Top Ten Worst Christmas Songs Ever

So, my friend Katie inspired me to write this post. Yesterday she listed some of the worst Christmas songs ever written. I thought it was such a funny post because Alan and I have been making a similar mental list for years now. So, this post might be somewhat of a rip-off of Katie's post (sorry, Katie), but we will add some more insights as well.

10. "Santa, Buddy," as sung by Michael Buble--I really like Michael Buble's Christmas album, but this song is just trying too hard to be witty.

9. "The 12 Days of Christmas"--As my brother says, this song is only sung because someone needs to fill up the last 20 minutes of a Christmas album.

8. "Christmas Time is Here" (the opening song on Charlie Brown's Christmas)--Is this song supposed to make me feel happy inside? It actually has the opposite effect.

7. "The Friendly Beasts"--The only recording I have actually ever heard of this song is on the Brian Stokes Mitchell/Tabernacle Choir Christmas album from a few years ago, but I guess I don't appreciate the animal impersonations. Watch the video here.

6. "The Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth," as sung by the Dynamic Duo Bing Crosby and David Bowie--If you have heard this, you will know what I mean. Also, a lyric flaw: what do newborns like better than to have a loud, annoying drum banging in their ears?

5. "Hey, Santa"--We hate this song mostly because they leave out the "t" in Santa. "Hey, Sanna! Hey, Sanna!"

4. "Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time"--Love ya, John Lennon, but this song just has a totally lame sound to it.

3. "Grown-up Christmas List"--While I appreciate the good intentions this song has, it is sooooooo cheesy.

2. "Last Christmas I Gave You my Heart"--Nothing captures the Christmas spirit quite like a self-pitying break-up song.

And the #1 Worst Christmas Song Ever is....

"Christmas Shoes"--Why isn't the little kid in this song home with his/her dying mother instead of at the store buying new shoes for her that she will never wear? This is a terrible song--such cheesy sentimental nonsense.

Honorable mentions:

• "My Favorite Things"--I don't actually hate this song (I rather like it), but who decided that it was a Christmas song?
• The Charlie Brown theme, "Linus and Lucy"--ditto
• "Do You Hear What I Hear?"--There is a major flaw with a few of the lyrics in this song. "A Child, a Child, shivers in the cold," and what should we do to remedy this unfortunate situation? I know, "Let us bring Him silver and gold!" Yeah, that ought to do the trick! Forget about the blankets!
• "Little Saint Nick," a song by the Beach Boys, contains the lyrics, "Christmas comes this time each year" over and over again. Very insightful, Beach Boys.
• Alan's personal favorite stupid lyrics come from the song "A Marshmallow World" (although we like the song in general). At one point the song says, "And the sun is red like a pumpkin head." As far as we can tell, there are three major flaws with this sentence: 1) No, the sun is NOT red. 2) Pumpkins aren't red, either. Not usually, anyway. 3) What on earth is a pumpkin head?

Feel free to add any others we have missed to our comments. :)

Pregnancy Countdown

Jared came almost a week early, so I get pretty excited/freaked out thinking about how close I am to meeting my little girl! (I am also already dilated a bit and effaced quite a bit--I'll spare you the details.) There is still so much on my To Do List (and my "Honey-Do" List):

• Lots of yard work: plan vegetable garden, spray apple tree, mow lawn, clean out our nasty pond/fountain, weeding
  
• Assemble our massive swing set that we just inherited (and disassemble our old, run-down one)
• Fix the leak in our roof
• Look over checklist for new baby: a couple of awesome friends in my ward are actually throwing me a baby shower this Saturday, so I can do this after the shower is over. And then. . . Thank You notes!!!
• Deep cleaning of bathrooms and kitchen one more time
  
• Play the organ one more time in church before my "sabbatical" (I'm sure everyone in my ward loves watching me waddle to and from the organ on Sundays) and tie up about a MILLION loose ends for my other church calling so that someone can temporarily take over for me
  
• Go to the park a lot and give Jared LOTS of attention
• Go on a couple more dates with Alan. We went and saw a production of the musical Peter Pan a couple nights ago, but I would LOVE to make it to the temple one more time and perhaps out to dinner again.
• We have some plans with extended family, coworkers, and friends over the next couple of weekends. We'll see how many events we can handle attending!
  
• Sleep--oh wait, I wish I could sleep more! And, I wish Jared was still taking naps so that I could, too!

Little girl, we are so excited to meet you!!!

What we have been up to...

1. Moving
2. Unpacking
3. Assembling an armoire and cabinets for the laundry room (these took several days!!)
4. Thinning our peach tree (like we even knew what we were doing)
5. Knocking down wasps nests (two, in fact)
6. Mounting bookcases to the wall
7. Organizing
8. Cleaning
9. Laundry
10. Dishes

What we still need to do...
1. Assemble a desk, a bed, and two kitchen chairs
2. Mow and spray our extremely long grass
3. Fix about 30 small things around the house
4. Hang pictures
5. Buy tons of things for around the house (rugs, garbage cans, etc.)
6. Finish unpacking
7. Organize storage room, den, garage, and two bedrooms
8. Meet more of our neighbors
9. Check out all the parks nearby
10. Catch up on sleep!

What I have NOT been doing...
1. Checking email or blogs (my GoogleReader says I have about a zillion things to read)
2. Exercising (well, does running around my house unpacking things count?)
3. Giving Jared enough attention
4. Reading my library books that are due soon

We love our new house. I pretty much walk around all day with a big grin on my face. :) I can't wait to get even more settled in.

Top Ten Books

I am always on the lookout for good books to read. I have joined an online book club called Goodreads, where I can see what people I know are reading and view their recommendations.

Anyway, in conjunction with my Top Ten Movie list and my Top Ten Everything list, here are my top ten favorite novels:

1. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte (the new Masterpiece Theater movie of this is great, too!)
2. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
3. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
4. Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
5. The Harry Potter Series, by J. K. Rowling, especially books 3, 6, and 7
6. Anne of Green Gables, by L. M. Montgomery (most of the whole series is pretty good)
7. The Story Girl and The Golden Road, by L. M. Montgomery
8. The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
9. The Scarlet Pimpernel and El Dorado, by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
10. The Twilight series, by Stephenie Meyer

I'm somewhat embarrassed that this list doesn't include more intellectual classic novels. But, at least in my opinion, that was what required reading in school was for (c'mon, I'm not going to truthfully say that Crime and Punishment or Of Mice and Men are on my list of favorites!) I like to read for pleasure. What are your favorite books?

Top Ten Movies

Alan and I enjoy many of the same types of movies. I'm actually a HUGE wimp when it comes to scary movies and even a lot of dramas, so Alan is sweet to watch the types of movies I like with me. However, out of all the movies we watch, there are several that are definitely "my" type, and some that are definitely "his" type. (I still don't get what is so funny about the movie "The Man Who Knew Too Little.") Here is my top ten movie list, in order:

1. The Parent Trap (Hayley Mills version)
2. Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea (yes, I'm going to cheat and group these together)
3. Pride and Prejudice (A&E) and Pride and Prejudice (Keira Knightley version) (more cheating going on, I know)
4. While You Were Sleeping
5. Little Women (Winona Ryder version)
6. Return to Me
7. Sleepless in Seattle
8. Beauty and the Beast
9. The Music Man (I don't even own this one! I just borrow it frequently from my mom.)
10. Meet Me in St. Louis

I definitely notice a trend in this list. However, I can watch these over and over again and not get sick of them! Alan's top ten list would probably include anything starring Bill Murray.

What are your favorite movies?

A Few of My Favorite Things, or My Top Ten Everything

I have this mental list of my favorite things in life. When I think of a new addition to this list I'll say to Alan, "I'm going to add this to my Top Ten." Some of them are foods, some are places, some are objects, some are events (although I'm sure I could think of a Top Ten for each of those categories.) Anyway, I have decided to write them down to help keep my thoughts organized. You will notice that my list is incomplete. I'm still adding to it.

Here they are, in no particular order (I know, it defeats the whole idea of a top ten countdown):

1. Long, hot showers on a wintry day.

2. Breyer's peach ice cream.

3. Champery, Switzerland. I spent a couple of days of paradise here the summer after I graduated from high school. It is a tiny little resort town where it's snowy in the winter (good skiing, apparently) and green and lush in the summer. Every home looks traditionally "Swiss" and has flower boxes outside every window. I took a lovely walk with some friends around the town, and the people were so nice. One evening as I was in my hotel room I heard a man outside the window yodeling to himself just for fun. Someday I would like to go back. This picture does not do it justice.

4. Christmas music. Not the cheesy pop kind on the radio, but traditional songs sung by oldies like the Carpenters, John Gary, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, the Lettermen. . . my family knows what I'm talking about. I am one of those weirdos who pull out the Christmas music as early as September sometimes.

5. Singing in a good choir in a place with awesome acoustics. This has only happened to me a couple of times in my short choir career. To my fellow high school choir bloggers, do you remember singing "Walking on the Green Grass" and "Beati Quorum Via" in Gardiner Hall for the Festival of Gold?

6. Spending time with Alan, especially if we are going out to dinner at an Italian restaurant. :)

7. A short, lesser-known piece of music called "In the Christmas Tree" from The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky. It is such a beautiful segment in between the battle scene and the snowflake scene where the Nutcracker is first transformed into a prince and he and Clara dance together. Anyone who knows me well knows my obsession with The Nutcracker in general, but I honestly think this is one of the most beautiful classical pieces ever composed. It has such beautiful French horns and violins, and I listen to it over and over again at Christmas time. You can listen to a few seconds of it here on track number 9.

8. My cute little Buddy sleeping or resting with his head on my shoulder. He does this every time I am about to put him down for a nap or at bedtime while I sing him songs.

9. ??

10. ??

There are plenty of things I love not listed above (such as chocolate, Disneyland, picnics, Arches National Park, naps, the Anne of Green Gables movies), but I don't know if they are good enough to make my Top Ten Everything list. Maybe they are runners-up.

What is your Top Ten Everything list?