1. Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas
I have been trying to spread the gospel of Emmet Otter at the holidays. Some years are more successful (or appreciated) than others. This year I was thwarted by a lack of VCR. I may just have to get this gem on DVD. It's a genuinely sweet (albeit quirky) holiday family movie. Plus, I think Jim Henson is a genius. Among other things, what Christmas movie do you know of that opens with a song about one's fat grandmother's bathing suit?
We've had the ipod on perpetual Christmas playlist shuffle at my parent's house since I got here (and I'm pretty sure that has been the norm for the season... at least since the day AFTER Thanksgiving, that is. Please. That does not make me a Scrooge). While there are many Christmas songs that I love, this is at the top, for purely sentimental/childhood/family reasons:
3. Christmas Trees
The tree is probably one of my favorite holiday traditions. In our family, we cut our own. Every year, the family drives a few hours north and spends the day tramping through the national forest to find our own "perfect" Christmas tree (I use the term loosely, trees in the wild are not nearly so). More often than not, we end up with a self-proclaimed Charlie Brown tree, but it is loved.
In addition, the bulk of the ornaments on our tree have some memory attached -- made in school, acquired on vacations, gifts from friends or family, etc. As a result, decorating and looking at the tree is always story time. Again, our tree would never be mistaken for Martha Stewart's, but it's real Christmas.
4. Christmas Cards
I mean the real ones, brag letter and all. I love reading the letters I get, and even the ones my parents get from people I don't know. I'm not to this point (yet), but my mom even saves brag letters for a year, until the next round goes out. I guess it helps her keep track of what people have been up to. This habit came in handy the summer I moved cross-country to Boston for grad school. I didn't know anyone there, but oddly enough through the church's housing coordinator, I ended up rooming with the daughter of family Christmas-card-friends. We did actually pull out the previous year's letter in August just before I moved to get up-to-speed. (Thankfully, Diana, I think you guys passed. )
As you may have noticed, I have not been good at this one lately, but I hope to reform.
5. The point.
I'm going to let Linus sum it up for me. (Another Christmas favorite... there's something about this whole film that represents the Christmas of my world better than anything else.)
5. The point.
I'm going to let Linus sum it up for me. (Another Christmas favorite... there's something about this whole film that represents the Christmas of my world better than anything else.)
2 comments:
i am even more regretful about my lack of a VCR after seeing that clip. i must watch the entire movie upon my return to Atl.
Wow, a blog reference by name. I do love the Christmas letters and, for the record, my mom holds on to them until the following year also. I count it very fortuitous that we landed together in Boston. Those were some great years and I don't know what I would have done without you.
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