Hallmark Christmas Movies | chestercountyramblings

I woke up this morning and it was a dreary, foggy, dark morning. I turned on the Today Show, and they remarked that we really only have a week of political ad hell to go through. And that is almost a comforting thought, that in a little over a week this will all be over. In theory.

The reality is no matter what happens next week it will not all be over. And if we all don’t come together as communities and as a nation the anger and vitriol will linger and persist. If this trajectory continues we are a country on the brink of a modern Civil War.

Yesterday was two months until Christmas. And oh yes, I love Christmas. Thanks to COVID-19 I have absolutely no idea what our Christmas is going to look like yet, but this weekend also means the Christmas movies are out! (Cue husbands and life partners groaning everywhere.) Lifetime and Hallmark are in a stiff competition.

Yes I have watched a few Christmas movies already. Even one on Lifetime where I was shocked at the amount of bad plastic surgery Charlie’s Angel alum Cheryl Ladd has had.

Are these movies from Pulitzer Prize winning novels or will they win Emmys or Oscars? No. But what they do is give us all a mental and emotional break from politics and COVID19 in the USA.

Things are just starting to literally boggle my mind and even Saturday Night Live and the cold opens can’t alleviate the mind boggling things like someone saying to me the other day quite literally “But you don’t even look like a Democrat.”

What does that even mean? What are Democrats supposed to look like? Am I supposed to have horns or something? And this is someone who might actually know who probably didn’t even realize how that sounded. They are an extraordinarily lovely person I respect. But still. Hard to fathom. Hurtful to hear.

Like everyone else, over the past couple of weeks with increasing intensity I have been inundated with Robo calls, emails, even phone calls and personal messages from people I know. All about voting Republican.

This is no longer the party of Lincoln. Or any Republican President preceding what currently occupies the White House. I don’t recognize any of it. Most don’t if they are honest.

I am still a moderate and more of a centrist. And I believe that extremism in politics on both sides of the political aisle is ruining this country. Politics is a sad and crazy business. And the anger in this country can literally take your breath away. I watch and marvel.

I don’t understand how people who are still Republicans can look at me and tell me how this end result after four years is better than we were for years prior? I don’t understand how they think COVID19 has been addressed and treated properly. I don’t understand how they just don’t see a lot of what I see. But I guess I don’t have to understand, because founding fathers of this country fought for us to all have our opinions and beliefs as individuals, correct? We aren’t and shouldn’t all be Stepford on this bus.

But what is also sad is I know I have not heard from certain friends in a long time because they know I am not voting for Trump. When did Trump become the price of friendship? I might not understand their choice but I don’t begrudge them their choice as Americans so why did they judge me my choices? Of course there’s also the little fact that if you know me you know I have never liked Donald Trump. That completely predates the current iteration of Donald Trump as a politician. I thought The Apprentice was stupid.

This weekend I realized I found all of this political crap exhausting and virtually inescapable. But then I watched the movie titled On The Basis of Sex. It’s about the early career of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I also watched the latest movie of fellow Shipley graduate Sarah Megan Thomas, A Call to Spy. This movie is about female spies who gave in many cases their lives to fight the Nazis in Europe during World War II including American Virginia Hall who most Americans do not know ever existed.

Everyone should watch both of these films. Then you really understand what fighting for your freedom and rights is all about. And then there are the Christmas movies. Even I will be sick of the Christmas movies by the time the new year rolls around, but it gives you a little glimpse into a more pleasant universe. And face it, right now we all need a little Christmas magic. Or any magic to believe in possibilities and not ugliness.

So bring on the Lifetime and Hallmark Christmas Movies! In a year utterly devoid of magic, the temporary diversions these movies provide is so welcome!

NSB. Never Stop Believing.

The holidays are hard for people even when you aren’t a holidays-are-hard-person. You always want them to be perfect, yet they rarely are at all. It’s human nature and accepting we don’t live in a Hallmark movie set.

Thanksgiving is the seasonal kick-off to weeks of we want familial perfection. Only have you met a perfect family? I haven’t.

The holidays are romanticized and commercialized to such an extent that we think we have to be perfect every year or the world might end as we know it. I am no exception.

Last Thanksgiving was the year of the turkey that would not cook. My husband wanted to put it in the oven at one time, and me another. In the end he had his time choice and then it was like a comedy of errors courtesy of the turkey gods. We ate late, and had turkey consternation.

Please note that according to Sunset Magazine:

For a 10-13 lb. turkey (weight with giblets): Bake in a 350° oven for 1 1/2-2 1/4 hr.

For a 14-23 lb. turkey (weight with giblets): Bake in a 325° oven for 2-3 hr.

For a 24-27 lb. turkey (weight with giblets): Bake in a 325° oven for 3-3 3/4 hr.

For a 28-30 lb turkey (weight with giblets): Bake in a 325° oven for 3 1/2-4 1/2 hr.

Times are for unstuffed birds. A stuffed bird may cook at the same rate as an unstuffed one; however, be prepared to allow 30 to 50 minutes longer. While turkeys take about the same time to roast in regular and convection heat, a convection oven does a better job of browning the bird all over.

This year we are starting the turkey earlier and I think I am doing the dressing outside of the turkey. This year, I also need help since I have managed to tear the meniscus in my other knee. When I tore my meniscus in the other knee a couple of years ago, my meniscus waited until well after the holidays.

Translation? I will also need more help at Christmas and I won’t be cooking dinner for around 14 people. Maybe having that break is a good thing, but I actually like doing Christmas dinner. Cooking for people at Christmas is one of my favorite presents to give.

This also means I will be decorating differently. And more simply. It might kill me. No not really, but my inner Christmas elf might revolt. Sigh…and fewer kinds of Christmas cookies will be baked too.

Asking for help and knowing you need help is not the easiest realization. Again, I am definitely no exception. But I guess when you need it, it’s a lesson in working together and trust. Admitting I will need some help this time around for the holidays is maddening. Trust me. There is so much to do.

The other thing about the holidays is giving back. How do you give back? Do you volunteer at a shelter? Cook meals for the less fortunate? Donate to a toy drive? I don’t think it matters what or how much you do as long as you pay it forward in some small way. And it doesn’t have to be publicized for thousands of atta’ boys or atta’ girls, just do it to pay the magic in this season forward.

And back to the Hallmark movie versions of the holidays. I love my Hallmark Christmas movies, don’t misunderstand me. But it’s a little unrealistic. From the apartments and homes that 20-something characters have (in places like New York City and Chicago no less!), to the always perfect hair, perfect coupling up and don’t forget Hallmark movie characters don’t have sex ever, or show too much boob in their Christmas party dresses…it’s like life in a snow globe.

A delightful time warp bubble that transports us for a while from everyday life. But hey now, everyday life is not so bad, flaws and all. And we all have to acknowledge and accept as nice as those saccharine sweet made for TV holiday moments are, do we really want to trade that for our own realities? I mean sure it would be especially nice if the kitchen cleaned up itself magically after holiday meals, but as for the rest of it? Maybe let it inspire a tablescape or other decorations, but don’t place unrealistic expectations on yourself. I know because somehow I do it every year. Holiday Perfectionists Anonymous come on down!

This year I aim to be a little different. It might kill me, but I will try. Meanwhile, I will be sure to look for all the perfect holiday tableaux as seen on social media, knowing full well reality might be a lot different.

Don’t Botox your holiday social media. It’s actually o.k. to be less than perfect, look less than perfect. And I have to laugh because any time I personally express a less than perfect social media persona it starts.

“Are you ok?”

“Did you see what she posted?”

Lord love a duck, it’s quite all right to be human. Have a bad day occasionally. My plastic surgeon and professional stylists tribe are on vacay, ok? Sometimes I do not have a village, and it’s just me not wearing make-up…. (a cardinal sin in the eyes of my mother who told us never to go to the grocery store without lipstick years ago.)

And the holiday race for more social media “friends”? Oh resist. The real ones are so much better. Truth. I have started turning people down and culling the herd. I don’t need neighbors of people I barely know as friends and if I did not like you in high school and you didn’t like me, well not to be mean but why do I need to be part of your people collection?

And that is what I always find fascinating about social media. The fakeness of it. Especially when you know it’s so far removed from the truth. And that fakeness factor increases around the holidays because so many people have a hard time for a multitude of reasons.

So I guess I am saying slow down and appreciate what we have in this world. You don’t have to fake it until you make it. You can admit you love the holidays knowing it might have a couple of flaws.

Love the holidays for what they are. Don’t resent them for what they aren’t.

And pay it forward.

Enjoy the magic of the season. It’s totally there when you stop stressing over perfection. Have you seen my lipstick? I need to go to the grocery store…..