So. I have no voice.
Actually, I do have a little bit of a voice that sounds like a cross between Kim Carnes and someone who has smoked seven packs of cigarettes a day for the last fifty years, but not as smooth. In fact, I attempted to sing Silent Night to Caroline for her bedtime lullaby and she asked me to please stop. Granted, the coughing fit I had between the first and second verses kind of killed the mood.
On Friday I had to get out of bed and rally in time to go pick up three dozen cupcakes for Caroline’s class party. I’m not sure why I ordered so many cupcakes since that’s twice the amount of kids in her class, but math has never been my strong suit and I just throw about arbitrary numbers without really thinking about it. And have I mentioned all the cold medicine I’ve been on? Because it’s A LOT.
Plus, P was out of town all last week. His best friend lives in California and comes in once a year for their annual hunting extravaganza. I didn’t feel like I could mention that he was gone until he was actually back since I’m operating in a new state of safety awareness in combination with a strong sense of paranoia. But, needless to say, it’s no fun being sick when you can’t guilt the one you love into picking up dinner and taking your child to school every morning. It’s like a waste of a good cold.
But he’s home now and sitting on the couch this very minute with his friend as they look at various firearms and throw around terms like trajectory and hog leg. Which means that I’m about to take a hit of cough medicine and go to bed in the hopes that by tomorrow I can raise my voice in annoyance if the need arises. And, let’s be honest, the need will arise because it’s Christmas week and at some point I’ll have to launch into my time-honored lecture on the importance of having a grateful heart.
Fortunately, Caroline was pretty content for us to just hang out in our pajamas this weekend and watch every Christmas movie that came on the air. On the downside, she has seen way to many infomercials and has now added a Touch N Brush Toothpaste Dispenser and a Big Top Cupcake Pan to her Christmas wish list. She also woke me up at one point to let me know that there was a way for me to get rid of all my debt using some sort of debt consolidation program. It was at that point that I started fast-forwarding through the commercials.
Anyway, watching all those movies made me think of all the movies I like to watch at Christmas time, even if they aren’t necessarily Christmas movies. My personal favorite is Little Women. In fact, I think I’m going to watch it tomorrow with a cup of Theraflu by my side. How about y’all? Are there any not-necessarily-a-Christmas-movie (it’s my very own made up genre) that you like to watch this time of year?
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Why, The Sound of Music, of course!
Little Women is also my favorite! I am so excited I’m not the only one who considers it a Christmas movie. I just recommended it to a friend who had watched all the normal Christmas movies and was looking for something off the radar to watch.
The kids have watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory three times in the past 24 hours! I don’t know why every channel seems to be playing it lately, not exactly Christmas-y-ish (I made up a new word….feel free to use it.) I fear that we haven’t seen the last of it either, which scares me because Johnny Depp really creeps me out in that one. What is up with his teeth?
girl, so sorry to hear about the cold — to waste it when the hubs is out hunting…. what sadness.
Movies? my favorite for the holidays — is Steel Magnolias. It’s all southern and women-y and it’s got that whole hair theme going on. Makes for a great movie — well there is that part about Shelby and her illness, so that adds the whole squall my ever-loving eyes out part, too.
Oh, and I can quote most of it the way my man can quote Lonesome Dove. There’s really not much that happens in my life that can’t be covered by a good Steel Magnolias quote.
Love this blog more’un my luggage.
Love Actually! I love this movie every year.
Love that ….”a waste of a good cold”
Hoping you are fit and healthy and well to enjoy the Christmas festivities.
Happy Christmas to you and yours from N Ireland.
(PS do you have a nativity set? If so, please check out my blog)
Anne of Green Gables.
Step Mom for sure! When Julia Roberts presents the quilt to the “real baby mama” at the end I just lose it every time:)
btw I am a long time lurker and I just have to say that I “HEART” you:) LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog entries…you definitely keep me entertained in the middle of the night when I’m up with my twins…well actually, thanks to my i-phone you pretty much keep me entertained wherever I am:) There have been a number of occasions where I just bust out laughing and my hubby looks at me like I’m crazy:)…nothing new there…
haha my mom asked me just this weekend what my favorite Chritmas movie was, and I answered “Little Women” – which prompted a debate on whether it was really a Christmas movie or not…
Feel better!!!
For some reason, whenever there is some downtime, my husband and I always turn to “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.”
I do love Little Women but I adore the complete Anne of Green Gables series. It’s just wonderful.
I haven’t watched a SINGLE movie yet, of any genre! YIKES!!! I need to snuggle in and do just that! You all have some wonderful suggestions…thanks!
I noticed that the Hallmark Movie Channel is showing some really fun movies this time of year – - – so I scan ahead for several days on my DISH DVR guide and set the ones I like to record.
Last night I watched one I loved – - – “Finding Buck McHenry.” It was a great movie to watch with a precocious 5 or 6 year old, and would allow you to have some great “life lesson” chats, should you so desire.
The Sound of Music…Seven Brides for Seven Brothers…Love Actually…we like movies.
Loved the infomercial bit…my daughter has been asking for something she’s seen on tv (some sort of juice/smoothie maker but I can’t think of the name-it’s catchy though as you’d imagine) We were in the mall last week and saw a store called…’As Sold on TV’…it’s just not the same as buying at 3 am over the phone.
Feel better!
“The Family Man” because it’s like “It’s A Wonderful Life” in reverse.
Hope you feel better soon! I must add to the “I’m a lurker” list – I visit your site daily to get my morning laugh. Most of the time you have me laughing out loud in an empty house and I’m thankful hubby is gone to work so he doesn’t think I’m totally nuts!
Merry Christmas and Blessings!!
The Sound of Music for me, too!
I see what you mean! Movies like “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail” — even classics like “Holiday Inn” — aren’t actually Christmas movies, but they seem Christmas-y because they have major scenes with snow and Christmas decorations and Christmas parties.
I pray you’ll feel better soon and be able to enjoy Christmas to the fullest!
When Harry Met Sally
I seem to always watch the Wizard of Oz… Davis watched it for the first time this year too!
Somehow I caught your crud through the internet. The sad part is, in my drug-induced state, I actually was blaming you in my head(like I would a friend who had been sick around me), until I realized this is the REAL WORLD, and I have never actually met you.
I am finding Advil Cold and Sinus takes the edge off, but my voice at church yesterday sounded like I had been smoking all my life. My kids want me to buy that weird purse organizer thing from infomercial land!
Hoping you feel better soon!
I had this discussion about Little Women the other day. I consider it a Christmas movie too. I guess because the first part is at Christmastime. I like the version with June Allison, Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Lee and Margaret O’brian.
Merry Christmas and a speedy recovery!!!
I hope you feel better soon! My two favorites are Wizard of Oz and Sound of
Music. In fact I watched the wizard last
night.
So sorry about your sickness, loss of voice, having to watch Charlie & the CF (one of my now-grown daughters watched Willy Wonka all the time and it wasn’t until recently that I had actually watched it all the way through….really bothered me that those grandparents were all sleeping in the same bed….maybe I should have watched it back then!)
A couple of favorites I have that are not technically Christmas movies are “Preacher’s Wife” (I cry every time!) and “While You Were Sleeping”….so funny and who doesn’t love Sandra Bullock?
I do love your blog. You make me laugh so much……I can always count on you to brighten my day. Please don’t ever think you’re going on too long or giving us too many details. When I see a new entry by your name on my google reader, I kind of get that Christmas-morning feeling of getting to open a new package!!….wierd maybe…..but true!!
Merry Christmas to you and P and Caroline!
When my daughter was younger, we always had pajama/movie day during Christmas break and we always watched ‘Little Women’. (the one with Wynona Ryder as Jo). It’s one of our favorites.
Hope you feel better.
I didn’t grow up with this one because I am nearing the half century mark, but “Elf” is turning into one of my favorites and because of Caroline’s imitation of Buddy last year, I cannot help but think of her during the dinner table scene! Merry Christmas!
My all-time favorite Christmas movie is Miracle on 34th Street. But if White Christmas is on, I have to watch that too.
It’s usually this time of year that we start to look through the DVD’s we own and watch them. Little Women is on that list, as well as That Thing You Do, Mona Lisa Smile and many others!
We have apparently been watching the same channels with Christmas movies on TV, because I have seen countless commercials for the touch toothpaste thing (and is that seriously necessary? Who are these people who can’t control their tubes of toothpaste and are squirting it all over the bathroom?) and also for the HUGE cupcake thing. In all honesty, I kind of like the cupcake thing and have considered that I might need it.
Die Hard. Although I would argue that it is a Christmas movie
I definitely feel the need this time of year to sit and watch every minute of every Anne of Greene Gables movie ever made. Reminds me of when I was sick as a dog the weekend before fall semester finals my sophomore year in college and my roommate canceled all her plans, crawled into bed with me and watched the whole series with me! Such a good friend!!
Besides the obvious, I love watching You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, and While You Were Sleeping.
Hope you feel better soon!!
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The Sound of Music (I have video of my kids singing “doe, a deah, a female deah” when they were little)You sound like you may be having an allergic reaction. Coming from someone whose family is allergic to practically EVERYTHING. We have to have scent free detergent, artificial christmas tree, etc. When I worked in a Propane gas office I got sick 4 or 5000 times a year, and my doc thinks it was related to exposure to the gas heat, you know, drying out the air, etc. Since I quit working there I haven’t been sick but one time when I caught a bug that was going around. Just an idea.
Hope you are feeling better soon. It’s no fun to feel this way at Christmas. I spent last Christmas in a haze of Tylenol/Codeine induced oblivion. It stunk.
I am all about the Christmas movies right now, so that’s all I’ve been watching. I love White Christmas, Holiday Inn, and of course…A Christmas Story, my absolute fave.
“National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” is a holiday staple for our extended family. We watch it together and have even come to the annual event dressed in character (think Cousin Eddie too-tight sweater with a dickie underneath). Best movie line ever: “I couldn’t be more surprised if I woke up in the morning with my head stapled to the carpet.”
I LOVE your blog and I hope you, P and Caroline have a joyously blessed Christmas!
I had to laugh when I read this post, Melanie, because I’m at the stage of life with Many Young Children. I can’t remember the last time I watched a movie, much less a holiday movie, much less watched a movie with my children. My older two (8 and 6) can sit through a showing of Narnia or maybe The Grinch. But generally speaking, they don’t have the attention span. And the toddler can’t sit still for 20 minutes.
So the holiday tradition of movie watching doesn’t really exist at our home (yet). To be honest, I don’t miss it greatly. I’m too busy!
P.S. Don’t you feel like you need to record a video of you singing “Smelly Cat” or some other Friends-era song, like Phoebe did when she got that wicked cold that gave her a sexy voice?
I want to read Little Women with my 3 Little Women over the holidays and then watch the movie.
On a totally different note, a friend brought me ELF yesterday and said the whole family must watch it.
Hope you feel better soon!
Mame! Because We Need a Little Christmas is one of my favorite Christmassy songs – I play it in July, or anytime we need a little Christmas.
My Cassie is also strongly requesting the “Touch and Brush” dispenser! My oldest, Maddie, insists she needs the Ninja blender! I don’t ever remember appliances being on my Christmas List until I was married. Hmmmm….
Movies? Any Hallmark one will do!
Merry Christmas!!
Jen in Jax
First of all, love, love, LOVE the Christmas card. I might even make the switch from shutterfly to tiny prints next year, but you know how I am about change!!!
The boys and I were watching tv, and I wasn’t paying attention to the commercials, but Jared sure was. He became very excited because I could send my wedding rings into “Cash 4 Gold” and get real money!!!! I think they are adjusting to the divorce. But once again, with my disdain for change, I will not be submitting any rings for cash!!!!
I bought the dvd “A Christmas Story.” It reminds me of PA when I was a kid…sad, but true. I also have to watch “Miracle on 34th Street” and my new favorite “Elf.” As you can see, I’m all over the place. My sister will watch “The Wizard of Oz.” Alone. Because I have no idea WHAT it has to do with Christmas and the flying monkeys still scare me.
Steel Magnolias! i watch it at Christmas and Easter every year. Hope your better soon
You’ve Got Mail is GREAT this time of year! So is Sleepless in Seattle ( :
I love Meet me in St Louis with Judy Garland, it is an absolute favorite. I also love Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth. It is five hours long so I need to watch it over the holidays. God Bless!!
Serendipity!! p.s. this weekend I totally ordered my dad the headlamp that P highlighted in his man post.
my 4 year old wants a big top cupcake pan & the perfect brownie pan. i saw both at walgreen’s & it really took some restraint not to purchase them to see his little eyes light up
oh and he also tells me about cash for gold on a regular basis just in case i need to turn my gold into cash!
Caroline cracks me up, haha!!!!
I love just about any Christmas movie that hits TV, haha!!! I’m a sucker for them!
Oh! The Christmas-time cold is all wrong! Hope you are on the mend VERY VERY soon! I must say the touch n brush AND ginormous cupcake pan are rather tempting.
I recently fell in love with the movie The Holiday (I think that’s the name of it) with Jack Black, Jude Law, Cameron Diaz & Kate Winslet. Not names you usually see in the same cast, eh? Good old fluffy, romantic fun. FEEL BETTER!!!
Wedding Crashers!! Haha, just kidding, I like to watch it at any time of the year but it was on TBS last night and I thought it was a weird movie to be showing during the Christmas season. I love Home Alone and The Family Man even though they are technically Christmas movies. I watch them every season.
“You’ve Got Mail” & “When Harry Met Sally” – it’s not about Meg Ryan – it’s about New York at Christmas!
my 5yo son keeps telling me that we can “get cash for gold!!!!” i have now locked up all of my jewelry. those infomercials have him hooked…
I love Little Women too! I think I need to watch it now,only with a cup of hot chocolate by my side!
Get well soon!!!!!
I love to watch hours of cheesy Chrismas movies…I mean it’s Christmas, the more cheese the better, but the non-Christmas movie we alwys watch is the Sound of Music. Now you have made me want to watch Little Women…I need to run to the Wal-Mart and buy it.
My teenagers….still….want to watch Jim Carrey’s The Grinch!
We’ve had this tradition since the movie came out. We love it….and laugh every time as if it were the first time watching it.
Crazy people!
Hope you feel amazing…SOON!
Love Actually is one of my all-time holiday favorites! In fact, I think I’ll go put it on now. My girls aren’t too young (2 and 4) to start enjoying the finer holiday films in life
The Sound of Music! May all-time favorite. Also, Baby Boom with a young Diane Keaton — love the snowy small-town Vermont and Sam Shepard.
The Holiday is my absolute favorite.
“Love Actually” – the whole thing takes place at Christmas but it’s not a Christmas movie exactly. Especially considering all the naked parts for the actors that are stand-ins for the lighting on naked scenes.
“Hanging Up” Not a xmas movie my best friend said she hated it too depressing, but it reminds me of my childhood, and I made a connection with it in the end. Diane Keaton is a hoot in the movie and of course Meg Ryan I can watch her in just about anything.
My daughter wants the toothpaste dispenser and a Snuggie. And everything else advertised on Nickelodeon.
My non-Christmas Christmas movies are The Princess Bride and You’ve Got Mail. I need a little Sound of Music too.
Sorry you are not feeling well. Always a bummer at Christmas.
I always watch Rudy and Gone with The Wind during the holidays!
I might add Sound of Music this year!
I’m surprised at how many of your readers share my guilty pleasure by watching Love Actually at Christmastime! It’s definitely racier than my normal choice of movies, but I just can’t help myself!!
Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It’s actually a Thanksgiving movie, but I am always behind.
Hope you feel better soon.
I LOVE LITTLE WOMEN AT CHRISTMAS!!!! And I too have a cold. I feel your pain!
We watch Lord of the Rings at Christmas time. The movies came out in the theaters this time of year three years in a row, originally. So, even though it is not Christmas-sy at all, it feels like the right time to watch it.
Yep, I already watched Little Women (while I was decorating the tree)! Love it.
Another good one is “The Holiday”…
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Little Women. Just watched it last week. They cast the actors so well in that show–Susan Sarandon as Marmie is just perfect.
My family is a bunch of movie freaks. We watch (and quote) all sorts of movies all the time. We wear out Christmas Vacation and White Christmas this time of year, though. And whatever else happens to be on the Disney Channel. For some reason, we’ve seen Ratattouie twice, and it has zero relationship to Christmas.
Never commented before but… here is the remedy for you next time you feel your head cold/flu coming on…BOIRON Oscillococcinum and BOIRON COldCalm. Trust me they work. I have not had a cold in over a year (knock wood) and I live in Wisconsin! I don’t work for the company, promise, (though I should because I have turned my entire company on to their products). You can get at your local Walgreens, CVS, etc. IF you take right when you feel something coming on, it will knocjk that buggar right out of your system.
You can still take it now, it will help you heal faster. Again, promise don’t work for them, but I swear by their products. Feel better
I received the ShamWow for my birthday from my 7- and 9-year old sons because of a commercial. (I’m just grateful they didn’t con my husband into the Little Giant ladder, the other commercial they’re obsessed with!)
My favorite is the Muppet Christmas Carol. Love it!
Mary Poppins for me! Oh and my five year old begs for that silly toothpaste thing. Really, is it too much work now to SQUEEZE toothpaste!
famous saying in our house, every time we put up the tree…”it’s not Christmas until Mom’s seen Die Hard.”
feel better soon. are you waterboarding? sorry,i meant to say, using your neti pot?
Hi, sorry youre sick – but doenst it always happen that way? holidays when you are finally able to relax and enjoy – moms tend to crash and burn. i think our immune system sends an alert that says “her gaurd is down release the virus”. on another note – when you said “I had no voice” i couldnt wait to see what injustice, political or otherwise you felt you weren’t being heard for. haha. probably just me. Now for the real reason I commented, because I never usually do – I get “wordy – and unfocused” anyway – The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I teach and its near and dear to my heart <3 feel better.
Funny my 5 year old son talks about the Touch and Brush all the time, tells me all he’ll have to do is put his toothbrush under it and it would put the toothpaste on his toothbrush. Hope you guys have a great Holiday and hope you feel better soon!
Sorry about your cold. Hope you’re feeling better before Thursday/Friday. Love Actually and The Family Stone are two of my favorites to watch around this time of year.
Merry Christmas.
For some reason, I feel like I have to watch Pride & Prejudice during Christmas, which then means I decide to reread P&P. Either it makes me think of Christmas on some unconcious level, or it’s just that I watch the movie and reread the book multiple times a year…
I also vote for the sentimental non-Christmas favorite “Meet Me In St. Louis” with Judy Garland and Margaret O’Brien from 1944 – overloaded on Technicolor, costumes and romantic plot, with Judy singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “The Trolley Song.”
hey Melanie. Glad P’s finally home to take care of you. My husband went moose hunting in Canada in Oct and I got a killer cold. Always happens when I’m home alone with both kids. Sigh.
I like Love Actually & the original Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with the little dentist and all the jerky movements and bad effects.
Merry Christmas. Keep the blog with All the Words coming…
When Harry Met Sally- I can watch it three times in a row while I wrap presents. Seeing as how I know all the lines by heart, it becomes pleasant and calming background noise as the battle wages between my OCD tendencies and the inability of any company to make a truly transparent tape.
yeah….I am getting tired of hearing about the touch n brush and the snuggie too…and 5 can give you a Masters worthy dissertation on both. ” No really mom its a better blanket with sleeves. It really is, isnt that AWESOME” LOL
All the 80s movies, pretty in pink, sixteen candles, footloose…silly but it makes me feel like a kid again while i wrap all the presents….
steff
Love Actually! Is that a Christmas movie? Sort of…
Miracle on 34 St. and It’s a Wonderful Life, of course. But for some odd reason, also, Gone with the Wind. Because it’s so cheery, I guess.
“While You Were Sleeping” with Sandra Bullock. LOVE that movie. “Chronicles of Narnia” and the “Big Lebowski”. Just kidding about that last one.
Hope you get your voice back soon and feel better! I vote for Chamomille tea instead of TheraFlu. And get Caroline to brush your hair while you watch the movie. I bet it will make you feel better. Science proves it…I think.
You’ve Got Mail and The Family Man
Oh good Lord this is embarrassing. My dad and I had a tradition growing up of watching this movie that always came on at the holidays. It was called Miracles Still Happen, about a young woman who survives a plane crash, and has to walk through the jungle to find help.
She encounters dead passengers still strapped in their seats, and has to use a hook to pull worms out of her arms. Christmas cinema at it’s very best.
Serendipity…I just like that things work out at the end – no matter what things get in the way!
I’m a sucker for any of the Little House of the Prairie Christmas episodes, but especially the one where Laura sells her horse Bunny so she can buy Ma a stove. Oh glory, just pass the Kleenex now.
I am so sorry to hear that you’ve been sick all week while the boys were away. Would it make you feel any better to know that I was sick too? I swear! I think they planned it that way! Men!! He leaves and I am sicker than I have been in years! And like you said, have to get the girl to and from school, keep the B-man occupied, feed them, etc. Ugh. Glad the boys had a good time…but I am SO glad he’s home! lol I need a break…even if that break only consists of M. running out to the taco stand for dinner 3 nights this week.
hahaha Hope you feel better real soon!
Does the new Harry Potter on PPV count? Ok, well probably not.
However, they are playing all the old Sherlock Holmes movies (with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. I do love saying Baaaaa-sil Raaaaath-bone). I plan to DVR every one force, well, ask, the kids to sit and imbibe with me. Nothing like togetherness time, eh. Even when rope and duct tape are involved.
Just sayin’.
Any-hoo, hope you feel better soon. It stinks to be sick this time of year.
And on a side note? A better title for this point may be …
On Dasher, On Dancer, On Sudafed, On Vicks-on. (YOu know. Vixon?)
Ok.
I’m going now.
Merry Christmas to you, P and C.
I love watching Sleepless in Seattle at Christmas time.
More like On Dasher, on Dancer, on Sudafed, on Vicodin. Just kidding of course.
My kids have been begging for that toothpaste dispenser, too!!! Merry Christmas!
It’s a Wonderful Life is my Christmas favorite.
My kids often encourage my husband and I to buy them the Touch and Brush. They’ll stand there with one arm “paralyzed” at their side, and exclaim, “You can do it with one arm, just in case the other arm’s broken!”
Ah, the advertising industry really does have a way with children…
Definitely Little Women.
Also, You’ve Got Mail.
We watch The Bells of St. Mary’s every year. It’s a great not-necessarily-a-Christmas movie! It does include several Christmas scenes though.
Oh! I keep waiting to find a moment to watch Little Women. I just love to find the time during this business to curl up with some tea and watch. However I can’t seem to find a quiet moment in a household full of boys. Hmmmm . . .
I have DVR’d every Hallmark Christmas movie from the channel’s “Countdown to Christmas” movie extravaganza. I am now in the process of frantically watching them all before Christmas actually arrives, much to my husband’s never ending delight.
My favorite non-Christmas movie would be “While You Were Sleeping”. To this day, I cannot eat mashed potatoes without a nod to Mary for making them sooooooooo creamy. Such is the influence this movie has on my life.
Oh yes ma’am – We love “Little Women” at my house (the new or the original – of course no one can out do Elizabeth Taylor). But we also cannot go without “The Sound of Music.” Julie Andrews will always rock!
I LOVE to watch Little Women at this time of year too! LOVE it! And they do celebrate Christmas in it – so doesn’t that make it count as a Christmas movie?
Since we are big hockey fans, we always watch SlapShot on Christmas day–even before the kids were old enough for the R rating. Becky
I thought of another one: I love to watch the old version of Swiss Family Robinson at Christmastime. I love when Fritz and Earnst bring home the girl on Christmas… riding the zebra up to the tree house. They sing “O Christmas Tree” and polka around the house. LOVE IT!
Tis the season! I’m on my second round of antibiotics trying to get rid of this crud before my grandbaby comes at Christmas!!!!
I popped in Donovan’t Reef (with John Wayne) just before Christmas not even thinking of it as a Christmas movie and realized it IS a Christmas movie just set on a tropical island!!! I had also never thought about Sound of Music at Christmas but saw it on ABC this year and a local theatre was playing it!!
Any BBC adaptation of a Jane Austen novel!
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