Christmas Lunch?

[Outdated]

What is a typical traditional Christmas Lunch in your part of the world?

In Australia it’s usually Baked Ham, or Roast Lamb. With many sides and salads. There’s usually Prawns in there somewhere. Many wines. And a traditional English Christmas Pudding that sits in your stomach like half a brick and leaves you stuck in your chair for the afternoon.

Many people here have their Christmas Lunch outdoors, unless it’s too hot.

 

[VictorR]

I honestly have no idea. My family doesn't have any Christmas traditions and I've yet to be invited to anyone else's Christmas festivities.

 

[MildredHubble]

Oh wow! That sounds nice! Too hot outside?! I'm jealous. The UK is pretty darned cold. So cold I've been putting the silver insulation that's suddenly all the rage here, behind all the radiators in the house. My inner engineer tells me this is kinda silly because that's not how it works but it makes everyone think they are warmer lol!

Anyway, back to the Christmas dinner. We will have turkey, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, sage and onion, chestnut sauce, roast parsnips and carrots, Yorkshire pudding. Oh and sprouts for some reason. I have to make them every year so that everyone can pretend they aren't there. I tried to convince everyone that I should be spared the effort of making them but apparently that would "ruin Christmas".

 

[Outdated]

I honestly have no idea. My family doesn't have any Christmas traditions and I've yet to be invited to anyone else's Christmas festivities.

For what it's worth, I always hated Christmas. Eating until you feel unwell. I avoid invitations if I can.

 

[grommet]

What is a typical traditional Christmas Lunch in your part of the world?

In Australia it’s usually Baked Ham, or Roast Lamb. With many sides and salads. There’s usually Prawns in there somewhere. Many wines. And a traditional English Christmas Pudding that sits in your stomach like half a brick and leaves you stuck in your chair for the afternoon.

Many people here have their Christmas Lunch outdoors, unless it’s too hot.

View attachment 91409

I have always wanted to go to Australia and I love Christmas so I wish I could be there for dinner. The food in the photograph looks so good.

I live alone without family so I will not eat anything nice. It can be lonely on Christmas.

 

[Outdated]

I live alone without family so I will not eat anything nice. It can be lonely on Christmas.

I have no family any more either but I don't miss Christmas. It was always too noisy, too many fake smiles, and the eating is obligatory unless you like insulting people. I found it a difficult situation to cope with and I prefer it when I can stay home by myself.

 

[grommet]

I have no family any more either but I don't miss Christmas. It was always too noisy, too many fake smiles, and the eating is obligatory unless you like insulting people. I found it a difficult situation to cope with and I prefer it when I can stay home by myself.

I agree and I remember it being like that, also having to give presents or people would not give me presents and I did not believe in giving them anyway. So many lies about everything and if you were not "polite" and only said thank you and other nice things you got in trouble.

But being alone for so long makes me lonely and wish I could be a nice family. I have spent my life watching television and movies so I may have imagined that the nice families I saw were real and that is what I wish I had. Life is hard alone.

 

[Misery]

For me, cheese sandwich. Probably with, like, Cheez-its and such too.

No idea what a traditional meal looks like. But it probably doesnt involve Cheez-its. Maybe it should though.

Look I dont do family meals. Everyone never shuts up, I cant watch spooky stuff on Youtube while they're all not shutting up. So I keep to myself.

Honestly the idea of a family meal is one of those concepts I've never been able to understand. Why is "food time" synonymous with "social time" for so many? Yer supposed to be chewing the darned food, not spraying it everywhere while asking Brenda what her work day was like.

But hey, that's just me.

Though in reality it's a moot point, with my warped sleep schedule I am often not awake during these events. Heck I know I wont be awake during the stupid party on Saturday... oh darn. Gee wiz, missing out...

 

[Outdated]

The evening family meal was obligatory when I was growing up, as far as I could tell it was so that my father had a captive audience while he ranted and raved.

And my actual christmas lunch will likely be a couple of sausages in bread and sauce. I just microwave the sausages, 2 1/2 minutes from frozen. And that'll get washed down with a few beers while I play video games. That's my idea of a perfect christmas.

But I'm curious about what other people do and eat.

 

[MildredHubble]

The evening family meal was obligatory when I was growing up, as far as I could tell it was so that my father had a captive audience while he ranted and raved.

And my actual christmas lunch will likely be a couple of sausages in bread and sauce. I just microwave the sausages, 2 1/2 minutes from frozen. And that'll get washed down with a few beers while I play video games. That's my idea of a perfect christmas.

But I'm curious about what other people do and eat.

That actually sounds pretty fun! Everyone should be allowed to be themselves! Particularly around Christmas!

I would really like to take my Christmas dinner to my workbench and fire up some old 8bit classics and just enjoy a nice meal with some of my favourite games. That would feel quite blissful.

I remember seeing an episode of Top Gear where they did this skit with them fixing up cars all year and eating their Christmas dinner in the garage! I was thinking "what a great idea!". Lol!

Sadly I don't think my family would give me that kind of latitude. It's a strange concept to get across to them, but when things feel nice with an air of contentment, that's the sort of thing I would like to do.

On the other hand, I'm sure I will have the opportunity to play a few Dizzy games at some point. I'm sure there will be plenty of snacks to keep me going!

 

[Outdated]

I've lived by myself for a long time, it's a lot easier than living with others. You can get away with just being yourself.

The cooking's a lot easier, I've got lots of one pot recipes and no dirty dishes because you just eat out of the pot. When I buy meat I always break it all up in to single serves before freezing it. So my sausages get speparated in to pairs and made to lay straight when freezing, makes life easier later on.

 

[Misery]

I will have the opportunity to play a few Dizzy games at some point

Wow, now there's something I dont hear mentioned very often. Cant remember the last time I heard that name.

 

[grommet]

I've lived by myself for a long time, it's a lot easier than living with others. You can get away with just being yourself.

The cooking's a lot easier, I've got lots of one pot recipes and no dirty dishes because you just eat out of the pot. When I buy meat I always break it all up in to single serves before freezing it. So my sausages get speparated in to pairs and made to lay straight when freezing, makes life easier later on.

I know and I agree but it still feels very lonely for me. I like not having the problems with someone else being there and being annoyed or judging me, I did not like that at all but always being alone is not good, not to me. There is no one there to laugh with me when I see something funny or to talk about something new or if I learn something interesting.

With my ex girlfriend I would always ask about her day and she would talk a long time about what happened to her at work and what happened in the office. I could not follow it because she used people's names and I did not know who any of them were or what their faces looked like but it made me happy to be there and listen to her. I wanted her to feel not alone and know she could share her life with me.

Now there is no one and Christmas is coming. I do not seem to be able to manage relationships but I also feel unhappy all alone.

 

[MildredHubble]

Wow, now there's something I dont hear mentioned very often. Cant remember the last time I heard that name.

Dizzy is the most "Eggs-cellent" Adventurer! I have all the games and there was a new one released a year or two ago! It was only for the ZX Spectrum though! It's free to download and really well done!

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I agree and I remember it being like that, also having to give presents or people would not give me presents and I did not believe in giving them anyway. So many lies about everything and if you were not "polite" and only said thank you and other nice things you got in trouble.

But being alone for so long makes me lonely and wish I could be a nice family. I have spent my life watching television and movies so I may have imagined that the nice families I saw were real and that is what I wish I had. Life is hard alone.

There is alone, then there is lonely. I am sorry to hear that you are lonely. Are you involved with any groups in order to be social? I was pretty lonely until about 26 when I tired of loneliness and started dating, I tell guys in our predicament to look for and gently approach the shy ones. We are rarely aggressive and a shy woman who is hoping to meet somebody quirky and sensitive will get approached by confident meatheads, not her type. My spouse is basically a shy woman and I was ready and socially mature enough to meet and appreciate somebody like her. And, it all happened quite by accident.

 

[grommet]

There is alone, then there is lonely. I am sorry to hear that you are lonely. Are you involved with any groups in order to be social? I was pretty lonely until about 26 when I tired of loneliness and started dating, I tell guys in our predicament to look for and gently approach the shy ones. We are rarely aggressive and a shy woman who is hoping to meet somebody quirky and sensitive will get approached by confident meatheads, not her type. My spouse is basically a shy woman and I was ready and socially mature enough to meet and appreciate somebody like her.

I think you are right and that is exactly what I did. The woman I was with is autistic and was very shy but I am not aggressive and after a while she trusted me a little until we were very close and like family. But it did not work out well after the eight years and because of our relationship I learned about all the things I wondered about relationships but also I felt hurt in a way that made me not want to ever date again.

I am not involved in groups any more. I have two friends I talk to but we have not seen each other in person for a while. Every day alone. Sometimes it feels really bad, like I almost don't exist. I wish for some things that are not realistic, like me and my ex being friends again. I do not think I could trust another person again, also I found that I did things when I was with her that I did not like about myself. that makes me feel guilty when I think about meeting a new person and making hurtful mistakes with them. I am not as good as I thought and maybe that means I am not good enough to be around a girlfriend. I do not want to mistreat anyone but I found out I have moods and I when I feel pushed I do or say things I would not have. I want to be nice all the time but I cannot even do that when I am alone. Sometimes I get so frustrated (unreasonably) with my Alexa devices I lose my temper. If I cannot be better than that I think it is unfair to try being with an actual person.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I think you are right and that is exactly what I did. The woman I was with is autistic and was very shy but I am not aggressive and after a while she trusted me a little until we were very close and like family. But it did not work out well after the eight years and because of our relationship I learned about all the things I wondered about relationships but also I felt hurt in a way that made me not want to ever date again.

I am not involved in groups any more. I have two friends I talk to but we have not seen each other in person for a while. Every day alone. Sometimes it feels really bad, like I almost don't exist. I wish for some things that are not realistic, like me and my ex being friends again. I do not think I could trust another person again, also I found that I did things when I was with her that I did not like about myself. that makes me feel guilty when I think about meeting a new person and making hurtful mistakes with them. I am not as good as I thought and maybe that means I am not good enough to be around a girlfriend. I do not want to mistreat anyone but I found out I have moods and I when I feel pushed I do or say things I would not have. I want to be nice all the time but I cannot even do that when I am alone. Sometimes I get so frustrated (unreasonably) with my Alexa devices I lose my temper. If I cannot be better than that I think it is unfair to try being with an actual person.

Grommet, I am also learning that The Past is Prelude. I understand being with somebody for a long time, with my spouse for 44 years. We are at an age where our time is running out. Of course, I may be bereft of her in the near future. Certainly I will mourn, but I will not dwell on the negative. We have had such a life that I would seek to share such with another good woman. Are you or have you learned to be in a mutually supportive relationship? Even NTs have several relationships before they work things out. Do not be afraid of dating again. Use what you have learned.

 

[grommet]

Grommet, I am also learning that The Past is Prelude. I understand being with somebody for a long time, with my spouse for 44 years. We are at an age where our time is running out. Of course, I may be bereft of her in the near future. Certainly I will mourn, but I will not dwell on the negative. We have had such a life that I would seek to share such with another good woman. Are you or have you learned to be in a mutually supportive relationship? Even NTs have several relationships before they work things out. Do not be afraid of dating again. Use what you have learned.

This is shockingly revelational to me. I am gobsmacked. Excuse me. I thought if I did not do it well when I had a relationship that mean I could not do it. I had not thought it could be something I did before I did it again and better.

I learned so much about myself, I think I would be very different now. I did not know you could have more than one relationship. I thought I proved I could not be in one.

I wonder what is possible.

For she and I, my ex, we were new to relationships. I had dated and she had a very long term boyfriend but they had never been close. She said she dated him because he was the only man who asked her out, then she dated him and later needed a place to move into so she moved into his apartment and that was their life for 21 years. It was not really love or romance or happiness. She did feel those things with me.

We both made mistakes. I cannot speak to hers but I see mine. I wonder if i could date again. I seem to let my ex down but what if everything she said was not true or if I would be different with another woman. One thing more important to me than anything is I do not want to hurt someone. I would rather leave them alone than that but life is .. it catches you offguard. Even living normally and doing your best you can have a build up of stress and situation that makes you unreasonable. The example I will give is when she drove me to a convention.

The place was very badly laid out, we could not find any way to drive into the arena area. By the time we go inside I said to someone I knew there that the drive was awful. My girlfriend was sure I was talking about her driving. That was not on my mind at all, not one bit in any way, but she got hurt and angry. I loved her so much, I would like to love someone again.

Thank you for thinking and writing to me, I never would have thought of what you said if you had not told me.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Turkey or ham baked potatoes, some sort of vegie.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

This is shockingly revelational to me. I am gobsmacked. Excuse me. I thought if I did not do it well when I had a relationship that mean I could not do it. I had not thought it could be something I did before I did it again and better.

I learned so much about myself, I think I would be very different now. I did not know you could have more than one relationship. I thought I proved I could not be in one.

I wonder what is possible.

For she and I, my ex, we were new to relationships. I had dated and she had a very long term boyfriend but they had never been close. She said she dated him because he was the only man who asked her out, then she dated him and later needed a place to move into so she moved into his apartment and that was their life for 21 years. It was not really love or romance or happiness. She did feel those things with me.

We both made mistakes. I cannot speak to hers but I see mine. I wonder if i could date again. I seem to let my ex down but what if everything she said was not true or if I would be different with another woman. One thing more important to me than anything is I do not want to hurt someone. I would rather leave them alone than that but life is .. it catches you offguard. Even living normally and doing your best you can have a build up of stress and situation that makes you unreasonable. The example I will give is when she drove me to a convention.

The place was very badly laid out, we could not find any way to drive into the arena area. By the time we go inside I said to someone I knew there that the drive was awful. My girlfriend was sure I was talking about her driving. That was not on my mind at all, not one bit in any way, but she got hurt and angry. I loved her so much, I would like to love someone again.

Thank you for thinking and writing to me, I never would have thought of what you said if you had not told me.

We all need to find our ways through. Love is not a zero-sum game. Let me relate a little of me that I've told before. I had one relationship for a year, but we were incompatible. She just ghosted me. Yes, I was hurt for about a week but I remembered the closeness and our G-rated exploration of sex. I wanted more, but things were fast and furious with my research and I did not even think of dating. Then I signed up for a Sierra Club trail maintenance project and I planned to take extra time to do fossil collecting near Chicago. The trip leader sent out a roster and suggested we ride share. I called the person living in Chicago, the first woman I ever called that I did not know. We were organizing a road trip while 300 miles apart so called frequently. We were becoming friends and we finally met IRL To me she was svelt when I first saw her. She thought I looked harmless. We had some problems and adventures along the way and the last day enjoyed Cades Cove. I thought that we were falling for each other. Because of circumstance we were both using my tent and I desired to show her how much I loved her and asked if she would like to make love. My mind panicked and I did not hear her assent, instead babbling on about ruining our friendship. She kindly and patiently explained that we were only taking our friendship to a new level. So at 28 I lost my virginity. Later on I learned that she has felt used by guys when they dropped her after having sex. I felt good when she told me that I was different because I was the first to care for her pleasure. We are loyal to each other, yet.