149

149 days.  That's how far I made it into this year before having such a terrible day that only the unfortunate mishaps and bad luck of Clark Griswald could turn my perma-frown upside down.  Not just any Griswald misadventure would do, no I needed Christmas Vacation misadventures to make me laugh.

Let me start off by saying I LOVE CHRISTMAS!  I don't love it for the gifts, no I love it for the family, the get togethers, the twinkling lights and decorations.  The excitement of waitng for Santa for my kids and the coute de gras of my Christmas season is the Christmas Eve family gathering at my grandparent's house.  So whenever I am having a bad day, a really super aweful, terrible bad day...I watch a Christmas movie.

Moving on, My Hooigans were especially high on Hoilday weekend excitement and wear-down yesterday and they were ROTTEN.  Whining and crying for nothing, screaming and yelling and hitting each other....I had had enough! I wasn't going to deal with anymore shenanigans, hijinx or tomfoolery.  I sent everyone outside and turned the hose on and let them spray the shit our of each other.  Then when they were done, I dried them off, sent them up stairs and turned on Clark Griswald.

I love this movie so much and it makes both the Hubs and I laugh.  I use lines from it to defuse hostile situations, eg: Driving home from MI one weekend, a car sped up, past us and then pulled in front of us and immediately applied the brakes.  Causing us and the line of cars behind us to slow down.  Hubs, in road rage, sped up, past them and then did the same thing to them.  Me, feeling a little frightened of a car crash looked at him and said,

"Alright Clark, what are you going to do next?  Pull out under a logging truck?"

Laughter filled the car.  We laughed so hard we slowed down because tears were coming out of our eyes.

"The little lights aren't twinkling Clark" is a phrase commonly used when a light burns out around here.

Last Christmas our tree was too tall, prompting "Do you think there's enough room for the Angel Clark?"

'The Shitter was full" can be heard when you go to use one bathroom, only to find it currently occupied, as you pass back through the house on your way up stairs you inform the others of your predicament

If you haven't figured it out, this movie is a favorite around here.  It always makes me laugh and it always reminds me I need to lighten up.  Not everything can go according to plan, sometimes you just have to push through the shit to see the rainbow...but don't get too crazy while pushing through.

SO!  After I watched Christmas Vacation and had a very un-healthy snack (stress eater) I felt better and ready to deal with the Shenanigans! I let the kids come back down stairs and after being treated to the same over excited, wore down behavior, we hurried up, ate dinner and put kids to bed for the night...and watched Clark again! :)  Today hasn't started out any better, but there is always tonight, and if that fails...tomorrow!