Holiday Confession #9

I watch Pillow Talk just for the set pieces.
I want everything in this Pinterest board.

I want rooms that look like this:

With furniture that looks like this:

And, my life would be complete if I could fill my whole house with items similar to all of these things:

Holiday Confession #8

I was trying to resist loving the new station on HD...but then they started showing "The Bionic Woman". I really don't think I need to say anything else, but just in case...this station also shows all those darned Westerns that I was forced to watch grew up with at the ranch.

Right now, my mother and I are sitting here watching "McMillan and Wife". Good, good times.

Holiday Confession #7

It all started with my grandmother. She died when I was very young so I don't remember much, but vivid memory I have of her is her obsession with fruitcake, second only to my grandfather's obsession with minced-meat. I remember going with her to the Wal-Mart in Ava, Missouri and buying those little fruitcakes that come in the plastic packages and buying those big fruitcakes that come in those metal tins. We'd get back to her house and she'd slice us pieces and we'd eat them with large cups of milk. Actually, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who would eat and then I'd ask for more.

Last year I got the pleasure of trying fruitcake muffins and they too were quite delicious.

Below is a recipe for muffins, a fruitcake recipe, or two and just in case you don't want to make your own, but want a homemade one you can order a fruitcake from College of the Ozarks in Point Look-Out, MO...of course, you'd be a little late for this year!

Fruitcake Muffins
Free-Range Fruitcake-Alton Brown
Mom's Fruitcake from the Food Network

Order for next year at this link!

Holiday Confession #6

Socks make my feet hot and sweaty, that, in turn, makes me hot and sweaty. Please don't get me wrong I love socks...I love to buy socks. I love to wear them without shoes on...but, the idea of putting on a pair of socks and then a pair of shoes and, well, add to that a pair of pants and I feel so stifled and tired and warm--not in a good way.

I love that UGGS are made to be worn without socks. Why aren't all shoes made that way?

Holiday Confession #5

I don't even remember this trailer! Most Excellent!

Holiday Confession #4

I read a lot of stuff talking about the evils of Disney as a corporation, I read a lot of stuff about the evils of Disney and its treatment of teen girls and objectification of women. So much Disney hate...and, yet, I all I know are the wonderful things about Disney and how Disney directly and indirectly shaped my youth.

1] Hayley Mills
2] Annette Funicello
3] The Edison Twins
4] Disney Channel Premiere and Original Movies as old as "The Night Train to Kathmandu" and as recent as the "High School Musical" trilogy.
5] All those wonderful cartoons...including "Silly Symphonies", you can watch one of my favorites below:

6] All those wonderful animated feature films
7] The Princesses...seriously, I love them.
8] I love the Disney store.
9] The Swiss Family Robinson
10] Herby

I just think about all the things I learned from Anne of Green Gables and Natty Gann and Spooner and the Man from Snowy River (all movies I first saw on the Disney Channel) and I just can't help it. I want my kid to have those same experiences...like all. the. time.

Disney makes me happy.

Holiday Confession #3

I was 10 when I first knew that I loved Thomas Cruise Mapother IV. Back then it was cool to like him though, I'm mean he'd just finished:

But, then he joined this:

And, did this:

And, people stopped liking him so much...seriously, though I haven't stopped. And, have watched most of his recent movies in the theatre. How could you not?!

Holiday Confession #2

For real, I do this. I'm doing it right now.

Seriously though, what song doesn't appeal to the teenage girl in us. Um, er, since this is a confession, what song doesn't appeal to the woman in all of us. I just love her, she's fun to sing with in the shower and while folding clothes and after a break-up and when you just think someone is cute. She wins all of those awards for a reason, ya know.

Here are my Top 10 just in case you know you wanna give her a listen. I won't tell.

1. "You Belong with Me"
2. "Teardrops on my Guitar"
3. "Fifteen" 
4. "Back to December"
5. "Everything Has Changed" with Ed Sheeran
6. "Shake It Off"
7. "Love Story"
8. "Blank Space"
9. "Ours"
10. "Eye's Open"

Holiday Confessions and Randoms Acts of Kindness, er maybe the other way around...

First the Kindness

[Source]

For more information you can visit Coffee Cups and Crayons, but this calendar is a simple way to get the whole family involved in the Spirit of Christmas while neither breaking the bank or your budget. There is also a Advent chain to go along with this theme. Can't wait to start!

And, now for the confessing

The other day I was scrolling through FB and people were posting things about Will Arnett. I watched all the videos and scanned the internet for more. After about an hour of Will Arnettedness I came to the following realization and posted it on FB.

One of my dear friends (read her blog here) got the idea to do this for the Holiday Season, because really can't it be so stressful and this is just a fun way to relax? Several of us are now sharing these on FB. Want to play along?...there's only a few rules:

1] It must be a confession. 

A confession is: "a statement made by a person or a group of people acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden" or as Scary Mommy puts it here. It can be a confession about the holidays or just in general. We're calling them Holiday Confessions because we are posting them over the holidays.

2] Post it somewhere on Social Media.

Play for all 25 days, for 20 days, once a week, whatever suits you, just let the world know about it. Feel free to tag me if you would like (Twitter handle: @smj274). So far the confessions I've read have been pretty darned awesome. You can even post them below in the comments! Hashtag on FB: #thisjustgotreal or #itjustgotreal Twitter: #HCs2014

ENJOY!

(can you tell it's a snow day here?)

Lifetime Movies: The Drinking Game

Here's the deal, I've got a rather big confession to make. I love Lifetime movies. This includes all those Sunday night movies from the 80s, Hallmark movies, and any movie that actually came out in the movie theatres that should have been a LTM--you know what movies I'm talking about Dying Young and Stepmom (what's up with the sappy movies, Julia?) and Sweet November come to mind.

I am now at the time in my summer where I'm spending my free time reading books and watching Lifetime movies. They're my favorite time-wasters, what's not to like about them? They have pretty people, romance, drama, excellent dialogue, superb acting, catchy titles and wonderful life lessons. They can be watched alone, tissue in hand (admit it, some of them really do pull at your heart-strings) or with a group where all of the above become a way for you to let off steam as you laugh at/with (?) the people and plot.

I believe the best joy of a LTM is that I can love and be totally in one of these movies while still laughing my butt off at the absurdity of it all. Of course, this brings to me my next point and to the title of my post...I have no idea why I've never thought of this before, LTMs should be a drinking game! I've googled and found several, but they don't really address some of the finer points of the reasons why I watch LTMs--the points that require the cerebrum. My friend and I decided the drinking game would be more fun if we drank kool-aide instead of alcoholic beverages (as lame/cheesetastic movies call for lame/cheesetastic entertainment), although I see how it could go either way, especially after a stressful week of grading and such.

So, here's the game, and, yes, I know this may be the most inappropriate post I've ever written, but I really wanted to share...really, really, really.

Take a drink every time...

• there's a flashback. Take two drinks if the flashback is hazy because there's some sort of filter on the lens or if the flashback is in black and white when the rest of the movie is in color.
• the mother is wretchedly horrible. Take another if that means the mother lies to 'protect' her children. Take another if the mother plots to or actually kills someone to 'protect' her children.
• someone dies. Guzzle if the death is the major plot point of the movie and requires tears from the audience.
• if the actors look at the camera, therefore breaking the fourth wall.
• the death of someone is mentioned, especially if it's a catalyst for a life-changing event.
• you see or hear the mention of a diary/journal/old letters.
• if the movie is based on a true story.
• you cry.
• a woman cries. Take two if a man cries. Take another if he cries because of some sort of abuse reversal.
• there's a montage. Add another if that montage is in a flashback.
• there's an 'inappropriate' relationship. You be the judge of what's inappropriate. My favorites are step-children falling in love with each other and May-December romances where the woman is older and the man is almost not a man. Drink another if someone you are with doesn't understand your definition of 'inappropriate', you prude!
• oh, heck, guzzle during the 15 minutes of the movie that has the couple yearning as they go their different ways--although they don't want to do so. at. all. If the whole movie revolves around this plot point, um, you may be drunk or have to pee (for those kool-aide drinkers) by the end.
• drink if there are bandages. Drink more if there are crutches. Drink more if there's a terminal illness. Drink more if there are missing limbs. If those missing limbs are due to an accident or a war, pass your drink to a friend make sure the friend drinks before giving it back.
• if it's Christmas.
• if it's Thanksgiving.
• when the title is mentioned (and, it will be mentioned, however, some are more subtle than others). If the title is the name of a person, drink every time that person is called by name. If the title is also in the title song...um...guzzle away.
• if there are abandoned children. Take 3 drinks if those abandoned children become killers.
• if there are children and the adults are hard to find or are dumb or act like children.
• every time you notice the 'acting'...shout 'acting' before drinking.
• guzzle if a person of color is in the lead-role and this person actually just has a normal life...ie. he isn't accused of a crime or...oh, wait, there are no LTMs that have people of color in lead roles. Drink if there's actually a person of color in the movie at all. Drink two if that person is defying a stereotype. Drink again because you recognized said stereotype--shame on you.
• if the guy is persistent and it doesn't seem creepy or stalkerish in any way. 
• if the movie was once a book. Drink again if you knew that without looking it up. Drink again if you had to look it up, why didn't you already read the book?
• if there's a voice-over. Drink again if the voice-over is during the montage.
• if you fall in love with the romantic lead (male or female) at the end of the movie.
• if there's a:
• cheerleader, sports player, doctor, lawyer-1 drink
• artist or writer-2 drinks 
• a divorced woman in mourning-3 drinks
• a divorced man in mourning-4 drinks
• a dentist-5 drinks...you're going to need them as the movie is going to be pretty intense

Best played with the following:
Brian's Song
Dancing at the Harvest Moon
Doing Time on Maple Drive
For the Very First Time
A Kidnapping in the Family (or, as my friend calls it, "My Mom Stole My Baby")
Our House (or, as another friend of mine and I like to call it, "Ruth's Roses")
She Fought Alone
Sin of Innocence
The Love Letter
The Promise
Thursday's Child
Tully
[insert your favorite LTM here]

More games can be found here (warning these don't call for kool-aide): HeadDesk, Philolzophy