Christmas Countdown - 2018

Martine · Jan 1, 2018

ballcoach said:
Get up sleepy heads!

Dilliards is having their HUGE sale...off to get my work clothes for the year! LOL. True story. The year....unless I put on more weight...

Good luck with the sale. I just can't believe stores open at all on January 1st.

CGYager · Jan 1, 2018

Martine said:
Happy New Year everyone! We didn't make it to midnight, as is our tradition. It's a beautiful sunny but COLD Winter day. David is working, I'm doing laundry, it's life as usual. Wishing all a great first day in 2018 and all the best all year long.

Morning Martine. I woke up long enough to greet the New Year with Connie and then after a brief time up hit the sack again for a few hours. Off today (thankfully) and keeping the frigid air outside. Since I am a Minnesota Vikings fan and you are such a fun dog lover, here is a post I saw...

Iteachpercussion · Jan 1, 2018

Good morning everyone and Happy New Year!

My wife and I were watching a show last night and were not paying attention to the time and missed the actual countdown.

It is very cold here today. Starting out below zero. School starts back up on Wednesday, though I have a feeling we may have some delays or cancellations due to the cold.

Today and tomorrow I need to do some lesson planning and things like that. Get everything back in order for school.

Everyone have a great day and start to the New Year!

Jason · Jan 1, 2018

Crown 84 said:
** OFFICIAL THREAD - CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN 2018 **

Greetings, Folks!
For the 12th consecutive year here at My Merry Christmas (and the 15th year overall) it is time once again to begin another Countdown!

Here are the statistics since we began the Season Countdown idea 14 years ago:
2004 = 1,217 posts (Christmas.com) = 3.3 posts per day.
2005 = Over 2,700 posts (Christmas.com) = over 7.4 posts per day.
2006 = 3,756 posts (The Christmas Place) = 10.3 posts per day.
2007 = 1,957 posts (My Merry Christmas, where the thread was not launched until July) = 12.1 posts per day.
2008 = 5,103 posts = 13.9 posts per day.
2009 = 8,231 posts = 22.6 posts per day.
2010 = 16,226 posts = 44.5 posts per day.
2011 = 31,091 posts = 85.2 posts per day.
2012 = 39,183 posts = 107.1 posts per day.
2013 = 59,747 posts = 163.7 posts per day.
2014 = 63,096 posts = 172.9 posts per day.
2015 = 56,859 posts = 155.8 posts per day.
2016 = 58,288 posts = 159.3 posts per day.
2017 = 18,080 posts = 49.5 posts per day.
Interestingly, we had a huge drop off in 2017. Not sure why, but the quality of our posts is still quite high. And that's more important than volume any day!

So, here we are ready to go again, at the start of 2018.

A word of explanation. We are running a dual countdown in this thread - one for Christmas Day and one for the start of the Christmas Season (November 13).
There seems to be general agreement that we look forward to the entire Christmas Season rather than just to Christmas Day itself.
But why November 13?
Well, it just seems about the right time to regard the season as arriving. That date is exactly 6 weeks before Christmas Day and is around the time the public at large is beginning to really get into the holiday spirit. Many of the malls and stores have decorated. And starting the season then gives us exactly 50 days (Nov 13 through Jan 1) to enjoy being "within" the season, giving it a depth that is lacking with just the Christmas Day count by itself.

We also enjoy noting special "Milestones" along the way (see the chart below).

And there is one date you CERTAINLY do not want to miss! Many of us gather here on the evening of November 12 for our annual hour by hour and then minute by minute countdown to the start of the Season at midnight Eastern Time. It's something we really look forward to and is truly great fun!

OK then, Everybody.
Climb aboard once again to enjoy reading the posts and following the count, which begins today at 316 to the Season and 358 to Christmas Day.

Here is a list of our Christmas Season and Christmas Day countdown milestone markers:

CHRISTMAS SEASON MILESTONE MARKER CHART
January 17 = Day 300
February 12 = 1/4 mark
March 15 = 1/3 mark
April 27 = Day 200
May 15 = 1/2 mark
July 14 = 2/3 mark
August 05 = Day 100
August 14 = 3/4 mark
October 07 = 90 percent (The Home Stretch begins)
November 13 = THE CHRISTMAS SEASON ARRIVES!

CHRISTMAS DAY MILESTONE MARKER CHART
February 28 = Day 300
March 26 = 1/4 mark
April 26 = 1/3 mark
June 8 = Day 200
June 26 = 1/2 mark
August 25 = 2/3 mark
Sept 16 = Day 100
Sept 25 = 3/4 mark
Nov 18 = 90 percent
December 25 = MERRY CHRISTMAS!

- CROWN

Thanks Crown! Hard to believe we are back at the beginning, but gotta start somewhere.

NcGunny · Jan 1, 2018

Iteachpercussion said:
Good morning everyone and Happy New Year!

My wife and I were watching a show last night and were not paying attention to the time and missed the actual countdown.

It is very cold here today. Starting out below zero. School starts back up on Wednesday, though I have a feeling we may have some delays or cancellations due to the cold.

Today and tomorrow I need to do some lesson planning and things like that. Get everything back in order for school.

Everyone have a great day and start to the New Year!

The CNN coverage was horrible I thought. Tried Fox and it wasnt much better. One other (Earth Cam) was bad. I didnt even like the singers.

Minta · Jan 1, 2018

Happy New Years and Good Morning! The inside does look a lot more bare and darker without the tree and decorations up. Got to finishing cleaning up soon as we are hosting another big family dinner today. Kids go back to school tomorrow and I go back to work Wed. I have enjoyed my vacation but I am ready to get back to work. Have a great day!

Martine · Jan 1, 2018

CGYager said:
Morning Martine. I woke up long enough to greet the New Year with Connie and then after a brief time up hit the sack again for a few hours. Off today (thankfully) and keeping the frigid air outside. Since I am a Minnesota Vikings fan and you are such a fun dog lover, here is a post I saw...
View attachment 41877

That is such a sweet picture. Stay warm CGYager.

MerryCarey · Jan 1, 2018

NcGunny said:
The CNN coverage was horrible I thought. Tried Fox and it wasnt much better. One other (Earth Cam) was bad. I didnt even like the singers.

The only way is to ignore the show and tune in about two minutes before midnight for the final countdown ... works for us!

Meceka · Jan 1, 2018

CGYager said:
Morning Ballcoach. Sorry, but it would have to be a lot warmer for me to brave the elements for any sale (currently -21 w/windchill of -42). Be safe and have fun...
View attachment 41871

Oh my gosh, that is cold! Stay warm, my friend!

Meceka · Jan 1, 2018

Happy New Year!

NcGunny · Jan 1, 2018

Morning All!! Happy New Years Day

!!
We got the new Countdown going last night and now begin the march towards Christmas again.
:march:

ClaireLovesChristmas · Jan 1, 2018

Happy new year to all! Let the countdown begin!

Crown 84 · Jan 1, 2018

Jason said:
Thanks Crown! Hard to believe we are back at the beginning, but gotta start somewhere.

Yep. A never-ending series of endings and beginnings!

Crown 84 · Jan 1, 2018

MerryCarey said:
The only way is to ignore the show and tune in about two minutes before midnight for the final countdown ... works for us!

That's exactly what we do, Merry.
It was so different back in the mid 1970's and earlier before Guy Lombardo died. He had such a wonderful orchestra. ("The sweetest music this side of heaven".)
In those days it all was about quiet, soft and sentimental music, memories and reflections as the final hours wound down.
Now, it's about rock music and noise. No thanks. We just wait for the ball to drop, then go to bed.

Jeff Westover · Jan 1, 2018

We had an epic Christmas gathering for New Year's Eve this year. This is what happens as the kids get older and become "adults", I suppose.

But last night was so epic. Maybe we started a new tradition. We draw names for Secret Santa every year and this year those gifts were opened on New Year's Eve. It made for a lot of laughs and entertainment not usually seen on New Year's Eve. Stayed up til almost 3am, just visiting.

It's got me invigorated. Look at me, I'm posting in the countdown thread!

Jeff Westover · Jan 1, 2018

Oh! I almost forgot.

Amazing daughter #1 announced this week that she is with child.

2018 will make me a Grandpa again.

Nothing but joy in that announcement. A real gift.

Meceka · Jan 1, 2018

Jeff Westover said:
Oh! I almost forgot.

Amazing daughter #1 announced this week that she is with child.

2018 will make me a Grandpa again.

Nothing but joy in that announcement. A real gift.

Congratulations!!

Meceka · Jan 1, 2018

For all the stargazers on here, tonight is a "supermoon".

Iteachpercussion · Jan 1, 2018

Jeff Westover said:
Oh! I almost forgot.

Amazing daughter #1 announced this week that she is with child.

2018 will make me a Grandpa again.

Nothing but joy in that announcement. A real gift.

Congratulations!!! That is AWESOME!

e_xander · Jan 1, 2018

Jeff Westover said:
Oh! I almost forgot.

Amazing daughter #1 announced this week that she is with child.

2018 will make me a Grandpa again.

Nothing but joy in that announcement. A real gift.

Congrats! Very exciting news! You are truly blessed!