Ok You win, I'm a conservative person but not to the point of Amishism. I am conservative enough to be ticked off about the things I stated in my origional post.
I was born in Philly, just outside of Lancaster county, I grew up near the Amish, and have alot of respect for those people. They can hold to the values they have while being surrounded by the rest of the world, and all it's ideas.

Hey now... you have yet to see my animated Charlie Brown nativity scene in my front yard.

Now that certainly allows me to be a raging A-hole to my neighbors the rest of the year!

Bah humbug! I hate X-mas anymore. It used to be really cool and I liked visiting my folks and seeing everyone. But shopping is hell and, as good as my family to me in the presents dept., I really wince at the emailed wish lists. Weekend shopping around NoVA is a nightmare and that's why I do EVERYTHING online now except for buying cards and wrapping paper. I swear, when I finally get a big house and start having my folks over for X-mas, I am going to have a make-it, bake-it, or we-won't-take-it Xmas. I'm sick fo all the commericialism. I'm not a religious person at all and I still can't stand it.

BTW, it's 10x worse in China. They're largely an atheist country and Xmas is bigger there than here because of sales. You'll see Xmas decorations up into February there.

What have I been saying one way or another every time I get on the OT forum? Other than computer questions, that is.

That's what we do. Christmas presents are great for the kids, but the grownups don't exchange gifts anymore. It is all just commercialism and materialism, that adults don't have to put up with.

We get together, have a nice dinner, conversation among 4 generations of family, and have fun watching the kids rip open all their presents.

Rick, that is hilarious. I remember a very similar thread last year, when I mentioned that we do "make it, bake it, or I won't take it" in our house, and you said you were gonna try it.

We're on year 3, and this year we're clamping down. All friends & family have been put on notice... any store bought gifts will be given to charity.

The best part for us is not having to go to the friggin mall. We get to hang out in the kitchen and make stuff, hittin the booze and having a grand time. My wife makes fantastic pesto & chocolate truffles and we wrap them up. The last two years, I bottled maple syrup that I make from the maples on my property. Unfortunately, we had such a mild spring last year that the sap never really ran.

Some of my best X-mases were those where whatever big present I got required spending a lot of time with my folks or grandparents, like shopping for nice clothes after X-mas or bore-sighting the Weaver scope I got for my single shot .22 (in our huge front yard in TX) or learning how to do my own reloading with the equipment my dad gave me (bonus that we skipped church to do that a few yrs. ago). I guess the gifts were more important when I couldn't afford to buy whatever I wanted for myself. But now that I can AND I have just about every gizmo and toy I ever wanted, I'd really rather just hang out with the family and cook while I get bombed.

5 years ago I would have thought it was lame, but now I love it.

We're having a crew in next weekend for the bake-off and booze fest. "Make it bake it or I won't take it" does not mean it has to be wholesome. One of the main tenants of our "new" holiday tradition is lots of homemade wine & beer, plus my dad makes a pretty deadly Vodka.

Hard to say how it will hold up once we have brats... hard to make a PS3.