Worst Wait

Advent has to be one of the best times of the year. The waiting, centering on the meaning of the season, and all that goes with it. Waiting for Advent is worse for me than waiting for Christmas.

I'm trying my best not to give in. It's supremely difficult, with stores and ads and preparations and my deep, deep love, to hold out until it's time. I don't know how much longer I can wait. 

My name is Amanda, and I'm a winter holiday movie addict. I'd watch them year round if my family would allow me. I usually have a "Christmas in July" movie marathon, but somehow didn't this year. It's been over ten months since I watched a winter holiday-themed movie. I might die. 

I have to admit that this addiction may be the major reason I can barely wait for Advent. I have a little over a week to wait and then you won't see me until the New Year, as I'll be in bed with hot chocolate or hot cider watching movie after movie. Just watching the movies in my Netflix queue will take a month. 

We watch our first movie on Thanksgiving night ... A Muppet Christmas Carol. Speaking of which, I'm in a slight panic because the book of Christmas movie dvds has disappeared. We can't find it anywhere. I'm freaking out just a little. I must pack them for our annual journey to Pennsylvania to spend Thanksgiving with my in-laws. 

In my house, you won't find many Christmas decorations ... usually some lights around the inside of the dining room windows (ok, I think they're still up from last year), our Advent spiral, our homemade Christmas tree and the kids' stockings. Oh, and the nativity scene(s). How many we put up depends on how much space we can find to display them. And then there are the Mary holding baby Jesus figures that adorn my walls and bookcase year round. They count, too, right?

What you will find are the sounds of the holidays. If a movie isn't playing (gasp!), there's holiday music wafting through the house. Laughter abounds as the children put too much decorating sugar on the sugar cookies and build a Christmas tree out of framed and unframed photos from the past year. Whispers scurry after children putting together gifts and doing good deeds in secret as "Christmas Angels" for their sibling or parent. The Word rings out each morning and evening as we put aside time at least twice each day to wait, to prepare, and to center ourselves in Advent. 

I love Christmas Movies Advent and can barely wait for it to begin!