Baby, It's Cold Outside!

I awoke to literally freezing upper 20s temperatures in Southern New Jersey and brisk 40-mile-an-hour winds. Spent a little time in bed before finally dragging myself out for oatmeal for breakfast.

Lauren and I are working on a Bowery Boys Christmas Carol fanfic, so I ran various versions of A Christmas Carol all day. Did Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol during breakfast. The very first network animated special is best-known for a lovely score by Broadway's Jules Styne and Robert Merril, including the ballad "Winter Was Warm" and the Cratchits' rousing anthem "We'll Have the Brightest Christmas."

After breakfast, I bundled up in my big black coat and the knitted stocking cap Mom made me several years ago, hopped on the bike, and headed for the Haddon Township Library for this week's volunteering session. It was cold and very windy in the park. Needless to say, I saw no children in the playground, dog-walkers, or joggers today. The only people in the park besides me were Canadian geese and fat ducks having a mid-morning snack.

The Library wasn't terribly busy when I arrived, not surprising, given the cold day. I did help a little girl and her mother find a Callieu DVD. I also shelved adult DVDs and returned childrens' books. I took out Barbie In A Christmas Carol to continue the Dickens theme I had going (and because it was the only Christmas DVD I could find in the library).

Went across the street after leaving the library. Made a quick stop at Dollar Tree for an anniversary card for Mom and Bill-Dad (their big day is the 16th) and to restock my Christmas cards.

After I left Dollar Tree, I went a few doors down to the Bagel Shop for lunch. It was around quarter after 1. The kids were gone, but there were plenty of nurses on break from various local hospitals and other professionals on their way to or from work there. There was a long table filled with the Bagel Shop's cookie trays and boxes in the front of the stores. It looked very festive. I had a nice, hot bowl of beef chili and a toasted honey-oat bagel for lunch. It was really good, nice and warm and not too spicy.

Headed for home after lunch. I spent the next hour running Barbie In A Christmas Carol and making the dough for the Peanut Butter Cookies. I rented Barbie's Christmas Carol last year as well, though not this close to the holidays. Mattel's Scrooge is a spoiled singer named Eden Starling who insists the performers in her variety show stay and rehearse during Christmas Day, which doesn't make her very popular. She couldn't give a fig...until three ghosts appear and make her change her mind. One of the better Barbie In/As specials; I love the much-improved CGI animation, including some of Eden's hilarious facial expressions.

Went for a walk around the neighborhood while the dough was chilling. I love how festive Oaklyn gets around holidays. Many houses had wreaths on their doors. Others had elaborate light displays. Some had inflatable figures or older ones made of hard plastic. A smattering of houses had menorahs in the windows. I loved the one with the Mr. Potato Head toy among what appeared to be Hummel figurines in the big picture window. Stopped at WaWa and bought low-fat French Vanilla cappuccino and orange juice to make cranberry-orange muffins later.

Spent the rest of the evening making Peanut Butter Cookies and Cranberry-Orange Muffins and watching the 1951 British Christmas Carol with character actor Alistair Sim and The Muppets' Christmas Carol. Other than an expanded past sequence, the '51 Christmas Carol is about as straight of a version as you can get. The Muppets add a hilarious Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat as the narrators/guides, not to mention talking vegetables. Michael Caine is their Scrooge; Kermit and Miss Piggy are the Cratchits.

Finished the night with Bugs Bunny's Christmas Tales while I had salmon, mashed sweet potatoes, applesauce, and steamed broccoli for dinner. This early 80s special is made up of three new shorts, the first of which is a short version of A Christmas Carol. Yosemite Sam is Scrooge. Porky Pig is Bob Cratchit. Bugs is Nephew Fred...but he takes it upon himself to give Sam Scrooge a Dickens of a time by appearing as a ghost and scaring him into changing his ways!

(Incidentally, a much longer Looney Tunes version of A Christmas Carol came out a few years ago, with Daffy as Scrooge and Porky Pig once again taking the Bob Cratchit role. I haven't seen it, but it's much easier to find than Christmas Tales, which I believe is only on DVD as part of the Looney Tunes Gold Collection Volume 5.)