It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas. Or Is It?

It's sad to think that people just skip over Thanksgiving and automatically go into Christmas mode after Halloween. I mean, what does Thanksgiving have that trumps Christmas? The Macy's parade? Come on... We all know who wins this battle. I've been thinking about movies that I'd like to watch for the Christmas season. "The Nightmare Before Christmas" has been on my mind lately for some reason, probably because I haven't seen it in a long time. I even dreamt about it last night. This topic was discussed at the dinner table this evening. Some titles that were brought up: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," both new and old versions (I prefer the newer one), "A Christmas Story," "It's A Wonderful Life," and "Christmas With the Kranks" (one of my favorites).

Lately, I've been feeling nostalgic. I was writing a letter to my friend yesterday, and I rambled on and on for a good full page about scents and how much I appreciate the memories they can evoke. I've also been thinking about my family a lot. At dinner, my friends and I were discussing the issue of homesickness. One of my friends said she cries every day because of it. Literally. I guess homesickness entails more than just missing your home; I think it means missing everything that's familiar to you, like friends, family, or just the things you grew up seeing (or smelling) on a regular basis. It's interesting to think about what comforts us. I, for one, miss staying up til one in the morning during the summer watching "Obsessed" on A&E with my best friend. I used to read my Bible every night when I lived at home, mainly because I was alone most of the time and it was easy for me to concentrate. I don't do that anymore simply because I'm around people ALL the time, and I honestly have no idea where my Message Remix Bible is. I'm thankful that I'm okay with being away from my family for long periods of time, no matter how much I really miss them.

Does anyone else get addicted to YouTube videos? I have two that I've been watching over and over for days now. They're both music videos. One is the song "Carousel" by Iron & Wine; the other is a video of Missy Higgins singing "Sugarcane" live at a benefit. They just put me in a good mood, which is what all good music is supposed to do, I guess.

Songs and scents: Two things I could never live without.