It's Officially Christmas Season

I am one of those grumpy people who don't like to see Christmas decorations or hear Christmas music or watch Christmas movies before Thanksgiving.  It is just so very, very, wrong.  Any time after Thanksgiving Thursday is good for me.  Some years we wait until a couple of weeks before Christmas, some weeks we start earlier here at the So Cal Cinema.  This year?  We're gonna start earlier.

One reason I want to get in the Spirit of the Season early this year is to make up to the kids for last year's sucky Christmas season.  I just could not pull it together.  This year, Paul and I have a plan. A plan is good.

Another reason I want to start getting in the Christmas Spirit is to really get into the Christmas Spirit.  I am determined to celebrate Advent this year and that begins on Sunday.  I hope to pull out our Advent wreath and have candle lighting and a short devotion on Sundays.  It helps keep the focus of Christmas on Christ and his first coming instead of on the more secular aspects that vie for attention.

The final kicker, though, is this post by one of my top five favorite bloggers of all time. Her story of a two thousand year old coin made me immediately think of The Bishop's Wife, my number one favorite Christmas movie of all time in which an old Roman coin features.  Number One.  Not It's a Wonderful Life, which makes me appreciate my life. Not A Christmas Story, which makes me guffaw. Not How The Grinch Stole Christmas, which makes my heart grow.  Not A Christmas Carol, which keeps be from being a Bah Humbug.  Not Elf, which, let's face it is one of the sweetest movies of all time.  Nope, it's The Bishop's Wife for me.

It has David Niven, Loretta Young... and (swoon) Cary Grant as an angel sent to help out a bishop who's gotten focused on a building instead of helping people.  The end of the movie features the bishop beginning his midnight Christmas sermon.  The words of that sermon are the foundation of our most meaningful (at least to me) Christmas tradition.  The Jesus Stocking. Simply put, it is an empty stocking, placed in the center of our fireplace mantel that represents the birth of Christ.  We put in it a list of the things we've done for others over the year.

Now... I just need to get Paul to hook up the DVD player in the living room.  I'm resting up from a round of migraines and I do not plan on getting off the couch for most of the day.