Miracle at the New Meadowlands Stadium

I once again slept in and read books in bed this morning. When I finally got up, I made Banana-Coconut Pancakes for breakfast and listened to the Brunch With the Beatles annual holiday show. Now, the Beatles didn't make any actual Christmas albums when they were together...but they all did holiday songs solo, including Paul's "Wonderful Christmastime," John's "Happy Xmas (The War Is Over)," and a Christmas album Ringo did in 1999 featuring the bouncy "The Christmas Dance." They also ran the Beatles' Christmas recordings for their fans from several years and an album of Beatles-style Christmas classics done by a Beatles tribute band.

Started work on Peanut Butter Surprise Muffins towards the end of Brunch. They're the second of the baked goods I'm making for presents this week. The "surprise" is strawberry jam in the middle. Some of them got messy, but they mostly seem to have come out all right.

I went to Dad and Uncle Ken's around quarter of 1 for the Eagles' game. My sister Rose and her 8-month-old son Khai were already there when I arrived. Khai is getting so big! He was pretty good until halftime, when his apparently lack of sleep caught up with him and he started getting cranky. My cousin Samantha had other guests and couldn't come, but several of Dolores' children and grandchildren did, including 12-year-old Mercedes, 7-year-old Blake, and 2-year-old May.

I could only stay until half-time. I had to work at 3. At the time, it seemed like it was just as well. The Eagles played poorly in the first half and were losing badly to the Giants 24-3. I had a roast beef sandwich quickly and went back to my apartment to pick up dinner, grab my bike, and head to work.

As it turned out, I saw the wrong half of the game. About an hour or so later, a woman in my line was chatting with her husband on her iPhone...and he was screaming so loud over the last couple of plays of the 4th quarter, she had to hold it well away from her ear! Apparently, the Eagles were able to turn things around shortly after I left and eventually made a huge comeback and beat the Giants 38-31.

(I TOLD Dad not to give up on them. He was saying when I left how the game was over and the Eagles wouldn't be going to the playoffs, oh well. I hate it when he does that. Mom does it, too. You don't drop something mid-way through...and you don't give up on a game during half-time. You never know.)

After that exciting news, work was steady all night, with no major problems. I suspect a lot of people were either watching the remaining games or still at the malls.

Put on the second half of The Dress Circle when I got home. The theme for this year's Christmas show was "Christmas On TV and Radio." We heard songs from the holiday made-for-TV musicals The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood, The Gift of the Magi, and the live-action version of The Stingiest Man In Town. I also caught the last two or three minutes or so of a 20-minute radio version of A Christmas Carol featuring Ronald Coleman as Scrooge and a final Christmas greeting from Frank Sinatra in his radio days.