies themselves, she's the pastry queen.

mum will insist on making everything, then complain that she made it all and nobody even offerred to help (lies). my brother and sister will invent exotic cocktails. my dad and i will get stoned. there will be christmas pudding, which everyone will eat a tiny slice of to be polite, and it will spend the rest of the summer getting smaller and smaller and drier and drier. my grandmother will sit there whinging about her husband's family, while he sits there trying to ignore it.

i love christmas.

someone kill me now.

My grandmother makes Yorkshire pudding. It's the most amazing thing ever, a heart attack in every piece.

I'm sure mum's plum pudding is already hanging in calico in the pantry. I will be making my usual lemon tart amongst other things.

We're having it at my sisters, its an 'on' year meaning in excess of 20+ immediate family members and they've just put in a pool- woow!!! Bring on a 45 degree xmas day!!!!!

I don't get where the stress comes from.

You eat, you drink, you exchange gifts, you fall asleep after lunch and have pudding at about 6pm.

What stress?

de.foxus said 1 minute ago: mum will insist on making everything, then complain that she made it all and nobody even offerred to help (lies).

de foxus, my Mum usually does this too. Which is why my sister has stepped in well ahead of time and insisted we help. My grandma used to do exactly the same thing and Mum always whinged about it. I wonder if I will be a Christmas lunch martyr too.

Mrs Ando's cooking up a storm this year. 4 kinds of meat!

It comes directly from my mother, modi.

what stress???

your mum!

the stress comes from everyone trying to avoid the topics that will cause fights, and therefore having stupid plastered on grins on their faces.

and then the stress comes when people get drunk and edge on to those topics anyway, and other people are too drunk and belligerent to let them slide, and you can end up with either icy silence, family members leaving in the middle of the night, or fisticuffs.

Oh. Fuck, you're all dysfunctional, huh?

of course we are.

we're FAMILY.

If I had a family like that, I wouldn't bother. At all. Ever.

I'd invite my mates over for Christmas dinner instead.

Is this seriously the Christmas experience for the majority of people?

I'd invite my mates over for Christmas dinner instead.

and if i did that, i'd have to put up with my mum sooking for the rest of the fucking year.

it's only one day.

i think i'll save up the remaining craysies for xmas lunch. and pop on a wokful of prawns too. hmmm. yum.

Most relaxing day of the year for me.

Pressies, eating, drinking, watching new DVD i always get, sleeping, making inventive new massive sandwiches from leftovers, sleeping again.

My family is great. We eat too much, drink too much, hand out the pressies, have an afternoon nap, then get up, crack a beer and do it all again. Repeat Boxing Day.

i'm looking forward to my second helping of xmas pudding at about 7.30 on christmas night, zoned out in front of the TV with some warmed up custard.

I was only told a few weeks ago I had to make it. Otherwise I would have fired up the steamer in June.

I've made a mince pie / slice sort of thing too. More dried fruit than your bowels can take!

I only started my pudding yesterady because I've been too busy until now (plus I only got asked to do it last week). 24 hours to marinate the dried fruit, 8 hours to steam it today. I think the making it weeks / months before thing is part tradition, part letting it 'mature'. I'm hoping that it will be fine considering its youth

We have so many tasty treats planned for bbq lunch / dinner. I hope friends show up to help eat it all...

I'm already exhausted from the mini family Christmas do we had this evening. I'm going to be rocking back and forth like a crazy person by the end of tomorrow. Too much pressure, as the Selecter would say.

my family has already managed to have a fight (with running off sulking and tears).

go us!

hehehe that's pretty quick!!

and now the second one is down! before any guests have even arrived!

this christmas is breaking all sorts of records.

i reckon that's your cue to get drunk, foxy.

we are avoiding the family nightmare and making moussaka in the tagine and sangria and only leaving the house to procure powerade.

i'm on a semi-non-drinking stint to help fix some stomach issues, so i'm on my third and possibly final glass of wine for the day now.

bah humbug.

hot dogs!

guitar hero world tour.

dominating the drum kit.

Good food, and one member of the family thankfully didn't come. I'm drunk watching the kids play xbox, while others have passed out and the host is vacuuming for the third time in 24 hours.

after a breakfast of mammoth proportions, the fella has been napping for two hours, the child is absorbed with her presents and i'm cleaning the house. can't wait for dinner.

i ended up sitting up til three in the morning, having massive drunken heart to hearts with my brother. i love christmas.

The highlight of the day was my dad getting incredibly stoned after dinner and lecturing hyperfuzz about being a cunt for not letting his dog in the house.

overindulgence, gluttony, waste, excess, enough gifts of chocolate to last 'til next September and a new 4th Generation iPod that my OSX version 10.3.9 won't support. fuck!

Oh god. We had the bestest BBQ foods ever! I had an awesome time just preparing the foods. The tofurkey was worth waiting for!

Seconded. I'm never eaten so much great food in my entire life. Fantastic food and terrific company. Even my family gathering was great, and was held in my most favourite town in the entire world. Possibly my best Christmas to date.