Frog's breath?

Have I really not blogged once in March (until now)? How ridiculous of me when this, this and this have happened lately. Good thing the Mister keeps up on these things. I guess I have been kind of preoccupied. Well, anyway, here we are and here is a new blog post (and here is my resolve for a more bloggy April).

So, if you don't know by now my favorite of all movies is Nightmare Before Christmas. Back in late 1993 I went to see The Three Musketeers with my Mama and sister. Some hapless employee had mislabeled that movie as PG-13, and so my Mama changed our course to that weird Christmas movie that was only PG. I had seen the trailer at Wal-Mart once and was basically repulsed by it--oh the folly of youth! If you haven't seen it before, I so highly recommend it. It is magical and delightful. Plus then you will understand half the things I say quote. As an epilogue to that story, my Mama and sister could only come up with "Well the dog was cute" afterward, but no worries, they've found their Nightmare love since.

Anyway, my oldest brother was on his mission when Nightmare came out and when he got back he wanted to see it. Luckily he had a little sister who liked it and who happened to have enough money to buy the video on the day it was released. I guess you could say that was my first piece of Nightmare paraphernalia, and in the such and so years up to now I have acquired many more from hither and thither. Let's look at some of the highlights! Yes, the whole point of this post is to show stuff related to this thing that I have loved for so long.
I got these little guys way back in the early 90s for Christmas. I was pretty ecstatic, and even more ecstatic that the bugs in Oogie Boogie's mouth glowed in the dark. I was also still a Nightmare newb because I didn't realize Zero's nose is a jack-o-lantern and I picked off the stem thinking it was a spare bit of plastic. Even now these sit on my nightstand.
I got this beanie for Christmas in 2001 from my longtime buddy Allison. I distinctly remember wearing it when the Olympic torch runner went past my house in Provo, and I still wear it to this day! Let's not talk about how it's been almost 10 years since then...but we are still buddies, which is neat.
This came from my longtime buddy Allison's sister Leslie who is also my longtime buddy. Isn't it cute? I've bundled this up very carefully for several plane rides across the country. Snowglobes are so pretty.
You all know this fellow. He's the cutest thing in the whole apartment beside the Mister. Look at that face! I found him at Disneyland in 2008 and while I resisted him that time, when we went a few months later on our honeymoon I just had to get him. I still call him the Baby, as does the Mister because he indulges me that way.
Another thing to come from Disneyland is this cool bag I found there last October. I don't normally buy souvenirs at Disneyland because they're typically so expensive, especially for larger things like this. But the bag I used for work (and England) had a broken zipper and several holes and this had a surprisingly reasonable price tag. So I pushed it at the Mister and told him it would be a great Christmas present (and so it was). It has pockets everywhere!
If I have a particular pride and joy in my Nightmare things, it is this. My oldest brother got this for me at Disneyland for my birthday one year. He had gone to Disneyland with his wife and baby while on leave from Iraq, and my sister-in-law brought it down to Provo for me after he went back to Iraq. It always reminds me how sweet my brother is and how he thought of me and my birthday while on such a short vacation with his family. This has also been ever so carefully taken back and forth across the country, and I would cry desperately if it were ever broken.

Have I saved the best for last? Well, I have certainly saved the most unique for last. Growing up, for Valentine's Day we would each make a mailbox and then make valentines for each other. While we were in Missouri for Christmas I found a bunch of my valentines from the last few years that we did this. Just check out these creative things:
(Yes, that is an envelope made from the paper that the Jack/Sandy Claws was cut out of.)

And there they are, some of my favorite Nightmare-related possessions. I'm fond of them for their movie connection, but I'm just as fond of them for the people connection. The love! It's nice. As a side note, probably one day many of these things will be safely secured in the back of my closet or in some kind of locked trunk to keep them out of the future hooligan children's hands. But I shan't deprive the wee ones entirely--I'll just have to get these unbreakable gems.