gatezilla

I'm off to church and then Plymouth for lunch with the family. Happy Thanksgiving! to my flisters that celebrate and Happy Thursday! to those that don't.

I'm thankful for all of you. Every day.

I think I'm in love with the RotK soundtrack. Or the movie itself. Or possibly both. I don't know. I do know that I am definitely and for sure in love with Eowyn and Eomer, the siblings of hotness. And Sam.

So I'm really not looking forward to going to work tonight. This is just not how I am supposed to spend my Christmas Eve, people. And the theory had been that if we got all the work done tonight, we could have Friday off and still get paid for it. And that would rock, because Mom's going to be here, and I want to spend as much time with her as I can. But the rumor is that there's going to be an insane amount of stuff to do and we're going to end up working Friday anyway, no matter how much we get done. Grr argh. The one bright spot there is that if we do work Friday, we'll also get paid for Christmas Day, which we wouldn't normally.

But we have the whole Secret Santa thing going on tonight, so maybe that'll be exciting. We filled out these little papers with our likes and dislikes, so that people would have some idea of what to get us. The person I got put "Lottery tickets" and "Captain Morgan rum" as her likes. That scares me a little. So I just can't buy lottery tickets, but I did get her a very nice bottle of Plantation rum. My Food & Wine magazine told me it was the best rum in that price range, so I'm pretty satisfied with my purchase. If she doesn't like it, she can pour it in a Captain Morgan jug and pretend. I think that was maybe the second time I've bought alcohol in my life and I got up to the checkout and there were big signs everywhere that said "We do NOT take out-of-state IDs!" Which sucked, because the only thing in my wallet was my Vermont driver's license. So I went up to the help desk place (dude, there's a help desk at the liquor store - are they all like that?), and said to the guy, "Your sign says you don't take out-of-state ID, but that's all I have." And he said, "What state?" Me: "Vermont." Him: "Oh, Vermont. We don't take anything from that state." At which point I just stared at him because it's 4 pm on the day before Christmas Eve - does he think people have time for his moronic humor? So he says, "Oh, I'm just kidding with ya. It's fine." God save me from the dumbasses of the world.

And in other news? I'm a complete and total slacker because I still have presents to wrap, and I still don't have anything for my uncle and his wife but I'm scared to try and shop because it's crazy out there, people. Crazy. I could be taking my life in my hands just driving past Target. I almost died twelve times in Needham yesterday trying to get to work because of the insanity that is holiday traffic. Gah!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Ooh, holiday stuff!

hawkmoth's Holiday meme:

1. Do you have a favorite carol/hymn?

I love all holiday carols except maybe for Frosty the Snowman, which I think is the most inane thing ever. I will very happily listen to carols every day between Thanksgiving and New Year's. As for favorites, it's a dead tie between O Come All Ye Faithful and O Holy Night, both of which make me cry if I'm not careful.

2. What are your three favorite holiday songs? If there's a particular version, name the artist.

A couple of years ago, I heard our church soloist sing Gesu Bambino by Pietro Yon and just fell in love with it - probably because it uses the chorus of O Come All Ye Faithful.

Feels Like Christmas, from the Muppet Christmas Carol.

I'll Be Home for Christmas is, I think, a beautiful song and it means more to me every year. I just recently found a version sung by Victor Garber and it makes me very very happy.

I also love almost all the songs from the annual Rankin/Bass specials, like Heat Miser and Put One Foot in Front of the Other.

3. What's your favorite holiday movie? (If you pick something that's been made more than once, like "A Christmas Carol," name the version.)

Another tie. The holiday season has not officially started for me until I've seen White Christmas. I love love love that movie. I love the music and the gratuitous dance numbers, the cynical-but-romantic Bing and the cheesetastic snowy ending. I love the whole darn thing.

My other favorite is Scrooged. This is an annual favorite for my brother and I, much as it torments our mother. Maybe because it torments our mother. I'm the subject of a great deal of mockery every year because I can't not cry when they start singing 'Put a little love in your heart' at the end.

4. What's your favorite holiday TV special?

Always and forever, The Grinch. The animated version, natch.

5. What's your favorite holiday tradition?

This is a tough one - there are so many little things my family does that I just love. The one that sticks out in my mind is that Christmas Eve has always been the big part of the holiday for us. We have a big dinner and then we see which one of us caves first and starts begging for the presents. Christmas Day is reserved for stockings and more food. This year, I'll be working on Christmas Eve and I'm so not looking forward to it. My Christmas is going to be all out of whack.

6. What recent holiday trend/idea/fad do you absolutely hate?

Honestly, I can't think of one thing.