(My desktop wallpaper. Click for larger image. If applied to background in the ‘stretch’ position it will fill entire screen at 1024×768)
As much as I enjoy Halloween it pales in comparison to my love for Christmas. The weather, the music, the lights and decorations, the food, the friendship, the air of good cheer…they are all facets of a holiday that is by far my favorite. Traditionally we put up our Christmas tree and turn on the outside lights on Thanksgiving. This year however we had family staying with us so last night was the night designated for trimming the tree. I was able to get some, but not all, the outside lights up this weekend when it was an unseasonable 66 degrees. The rest of my pursuit of Griswald fame will have to be done this week in temps between the 30’s and 40’s.
I really enjoy my subscription to Real Rhapsody. I signed up for it last year prior to the holidays and became sold when I was able to create playlists of all my favorite Christmas tunes. The first thing I did yesterday upon arriving home from work was to set up the ’05 Christmas playlist. Present are great tunes from the likes of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Kay Starr, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Judy Garland, Amy Grant, Josh Groban, The Andrews Sisters, and of course the wonderful A Charlie Brown Christmas by Vince Guaraldi. We had light snowflakes falling occasionally throughout the day and this plus the Christmas music really helped set the mood. Personal favorites are O Holy Night (the Josh Groban version is by far the best), Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s rendition of Baby, Its Cold Outside, and of course any Christmas song that Bing sings.
I set up the tree, strung the lights, and laid out the Christmas decorations. When Mary got home the three of us set out to trim the tree. I don’t know if any of you are like this but we all have special ornaments that we like to hang each year. I sometimes want to do a more fancy themed tree but we have so many ornaments that have such personal significance that ours is more of a hodge podge of various items. There are ornaments from our first Christmas as a married couple. Tori likes to hang her beautiful sandollar ornament that Scott gave her to commemorate her first Christmas. I have a gold metal snowman with my name engraved on it that my third grade teacher gave me. A few years ago my brother Jason gave me a Yukon Cornelius ornament and there is one that is a sheet of music that says ‘Messiah’ on it that I always want to save to hang myself.
Afterwards we ate a great meal and watched a Christmas movie (another family tradition). This year we picked While You Were Sleeping.
This movie has been a favorite of Mary and mine ever since we saw it in the theatre in 1995. For years this framed movie poster decorated our walls. It is one of the better romantic comedies in my opinion as it hearkens back to those great romantic comedies of the 40’s and 50’s. We consider it a Christmas movie since the majority of the film takes place between Christmas and New Year’s Day. The characters are all so wonderful, especially Peter Boyle, Micole Mercurio, Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman. What I especially love is all the little affectations that Sandra Bullock brings to her character…the way she talks, her mannerisms, the silly way she walks through the snow to her building door…they are all small things that she brings to the character that you may not notice the first time through but the combination of these things makes the character much more real. Great movie. It was especially fun to watch after my recent visit to Chicago.
I’m so excited about the Christmas season and that I have the opportunity to share it with all of you. Throughout movie and book reviews, etc. I will no doubt give a healthy dose of Christmas themed posts. I wish you all warmth, comfort and joy throughout this holiday season.
i love decorating for christmas!
i actually put the tree up a week early.. the weekend before thanksgiving. as i figured that i’d be too busy thanksgiving weekend with all the family over. and i was right.
my tree is decorated with just light blue & silver ornaments.. matches my house pretty well.
… then, i have my little trek tree that i set on my desk at work.. hehe.
Awesome! So glad to know you have a geek tree Angela! I have a Batman ornament and Rocky and Bullwinkle character ornaments on mine to cover some of my geek interests. I had wanted to put up the tree on the weekend of my birthday but its hard for Mary’s parents to get around in our house with the tree up so we waited.
What, no Dean Martin in the playlist? Tsk tsk.
I like your traditions! Of course, my tree is decorated with things meaningful to my family and me, and not according to a color scheme LOL! Altho…I did do blue & clear lights this year…my mother is going to FREAK OUT!
Actually Anne I do believe I have a Dean song or two in the queue.
I’ve done all white lights on the tree itself for the past several years as all our decorations are pretty colorful in and of themselves. Our artificial tree loses so many needles every year that the floor looks like we have a real tree. Can’t believe how many it lost last night when I was putting it up. Someday I’m going to get one of those pre-lighted trees.
Our tree doesn’t have a theme either, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s covered with really pretty ornaments that were lovely gifts from special people. My mom gave me all my childhood ornaments, many of them I made myself, and the rest of the tree is covered with the girls’ homemade (school-made, church-made) ornaments. It’s one of a kind and reflects me and my family.
I like the clear, non blinking lights, too.
I’ve never had an artificial tree. Going out and finding that special tree to cut down each year is one of my very favorite activities. My living room smells soooo good and the tree is a beauty.
I would love to have a real tree but the fact that we travel part of Christmas every year makes it too risky for us. Maybe once my parents move down this way and we can have Christmas here then we can do a real tree. We had real trees growing up and I always loved the smell. With Razz I’m always worried he’d drink the water too.
While You Were Sleeping is a wonderful film. Keri and I have watched in many times over the years too. Sandra Bullock is the best in these types of films where she can show her funny and romantic side.
I have to say our tree also has no theme either. Keri has some real nice ornaments on it right next to the hand painted kid’s ones. It just feels right that way. Now I will have to side on loving my artifical tree. I tried a real one once and the smell knocked me over each time I came home but to each his own.
I also have to add that I love Christmas so much more now that I have kids. As much fun as it was to get presents growing up nothing beats seeing my own kids unwrapping presents on christmas day. Now I know why my folks loved christmas so much, too.
Favorite christmas song from my past. I haven’t heard it in many years but growing up ( my teenage years ) I always liked Little Drummer Boy as sung by Joan Jett. š
You were going along so well Jeff…and then you had to mention Little Drummer Boy. I love almost all Christmas songs but for some reason I just despise that song. For some reason the idea of a little boy banging the hell out of a drum by Jesus’ crib just annoys me no end. In real life Mary would slap the crap out of him for making that noise. I hate it!!! (Yes, I feel passionate about this.)
On a side note, when we first moved here to KC Tori was in the Christmas play in her school and made sure to point out to her music teacher that I hate Little Drummer Boy…a fact that her music teacher mentioned to me the night of the play and didn’t seem particularly pleased that I disliked said tune.
I’ve tried to respond to your last email 3 times tonight by the way and it keeps coming back saying you no longer exist…so, if you are still on this earth I’ll just continue my conversation with you at the comic shop tomorrow.
Grinch here saying 102 and 98 have christmas music all the time so why bother with cd’s. Also everyone knows the best Christmas movies are Braveheart and Platoon.
I am TOTALLY KIDDING!! I’m with you about Christmas, we are buying Elf and would not be the season without Christmas Vacation. BTW saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory finally and LOVED it. The kids have watched several times now. Maybe after the addition is done a Christmas movie night would be in order. I think I’m going to get a new T.V..
Tom, Christmas vacation is a classic. Every year my wife and I try to add more lights to our house in hopes of one day shorting out all the lights to Olathe. š
Carl, I tried to email you last night that about the fact I no longer exsist but my fingers couldn’t get the keyboard to work. In fact write now my cat is typing this reply.
you know – for such a cool cat, carl, sometimes you have the strangest tastes – how can you stand to look at that wallpaper for more than a month?
I love 40’s and 50’s good girl art, Elvgren and the like, and just love this image Mysfit. Its Christmas-y, innocently sexy, and very romantic…fits my mood perfectly. Last year I used tasteful “pin-up”(for lack of a better word) art to make gift tags for Christmas gifts. So much of what we associate with Christmas now are traditions that were spawned from the commercial boom after WWII and I really like this type of art from that period. Very nostalgic. Hope that explains my strangeness Mysfit! š
Elf is great, Tom, one of my absolute favorite Christmas movies. Can’t wait to see what your place looks like after the addition is done. Get a BIG TV, Tom!!!! š
Shot the wad on the room, can only afford a 32″. I had my eye on a Sony 36″, but it weighs 221 lbs! What is in a tv that it has to weigh 200+ lbs? This Sony I want already weighs 168. We need a new fridge too.
I don’t really understand why they have to weigh so much. We have a 32″Sony and I couldn’t lift it by myself if I needed to in order to save my life….but what do you care how much it weighs? Tommy boy can muscle it up by himself. š
Hope that explains my strangeness
no, but that’s not what i was looking for anyways. i don’t know why, but her mouth bothers me. You know i’ve only seen a few pictures of you carl, but i can already see the school-boy look on your face as you wrap up the presences for your kids with the same excitement that they will open them.
Merry Very Early Christmas!
presents even
I like the idea of ‘wrapping up the presences’…has a very Nightmare Before Christmas type feel to it!!! š
And I do indeed love wrapping presents. Time sometimes gets the better of me and I get lazy but if I have the time I love to do interesting, fun things with wrapping gifts.
Ah, Josh Groban is one of my favorite artists during this Christmas season! His voice is absolutely breathtaking!
He’s pretty awesome. Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring with Lili Haydn playing violin is excellent.