The Undecorating Of A Christmas Tree

 

"As anyone who has ever been around a cat

 for any length of time well knows,

 cats have enormous patience with the limitations of the human kind."

~Cleveland Emory

The Cat Who Came For Christmas

There he was, our little helper, Simon, taking as many ornaments off the tree as he could. The soft ones mainly. The elves and the Santa Claus. And oddly enough, he wasn't playing with them or damaging them, he simply wanted everything off the tree, so off to the floor they went! Apparently he believes that trees should come down no later than January 15th, January 18th at the latest, and I I suppose he's right! It's time, but I had so much fun this Christmas, it was their very first, and it's a memory I will keep in my heart, but I wasn't ready until now. I still missed my other boys, Dylan and Hendrix, but Simon and Tyler brought their own magic, and it continues to grow every day!

Ellipsis Christmas Movie Countdown #25

 

"It is a truth universally acknowledged fact

 that when one part of your life starts going okay, another falls spectacularly to pieces."

-Bridget Jones (Rene Zellweger)

Bridget Jones's Diary

By Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones's Diary... a Christmas movie? You bet it is! It begins somewhere around Christmas, and follows Bridget through a year of  highs and lows and life as a "singleton" in her 30's, in London! Single women world wide can identify with Bridget's life, in fact, some married women can too! I saw a lot of Bridget in my own life, like my ability to make a fool of myself, while attempting public speaking. And I, like Bridget, had the worst taste in men, until the right one came along. Christmas and New years are but co-stars in this movie, but it's enough to make it a honest view of life during the holidays, during a year in the life of all women, but especially, Bridget Jones's.

All Things Christmas Eve & Movie #24

 

"One Christmas eve, in my childhood, my dad asked if I wanted to leave alcohol out for Santa. I agreed, but said to only leave a little as I was afraid I would wake up on Christmas morning to see, Santa drunkenly circling over our house in his sleigh."

~Stewart Stafford

Whew! We made it! If the storm doesn't flatten my condo (see my previous post) I will lots of time to myself to bake cookies, wrap packages, watch MS NOW, and listen to some holiday music. I found something wonderful on YouTube... Hipster Holiday Party Jazz. I all stuff mid-century, I find it truly amazing! If you're not really mid-century hipster, you might still enjoy a different way of hearing the holiday classics! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the music! As for the movie I will be watching...

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Ellipsis Christmas Movie Countdown #23

 

"Isn't that always the way? Whenever you have a body you don't want found, everyone falls all over it."

~Jules (Peter Ustinov)

We're No Angels

Three escaped convicts learn the meaning of friendship at Christmas. That's it in a nutshell! But a lot of great stuff happens along the way too. It's not like any other Christmas movie I've ever seen. I just love the old movies, and the values they bring. I don't want to say much about the plot, because if you haven't seen it before you should just jump in and enjoy the movie! That's all. I'm watching it again tonight because I just need some holiday spirit, and to get lost in the plot of this nearly perfect holiday film!

Dear Santa, Bring Your Umbrella

 

"December's wintry breath is already

 clouding the pond, frosting the pane, obscuring summer's memory... "

~John Geddes 

A Familiar Rain

Winter, where I live, is beginning with a fierce statement! It's going to rain for the next 10 days or so, as another atmospheric river makes landfall! Christmas eve, and Christmas day should be especially brutal! This should be an interesting week!

Ellipsis Christmas Movie Countdown #20

 

"King Moonracer (to Rudolph) 

When someday you return to Christmastown, would you tell Santa about our little homeless toys? I'm sure he will find little boys and girls who will take them in. A toy is never truly happy until it is loved by a child."

~Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

Who didn't love, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, growing up? It's first airing on TV was in 1964. I was 2, my sister was 12, and my brother would have been 16. I can't remember the original broadcast, but I am sure me and my siblings were siting around our old black and white TV watching it! Years later, I was growing up alone, as my siblings moved on their way, but every Christmas I had great old gems to enjoy, even if on my own, year after year, and even now! So, I will be making the hot chocolate and cuddling up with hubby to watch this old lovely holiday classic.

And as a second feature

 Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Just A Couple Of Cats On An Autumn Day

"Autumn paints in colors, fall has never seen."

~Unknown

Nothing to see here folk, just two cats in a tree, discussing the stupid orders people request at a drive-thru. Like my order, A Venti 7 pump iced Chai, a Bacon Egg, and Bacon sandwich, hold the bacon, a Sugar Plum Cheese Danish. I was hungry. I can't prove it photos, but I swear these cats were laughing at me, and all the cars in line behind me. Sigh. I'm being mocked by cats.

Ho, Ho, Ho!

Ellipsis Movie Countdown #18

 

"Just remember in every pothole there is hope Well, you see, pothole is spelled P-O-T-H-O-L-E. So, if you take the P, and add it to the H, the O, and the E, and rearrange the letters or contrariwise, you remove the O, T and the L, you get 'home". So, just remember, in every pothole there is hope".

~Phillip ( Steve Martin )

Mixed Nuts

By Nora Ephron

I watched this movie comedy last night, and I felt so good laughing. It's a lot of crazy situational fun. It's also so heartwarming. It's a Christmas gem that I have almost never heard of as a Christmas movie. I can't figure out why? It has a terrific cast including, Steve Martin, Rita Wilson, Adam Sandler, and the magnificent, Madeline Kahn. Rob Reiner is very funny as a veterinarian. The timing all around was magical!

Need another Christmastime comedy? This movie brings it!

Ellipsis Christmas Movie Countdown #17

 

Alexander Yardley: Good morning. Merry Christmas. I hope I'm in time to see you flip flapjacks!

Elizabeth Lane: I'm not in the flipping mood this morning!

~Christmas In Connecticut

Ellipsis Christmas Movie Countdown #13

 

"Christmas is the season where we give tokens of love. In that house we received not tokens but love itself. I became the writer I promise my father I would be, and my destiny led me far from Walton's Mountain. My mother lives there still, Alone now, for we lost my father in 1969. My brothers and sisters, grown with children of their own, live not far away. We are still a close family and see each other when we can. And like Miss Mamie Baldwin's fourth cousins, we're apt to sample the recipe and then gather around the piano and hug each other while we sing the old songs. For no matter the time or the distance, we are united in the memory of that Christmas Eve. More than 30 years and 3,000 miles away, I can still hear those sweet voices."

~John-Boy Walton

(Richard Thomas)

The Homecoming: A Christmas Story

By Earl Hamner

Here is another favorite from my childhood, The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, which aired on December 19th, 1971. I was nine years old, and I remember watching it that night because my mother had made a roll of Pillsbury Sugar Cookies. YUMMY cookies, while watching a movie! My family was the exact opposite of the Waltons, so the series kept me captivated when I was a child, and now, even as an old lady of 63, I still watch this movie, and wonder what it would have been like to have a family like theirs, close in love. I wonder if era's make a difference? The Waltons was set during the Depression, in the 1930's. Folks took care of one another and looked out for family. The 1960's and 70's was quite different. Oh well, anyway, the point it that There aren't a lot of tv movies from my childhood, that still live in my heart, but this one does. It's all about family!

Autumn Cooking

"Merry everything and happy always."

~Unknown

As a kid, I watched Monte Hall, of the Let's Make A Deal, feature Bruce's canned yams in various pricing games, but didn't put much thought into them because, one I was a kid, and two our family always bought Princella sweet potatoes. As a grown-up My yam of choice was the fresh ones that you bake yourself, and add the sweet seasonings right at the table! One day, I thought I would give Princella a chance, to see what the fuss had been about for my family. Unfortunately, when I opened the can, the first few at the top were moldy. Blech! So, it was non-negotiable, it was fresh yams or sweet potatoes there after! Well, this past Thanksgiving, I decided to give Bruce's yams a chance. Let me tell you, they are fantastic! If you visit their website, there are a few terrific cookbooks you can download and they even make them in zero sugar! I haven't tried those yet, but I was really happy with the original!

Give them a try!

Ellipsis Christmas Movie Countdown #12

 

"I never thought it was a bad little tree. It's not at all, really. Maybe it just just needs a little love."

~Linus

A Charlie Brown Christmas

A Charlie Brown Christmas, premiered on television on December 9th, 1965, so that means this masterpiece is 60 years old, and I watched it the night it debuted, and every year since then. It's timeless! It's not actually movie length, it's only 25 minutes long, but it holds you as well as any feature length movie could! No CGI, just an old fashioned Christmas moment. It's about what Christmas is all about, and lessons learned!

Watch it. Remember 1965. Love it all over again.

The Autumn Friend... Skeleclaus

 

"Some people are born for Halloween,

 and some are just counting the days until Christmas."

~Stephen Graham Jones

How cool is that guy? You never know when you will find a friend,

 who thinks exactly like you do!

Yesterday, I took at trip to the East Bay to drop off a coat, at a business collecting for the One Warm Coat program. I had purchased the coat a few years ago, it was beautiful and deeply discounted, but I just never used it. It was a gorgeous deep blue and green plaid, but not like the usual plaid shirt, it was beautifully elegant. It had a love ruffly down the front when buttoned up. It was heavy, and warm, so it makes me happy to think some lady who needs to be warm, will be now with that coat. 

Next, I dropped off two Barbie dolls into a Toys For Tots bin. I purchased them earlier this year, after Donald Trump's rant about how many toys should be under this year's Christmas tree. Fuck him! Bah Humbug! I couldn't stand the thought of a little girl waking up on Christmas morning, and finding that she had no gift. Giving back, made me feel good, so I got a lot of Christmas joy doing it! Two little girls gave me a terrific gift this year!

Yesterday was a very good day!

Ellipsis Christmas Movie Countdown #8

 

"If you look for it, I've a sneaky feeling that you'll find that love actually is all around."

~Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister

Love Actually

What a cast!

Love is the star of this movie. The kind of love that is universal. The dagger to the heart love, first love, the love you have to let go of. Heartbreak love, selfish love, and love that is eternal. The absence of love, love of enduring friendship and. of course, the love of one another. If you aren't in the mood for a syrupy Christmas tale, at least watch the first five minutes for the Christmas son sung by Bill Nighy. It almost steals the whole movie, but frankly, love always be the star!

Ellipsis Christmas Movie Countdown #6

 

"Wiggle my ears and tickle my toes, methinks I see a baby's nose."

~Dingle Elf

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, debuted on ABC, on December 13th, 1970, when I was 8 years old. I remember watching it with my mother. I loved it. It was such a gentle movie, as most children's programs do, but this it the one that that put the Christmas spirit in me for the first time. I am crazy about it to this day. No matter how crazy the rest of the holiday season gets, I aways feel just a little better revisiting the love story of Kris and Jessica Claus, and their example of how to love others. It just wouldn't be Christmas without this holiday Classic, from Rankin/Bass!

Ellipsis Christmas Countdown Movie #2

"This is Christmas. The season of perpetual hope. I don't care that I have to get out on your runway and hitchhike, it costs me everything I own, I have to sell my soul to the devil himself. I am going to get home to my son!"

~Kate, Kevin's mother,

Home Alone

I haven't always been a fan of holiday movies, with the exception of anything Peanuts related, but Home Alone changed my mind about the whole genre. But I must confess, how does a film go wrong with with a story written by John Hughes, and Chris Columbus as it's director? It can't! I enjoyed Home Alone2 however due to Trump's 29 second seen, I can't deal with watching it. This year, however, I plan to watch, I'll just fix myself a Pepto-bismo martini first. I imagine I am not completely alone in my aversion to Trump in films, be it his brand, or the man himself, but that's what happens when a film gets too gimmicky for it's own good!  

                                                                        

Ellipsis Christmas Movie Countdown... #25

 

Lucy... 

"Peter once asked me when I fell in love with Jack,

 and I told him, it was while you were sleeping."

From the film, While You Were Sleeping

Do you believe in love at first sight? How about love at second sight? I think I believe in both. I was once in love with someone I had only know as we passed each other daily, walking into different jobs, on different sides of the same parking lot. Is it lust that makes us feel those warm and dizzying feelings, you know, the ones where we are so dazzled by someone's eyes, that you instantly forget what they look like when the walk away! 

Shrug.

I had known my husband since the late 1970's, eventually we became best friends, but it wasn't until the late 80's that we began to realize there had been something extraordinary going on. We didn't even know when it began, it was just there. Two years later, we were married, and because we started out as best friends, we had more than a little going for us!

While You Were Sleeping is a movie about the confusion of loneliness, and how it can turn it into the miracle of love, suddenly happening all around you. And learning about what love really is. Watch it. It's a terrific Christmas movie that isn't too Christmassy, and yet its all about the best of Christmas.

If It's The Holiday Season, It Must Be Covid-19 *UPDATE

 

“The decisions and choices that we make in society today will have a direct impact on the number of people who get hospitalized (with COVID-19) two weeks from now."

Jay Varkey, ID physician, Facebook Live

 Alan tested positive this morning. The current strain of Covid-19 making the round is Omicron Sub-variant XEC, so it's more than likely what he has. So far he has only mild symptoms, which I am grateful for. I suppose, in that we are in the same house, I will be getting it soon. I am beginning to get some symptoms. Scratchy throat, aches, etc. Sigh. We wear our masks, wash our hands frequently, I don't know what to say. Everywhere I go, everyone is mask free, and pretty much acting like it never existed. Perfect. Thanks unvaccinated assholes. Here we are. Please folks. I beg you, do your reading. Get vaccinated. WEAR YOUR DAMN MASKS! Stay home if you are feeling unwell stay home! As was pointed out the first time around, entire families DO NOT NEED TO SHOP TOGETHER!

 

XEC Information

 

Sigh. I don't know what the next few days or weeks will be like, but I will probably take a few days or perhaps a week off from posting anywhere, so I will post my autumn leaves in one large post at a later time. Love autumn while it is here. Those little leaves travel a whole year to reach us, they are good for the soul, so enjoy whatever leaves are left.

 

I will try to update soon, even if it is just an emoji.

READ UP FOLKS, PRETTY SOON WE WILL BE ON OUR OWN.

UPDATE

 My body is not very happy right now. 12/15/24

 

Our Little Boys Christmas 2023

 

 

 

 “Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime.” 

 
~Laura Ingalls Wilder 

 

I love my boys. I have so many great memories of them at Christmas! From the miracle of Joey finally getting over his fear of the ceiling fan, to Dylan actually calling his cat treats, NOM, NOMS! Hendrix pulling his ginger mouse from the bag and rolling on the carpet with it, and then falling asleep under the tree. Dylan and Hendrix are 15 and Joey is 10, so they know what Christmas is, and it warms my heart.

 

 It really does!

 

That's what Christmas is!

 

 

 

 

 

Grandpa Got Runover By A Reindeer...

 

I kid you not, it's real.

Sigh.