2010 December/Holiday Plans?

What do you all have planned for the month of December? Traveling? Visiting Family? Shopping-'til-you-drop? Eating/Drinking too much? Pre-emptive Exercising

I'll be doing all of the above, no doubt.

Saludos, MadridMan

Off to England .. flight to London on the 16th ( December ) then a train journey to my mum´s house in rural Sussex .. by the south coast ... they´ve had some heavy snow so it could be a rocky ride ,

How 'bout Christmas gift shopping, Steve? Will you wait to do it in England or will you haul gifts from Spain?

I'm very happy to have a "buffer" for gift-buying in Spain, since Epiphany isn't until the 6th of January. Haven't done any yet, of course.

Saludos, MadridMan

Works do on the 11th very boozy, my sister comes from Australia on the 18th, not seen her for 16yrs, christmas dineer on christmas eve at my mother in laws, christmas dinner at my mums christmas day, chill for a few days, then Malaga for 6 days, to go to Grenada and Seville where ive always wanted to visit, then back to work,oh my wife does all the christmas shopping. Happy Days.
Merry Christmas everybody

I plan to enjoy the month of December and not get all frantic and panicky. My husband does the shopping, which causes me the most grief. School lets out on the 18th, so it will be nice to have a break to visit family. We are hosting my husband's side of the family that weekend, so with 8 kids in the house, it will be lively. I want to be intentional about savoring those quiet moments, like listening to favorite Christmas music, reflecting on the blessings of the year, and basking in the glow of the Christmas tree lights.

Since we moved to Utah, the kids get ski passes, so that meks that part of the gift giving easy. Everything else, we have to mail, so that should be done son. The tree will go up about a week before Christmas and the lights will be put on, but we will decorate the tree when Juliana is home. That is the nerve wracking part, she leaves Madrid late this year, the 22nd. Last year, it took her 4 days to get home, so that had better not happen this year, or she will be having Christmas at the Philadelphia airport!

I buy a Iberian ham from acorn fed pigs with the prize christmas lottery......I hope!!!!

I've heard about the Christmas lottery. Tell me more, where to get the tickets, how much etc? Can a student on a visa buy one? Could be her ticket for staying longer . .

Jacmom ... last year I got diverted to a city in South West England .. London was closed ! Now I just spoke to an old school friend and he tells me the snow in England is really heavy . All trains have stopped , and my airport in London was closed for 2 days . I just hope that things get better .
The christmas lottery is famous here with huge queues to buy a ticket in the centre of town . It´s called "El Gordo " ..Anybody can buy a ticket as far as I know .
MM .. because the kids will stay in Russia we decided on no gifts this year . We´ve done that before and it´s refreshing . I get to enjoy the company of my mum and aunts and uncles .. good food , good wine etc.. that´s all I need . None of us really need anything ( well maybe a job ! ) . HOWEVER , my mum has been so good to me recently and that after my dad´s death , that I do want to get something for her from Spain . I´m wracking my brains as to what I can buy .

Billy .. that´s wonderful that you´ll see you sister after so long ! I have relatives in NSW and South Australia . Some years ago we celebrated my grandmother´s 80th birtday . She died aged 87 . Her daughter ( my aunt ) came over with my uncle . The first time i´d met them .. and yet it was as easy as could be . My mum´s sister was great . I got a photo of my grandmother with all her children ... something i´ll cherish . Where in Oz are your family coming from ?

MM - ever consider doing a El Gordo Xmas pool - we can all chip in and you can get however many tickets and split amongst the winners - see how hopeful I am ahead of time?

Puna, that is a good idea, but I don't know how people would/could "chip in". Suggestions? PayPal or such? I did it last year for/with about 4 other friends and we won a whopping 50 Euros or something. Of course I spent like 200 Euros for the multiple tickets, though.

Saludos, MadridMan

MM, can folks here in the US play El Gordo or is it just for residences? Also wonder how to collect the winnings. Well, i guess if you hit the big one getting there wouldn't be a problem! lol

Well, I'll be home alone this holiday season. My boys will be spending the holidays in Hawaii, staying with a group of friends for 10 days. I'll be working on Christmas & New Year's days. It sounds bleak but there's reasoning behind the madness! Go in at 4:00am off at noon, working on my weekend plus the holidays...caching! The rest of the day will be spent with my mom and family here in LA enjoying some great food. That's all I need.

Mrs. 44 and I will be spending Christmas here in Aruba. Judging by the weather in the Northeast USA, we picked a good time to stay on the island. The editor of my novels is going to be here and I look forward to showing her and her family the island local joints. Of course there will be much food and booze in the Caribbean way.

44

OsoMajor, I'm pretty sure anyone can buy tickets online for El Gordo at http://www.elgordo.com/ . Not sure how it works, however, and if they have to mail tickets to your home. Not really sure.

I'm sad to say/know that I'll be just touching down in Madrid on the morning (and at the time of the start) of the National Lottery on December 22nd. I LOVE to watch that on TV every year and this may be the last year in its traditional "state" as the Spanish National Lottery Commission will be partially privatized by next year so there may be some visible changes then. We'll all wait and see. I didn't even buy my lottery tickets this year!!! ARGH!!!

My Christmas will be as usual, spent in Madrid with "family" and friends on holiday/vacation.

Saludos, MadridMan

I went online and bought a ticket, its easy to do, plus you can do it in English.
They keep hold of the ticket for you, and if you win , you can arrange a bank transfer with them.