a christmas story

every year on Christmas day, my little brother and i insist on watching the 'a christmas story' marathon on TBS.  i do not remember how this tradition started... or when it started... i just know that we fervently insist on the continuation of it each year.  the marathon starts at 8 pm on Christmas Eve and continues for a straight 24 hours.  even though we can quote just about every word in the movie, we still find ourselves laughing continually and glued to the TV.  this year, we actually got to watch it in HD on my parent's 52" flat screen and surround sound.  the glowing leg lamp - chinese turkey - "fa ra ra ra ra," - shoot your eye out - goodness was just as enjoyable this year as it's ever been. 

tonight, after going out to dinner, we decided to see if we could take advantage of some after Christmas sales.  while doing some browsing at barnes and noble, i spotted an 'a christmas story' monopoly game.  i, of course, grabbed it and walked very briskly to where my brother was standing to show him my find, he agreed that we HAD to buy it... so we did... and played it tonight.   

each part of the board represented a part of the movie.  the game pieces were: a bitten bar of soap, broken glasses, the 'leg lamp,' ralphie in his bunny costume, the family car with a Christmas tree on it and the 'fragile lamp leg crate.'  

while i enjoy playing monopoly, i continue to realize that it takes way too long.  in fact, i've actually never finished a game.  this time, we even tried playing the 'speed version,' and we still sat there forever.  we always give up and quit after spending hours diligently  plotting  the real-estate demise of everyone else.  it's fun... but not fun enough to keep our attention for more than 3 hours.

what about you, have you ever finished a game of monopoly?