Alone on Christmas or NYE

[boltnrun]

Anyone else going to be alone on Christmas? Or NYE?

I'll be alone Christmas day. My family (kids, brother, nieces & nephews and me) is getting together Christmas Eve. Kids are going to be with Dad/grandma Christmas day so I'll be alone.

Honestly it doesn't bother me since we did the cousins party last weekend and I'll have Christmas Eve with family. And I'm too old to go out and party on NYE. I will try to make it to midnight and maybe go outside to bang a pot or pan (unless it's super cold) and I could walk down the block to watch the fireworks show if I want. 

I usually spend Christmas day watching football and putting away decorations and gifts and cleaning. So, a typical Sunday 😆

I hope anyone who's going to be alone is OK with it. Maybe check in here to say hello 👋

[mylolita]

Have a glass of something and enjoy yourself - spend it your way! 
 

x

[DarkCh0c0]

Hey boltnrun! 👋

Same for me. I'm alone on both days and nights. I could go to an expat party on NYE, but I'm not fancying being around drunk strangers. I will maybe stay at home and skip the traffic. Watching the fireworks is an activity that has been on my mind too, but I'm not sure yet.

[Batya33]

Would you consider volunteering somewhere that day?

[boltnrun]

10 minutes ago, Batya33 said:

Would you consider volunteering somewhere that day?

Not in person. I'm still not going out around crowds unless I need to. I made donations to four charitable organizations so I feel I made at least some impact. 

[Kwothe28]

Our Ortodox Christmas is 2 weeks from Catholic one. So, after New Year. But usually we are still spending it at home and not go out. So would do just that. I do have a NYE party. Nothing extravagant and not far from my home((basically across the street) but its nice.

Might I suggest classical Christmas movies watch for Christmas Eve? "Its a Wonderful Life" or even "Home Alone"(we have that movie here around holidays every year). Or even stuff like "Love Actually" or "Die Hard". 

[JoyfulCompany]

Last few NYEs I've spent alone with my cats at home, happily, voluntarily.
I like to party sometimes but not on major holidays, it's so much stress.
The preparation, transportation, trying to catch a taxi back home (for hours in the cold), the random bunch of people in varying degrees of intoxication, the too much food and/or alcohol, the questionable amounts of fun...

So, it has been a row of a few very peaceful NYEs for me, where I cook something nice for myself, open a bottle of wine and do whatever I want. It's warm and cozy and I don't have to go anywhere or wait for anyone to leave to start cleaning after them. And I can go to bed whenever I want!

This is the first year in a while where I have some desire to party (due to heavy circumstances in my family I feel I'm in need of some fun outlet). But in the end I guess the desire for peace will win.

Anyway, enjoy the time with yourself, it can be very beautiful and recharging - even if non-eventful or especially because of that. Do something nice, even if it's just catching on sleep.

If I don't forget, I'll pass by to wish a happy new year here, even though it happens at a different hour for most of us.

[boltnrun]

I'm not sad about being alone. I got used to being alone on holidays when I Iived hundreds of miles away from my family and most of my friends had their own plans. I think the last time I went out on NYE was 2018. 

I actually cannot stand holiday movies lol. I think they're trite and silly. I apologize to anyone who loves them! But I also can't stand rom coms or romance movies or, God forbid, anything on the Hallmark or Lifetime channels. I prefer sports, thriller and scary movies (NOT slasher flicks) and home shows like House Hunters and I like reruns of X Files and CSI. I will happily watch NFL football all day and the next two weeks there are games on Thursday, Saturday, Sunday AND Monday! Heaven!

I hope you all are content and happy whatever you plan to do or not do. Time off work is always nice too, right?

[Starlight925]

I haven't gone out for NYE in decades.  Last year, I ordered a steak dinner from a great steakhouse, and sat there by myself, with a nice glass of red wine and movies.  It's just such a peaceful feeling to me, to count my blessings and listen to the fireworks all around me at midnight, while not having to worry about getting out in the crazy traffic.

This year, my brother is having a dinner party, which will be nice, since it will be 10 people (relatively small), and I'll know everyone.  Everyone is bringing great food, and since I'm driving over there, I won't drink (never do when I go there, unless I decide to Uber).  

I'll be home by 9:30, lol.

Enjoy your peaceful NYE.  I know I will!

[Kwothe28]

I dont want to open separate thread so will do it here:

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Bolt and all ENA members who celebrate it! 🎅🤶🎄

[Batya33]

1 hour ago, Kwothe28 said:

I dont want to open separate thread so will do it here:

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Bolt and all ENA members who celebrate it! 🎅🤶🎄

All the same to you and your family and ENA!

[greendots]

8 hours ago, Kwothe28 said:

I dont want to open separate thread so will do it here:

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Bolt and all ENA members who celebrate it! 🎅🤶🎄

Merry Christmas to all ENA members and staff! ❣️

[boltnrun]

On 12/25/2022 at 2:28 AM, Kwothe28 said:

I dont want to open separate thread so will do it here:

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Bolt and all ENA members who celebrate it! 🎅🤶🎄

Thank you, hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

[reinventmyself]

Merry Christmas Bolt

[boltnrun]

3 hours ago, reinventmyself said:

Merry Christmas Bolt

Thank you, same to you!

We get to enjoy being pretty much the only state (with the exception of Hawaii and maybe AZ) that isn't freezing.  I walked by the beach yesterday and people were there in shorts and t-shirts.  79 degrees!

[JoyfulCompany]

Okay, so my motivation for having NY plans wasn't strong enough. Home alone it is. : )
I wish you all a safe, cozy and joyful celebration, not matter where or with whom.

Happy New Year to the ones that already stepped into 2023!

[Batya33]

32 minutes ago, JoyfulCompany said:

Okay, so my motivation for having NY plans wasn't strong enough. Home alone it is. : )
I wish you all a safe, cozy and joyful celebration, not matter where or with whom.

Happy New Year to the ones that already stepped into 2023!

Same to you!! For the first time my son who is 13 has NYE plans!  We don’t.  My husband picks him up at 12:15.  I will crash hours earlier. And rewatch ball drop tomorrow lol. 

[JoyfulCompany]

17 minutes ago, Batya33 said:

For the first time my son who is 13 has NYE plans!

What a cute milestone. : )
Having no plans is a legit plan to me.
 

[boltnrun]

I bought myself a bottle of sparkling wine.  I had intended to get myself a gooey dessert but the gourmet shop had slices of cake that cost $6.50 each!  I'm trying to save money to pay my ginormous utility bill so I nixed that and will just make do with the chocolate chip cookies I have.  The cheapest bottle of sparkling wine at the gourmet shop was $27 (gulp, but it's a gourmet shop, so...) so I went next door to the liquor store and got a bottle of sparkling prosecco for $8.99 and a tall boy, which totaled less than half of what I would have paid for the one bottle at the gourmet shop.  I'm also going to order Mexican food to be delivered by Door Dash, but in the late afternoon so the delivery driver won't have to be out with all the drunks trying to drive tonight.

I think I will walk down to watch the fireworks show they're putting on at the marina.  They're doing two of them, one at 9:00 PM and the other at midnight so I think I'll watch the early one.  I'll skip it if it's still raining (been raining for two days straight).  Then I'll walk back home, drink my sparkling prosecco and maybe watch a movie until midnight.  Then bang a pot and spoon and then call it a night.  I plan to be up early to grocery shop in the morning while everyone else is nursing their hangovers lol.

Happy New Year to all who celebrate! 😜

[Batya33]

8 minutes ago, boltnrun said:

I had intended to get myself a gooey dessert but the gourmet shop had slices of cake that cost $6.50 each! 

So funny because my favorite cake slice went up from $4.50 to $5.50 and it's just ..... too much but I did buy one for today. Only one left.  Tuxedo cheesecake.  Your plan sounds great.  Enjoy!!!

[Cherylyn]

For Christmas, my husband, sons and I went to my local MIL's house.  It was a somber, low key holiday because FIL passed away in 2022.  SIL (sister-in-law), her husband, their son and us had a sad dinner without FIL at the table.  I cooked the main dish and dessert and transported it to MIL's house.  They provided a few side dishes.  If I had my druthers, I would've preferred to stay home.  Fortunately, we departed for home by 7:30PM and didn't make our gathering a late night. 

For NYE / NYD, it will be a quiet day because we don't feel like attending a NYD party (brunch / lunch) at a relative's house filled with their  50+ friends who are all strangers to us.  Besides, this relative called me a liar which is a real deal breaker.  No apology forthcoming in a million years.  Fortunately, much to my relief and gratitude,  my in-laws (MIL, SIL, her husband), my husband and sons are loyal to me so none of us will be in attendance at this relative's shindig.  Thank God!  It's just as well.  I prefer to stay home and relax unlike past NYD celebration parties which required non-stop cooking days prior to the party.  I poured my great labor and expense with the ton of cooking I did for this ingrate host and hostess.  No thanks.  What do I say to this relative?  Go knock yourself out!  I prefer to stay home and take a nap!  😴 💤

[greendots]

Since we're talking about NYE plans, overall had a nice time. But, there's always a but, lol. There was this fellow who proceeded to talk about how he scored with a chick in the bathroom of a watering hole and how he was trying to score with some other ladies some other time. Like WTH? Aren't there more engaging things to talk about? Yeah, was an "I'm internally rolling my eyes moment", hehe.

Happy New Years everyone!! ❣️

[Batya33]

Update! I went to bed early; husband went to pick up son at the scheduled time of 12:15 -with all the noise I happened to be up around the midnight hour so I got to ask him how it was and he had a great time. 

And I faced a milestone pretty well - turned out the parents were invited to a local party (walking over to the party) so the mom told me they'd be out for 2 hours, leave the 3 boys (12-13 years old- we know one of the boys very well, the other not as well) on their own for those 2 hours and if I wanted they'd instead tag team it so one parent would be home at all times.  Very nice kids.

I trusted my husband's judgment and he said 'it's fine."  I knew the other mom would be fine with it too.  So we were and it was better than fine.  No I wouldn't do this in all situations -this was because of these kids, where the party was and how long they'd be gone (the plan was to return 11:30 and do a NYE celebration with the boys).  I dislike these kinds of decisions and I felt more comfortable with it than I expected.

I'm also really glad with my decision to do my typical evening routine (we watched 1.5 twilight zone episodes together and didn't take advantage so much of the "date night" time since we're both getting over colds lol).  

Bolt I hope you had a lovely evening.

[boltnrun]

Thanks @Batya33

I skipped the fireworks show. It was pouring rain plus 35 mph wind gusts. Walking two blocks and standing outside in that weather didn't appeal to me. I also skipped getting up early to grocery shop this morning. I didn't factor in not being able to find parking when I returned (no parking at my building) plus I feel lazy so I'll either go later this morning or more likely tomorrow morning.

Hope everyone had a nice NYE.

[BeaTlesFan77]

Had a nice dinner out with my mother and then we went back to her house and watched TV. The neighborhood sounded like a war zone almost all night with the fireworks. 😆