My late partner's mother tracked down a person who resells old bottles of perfume, as many have changed scents over the years. She gave me a tiny bottle of the perfume our dear wore. I am overwhelmed with gratitude, sentiment, and love.

Put a sad comment in the other thread but wanted to write one here too - I am so happy to be a part of Ovarit - I think all you ladies are completely fantastic and you all deserve a lovely Christmas!

I’m having a nice quiet Christmas with my mum and brother and the cats and dog (and hoping to rescue another dog in the new year so that’s exciting!) I have such a small family and we can be pretty dysfunctional I suppose, but we do love each other unconditionally and I am so grateful for that. Also lots of messages from my friends who I love to bits - I feel lucky today :) and when I get sad I get cat cuddles from my babies 😅

Ok, I was just complaining in the other thread but I guess I’ll comment here, too. I do a scavenger hunt/treasure hunt type thing for my kids every year. This year they asked for one big gift, so they won’t have presents to open at each step in the treasure hunt. I decided to make them really work for it this year, they have to complete an activity to get the clue that will take them to the next activity for the next clue… I put one clue in jello and some others in tiny piñatas with tiny bats, one clue is one the back of a puzzle lol. I’m really looking forward to it this year. I hope that it takes them a while to get to their presents. I want them to really work for it.

I am grateful and happy this year. My family is mixed faith, mixed ethnicity, mixed caste. I am so thankful that my husband is a feminist ally, my in-laws love me despite caste differences, our family values all faiths and lack of.

I recognise I am fortunate to marry into a rich family. I am grateful my husband works as hard as he does, over 80 hrs weekly to provide not just for me and our son but also for his ex and first child, as he should do.

I am grateful that I was able to study medicine when so many from my area didn't even finish year 12.

I am grateful I have found some family members after years of searching. I am grateful I was adopted at all, when my siblings were never.

I can't attribute all my gratitude to Christmas, but it seems like the right time of year to acknowledge my fortune. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to everyone.

Due to the big ass storm in the US, I didn't travel anywhere this year. I've been curled up in a nest of blankets and eating, reading, and napping. This is like, one of the best holidays ever.

I had a really nice Hanukkah, spending part of it with my 91 year old Dad five hours from where I live now. He’s a great Dad who never drew distinctions between me and my brother growing up about what we could play with to who could toss the football around or hold the light while he worked on the cars. I think that really influenced me to be the assertive woman I am today.

I am a bit sad that I can't celebrate Christmas in the archaic, ascetic way (that still makes you feel like a stuffed turkey, somehow) with my family in my home country. But I was having a great time with my husband's family with Christmas duck and everything (somehow I have learned to take just a little bit of every dish, so I don't feel like a stuffed turkey at the end of the day). The children were very happy about their presents. I have convinced my husband to wait with our presents until we come home - I don't think it's as much fun to open the gifts in the evening of the 24th as it is to wait until the morning of the 25th. Also, if we spread the gifts throughout several days, the consumerism isn't as overwhelming.

A lovely day all around. I am blessed.

We did our family thing yesterday. This is the first Christmas Day in memory that I got to sleep in and didn’t have to drive a long way to be someplace.

Merry Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) to all! We're just having a quiet day with me, my husband and our dog. We just finished opening gifts (our dog is such a spoiled brat that I swear she got more things than anyone) and now I'm making homemade cinnamon rolls with apples, pecans and cherries. After we'll watch Christmas movies and then have a late lunch (faux turkey loaf, cornbread dressing, roasted parsnips and mashed potatoes!)

I've already nailed my bag of clocks to the wall and am limbering up for an evening of wrestling as the Head of House!

I had a wonderful Christmas with family, thank you for posting this! Lots of food and good will and connecting, which is amazing after feeling like I've been embattled and isolated all year.

I ALMOST made it through without a tussle, I was SO close, but while I was trying to explain the difference between LOTR and Harry Potter to my elderly aunt (lol), my TRA cousin completely interrupted with a "I mean, JKR is an absolutely AWFUL person" for really no reason whatsoever (also this cousin does not know I am terven)...I wish I wasn't so easily riled up but I went back at this cousin until another cousin intervened and put an end to it.

SO CLOSE.

Other than that, all went smashingly!

The one thing that brought me so much joy this year was taking my son to The Nutcracker for the first time! He complained about his "nice" shoes (first pair that weren't mud-stained sneakers) hurt, and after the first act he said it was boring, but ... some weird miracle-of-sorts happened and he ended up enjoying it! Not only that, but he wanted to listen to the music all the time, and kept talking about how good all the dancing was.

Next up, Chinese New Year! I'm hoping to make a trip to the big city to get some festive decorations from one of the shops in Chinatown, eat some good Chinese food (none in my town, sadly), and just soak up the happy atmosphere!