Lights, Camera, Christmas

The husband, die hard Christmas fan that he is, has a long list of movies that must be watched during the period between Thanskgiving and Christmas Eve. This was much more easily accomplished pre-kid (PK.) PK we could spend all day on the couch in our pajamas. PK we could come home from work, order take out and watch until we couldn't see straight.

Those days are no more. He started early this year, watching a few of the non-essentials before Thanksgiving to be sure he could get through them all. Some of these movies I love. Some, I do not.

Let's start with the ones I wouldn't mind accidentally running over with my car:

Scrooged: I KNOW it's A Christmas Carol. I know, people. Bill Murray just doesn't do it for me. Now would probably be a good time to admit I've never seen it all the way through.

A Christmas Story: Eh. It's depressing. Someone gave us that leg lamp for our wedding. Seriously. My husband took it straight to the trash.

The Ref: This one I could take or leave. The hate in that family is over the top, but I won't necessarily leave the room if it's on. I might take a nap though.

It's a Wonderful Life: Admitedly, this is one that I fall asleep watching without fail, so I've never seen the entire thing. I seem to wake up at the depressing parts and am still not entirely sure what the movie is about.

Movies the husband knows not to watch without me:

Home Alone 1 & 2: Does this need an explanation?

The Santa Clause 1 & 2: Young Charlie is too cute for words and the North Pole/Santa's workshop looks like how I want it to look.

Elf: I mean, really.

Love, Actually: The scene after Juliet discovers that Mark is in love with her and he's walking along the street and that Dido song plays just undoes me. Also, who doesn't love Hugh Grant dancing to the Pointer Sisters?

Christmas Vacation: When my brother and I were a bit older, this became the movie we would watch while decorating the Christmas tree. It never gets old.

I just rediscovered a movie I think of every year at Christmas, but can never remember the name. I tried explaining it to my husband to no avail. Problem is, I was convinced that Michael Landon is in the movie and he isn't. Truthfully, all I remember about the movie is Mary Steenburgen singing Stop, In the Name of Love in the shower and an angel named Gideon. Turns out it's called One Magic Christmas and it's on the Hallmark Channel TODAY! DVR set and ready to go!

A Tale of Thanskgivings Past

Our first married Thanksgiving, in an effort to avoid spending the holiday apart from one of our families, we invited everyone to our house. "Everyone" quickly snowballed into 32 people, each bringing something to contribute to the dinner. In theory this is a good idea until the person with the appetizers shows up just minutes before dinner is served and other people run frantically through my kitchen shouting for brown sugar, and a small sauce pan. We had three tables and therefore three plates for everything. I think the mashed potatoes were served in a mixing bowl. Dishes took over two hours and when someone requested coffee when I was elbow deep in soap suds and pan drippings, I nearly cried.

Next year, lessons learned, I was prepared. I had matching tablecloths, napkins and napkin rings. I had mentally planned out which dishes were for serving which food and guests only brought desserts. I simplified the menu, still providing all the favorites. Then, the day before Thanksgiving there was a minor complication in my pregnancy that landed me on bedrest through the weekend. I had to relinquish control. Dinner was delicious and ran smoothly, but I couldn't take credit for any of it.

We've since gone back to taking turns visiting our families for Thanksgiving and I wouldn't have it any other way. It's obviously easier, and I don't have the stress of ruining someone's holiday.

This year we're having friends over for our own turkey dinner on Saturday night because, let's face it, I'm all about the leftovers.

And So It Begins

Over the weekend, husband took out all of the Christmas decorations from various storage locations. The photo doesn't even include our outdoor decorations, and I'm pretty sure there are two boxes of ornaments on a table out of the shot.

We're Christmas people. My husband especially. I love and adore all things Christmas, but to him the holiday is sacred. The more decorations the better. If people start referring to us at the Griswold's, then we've arrived.

We're having people over on Saturday night for a friends Thanksgiving dinner and want to have all of our Christmas decorations up and ready by then. Since we'll be gone all day Thanksgiving day, shopping on Friday and cooking on Saturday, we decided to get a jump on things.

Our lights are already on the house, but not yet turned on. My mom generously offered to have them done for us and we graciously accepted. This is one of the most nerve wracking parts of decorating for me as I always live in a little bit of fear that our house will burn down from the overloading of the electrical outlets. I'm happy to leave this task to the professionals.

The tree is in the house, but not yet decorated. The biggest fight we had the first year we were married was over tree placement. Not only did I go to sleep mad, but I woke up mad, went to work mad and continued to fume about it throughout the day. When someone asked me how important it was, I shrieked, "It's a TEN!" And, I meant it. We've since decided to take turns with the tree location. Here's the thing. Husband's location is good, if not perfect, however involves much moving of furniture. To the point where the living room looks like it's been struck by some sort of natural disaster, because no one would intentionally place their furniture that way. My location is just okay by comparison, but involves minimal furniture rearranging and keeps the room looking much more intact.

This year it's husband's year and I'm not fighting it.

I will, however, hide some of the fake poinsettias he so loves, because fake flowers do not scream tidings of comfort and joy to me.

Deck the halls, y'all.

Details

Part of my recent blogging absence (I know, you've missed me) has been due, in large part, to being pregnant.

I just couldn't come here and write without writing about what's really going on. The sickness, the headaches, the worries, the excitement, the planning, the reality.

I wanted to have told everyone before I wrote about it here. Even though no one knows about this space, I held on to that worry that someone would find out here and wonder why I was telling complete strangers before I had broken the news to them.

Now that the news is out I can tell you everything. And watch out, because there's a lot to tell. Like the fact that I've had a headache for every day for the past two months. Even though the nausea is fading, it's still there. It's a vicious cycle because I'm nauseated if I don't eat, but I feel sick the second I do eat something. I do know that this phase will pass. Well, I hope that this phase will pass. I've done this before and I know that I didn't feel awful forever. I chaperoned 150 eighth graders to Washington D.C. when I was six months pregnant, and other than needing to find every bathroom in every national monument, I don't remember any other issues, so I must have felt better by then.

There's a light at the end of the tunnel. Even if it is in February.

Disclaimer: In no way do I mean to express that I'm unhappy about this pregnancy. I'm thrilled to be pregnant and I know I'm lucky to be able to get here relatively easily. But, I would be lying if I said I enjoyed being sick and tired, regardless of how blessed I feel.

Newsy.

Good Night, I say.

Seep type, he responds.

He has dimples for elbows and knuckles.

He can speak in complete, if not grammatically correct sentences.

He has an opinion. No mommy, no sing Jingle Bells.

He prefers grandpa over anyone else.

He could live on a diet of graham crackers alone.

And.

He's going to be a big brother.

I just don't understand...

*Jon Gosselin admitting that it was a mistake and hurtful to go public with his relationship with Hailey during his separation from Kate THEN publicly declaring his love for Hailey in a statement about their separation.

*The media's need to sensationalize H1N1. I'm sure it is quite dangerous, particularly to high risk groups, but making statements like, "one day you have the sniffles, the next day you're in a coma" is nothing but a ratings grabber. Besides, there isn't an H1N1 vaccine to be found in my area, so even if I wanted to vaccinate my child (which I do) I can't!

*Mother, or others who have offered to pay for their daughter's/niece's/friend's wedding dress, then thinking this gives them final right of refusal. This isn't your chance to get the dress that you never had, friend. The Say Yes to the Dress obsession continues.