It may seem like only yesterday your free-spirited auntie was leaning over your shoulder, giving a one-on-one lecture on how she recycles wrapping paper into origami ornaments to raise money for single mothers in Namibia as you picked up rogue strands of ribbon and tinsel from under the tree - but believe it or not, St. Nick's annual visit is now just a matter of days away.
Following tonight's Merseyside Derby at Goodison Park, English football fans will rather cruelly be starved of Premier League action for precisely one week until Boxing Day - and to make matters worse, forced to spend some time with those weird people they live with, who apparently call themselves family.
Bah Humbug - we suppose it's not all so bad. But nonetheless, if you can't handle the wait until all the Boxing Day action, we have a festive tradition to keep you occupied - the good old Christmas Cracker.
Indeed, this Xmas-in-one-gallery includes a classic football-based teaser, a randomly picked but nonetheless scintillating wonder-strike and an intriguing statistic to impress the family with around the Christmas table, in between shoving mountains of Christmas gnosh down your food hole.
So without further ado, have a pull on Manchester City's Christmas Cracker!
The Teaser - Who Am I?
During my career, I have played with Marc-Vivien Foe, Jonathan Woodgate, Gareth Bale, Andy Cole, Jordan Henderson, Dejan Lovren, Steve Finnan, Benjani, Djibril Cisse and Tal Ben Haim. But I have never played for Manchester City or Liverpool.
Who am I?
A very, very tricky teaser - so we'll give you one more clue! He's still playing today, but not in the Premier League.
Click through to last page to reveal the answer.
The wonder-strike - Cheeky Kiki
Stuart Pearce had to wait three games to claim his first win as Manchester City boss and it came from a rather unlikely source - on-loan winger Kiki Musampa, who managed just three goals during his 41-game spell in the Premier League.
Nonetheless, it proved a strike of real significance, as the winner in a match that played a key role in Liverpool finishing outside of the top four (famously beaten by local rivals Everton) and Manchester City sealing eighth place over Tottenham Hotspur.
As the ball fell to Robbie Fowler on the right wing, Liverpool's defenders were dragged into the box by the Manchester City attack. Musampa moved into the space behind them and the former Reds forward picked him out, leaving the Zaire-born wide man free to unleash a delicate, technically demanding volley past a helpless Scott Carson.
The Stat
Manchester City boast one of the most expensively-assembled sides in Europe, but is it proving good value for money?
Well, some will point to their Premier League position of second place as evidence of decent enough transfer business, but based on the purchase fees of their current squad, every top flight goal has cost the Citizens a staggering £13.85million so far this season.
Just for the record, that could buy you 99 Aston Martin DB9s, or 15% of Paul Pogba.
The Answer - Steed Malbranque
It's the moment you've all been waiting for - the answer to our tricky Christmas teaser is Tony Blair's favourite footballer, Steed Malbranque. 'The Steed' plied his trade with the late, great Marc-Vivien Foe at Lyon before arriving in the Premier League with Fulham in 2001, where he linked up with Andy Cole and Steve Finnan.
He then moved to Tottenham, playing alongside Jonathan Woodgate and Gareth Bale, and then Sunderland, where he happened to cross paths with ex-Red Djibril Cisse and former City duo Benjani and Tal Ben Haim.
Stil going strong at the age of 36, the veteran midfielder now plies his trade with Caen in Ligue 1.