No I don't, but I didn't want to break the thread. I don't hate Christmas, never have, but the celebration that it has evolved into in my family makes it very special. Now that our kids are grown and gone, Susan and I use Christmas as a way to express our love and to have a little fun. We don't buy any gifts except those which could *reasonably* fit inside a Christmas stocking. These could be anything, from Chinatown trinkets to a neat set of measuring spoons to toothbrushes (always a staple) to chocolate-covered ginger. Socks are good too. The *reasonably* part is that if something is a bit too big to go inside than it's allowed to hang outside or be attached with a ribbon but it can't be TOO big. Every little thing is wrapped in some way, the funnier the better. When our children can make it for Christmas each of them gets only a stuffed stocking (and of course the cats have their little socks too.)
The unstuffing of the stockings is combined with the eating of brunch beside the tree, drinking (small amounts of) champagne, and finishing with cake and coffee so that the whole event can last close to two hours. I recommend it to anyone: No commercialism, no one-upsmanship, not a lot of money involved, just people laughing, eating, sitting on the floor, enjoying one another. Works for us anyway. Ranger Rick
