Have a nice eating good food and freezing your butt off day.

Happy Holidays, Marry Christmas, Blessed Yule. Whatever you celebrate have a great day.

I did - enjoyed my 'official Christmas' last Sunday. Well, up to the bit where a huge band of warm rain came and caused the excellent experience of 'ice aquaplaning'. Got utterly soaked, took 3x the time to get home. Though part of that was the fault of the refreshing I'd had during dinner...

Though pedantic point of the day; in the Anglosphere, 'Christmas' is taken to mean the 25th. It's why, for example the Queen's King's Speech in the UK is then.

Happy Holidays everyone!!!!!

In Norway Christmas Eve is celebrated so for me the date is correct. I am sorry the rain made your celebrating more difficult.

Eh, I was drunk enough I wasn't hugely bothered by the rain. And oddly enough, the last week or so has been warmer than average (though still really rainy).

And I wasn't picking any holes about the date, more an observation. And wondering how that would effect Christmas at the Chantry - quite literally, it's filled with people with sometimes very different traditions for the season...

I suspect Colin's Christmas pudding will be missed this year, as he's headed back to Europe for the first time in several years...

Missed by Americans saying 'what the fuck is that thing? Is it a kind of fruit cake?' And if it's a traditional one (ie with proper suet and brandy butter) it's not likely to be popular... *smirks*

Well, it seems American Christmas traditions often are the last tell-tale of the original ethnicity (example; lutefisk is still found in the Dakotas and Minnesota) so Nick might make a tourtière or something.

Oh, Colin's Christmas pudding is very traditional, and while the flavor might not be to everyone's taste, the 6dwt pure silver coin or sterling silver ring hidden within certainly are. Mages are quite fond of the power of traditions, after all.

So, we're talking 'heavy as a brick, and so high in booze content it has a self-life only beaten by dwarf bread'? Though a truly traditional variant is 'figgy pudding'. It was Dickens who made the 'plum pudding' variant popular, along with turkey (used to be goose).

I suspect Steelhaven would mainly celebrate on the 25 since it is located in USA but with induvidual celebration all around mid December. For example Amadeus would celebrate on the Solstice.

Hey we eat Lutefisk here around Christmas time, it is often part of Christmas lunchen.

Which is the point. The Dakotas and Minnesota are the area of the USA which saw the most Scandinavian immigration and even if they might have lost the language and other traditions, their great-great grandkids still do Christmas lutefisk. As for the Chantry... I could imagine then doing both 24th and 25, as some of the people would come from places where the former was more important.

Yeah that makes sense for them to do both the 24th and the 25. The only thing we have established is that they have a gift giving buddy system since getting gifts for over 30 Chantry mates is a bit much so I mean everyone share gifts with those they are close to but then everyone gets themed up with another Chantry members with a max spending limit of about 50 bucks and share gifts.

50 bucks might be a bit generous, though.

That us a upper limit not the lower one, I suspect most gifts will be in the 20 or 30 bucks range.

What, a kind of 'secret santa' thing? That makes sense.

Yeah exactly like that.

"Oh, it's silverwear! I wonder who that could be from?"

But seriously, Colin's usually a bit subtler about his picks - no need to make it blatantly obvious who the secret santa in question is...

Yeah, also I suspect those that are close might still give gifts to one another outside of the secret santa system but the system make sure no one ahve to buy 35 gifts.

Well, it's already been established that Cava is going to get a load of Meccano from Nick. Also likely all the 'kids' of the Chantry will get something off her too (though it looks like Bee might not like it, as it will be something 'kid-like'). Hmm... what's the name of the other kid; the one who's a Kinfolk?

And I can imagine there's a little bit of 'Santa swapping' going on. Because there's some people who will either a) have no idea what to get them or worse b) they don't actually like them either. I mean, what the hell would Nick get Adley?

Jane Cole is the apprentice of Hildegard and she is a kinfolk to Garou. Beatrice do not mind childish things though she have no problem with the kids getting toys why should she have a problem with that?

Yeah Santa swapping is not a problem. Yeah I guess things like notebooks and pens and nice inks would work for Adley.

She did seem waay too serious in regards to Colin's reading suggestions... as for Jane, Nick will get her something nice too.

That does remind me; all that booze 'liberated' from Seattle. While Nick's earmarked three choice bottles (for Colin, the Chief and Hadermann) and one more for herself, she'll give the rest to the Chantry for Christmas. Well, as the anti-whatever scans ensure they're safe do drink, that is.

That is personal choice. I mean hell I prefer non humor based fantasy such as Wheel of Time, Sword of Truth, Lord of the Rings and so on to things like Discworld, that do not mean I am against toys.

Booze as gifts sounds good and yes they are safe to drink.