Countdown to the Holidays

[#1]

When I was a kid my parents got my brother and I a chocolate advent calendar, every morning we got to open a door and have a chocolate, until all the doors were open on December 24th. When we got a bit older my brother started eating all my chocolates and closing the door back up so when it was time to open it, I would be heartbroken that there was no chocolate inside. Once my parents caught on to what he was doing, that was the end of the chocolate calendars. I see they now have $15 Lindt chocolate calendars, which I am tempted to buy every time I see one. 

My go-to countdown calendar the past two years has been @Thomas Schlegel 's brilliant work. This year he is doing the  "Holiday Countdown Calendar 2019" - a way to learn all about Atlassian people over the month, sharing surprises, interesting stories and fun! If you haven't been following along, check it out - and last year's too - Thomas' "Community's Advent Calendar 2018" looking back to all the fun we had here in the Community.

I also have been following a Personality (MBTI) Calendar, where you open a virtual door each day and then you get a team-building tool, infographic or brain teaser that you can use in the workplace. A few years ago I wrote a "Countdown to Delicious" blog with a David's Tea calendar, definitely one of my favourite countdowns to date. 

My friend Zoey is living the dream of countdowns this year! 

A tea calendar, a cheese calendar, a lottery calendar, and a Hogwarts calendar - seriously, could it get any better than that?! Next year I am going all out and following her lead :)

So, do you do anything special as a Holiday Countdown? 

[Jimmy Seddon]

I have always enjoyed advent calendars... now I live vicariously through my two year old:

[Jodi LeBlanc]

So adorable @Jimmy Seddon - now if only chocolate wasn't toxic for my dog Max, I would be buying this advent calendar immediately and living vicariously through him :)

[Jimmy Seddon]

@Jodi LeBlanc you are in luck:

https://us.petvalu.com/product/1102706/advent-calendar-for-dogs-bosco-and-roxys/

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Wow @Jimmy Seddon I had no idea such a thing existed, I must order one for dear little Max! However by the size of those cookies he would go from 12 pounds to 22 pounds by the end of the calendar (unless they are tinier than they appear in the photo). Thanks so much for sharing! Max thanks you too! 

Speaking of Max, I must share a a proud dog Mom moment, Max has been modelling for @ madaboutcolour the last three years (wool hats), and he got Market Customer of the day at the Etsy Holiday Market on Saturday (it was also his 10th birthday, so he had a great time celebrating with all the vendors that adore him). Had to share!

[Jimmy Seddon]

That's amazing!  He looks adorable!  The treats are a little bit larger than a toonie, so I'll let you decide how big you think that is.

[Jodi LeBlanc]

That's a pretty good size, he can always share with his poodle friends (our next door neighbours) :)

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

My household is firmly in the "Bah Humbug" category for most of December.  We've all had times when Christmas starts in mid-November and a month later, the actual day is lost on us because we're already so tired of it.

Apart from the preparation (looking for and getting presents), we robustly ignore Christmas until the day the "Radio Times Christmas edition" arrives on the shelves.   But we do sometimes have an adcent calendar, if we find a good one.

This year, we did it the easy way.  M&S has:

[Jodi LeBlanc]

I hear you @Nic Brough -Adaptavist- on Christmas sometimes starting to early. We don't put a tree up until mid December, that way we have 2 weeks to enjoy it, but we take it down on December 26. Each year the holidays seem to start earlier and earlier for some. I even saw some facebook posts of people putting up their tree November 1st. I am not judging, to each his/her/their own :)

That looks like a gorgeous advent calendar! No putting the cap back on those once opened :) I am interested to hear your thoughts after you try them all, and which were your favourite. I will be telling my friend Zoey about that one for next year!

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

All the ones with EG (sort of) on them are from the Edinburgh Gin company, and while I've had better gin, I would say they are all "better than the mean average", except the one that was aniseedy (I'm not fond of aniseed - Ouzo is not good, and Pernod makes me ill just by opening the bottle.  Still better than pineapple of course - that's not edible at all if you have any taste)

But, annoyingly, Chrissy went and found one outside the calendar - Hustle gin has some mild hints of basil and pear, which I would never have connected but works far too well!

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Wow you certainly have good taste in gin! And that basil pear combo sounds dreamy :)

[Dharma Ramos]

I have an advent calendar made of wood that I fill for my daughter every year, usually chocolate. This year I found a cheese advent calendar at Aldi, so I got one for each of us.

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Thanks @Dharma Ramos your wooden advent calendar sounds lovely, and I am sure your daughter looks forward to it each year. I hope you are enjoying your cheese calendar :)