Xmas on a budget

Two blogposts in one week?  Insane! 

But I figured, since it’s the Christmas season – and I have a Christmas-related blogpost – I might as well post it while it’s timely. 

Anyway, I just wanted to ask those of us who give gifts:  how many people do you give gifts to during the Christmas Holiday season? 

I ask because I’m at a point in my life where I can no longer use “I’m broke” as an excuse for not buying friends / family members gifts anymore.  But if I end up buying gifts for everyone on my list….I think I *will* go (broke)! 

I can see where I *could* shorten the list, but I don’t think I should; a lot of the friends I’m getting gifts for have boyfriends or girlfriends…and usually they’re inseparable.  If I give a gift to one, I kinda have to gift a gift to the other, don’t I? 

Here’s my list so far:  Is this too many?   

• Mom
• Grandma
• Brother
• Cousin
• Aunt
• Friend 1
• Friend 2
• Friend 3
• Boss
• White Elephant gift
• Office Xmas party gift 

Not so X-mas-y movies

I dunno if you can tell from reading the entries on my old blog, but I kinda like Christmas; people tend to make an effort to be a lot nicer (and closer) to each other around this time of year. Maybe it’s all those sappy “Christmas movies” I used to watch over and over as a kid…!

(24 hrs of “A Christmas Story” on TNT- FTW!)

But I have noticed that I’m a little de-sensitized to “Christmas-themed” movies after all these years. So I like to watch some of the “non Christmas-y” movies that pop up on cable around this time to get a break from all this “Holiday Cheer”

DIE HARD

That’s right – the original John McClain action movie was set during his wife’s Christmas party. It was kind of easy to forget with all the blood, explosions and crawling through vents that happened in this movie. 
 

GREMLINS

Remember that Gizmo was originally bought by Billy’s dad as a Christmas gift for his son! I think my favorite scene in this movie is when the mom is fighting off the Gremlins in the kitchen, brandishing a butcher’s knife. 

THE REF

This movie wasn't so much about Christmas as it was about marriage & family counseling.  Kevin Spacey & Judy Davis do a pretty good rendition of George and Martha from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" in this movie, with Dennis Leary as a burglar-turned-hostage taker.   

IT’S A VERY MERRY, MUPPET CHRISTMAS MOVIE

Okay, so this is a pretty big “holiday-themed” movie, but the scene where Kermit finds out what happens to the Muppet Theatre if he was never born is worth the 2 hours it takes to watch this movie I couldn’t find a clip of it on youtube, but the Muppet Theatre turns into a Rave club - I'm not joking. 

Happy Holidays, everyone!