A Whopper of a Tail

It was a dark and stormy Christmas morning. Little Peabody sat near the local creek. He was very distraught. It was his brother Ray's first Christmas and Peabody couldn't figure out what to get him as a gift. Ray had no money and wasn't very good at making his own gifts. As he sat by the creek the stress of the moment took over and tears began to fill his eyes.

As Peabody was rubbing his eyes he noticed some movement in the creek. He couldn't believe his eyes as a giant fish rose up out of the water and began walking on his tail to the shore. Frozen with shock, Peabody sat in amazement as the giant fish walked up to him. Peabody asked the fish, "What are you doing here?" The fish answered, "I am Stanley, the Christmas fish. I sensed that you had a problem and wonder if I can help".

Peabody composed himself enough to explain his situation to Stanley. "Nobody should go their first Christmas without a great gift", said Stanley. "I have an idea. I will provide a fishing rod and reel for Ray". "Won't that make it easier for you and your family to get caught", asked Peabody. "Actually, it will probably make it more difficult for us to get caught. Think of all the extra fishing time spent getting Ray's snags out. Picture all the times that Ray's line gets tangled with yours and keeps you from catching us. It really is an ideal situation", replied Stanley.

Peabody couldn't control his excitement. "Let's go give it to him right now!", he exclaimed. Stanley said, " I don't think I should go with you." "But you have to.", cried Peabody. "Nobody will ever believe my story if you don't come." "Very well.", said Stanley and they headed off to see Ray. The people in town were surprised at the sight of Peabody and his new friend. They had never seen a fish so large. Nor had they seen one who could walk and talk. And even stranger, was the fact that the fish was carrying a rod and reel. Whispers spread around town about the possibly cannibalistic fish rapidly. By the time Peabody arrived at his home a large crowd of his extended family was waiting for him. They had already heard the rumors of the Christmas fish.

Stanley went in to Peabody's home and Ray instantly began crying. He had never seen a fish so big and hadn't learned how to control himself. As Stanley got closer he extended his fin and offered the new fishing set-up to Ray. He told Ray, "Don't go catching any of my family." Ray stopped his crying and smiled at his new gift. Ray's happiness made Stanley grin from gill to gill. It was a Christmas miracle. As Ray grew up he promised himself that he would only catch-and-release when he went fishing.

The legend of the Christmas fish spread across the land and there were many sightings on Christmas day. For many families he has been known to show up on a child's first Christmas to offer them a rod and reel and say, "Don't go catching any of my family." And so, Stanley has brought joy to many. He wishes you and yours a merry Christmas and hopes that you will get hooked with holiday cheer.

Cue The Little Drummer Boy

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the music. It isn't uncommon to find me listening to "Christmas" music throughout the whole year (Feliz Navidad was my ring tone for over a year), but the play list gets major rotation throughout the holidays. I enjoy discovering new songs each year and hearing various artists cover the classics. If you haven't muted my music player at the bottom of the page, then you have been privileged to experience great holiday music. It seems like I have a new favorite each year. And so, by popular demand, I present you with my top 10 holiday songs to listen to in 2009 (All of which can be found in the play list at the bottom of the page):

10. Funky, Funky Christmas - Electric Jungle: This was the first year I experienced this song. Everyone knows that Christmas could use a little more funk and this song provides it.

9. Merry Christmas Darling - The Carpenters: I think I might be the only person my age that likes the Carpenters, but they do a great job of covering the Christmas classics. This happens to be my current favorite of all their great Christmas songs.

8. Alien for Christmas - Fountains of Wayne: Speaking of the Carpenters, my favorite Carpenter song is Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft. So, it is only appropriate that aliens make my Christmas list. We have been listening to this song for quite a few years, but it doesn't seem to get old. Who wouldn't want an alien for Christmas?

7. Christmas Day - Dido: Interestingly enough, Dido was born on Christmas day. This song has nothing to do with her birth, but her voice is unique and this song is smooth on the ears.

6. Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas - The Eels: This was the first year I have heard this song. I like the Eels, although they may be confused about why Baby Jesus was born (they think it was to rock).

5. The Lights and Buzz - Jack's Mannequin: This was my favorite song last Christmas. Being a Californian, the chorus is pretty catchy. The story behind this song makes it even more interesting. Here is what wikipedia has to say about it:

It is the first song frontman Andrew McMahon wrote and recorded after his stem cell transplant in connection with his leukemia diagnosis in late 2005. The song's lyrics are heavily influenced by his recovery from the disease, indicated in lines like "I'm coming home from my hardest year" and "It's good to be alive". With a rather depressive holiday theme, a lush piano accompaniment and seemingly less emphasis on the vocals, the song stands, both musically and thematically, in contrast to the uplifting summer feel of McMahon's 2005 album Everything in Transit.

4. What Christmas Means to Me - Stevie Wonder: Stevie Wonder is awesome, and this is my favorite of his Christmas songs. I think a few commercials have influenced me though.

3. It Doesn't Have to Be That Way - Jim Croce: A classic story of lost love at Christmas. I wonder if he is talking about Leroy Brown.

2. Christmas Must Be Tonight - Hall and Oates: They were one of my favorite bands growing up. They cover some great Christmas songs, but this is by far my favorite. I don't know how I hadn't heard this one until this year. The lyrics reflect the true meaning of Christmas.

...............and now, the moment you've all been waiting for. My #1 Christmas song to hear in 2009 is (that's where you come in little drummer boy).

Elf's Lament - Barenaked Ladies: Everyone likes bare naked ladies, and the band is pretty o.k. too. I hadn't heard this song until this year. We play it a lot in the car and the kids always request it (probably making it Mrs. Mustachio's least favorite). When we think about everything to do with the holidays, it seems as though the elves become an afterthought. Poor elves. Here is a video of a live performance. Do you have any favorite Christmas songs? How about sharing?

Christmas Miracles

In the past I have mentioned my dislike of getting Christmas trees. In years past, Mrs. Mustachio has been pretty particular about the tree. I have come to expect spending a large amount of time at the tree lot cutting the twine, unwrapping the tree and shaking it out for her to observe and reject. But this year was different.I pulled out the first tree.

I cut the twine and unwrapped it.
I shook it out and held it up expecting to hear the many things that were wrong with it. But then a miracle happened. Mrs. Mustachio said, "That's the tree." I'll be honest, it threw me for a loop. At first I was expecting to hear her say psyche. When that didn't happen I started to worry a bit. There could only be a few possible reasons for her agreeing to the very first tree:
1. It was too "cold" to bear waiting for me to unwrap another tree.
2. Mrs. Mustachio has done something horribly wrong and is trying to butter me up before breaking the bad news.
3. Mrs. Mustachio is planning on doing something horribly wrong and is trying to earn a get-out-of-the-doghouse-free card before she does.
4. It was actually a good tree (highly doubtful).
So, I am pretty much waiting for Mrs. Mustachio to tell me what she did wrong.

Bodie enjoyed the snowman at the tree lot.

Madison did too.

And here is the tree standing in our home.

This holiday season has gone uncharacteristically smooth. I will share a few examples with you.
We got all the decorations up pretty early this year. Here are a couple of my favorites.

If you look into our kitchen window, you will see a major award.

This is probably my favorite of our Christmas displays (The Padres snowman comes in a close 2nd). It is Santa paying respect to Baby Jesus (although, I don't remember that part in the bible) as the 3 budwisemen(they are made out of Budweiser bottles) look on.

We were able to make a trip to Disneyland on Monday and the kids got to see Santa.

Bodie wasn't too sure of the whole experience.Madison has been very scared of Santa in years past, but overcame the fear during her wait in line. She isn't crying for the first time that I can remember.Geronimo asked for a football.And Skyler asked for a hula hoop.

It was a good quick trip and we knocked a couple things off our Christmas traditions list. I currently have only one gift left to get, and that will be easy. Most other preparations (that I am responsible for) have been completed. A Christmas Story has been watched, we took our family Christmas pictures and we will be heading out to see the DWP Light Festival on Monday. Feel free to call if you want to join us. So, this holiday season has been surprisingly smooth compared to what I expected. Hopefully I didn't just jinx it. Hope you are enjoying Hanuka!

Humbug!

I may have mentioned this before, but Christmas is not one of my favorite holidays. It requires me to use time that could be wisely spent finding a cure for (fill in the disease that means most to you here) or sleeping for a lot of other things. I know that when all is said and done I enjoy the final results of all the labor that goes in to celebrating Christmas, but getting to that point isn't exactly a marshmallow world. I like the kids getting excited about gifts and decorating the tree. The threat of talking to Santa gets a lot more done around that house than the rest of the year too. I don't like trying to find a parking space in order to get those gifts. And getting a tree ranks high on my list of things I would pay somebody else to do if I had the money. I like having family traditions like watching Ralphie be warned about shooting his eye out. I enjoy eating delicious ham. My ears smile when the sound of Christmas music fills them. I sometimes worry that the true meaning of Christmas gets overlooked (not that Christmas is being celebrated at the correct time of year). However, I think Mrs. Mustachio and I do a pretty good job of reminding the children that Santa wasn't born in a barn. We also make it a point to try and do something nice for other people. In the past we have written letters to people away from their families for Christmas and we always make plates of goodies and ding-dong ditch some unsuspecting victims. This year the wife has something planned called "The 12 Days of Christmas". I don't know what it is or where we are going to put the many bird cages, but I look forward to it happening. I recently watched an episode of 90210 where Steve Sanders sinks a half-court shot for $10,000 at a Laker game and then proceeds to donate the money to a less fortunate elementary school at which he played Santa the previous Christmas. I hope to be as great as a philanthropist as Steve Sanders someday, but for now I will just have to stick with doing the best we can. I wonder what other people do to serve others during the holidays.

Killer Christmas

Every year The Killers put out a new song for Christmas with proceeds benefiting a charity. Here is this years song (and yes that is Pimp Dylan):

The Year Before, I Gave You My Kidney

Do You Have an Idea?

Do You Have a Cold?

Chillin and Coolin Just Like a Snowman