All I Want for Christmas...

I don't want a lot for Christmas - there's just one thing I need
I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree...
I don't need to hang my stocking out upon the fireplace
Santa Claus will make me happy, without snow on Christmas Eve...

Ah, Christmas Eve.

Even though we know the economy is going to hell in a handbasket, even as we sit stranded in airports all across the country, even as we wait in fear for those bills to come in January and our children finally crack under the pressure of waiting for Santa -- there's still something magical about the night before Christmas.

I don't typically make New Year's resolutions, but I do try every year to make a Christmas wish. People seem to be a little warmer, try a little harder during the holidays, and so I figure God and the universe may be feeling reciprocally generous.

This year I spent a good part of the holiday season thinking about everything that transpired in 2008, and what I'd like 2009 to bring (and what I'd like to bring to 2009). There are so many things to be anxious about at the moment -- finances, job security, family, time, relationships, life -- but I realize that somehow I don't see any of it as insurmountable. Must be the optimist taking over.

So my Christmas wish for the people I love in 2009 is that we find wisdom, and success, and most of all happiness in our endeavors, wherever they lead us. And the companionship of like minds to make the journey that much more enjoyable.

I must confess that I do indulge in Christmas movies. However, can I possibly be the only human on the face of the planet who hates It's a Wonderful Life? Say it isn't so! I cannot stand this movie, I think it is horrible, I refuse to watch it. There, I've admitted it in public.

Instead, I watch another Capra movie - Pocket Full of Miracles, with Bette Davis as an alcoholic panhandler, and Ann-Margret in what has to be her first movie ever, since she looks like she's about 15. Every year I watch this movie, and every year I wonder WHY they don't make clothes like that anymore? Sigh. Grace Kelly, where are you when we need you?

Anyway.

The other untraditional Christmas movie I watch every year is Love Actually. Vignettes about romance in London during the holidays, with an amazing cast -- funny, poignant, clever -- what's not to love? Wait until the kids go to bed to watch, however -- one of the vignettes is about a couple who meet as stand-ins for porn actors, and they spend almost the entire time onscreen totally naked in x-rated positions. NOT for the easily offended; and yet, their story is one of the sweetest in the movie.

But my favorite is the 12-year-0ld who becomes a drummer to impress the love of his life. When Olivia Olsen sings at the end, and you see the astonishment on the faces of the adults in the audience, I get goosebumps every time. If I had another Christmas wish, it would be the ability to sing like that. And then I walk around with the song in my head for at least a month afterward...usually humming it under my breath, which I'm sure just confirms my nutcase status in everyone's mind. And now it's in my blog...not sure the words are entirely accurate, but hey, it's my head...


I just want you for my own, more than you will ever know
Make my wish come true..

All I want for Christmas, is you

Merry Christmas!