Christmas Is Family

The front-end managers at the Acme called me in early for the second day in a row. In fact, the first thing I heard this morning after I opened my eyes was the phone ringing next to my bed. (I'd put it somewhere else, but the only land phone line in the entire apartment is in my bedroom.) They wanted me to come in right away, but it was 7:30, and I was working at 9:30. This time, I just went in when I was originally supposed to. I didn't feel like rushing around early.

On the other hand, I understood why the called me. Even when I went in at 9:30, it was really busy, and remained that way all day. The lines were only just starting to clear out when I finished around 2:30. Thank goodness my relief was a little early. I went to bed late last night and had been jolted up early this morning and was dead tired. I bought things I'll need for cookies later in the week - sugar, maraschino cherries, and coconut - and headed home.

When I got in, I put everything away, changed into a red turtleneck shirt, grabbed my purse, and went right back out again. I needed to go to the bank to deposit my paycheck. I didn't have much left in my checking account, certainly not enough to pay my bills this week.

The day was still freezing cold, but it was sunny and clear and far less windy than yesterday. It was such a nice day, I went for a walk to WaWa after leaving the bank. As I strolled down the White Horse Pike, I saw a quartet of teenage girls in Santa Claus hats laughing and skipping along and people on bikes, carrying packages and heading home for their weekend supper. Stopped at WaWa and bought Candy Cane Hot Chocolate, then headed home, passing families working on their outdoor Christmas decorations on the way.

I called Mom when I got home, the first time I have in weeks. Got Dad at first, but he had a bad cold and didn't really sound up to talking. Mom was tired but generally better. She'd had a long week; in addition to crowds at Michael's that matched the ones at the Acme here, my brother is involved in his school band and a local string band and was in two parades and a concert this week. Mom was apparently so busy, she hasn't really gotten much done with Christmas yet. I imagine she'll be fine by the time we actually get to Christmas; she always is.

After I got off with Mom, I made Tomato-topped Meatloaf and Honey-Glazed Carrots from the January issue of Prevention Magazine and listened to some of my kids-oriented Christmas CDs and cassettes. A lot of people are probably familiar with the famous John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together album, but my Looney Tunes Christmas cassette is less well-known. It's a recent album - I bought it from the Wildwood CVS around 2003 - so the Toons aren't voiced by the same people as in the classic cartoons. Some of the material's still funny, though. I especially like the opening "We Wish You A Merry Christmas (And a Looney New Year!)," Daffy's "All I Want For Christmas (Is More, More, More)" and "The Halle-Looney Chorus."