Happy Festivus to all who celebrate! I’ll be pulling out my Festivus mug (yes, I really have one) and airing a few grievances today. Let’s get right into it.
I was at Target on Wednesday and saw this:
No, no, no! We should NOT be subjected to Valentine’s merchandise on December 20th!!! Halloween in August… okay. Christmas in October… bring it on! But Valentine’s Day in December- absolutely not. It hurt my soul to see that.
Second grievance: have I mentioned my daughter is going to ROME? The high school band is going to Rome on December 27th to march in the New Year’s Day parade there. I know- what an incredible experience for her. The thing is, in addition to making cookies and wrapping presents, I’m also following the weather in Rome and trying to make sure my daughter has a warm jacket, an outlet converter, gloves, and all sorts of other things I wouldn’t normally think about right before Christmas.
Today I waltzed into my bank to get Euros, which I planned to put in her stocking. Did you know you have to order them? Did I know that??? When my son went to London four years ago, I thought I just walked in and changed dollars to pounds. It takes two business days, so not only would I not have them for Christmas, but we would not even get them by the 27th. Ack!
So today I’m sending my husband on a “fun” errand to the mall, where I believe they have a money exchange kiosk (for a small fee, of course) He may have a few grievances of his own to air after that outing.
Lastly, I hated Love Actually. Yes, I watched it to fulfill my Friday Christmas Challenge (to watch a Christmas movie I’ve never seen.) Now, I will admit that maybe I didn’t give it a fair chance. I was wrapping presents while I watched it, so I wasn’t giving it my full attention. But I thought the plot lines were cheesy and predictable, and I didn’t care about any of the characters.
My husband didn’t really want to watch it. He kept saying things like “Why don’t we watch It’s a Wonderful Life?” I’VE SEEN THAT. “How about Hannah and Her Sisters?” THAT’S NOT A CHRISTMAS MOVIE. Finally he agreed to Love Actually. Then when I suggested turning it off halfway through, he said he wanted to see how it ended.
Yes, he liked it! So I guess the evening wasn’t wasted? Plus, I’ve always felt like I missed out on something by not seeing that movie- so at least I have no more Love Actually FOMO.
That’s it! We’ll be going out for our Festivus bagels today, wrapping presents, and watching Polar Express. The usual activities for December 23rd.
Are you off of work now? – I have to work Festivus morning, but only until 1. Then I don’t work again till Tuesday- the holidays can begin!
Do you like Love Actually? – I hope this isn’t going to turn into another “Last Christmas” situation, where everyone likes it but me.
Do you have any grievances to air?
28 Responses
OMG, Last Christmas is so so bad. So bad. We do enjoy Love Actually though – it’s a nostalgic thing for us – we watched it On Demand on Valentine’s Day on a special trip after the year after it came out. It is cheesy. LOL.
Rome! How exciting! She is going to love it. I lived there for half a year in 2006 and would love to go back. The food is excellent. I hope you procured the Euros!
The Euros have been procured! And about the movie- I agree that sometimes the setting and the mood you’re in have a big affect on whether you enjoy it or not.
NOOO! Love Actually is my favourite!! It has great English humour and epic scenes.
Rowan Atkinson driving Alan Rickman nuts in the packaging scene. Andrew Lincoln confessing his love to Keira Knightly. Or, perhaps my favourite one of all, the iconic Heathrow airport scene with all the non-actors (the film crew ran after the real-life passengers to get them to sign an agreement that they can use the material in the film).
Maybe it’s also a UK culture thing? But then, your husband liked it, so my theory can’t be right, either.
Ha ha, I know a lot of people like it. Including my husband!
I love the movie Love Actually! But I think I am in the minority. And I know it has not aged well. I loved all the vignettes, especially the Colin Firth one. Yes it is probably cheesy but so many rom com type of movies are.
I have Monday, Tuesday and Friday off next week. Monday is Christmas obv and then Paul doesn’t have care on tues and fri. I was glad I could work it out with my coworkers to be off those days. Otherwise it would have been a screen fest for Paul. Which is not the end of the world but I would rather do some fun things with him. Taco’s daycare is only closed for Christmas! I kind of feel bad for his teachers. I imagine attendance will be low so hopefully they can have a lower level of staffing to give people time off! But I am admittedly glad he will be there during the day. His old daycare was going to be closed for this entire week.
We will test Phil and Paul this am. If they are negative for Covid I will have no grievances! I will just be overjoyed that we can celebrate Christmas as planned!
My fingers are crossed for you guys! I hope you can go ahead with your fun Christmas plans.
I forgot to comment on the euro situation. That is nuts!! I haven’t gotten euros in quite some time but when I did, it was easy to get them. I never would have thought you’d need to order them!! I either forgot she was doing this or didn’t know. But how cool to get to go to Rome! I didn’t fly until I was 19 years old!! Kids these days do so many cool things at a much younger age!
Happy Festivus!!!
T loves Love Actually me- hated it. I don’t do with nice movies, give me drama, tragedy, physiologic thriller- oh I’m there!
Grievances… Errr an expensive oil change for my little Subaru. A dirty car on the inside. Ugh. Expensive plane tickets. But really, those are all so petty. New York and New Jersey have people coming from other countries with nothing and here I am complaining about plane tickets :/
That’s okay! I mean I was complaining about having to go to the mall to change money for a trip to Rome… that’s a pretty minor grievance. I’m glad someone is finally on my side about the movie!
Festivus is the best holiday ever!
I try to be an easygoing person and it’s fine with me if I start seeing Christmas stuff in the stores in July. But Valentine’s stuff before Christmas??????? NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Rome is exciting! I hope your hubs was able to get euros without too much hassle. I mean, going to the mall right before Christmas is exciting too.
I saw Love Actually one million years ago so I don’t remember it. There’s nothing that’s tugging at my heart to watch it again. Actually you remind me that I do want to see more Woody Allen so I might check out Hannah & Her Sisters. I saw all of his 80’s movies when they came out with my parents and they were so cringy to me then but I liked Annie Hall when I saw it a few years ago. We saw Elf last night – first time for both of us. It was fine. I’m making a push for Christmas Vacation and now that you mention it I’d like to see It’s a Wonderful Life as well.
My grievances are the big long list of things that I miss about our dog and that our big family Christmas celebration might have to be postponed due to COVID. Actually I don’t really care about the family party because it’s a when and not an if. But not having a dog is the pits!
My sister’s family gathering was canceled today because of Covid. WHEN is Covid going to stop ruining everything???
Sorry about the dog-less situation. The first Christmas after you lose someone is always hard.
Hannah and Her Sisters is my favorite movie of all time- although I wonder what I would think if I were seeing it now for the first time. I saw it in the theaters when it first came out and loved it SO MUCH.
Happy Festivus! I plan to watch that Seinfeld episode today.
Ugh, the Valentine’s decor before it’s even Christmas makes me so mad and sad! I hate how stores try to rush to the next holiday before the current one is even over. I’m someone who likes to keep Christmas lights and decorations up until at least January 1!
I’m officially off work for the next 17 days which I’m so excited about! My one grievance is that yesterday we got a TON of rain and I got to run in it which I love but then I had to drive 2 hours on the freeway in the rain to get to my parents’ house for Christmas and I HATE driving in the rain, especially around semi trucks, so scary! But I made it safely and that’s what matters.
We’re watching the Festivus episode right now!
Yes, I love running in the rain and HATE driving in it! Glad you made it safely and can enjoy a nice holiday. Merry Christmas!!!
I’m not a big fan of Love Actually. It was okay when I first saw it, but I have no desire to ever watch it again. The Alan Rickman stuff was so creepy and gross to me then and I think I’d hate it even more now. And loving someone who has married your best friend. Yikes. I’ll stick with White Christmas!
I have not seen Valentine’s Day things yet, but they’re probably out here too. Sigh. I try to avoid stores this week as much as possible, but I know that IMMEDIATELY after Christmas it’s all about the next big commercial holiday. Christmas is really the only holiday we “do” – I don’t buy much (or even anything some years) for the kids on Valentine’s, we don’t do Easter baskets. So I mostly just ignore the other holiday stuff anyway since I just don’t buy it ever!
Yes, I should have watched White Christmas!
We do celebrate Easter, a little, but I’m not a fan of Valentine’s Day at all. But let’s not speak of such things- it’s almost Christmas Eve!
Ha – this was a fun read. I am 100% with you about the Valentine’s Display. TOO EARLY.
I had no idea you had to order Euros in advance! Sounds like a really great experience for your daughter, but the timing leaves a LOT to be desired. Hope she has fun!
We got the Euros! I didn’t even ask my husband what the fee was at the mall. Yes, once she’s safely off to Rome I’ll breathe a nice sigh of relief.
I do not like Love Actually. I only watched because friends put it on bc they like it.
Well… if it’s ok for the other holiday decorations to be sold 3 months in advance, then Valentine’s day can, too! I prefer decorations only go out a month to 6 weeks prior to the holiday (except craft stores bc crafts take a while). Due to Halloween, all the summer stuff goes away. But we are in Florida! We can use it year round! (needed things for my condo on the beach rental lol)
I’d tell your daughter to donate any change/small bills on the return flight if she has any. It’s not worth it to change back small amounts.
Grievance: the cranky old ladies behind me in line at Publix (non cashier lanes) who don’t like where I stand!
I know… it’s a kind of hypocritical of me to complain about early holiday decorations. And I’ll give my daughter that tip- she’s never been out of the country so she needs all the tips she can get. Thanks for commenting!
I can’t imagine watching Love Actually for the first time today. I saw it when I was much younger and less discerning, and pretty much turned off my sense of irony and enjoyed it immensely. I haven’t watched it for many years and probably will not again.
I cannot muster any grievances today. My kids are home, my daughter and I ran errands today and the crowds were not insane and people were really nice and we got everything we needed. But yeah, Valentine’s Day stuff? Noooooo
Okay, that’s nice- a day with no grievances! It does sound like a really fun day.
No grievances. We went to Costco today and it was busy, but we had a short list, so we didn’t need a cart and we got in and out and now we have nothing scheduled until we have to leave for Christmas shenanigans. Endless nap time! With my kitty! What could be better?!
I’ve never seen Love Actually, so I can’t chime in. I’ve heard it’s problematic. LOL.
Do not watch it! I don’t think you would like it. Your day sounds amazing- it’s a no grievance Festivus for you!
I think I have seen Love Actually but I can’t remember it at all. I hate the movie Last Christmas! I randomly saw part of it last night actually (again) and remembered how I didn’t like it. I don’t care for that actress either.
I forgot about your daughter’s Rome trip!! I know you mentioned it a while back. That’s so exciting!! We usually just get some euros from the atm when we arrive somewhere I think. Though my husband works in banking so he has ordered them for us before also too.
I know she could have changed money there, but I really wanted her to get Euros in her stocking (plus she’s never been out of the country and I didn’t want her to have any hassles.) My husband got the Euros today, hooray!
I think all those holiday movies are predictable, but that’s part of the charm. And once you get sucked in, you have to watch to the end! That happened to me with The Preacher’s Wife yesterday — it is a holiday movie I hadn’t heard of before — I had to record the last hour so I could see the end after we went out to dinner.
Add me to the list of people who didn’t like Love Actually! It’s not a good movie!! And the plotlines are so, so cringey from today’s lens. I watched it once and have no desire to see it ever again.
That’s so exciting that your daughter went to Rome!!
I like Love Actually. Some of the plots are stupid, but a couple I really enjoyed 🙂