That's the One, Marv : Christmas Edition

In the Christmas classic Home Alone, burglars Harry and Marv pull up outside of the McCallister home the night before the planned heist. Gazing upon the grand residence, Harry, in awe and determination, says, “That’s the one, Marv.” 

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My husband says this all the time. Whether about guitar tone or the French press coffee, if it’s exactly what he was looking for, he’ll say, “That’s the one, Marv.” Now we both use it as a way of declaring satisfaction or something that stands out. 

It is my intention that this become a regular post - almost weekly. {Leave room for grace.} In these posts, I’ll share with you a few things I’ve encountered through the week that I consider to be the one.

You are always welcome to share your “one” with us in the comments below!

Without further ado, here are the things that made me say, “That’s the one, Marv,” the week before Christmas. 

The ONE thing I did that made my life easier this Christmas.

I did 90% of our Christmas shopping using Amazon Prime. On Wednesday morning. In my pajamas. In an hour’s time, I made a list, checked it twice, shopped, and paid. The packages arrived on Friday thanks to free 2-day shipping.

It’s not that I hate to Christmas shop. I actually enjoy it. My usual routine is to go on the first weekday morning of Christmas break and do it all in one shot. However, there are no amount of cherry Icees or red cups of Pike’s Place that could get me and two kids through a shopping trip of those proportions. 

I’ll still have one trip to take sometime in the next couple of days, but it’s nice to know that the bulk is behind me. 

The ONE movie I now have memorized.

Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas. We watched the Halloween special until midNovember - when I couldn’t take one more telling of the Legend of No-Noggin. We made the switch to “George and Christmas” and have watched it every single day since. I sing the songs constantly. I used to hum Ingrid Michaelson and Fun in my head - now it’s songs about the Man in the Yellow Hat and Christmas Monkey. Not cool. {Ok, cool in the eyes of my two year old!}

The ONE thing that’s keeping our house from burning down.

I’ve set an alarm on my phone for watering our Christmas tree. I love a live tree, but a dry tree covered in live wires is quite the fire hazard. We also have one of those long funnels that Velcros to a branch so that you can water it without laying on your belly and risking dumping 2 two quarts of water on your floor {and without getting pine needles in your hair}.

The ONE cookie that Santa is getting for Christmas.

I borrowed this recipe from Blue-Eyed Bride and it yielded the chewiest chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever made. I used dark chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet for balance, but made no other changes. Also, parchment paper is your friend. You can jump over to her site for the recipe and to see the adorable personalized aprons, chef hats, and Santa placemat she is featuring. If you just want the recipe, it’s right here.

{This is actually a graphic, so if you’re reading on your phone, just save the graphic to your photos. You can do the same on your computer. Just drag and drop onto the desktop.}

So, what about you?

What’s the ONE thing you’ve done to make your Christmas prep easier?

What’s the ONE image that’s burned into your TV screen?

What’s the ONE thing you are doing to help you remember something you usually forget?

What cookies are Santa getting from you this year?