GOOD TIMING

Tomorrow night is hubby's company Christmas party (yes, Thursday; yes, weird), complete with free food and an open bar. Naturally, I'm coming down with a darned cold today. How am I supposed to look all hot and sexy with a runny nose and watery eyes?

Despite the fact that all I want to do is snuggle up on the sofa in front of the fire with a hot cup of tea, I have actually gotten some stuff accomplished today: I cleaned up the kitchen, complete with sweeping and mopping and dusting and polishing the cherry-wood table. Of course I do all this every day [ahem, cough cough], so really, no biggie.

Oh, I have also finished cooking dinner already. I made Heinz 57 Soup*, which is hearty and delicious. I'm pretty sure it will make my stuffed-up self feel much better. I do have to make some cornbread to go along with it, but that should be pretty easy.

I also put the finishing touches on the Christmas decorations. Last weekend, my MIL gave us a cute little metal scrollwork tree, about two feet tall. Today I covered it with shiny and matte gold balls and three bunches of silk poinsettias. It looked good, but I decided it needed a skirt. Not having any extra Christmas tree skirts on hand, I went to the drawers of my china cabinet and pulled out several green placemats. I spread them around and set the tree on top, and voila! The tree is now fully dressed. And it looks nice, too, if I do say so myself.

Last night the family watched "Miracle on 34th Street" (the original version with young Natalie Wood). That may be my favorite Christmas movie of all time. Wait, actually I think it's tied with "A Christmas Story," which I also love. Rudolph and Frosty and all those are good, too, but give me a good live-action holiday movie and I'm a happy girl.

So what are your favorite Christmas movies? I need to know if I'm missing any good ones!
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*Recipe for super-easy Heinz 57 soup:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 large (family-size) can vegetable soup
1 can Ranch Style Beans (optional)
1 bottle Heinz 57 sauce

Brown beef, then add rest of ingredients and heat through. Serve with jalapeno pepper slices, if you like it spicy (I will definitely be doing this!).