Believe In the Magic of Christmas

I had a lot to do today on this, my only other day off besides Christmas Eve. I began with a fairly early run to the laundromat. It was very quiet when I came in around quarter after 10, just me, an older woman, and Let's Make a Deal. It got much busier later on, but by that time, my clothes were already in the dryer.

When I arrived home, I put everything away and headed right back out again. I wanted to get to the Haddon Township Library to return the DVDs and donate videos. I rode through Newton River Park. It was a gloomy, chilly day. It showered lightly on-and-off all day long, not enough to keep me at home...but enough to at least make me damp. There were only a few people in the park, strolling along with umbrellas, but the ducks and Canadian geese were very happy.

Stopped at Wendy's for lunch. I tried their Baja salad this time, with a potato with chives and a little bit of butter spread and a small cup of chilli. The salad came with a spicy Jalapeno dressing, seasoned tortilla strips, and sour cream...all of which I left off. I don't do spicy. Alas, without the condiments, the salad was pretty much just cheese, lettuce, a dollop of guacamole, and tomato bits. The nice, warm chilli and the filling potato were much better. I felt so cozy, enjoying a warm lunch in the prettily-decorated building. Despite it being about 1PM, it wasn't terribly busy. I think the McDonald's next door gets a lot of the families, thanks to their indoor playground. Most of Wendy's customers seem to be elderly people, executives on their way to work, and high schoolers looking for a better-tasting meal than the one in their cafeteria. Shame, because I like their food and prices much better than McDonald's.

Pushed my bike up the hill to the Haddon Township Library after lunch. They were very busy, but they also had quite a bit of help. I did shelve and organize the children's DVDs, easy readers, and some picture books. I didn't take any DVDs or books out myself this week. I have plenty of Christmas movies to watch, and probably will be getting more this weekend. I did find a really cute paperback novelization of Mickey's Christmas Carol in the book sale section, though.

Went straight home after leaving the library. I took the shorter route down Cuthbert Road. Cuthbert is one of the busiest streets in the whole county, and it takes me a while to cross. When I did finally arrive, there was a large box from my best friend Lauren Miller waiting for me. I carried it upstairs and put it aside until I went online.

Spent the rest of the rainy afternoon and evening baking bread and cupcakes and watching Christmas movies. Two of my favorite holiday comedies involve the existence of Santa and the importance of faith and kindness. The original Miracle on 34th Street from 1947 concerns a young female executive (Maureen O'Hara) who is dismayed when the Santa she just hired for Macy's insists that he's the real deal. She doesn't believe in fantasies like Santa and reindeer, and doesn't want her daughter (Natalie Wood in her child-star days) believing in them, either. When Santa defends a young man who enjoys giving out gifts from the troubled store psychologist, he accuses the old man of being violent. A kind-hearted lawyer (John Payne) takes it on himself to prove to a skeptical New York court that Santa Claus is alive and well in the hearts of children...and jaded Manhattanites...everywhere.

Ernest Saves Christmas is a somewhat less-conventional variation on the same theme. Good-natured but dim-witted Ernest P. Worrell (Jim Varney) finds himself helping Santa Claus seek his replacement on Christmas Eve. If they can't convince the man Santa has selected to take the job, the magic of Christmas will fade away forever! Meanwhile, Ernest has his hands full dealing with a tough-minded young teen runaway who cares about no one but herself, not to mention driving Santa's sleigh!

Miracle is pretty much required Christmas viewing. Edmund Gwen won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as Santa. If you've ever wanted to check out Varney's long-running series of Ernest vehicles, Ernest Saves Christmas is one of the better ones and not a bad place to start. Ernest driving Santa's sleigh is hilarious. Miracle is easily available in several DVD versions. Ernest is out of print, but used DVD stores and some online stores like Amazon may still have it.

I had tacos and green beans for dinner, took a quick shower, and then went online. When Lauren came on, I opened my gifts from  her. Most of what she gave me were DVDs to replace the videos I wasn't able to dub (including Ernest Saves Christmas). I also got a Beatles tote bag, my first iPod Nano (to replace the portable MP3 player that died last year - Lauren is an Apple Computers devotee), the American Girl Samantha Mystery The Stolen Sapphire, and the adorable WebKinz Arctic Polar Bear. His name will be Whitey - another BoweryKinz. She also gave me gift cards from eBay, FYE (on a huge card in the shape of a credit card), Barnes & Noble, Macy's, and JCPenney's. Lauren is the best best friend anyone ever had. I can't believe she bought me all that. She's truly wonderful. :)

Oh, and the Cranberry-Orange Bread and Candy Cane Cupcakes both came out splendidly. The cupcakes will be split between several people. The bread will go to my neighbors.