Raining In the Holidays

I had a lot to do today. It was showering when I got up this morning, but as I headed out around quarter of ten, the rain had seemed to putter to a sprinkle. I'm probably not going to have the time (or decent weather) the rest of the week for library volunteering, so I made two stops today. Did the Oaklyn Library first. I organized the DVDs, rearranged the young adult series, checked the kids' picture books, and pulled any remaining books on Thanksgiving for displays.

Thankfully, the weather held out as I made my way to the Haddon Township Library. Needless to say, the only people out in the dripping wet Newton River Park were Canadian geese poking around for an early lunch and a lone jogger ignoring the weather. It was just starting to rain again as I pulled up to the library and locked my bike at the thick u-shaped bike rack near the back door.

There was a bit more to do at Haddon Township than there was last week. I had a nice stack of both kids' and adults' DVDs to return, and there were some non-fiction DVDs that needed to go back, too. I went through all of the adult DVDs, removing children's and foreign titles that were shelved improperly. I put away a good-sized pile of children's picture books. Took out four titles for myself - Dora's Christmas Carol Adventure (I don't normally rent Dora the Explorer, but how can I resist her version of A Christmas Carol?), the Angelina Ballerina Christmas special that I rented last November, the musical biography With a Song In My Heart, and Catch Me If You Can again (I didn't get to it last week).

My next stop was the Dollar Tree across the street. I needed rubber bands (I discovered last week that mine had become brittle and hard), sponges, and a card for my sister Rose to congratulate her for passing the Bar. I also ended up buying three board books for Rose's 1 1/2-year-old son Khai for Christmas.

I had lunch at the Westmont Bagel Shoppe. Kept things simple with a toasted whole wheat bagel with nothing on it and a bowl of spicy beef chili. It was 1:30 by the time I was eating my chili. The high school kids and nurses were long gone. It was just me, The Chew on ABC, my bowl and bagel, and one other person enjoying their meal.

My luck ran out with the weather. The rain was coming down at a pretty fair clip as I left the Bagel Shop. I just shrugged and rode home. There wasn't much I could do about the weather. I wanted to get things done, and I couldn't put them off. I got a bit damp, but not soaked.

My timing was perfect. Less than 20 minutes after I got in, it started raining harder, and has continued raining hard for the rest of the day. I changed into dry clothes and worked on things for Thanksgiving and around the apartment.

First on the to-do list was the Cinnamon Strusel Bread to bring to my parents' house for Thanksgiving. Keefe loves that bread. It's just the Pilsbury Cinnamon Strusel bread mix made the way the box says, except I exchange the water for buttermilk for some extra tang and moistness. I started making Pilsbury bread mixes back in college, when I wanted to bring something home for Thanksgiving, but didn't have the time or the room in the stove in Stockton's dorms for anything elaborate. I now make the Cranberry Bread from scratch, but the Cinnamon Bread continues to be a mix.

I ran Dora's Christmas Carol Adventure as I finished the bread and started cleaning the bathroom. Dora and her pals are gearing up for their Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) Party when Swiper the Fox does what he usually does...swipe their gifts. Santa's not thrilled with him doing this on Christmas and puts him on his "naughty" list. For once, Dora feels bad for Swiper and offers to help him change his ways by showing him how he acted in the past...and what may happen to her, him, and their friends in the future if he doesn't learn to share.

As fond as I am of the Dora characters (especially big blue Benny the Bull), the show itself can be dull for adults without kids to watch, since it's an interactive program that involves endless repetition. This one, however, was a bit different. For one thing, I don't believe Dora has ever attempted anything quite like time travel before. For another, Map (and his annoying voice) comes into play only briefly at the end, and Backpack is never seen at all. The repetition is downplayed as well. It doesn't really have much to do with Christmas Carol, but it is a nice recent Dora special and an interesting way to discuss a child's stages of growth, from baby through pre-teen, with very young kids.

I put off finishing the bathroom to go online for my appointment with representatives of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Though I did end up applying, I really don't think I'll be taking classes there. They didn't understand that I'm not interested in becoming a student. I just want to take a few small non-credit classes to learn about business and web writing and upgrade my web design skills. All three of the people who talked to me were very nice and extremely helpful, but I think they're more interested in serious art students. They're also expensive. The one class that looked useful, Internet Marketing, cost at least 3 to 5,000 dollars more than similar classes at Stockton and Temple/Camden County College.

When I did finally finish the bathroom, I started Chicken Legs Poached in Lemon-Wine Sauce and steamed Brussels sprouts and cauliflower for dinner and watched the first half of Babes In Toyland. I always watch the Disney live-action version of this venerable musical fantasy in mid-late November, as it's probably the closest I'll get to seeing a British pantomime without leaving this side of the pond.

Unlike the 1986 TV movie, this is straight fantasy. Mary Quite Contrary (Annette Funicello) is engaged to marry Tom Piper (Tom Sands), but wicked Barnaby (Ray Bolger, having a grand time) wants her money...and is determined to get Tom out of the way. He hires lackeys to get Tom out of the way. Tom finds his way back, and he, Mary, and Mary's siblings end up in Toyland when they get lost in the Forest of No Return. They end up helping the bumbling Toymaker (Ed Wynn) and his nerdy assistant Grumio (Tommy Kirk) with making the toys for Christmas...but the toys themselves may help in another way when Barnaby follows them.

A lot of people prefer the Laurel and Hardy Babes, but I think this one is just as much fun. If nothing else, we get some nice numbers, including Bolger's solo "Castle In Spain" dance, the villains' hilarious "And We Won't Be Happy 'Til We Get It," and Funicello's imaginative "I Can't Do the Sum."