I have to get something up to move that last post down the page.  I’m glad I got it off my chest, because I found that my head and heart were much clearer for it last night.  But on the other hand, I do feel some shame having put that out there.  And, for the record, there WILL be milk and bread.  Kile always has a plan, even if I don’t.  And I don’t generally ask about his plan, in an effort to reduce my own stress.  Sometimes, however, it just happens to be a little counterintuitive. Heh.

So… this morning we’re going to go over my favorite moments from my favorite Christmas movies.  Or rather, my favorite moments that I could find on YouTube.  So sit back, relax and partake of the Yuletide Joy that these scenes invoke.

Christmas Vacation

This movie is the grand-daddy of all the Christmas movies in my book.  I may be able to make it through a Christmas without watching “It’s a Wonderful Life”, but in my opinion it’s not Christmas if I haven’t watched “Christmas Vacation”.  And I’m just APPALLED that so many of you didn’t guess my “Christmas Vacation” quote on that quote list a couple weeks ago.  What the heck, people??

Of course, you have to include Clark’s rant about his boss cutting bonuses in favor of a Jelly of the Month Club.

This one is also classic.  “Blousing… browsing, smelling…. smiling…”  We quote this ALL THE TIME. It doesn’t even have to be Christmas.

Alas, I couldn’t find a clip on YouTube (and I will admit, I didn’t look too hard) that had the whole “Don’t throw me down, Clark” thing in it but OH WELL.

A Christmas Story

This movie pretty much speaks for itself.  And thanks to TBS and their 24-hour marathon each Christmas, everyone and their dog can pretty much recite it from memory.

You pretty much can’t talk about scenes from this movie without including this clip.  Poor Flik.  If you start paying attention, he really gets the shaft in this movie.

I would have loved to have included some more clips here, but I couldn’t find them (particularly the one where the Bumpus hounds get ahold of the turkey.)  And I didn’t particularly feel like including the leg lamp scene since that is just SO CLICHE.  Whatever.

Elf

This is a new classic but it doesn’t make it any less classic, you know?  I mean, COME ON.  Will Ferrell thinks he’s an elf.  When does that not get funny?

Besides the fact that Kile and I love to duet this song, this scene is just so funny.

“I just like to smile, smiling’s my favorite.”

Buddy meets his first “fake” Santa.  It doesn’t end well.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

I know a lot of you probably think it’s grand heresy to include this version of such a classic story, but I have to admit: I enjoy Jim Carrey.  And this version never fails to bring a smile to my face.

Probably my favorite scene in the whole movie.  I just love him trying to freak her out.

I love the bit with the dog towards the end.  It is SO TRUE.  Dogs always find that boundary and then fling themselves over it, don’t they?

It’s a Wonderful Life

Yeah, there are some GREAT scenes in this one and to single out just a few is pretty hard.  And I’ll be darned if it’s all but impossible to find any of my favorites on YouTube!  Sacrelige!  How about when George steps on the belt to Mary’s robe and she hides in the hydrangea bush and he threatens to sell tickets?  That’s just AWESOME.  Then there’s George’s rant to Mary about the stupid house and why do they have all these kids.  That wasn’t on YouTube either.  Gosh.  Well, you’ll just have to imagine them in your mind.  Luckily, this is another “recite it from memory” movie and you shouldn’t have any problem.

Okay… I gotta go get on with my life here.  Harry’s clothes aren’t going to wash themselves (though, boy howdy, I sure wish they would because YIKES) and I need to get a few things done while Evie is napping.  But in the comments, I want to hear about YOUR favorite Christmas movies and what YOUR favorite scenes are.  Share! (Tis the season, and all.)

Do you ever get this feeling?  Like there is so much that is pinging around inside your head that you’ve got to let some of it spill out, lest you have some sort of brain blow up/catastrophic memory failure?  No?  Just me?  Anyhow, here’s a sampling of what’s ratting around in the noggin this morning.  I’m hoping that once I share with ya’ll that I’ll free up some room.  It’s worth a shot, right?

• I ordered another diaper last night.  To my credit, I sold a few diapers Evie has outgrown first (I had to, or else I couldn’t have afforded it!) and this is going to be a present under the tree for her.  And DUDE, it was on SALE.  (These particular diapers virtually NEVER go on sale so this was a big deal.)
• All our Christmas packages have left the building!  Which means: They are no longer my concern.  Kile was taking them to the post office but I don’t know if he did it before work or if he’s planning to go after.  Either way, they are out of my hair and I can breathe a huge sigh of relief!
• I think we now have all the presents we purchased for the family that will be here Christmas Day inside the house (minus that new diaper, of course).  Of course, nothing is WRAPPED but baby steps, people.   Thankfully, Santa doesn’t wrap his presents around these parts because I don’t think I have that much paper.
• My fingers are sore.  What the heck?  I figure it’s due to the knitting (I’ve started a scarf for Harry and a hat for Kile.  GO ME!) but it hurts like heck.  I have to focus on keeping my fingers straight as I sleep or they just get more sore and cramped.
• I finally have my lab orders!  Now, I just need to be able to go get my blood tested.  I’m thinking maybe on Friday (mah birfday!) since Kile will be home the majority of the day and hence I will have a ride to the lab.  What a birthday present, eh?  UGH.
• I love Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” and I think I may be in the minority on that one.  But then again, I’ve never purported to have excellent taste in music here either.
  
  (And yes, I’ve heard about the whole thing with Satriani and yet I still love this song.  I suck?)
• While I’m in the business of selling out, I may as well go ahead and admit that I really enjoy Shia LeBeouf.  We watched parts of “Disturbia” (again) last night and I’m watching “Surf’s Up” this morning (which he voices) and I’m just further convinced of this love of mine.
• I’m really tanking in your estimation, aren’t I?  I’m sorry.
• It’s a Wednesday.  I have to keep reminding myself of that.  Someone wished me happy birthday this morning and I actually had to stop for a minute and make sure that it wasn’t actually my birthday today before a minute there, I wasn’t sure.

Okay, that’s enough.  I have a diaper I need to change.  (What else is new?)  The good news is my head feels a lot emptier now.  (That IS a good thing, right?)

This is the “Christmas Movie Edition” of my Grace in Small Things list.  Because little makes me happier than a good (and yes, sometimes corney) Christmas movie.  Bonus points if you can tell me the movie each quote is from!

1. “Sons of bitches! Bumpuses!”
2. “Don’t throw me down, Clark.” “I’ll try not to, Aunt Bethany…”
3. “You call this a happy family?  Why do we have to have all these kids?”
4. “Hate, hate, hate. Hate, hate, hate. Double Hate. LOATHE ENTIRELY!”
5. “I just like to smile! Smiling’s my favorite.”

Better late than never, right?

1. California Pizza Kitchen’s frozen Thin Crust BBQ Chicken pizza.  YUM.
2. Leftover Thanksgiving Pinot Grigio mixed with some Sierra Mist to make a yummy spritzer.
3. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers on TNT.  “What’s taters, Precious?”
4. Finding out there’s another slice of cherry pie left.  Sweet!
5. Knowing the weekend isn’t over yet.  Ahhh…

Even though, you know, the song is “Easy like Sunday morning” and it’s very nearly not morning any longer.  Ahem.

Kile let me sleep in a little bit this morning, until after 8 am, which felt like HEAVEN.  He got up with Evie and then when Liam woke up, got him up too.  I heard some ruckus downstairs at one point so I got up and came downstairs to find Harry staring at the TV, transfixed, and Liam screaming (which was making Evie scream too).  What the heck?  Turns out, Kile had been watching “Pan’s Labyrinth” on OnDemand (one of our favorites).  And it turns out that the scene where the child-eating monster is chasing the little girl was sort of scaring our little two year old.  YOU THINK??  Kile said that he’d been okay until the monster ate the fairies.  At that point, my eyes rolled so hard into the back of my head that I gave myself a headache.  And it was at that point that we put the “Elf” DVD in and everything was better again.  I swear, if that kid gets nightmares it’s ALL HIS FAULT.

Anyhow, I slept in because I’ve been so exhausted the last couple of days.  And yesterday’s shopping trip just plum wore me out.  And Evie slept in our room for most of the night last night, she came in (doesn’t that make it sound like she just got up herself and walked into our room?) just as we were going to bed.  Boo!  To her credit, though, she is pushing through her top two teeth.  So I guess I’ll give her a little slack.

And, on the plus side, Beetoe didn’t sleep with us last night.  The night before, we had her in with us.  And since she had helped “clean” Harry’s plate after Thanksgiving, she was experiencing a little indigestion.  As a result, she was rather restless all night, wandering around the bed.  At one point, she got up next to my face and I was turned away from her.  But you know how it is, when you know someone is staring at you, you just can’t shake it.  So finally I turned to her and said, “What??”  Her timing was impeccable.  At that moment, she burped, right in my face, and I got a whiff of Thanksgiving Dinner Part 2.

Let me tell you, not the best way to be woken up in the middle of the night.

Today, we’re taking it a little easier.  Harry keeps pestering us about going out and going shopping.  I’m thinking he wants to spend some of the birthday money he still has left.  He’s not interested in taking my word for it when I tell him that NO, we’re not going out today.  We’re going out tomorrow, and that is good enough.  Nope, today we’re sticking to home and making Christmas candy to go in our gift bags.  So far, Kile has gotten a jump start on the peanut brittle and I’m going to help with the candy canes and pretzels after he gets out of the shower.  I’m thinking the hardest part will be not eating any of it.  Just wait until we get started on the fudge.  (OMG, FUDGE.)

So what are you all doing this weekend?   Still recovering from the holiday?  Decorating for Christmas?  Finishing up shopping?  Anyone else’s husband scar their children with “Pan’s Labyrinth”?