Tis' The Season To Be Mary (Merry)

Christmas means many things to me.

When I was younger, I remember how excited my grandmother got this time of year as she would put up her decorations and we would eat a snack and just sit and enjoy the Christmas lights in her apartment. Occasionally we would take a short walk to town just to check out everyone else lights. It was memories like that I won't ever forget. Especially when we would eat Peanut Butter sandwiches with Butterscotch pudding as our snack on those nights occasionally. That was some special treat for me as a kid. It also sounds like an odd combo, but it's pretty amazing.

At my home in youth, my parents would go out and get a tree the old fashioned way. Right out in the woods and cut it down with a saw. My family wasn't rich so we didn't get much in terms of presents. I think most years I got new underwear, a notebook to write in since that was my hobby and maybe a small toy. Not getting everything I wanted, believe me I saw the Sears catalog and I wanted it all, made me appreciate the small things in life and how to treasure them. I think that's why I treat my cards so well, including base cards, as I do today.

As I got older and started to date a girl in high school, Christmas was a complete opposite of my childhood. Presents filled the tree and the living room of her parents house. We would drive miles to check out the lights and go shopping hours away for hours. It was a huge shift in my life as I didn't experience any of that in my youth.

That went for a few years til we broke up. Not much longer after that I met my wife and  learned the true meaning of Christmas with the Christmas story and the birth of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I won't preach at you guys too much on here as I know most of you don't want to hear it. But, I will say, since I learned about Jesus, it has truly changed my life. The way I look at things, it's better to believe in something in the afterlife than believe you are here and go to the ground. I believe in heaven and can't wait to go home someday. Not yet though. I have much more to live.

For Christmas every year now, we do three Christmas get together with my wife's family and celebrate and gift give in many different ways but with everyone's families so big the gifts are mainly for the children. You start to really appreciate family time when you hit deeper in your 30's and all of the memories you have made and the many more you will make.

Also I decorate the week before Thanksgiving, I know you guys can get snarky with me about forgetting about Thanksgiving but I don't. I have many things to be thankful for and one of them is putting up my lights early. I do wait til Thanksgiving Night to put my tree up and I take everything down the day after Christmas. In between though, some nights just like I did in my youth, I will grab a snack and enjoy the work I just put into decorating and enjoy the Christmas lights while they are up. That's for you grandma!

Out of all of these changes in my lifetime around Christmas, one thing has always remained constant around this time of year and that is National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.

Since I was young, my father was a huge Chevy Chase fan probably why I am today, we would watch this movie every year. So to this day, I am still watching this every year if not multiple times a year now and I have shared my love of it with my wife's family who some have grown to enjoy this movie as well.

Over the years I have been adding a few things to my collection from the movie that I enjoy to watch. It's actually my FAVORITE ALL TIME MOVIE that I can quote from beginning to finish.

Over the past few years, my wife has snagged me a couple of shirts that I save and wear on Christmas Eve and Christmas,

Here is a sketch card I won in a contest a few years ago. The iconic scene of Chevy looking through his window dreaming of his in-ground pool.

A Chevy autograph from eBay I traded for. I assume he did a TTM. But, no authenticity other than that.

Then I sent in my own TTM which seems to match the card above. I assume both are real.

I added the movie to my collection,

And even the sequel. Which doesn't have Chevy in it and is headline by Eddie and his wacked out family. It wasn't the greatest movie, but a one time watch doesn't hurt. I have seen it a few times but can't quite get into it like the original. Not sure why they didn't make a real sequel it was by far the best film from the National Lampoons series.

I saw someone post on Facebook that one of the designs this year for the popcorn tins had the movie featured and my wife snagged me one, the last one on the pallet, so I own it now.

But, the one thing I have wanted more than anything for my collection were real, authentic autographs from the movie.

Well, HUGE thanks to @90sNicheFBCard,I was able to do it.

I found out that Randy Quaid had recently signed for Leaf and that got me excited. My original idea was just to add Chevy but can't have Clark Griswold without Cousin Eddie. So here it is. Beautiful card despite his awful signature and yes, that is his real autograph.

Then boom! Fletch Movie autograph of Chevy Chase! I know it's not Christmas Vacation based, but I will take it.

There are definitely other autograph I can add to this from the movie, but they may have to come in many forms and maybe it will be a future project down the road. They may not be cheap.

So happy to finally own authentic autographs of these guys. Thanks Bryan!

As for the movie, I watched it four times this holiday season. Some of my favorite lines from the movie are,

"Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?"

"And why is the carpet all wet, Todddddddd?"

"Grace? She died 30 years ago!"

"Wouldn't be the holiday shopping season if the stores weren't hooter than they—hotter than they are."

"Can't see the line, can you, Russ? "

And about a million more. The whole movie is just one big quote.

I have since passed my love of this movie onto my nephew who comes home every year to watch it with me. I hope he will do the same with others.

So I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Enjoy the memories that will be made today and always make sure to take pictures to capture those moments and spend time with family and loved ones. If you find yourself bored or feeling the need to do something more on this day, go volunteer somewhere like a soup kitchen and you will appreciate the holiday even more.

  

So "Later dudes! Let 'er rip, hang ten!"