Run Run Rudolph

Very busy today! Started out with work on the biscotti. These aren't the hard rusk-shaped cookie many of you dunk in your coffee. I roll them into candy cane and wreath shapes and cover them with sprinkles instead. They aren't hard to make - just butter, sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder. (I added almond extract as well.) They are, however, extremely rich and buttery. This, coupled with the length of time they take to roll and bake, is the reason I only make them once a year.

Ran holiday cartoons and animated specials all morning as the biscotti baked. Mickey and Donald help Santa with a problem on top of Mistletoe Mountain in the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode "Mickey Saves Santa." Max and Ruby have fun shopping with their grandmother, decorating their tree (loved the pinwheel as a tree-topper - good idea, Max!), and shoveling their sidewalk so Grandma can visit. ReRun Van Pelt desperately wants a pooch of his own in I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown. Snoopy's visiting brother Spike finally teaches the kid how hard it can be to take care of a pet. Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Scrappy rescue a group of orphans from a grouchy miser and the Ghost of Christmas Past in the early 80s episode A Nutcracker Scoob. Aaron, a bitter orphan who has turned against people after his parents are killed by robbers, is The Little Drummer Boy. He turns to the newborn baby Jesus for help when his beloved lamb is injured, and learns a lesson in faith.

When the cookies were out of the oven and loaded into containers or tins, I made a quick trip out to the Oaklyn Library for this week's volunteering. (I had planned on doing it yesterday, but a lot of things got in the way.) I organized DVDs and picture books while watching a group of little girls in ruffly, bright pink party dresses color pages of candy canes. (The girls' mother said they were on their way to a birthday party and were making a stop to drop off items.)

When I got back in, I heated up leftover lentil soup for lunch and ran a couple of winter and holiday themed classic cartoons. Toy Tinkers is Donald's only solo theatrical short set during Christmas. He and Chip and Dale get into a battle over a bowl of nuts that's far more violent than Pluto's encounter with them in Pluto's Christmas Tree.  One of Tom and Jerry's earliest shorts was a hilarious adaptation of The Night Before Christmas. The two wreck havoc on the presents as Jerry proves that this mouse is certainly stirring. Bugs Bunny has a close encounter with a baby penguin and the Eskimo chasing him in Frigid Hare. In Gift Wrapped, Sylvester is delighted when Tweety is a present for Granny. He thinks he has a ready-made snack! Granny ends up spending her holiday trying to keep Spike and Sylvester from chasing Tweety and each other.

I headed out to work a little early to get my schedule. Too early, as it turned out. I thought I was supposed to be in at 3. I wasn't really due until 5. I decided to take advantage of this and get some more things done. I grabbed flour, brown sugar, and a can of mushrooms at work, then went back to my place.

Wrapped presents while running Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. One of the stranger Rankin-Bass specials turns "Kris Kringle" into an outlaw who defies the grouchy Burgermeister Meister Burger by bringing children toys after the Burgermeister's forbidden them. Mickey Rooney is Kris. Keenan Wynn is the Winter Warlock, the initially evil sorcerer who ends up aiding Kris in the end.

Wrapping presents didn't take nearly as long to do as it has in previous years...and wouldn't have, even if I'd had the money to shop for presents. The Secret Santa on the Cape May side eliminates the need to shop for everyone over there. There were a few people I figured I wouldn't see whom I just didn't do, and I of course didn't get Uncle Ken a cookbook this year. I finished the special and the wrapping just in time to head out to work again.

It was really busy when I was in earlier, with long lines down the aisles. It was still fairly busy when I got in, but the crowds began dying as early as 6:30. By 9:30, it was pin-drop quiet. I left with no fuss.

Oh, and I got a great schedule this week, probably the best I've had since the spring. While I do work until 10 on Wednesday and Saturday, this is offset by working until 6 on Thursday and having Monday and Tuesday off.