Snow!

I'm currently in my lab, puttering so as to try and time an all day reaction so that I can run out at 2 and help set up for the grad student holiday party this afternoon. It should be my last extraction for this project! Well, DNA extraction, but not having to deal with the liquid nitrogen and chloroform makes me SO EXCITED. The fact that its snowing helps!
I am already getting quite excited for Christmas. I'll have to do some writing over the break, but a number of my friends who are studying on the West Coast will be back, and of course I'll get to do the family thing. I have an absurdly large family who I love to death (most of the time), and really the only downside I find from going away to school is that I miss a lot of events, all involving free food. As a grad student, I really like free food (I pretended to be interested in the Quebec election last night to get some free bread and fruit) and so only increases my wish to be at those events.
I'm already playing Christmas carols on my computer, and the roomie and I will be hosting people on Sunday night to do some decorating, maybe a few crafts and watch a holiday movie, while drinking spiked hot chocolate. It'll be great!
We're debating which movie to show, and it led me to thinking about my favourite holiday movies this morning, which I thought I'd share with you all...

1. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - hilarious. Utterly hilarious. My mom and I watch this every year and HOWL with laughter. The squirrel, the family, the lights.... as a grad student I also really enjoy Clark testing out his super slippery "non-nutritive cereal varnish". *Snort*

2. White Christmas - a wonderful musical from the 50s, with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. I've watched this movie every year since I was really young and can basically sing every song from memory, and used to perform the 'Sisters' routine for my family from time to time. Unfortunately, I do now know that Bing Crosby beat his children, Vera Ellen was an anorexic and wore turtlenecks to cover up a haggard looking neck and Danny Kaye was not so subtly closeted, but my inner cynic cowers before my inner softy.
Speaking of softy.... 3. Love Actually and 4. The Holiday - LOVE THESE MOVIES. They make me sigh and giggle and yet be OK that I don't currently have a boyfriend to cuddle with. Hugh Grant and Jude Law - both somewhat skeezy in real life but their respective roles in these films make me still love them. Adorable British children? Push these films both over the top from cute to classic.





And finally, 5. The Muppet Christmas Carol - its the Muppets, telling the Christmas Carol story. What more can you ask for? If you need more than that, you HAVE A HEART OF STONE.

Anyways, if you haven't seen any of these films, you simply must. Go. Now. I don't care if you're at work, or doing something actually productive *snort* but you must put it aside. Or Baby Jesus will cry. (As if I can't get through one post without snarkyness...)