Balance and the Winter Storm

It was raining and snowing when I got up this morning. There was already 6 inches of snow by the time I was out of bed...and it was still coming! I ran a couple of winter-themed cartoons as I had breakfast and got ready for work. Lita's on thin ice when she falls for a gold-medal winning skater with a jealous partner who may be part of a Negaverse plot in "Ice Princess," from the first season of Sailor Moon.

The Looney Tunes deal with cold weather in two classic late 40s shorts. Bugs rescues a baby penguin from an Inuit hunter when he gets lost while on vacation in "Frigid Hare." Tweety has to dodge two hungry cats who will do anything, even chase him through the snow, to get a poultry dinner in "Putty Tat Trouble."

Rose finally drove me to work. She shoveled the porch, path, and steps. I really need to get a shovel of my own. My next door neighbor used to do it, but I guess he stopped after Miss Ellie died. The snow continued to come down, even as we rode to work. It wasn't that cold, which meant that the ride was pretty slippery.

Goes without saying that work wasn't busy today, especially in the morning, when it was still snowing. It did pick up a bit in the afternoon. I ended up spending most of the day shelving four of the seven carts filled with returns. Needless to say, half the store called out, especially anyone who lived far away. There were so few people there, the manager treated anyone who did show up to free coffee and donuts. (I went with a creme filled donut. I very rarely eat donuts, and I'm not really big on coffee.)

I figured out why it got busy when Rose picked me up at 3. By that point, the snow had vanished and was replaced by a fine, rainy mist. The roads were now just slushy, but they'd be icy after nightfall, making me glad I'd worked so early. My steps were ok when we got home, but the porch was still a slushy mess. I borrowed a shovel from my next-door neighbor and shoveled a path across the porch to my door. When I finished that, I did two paths to the mail box for the mail man and Andrew.

(I also discovered why the steps and porch haven't been shoveled. When I returned the shovel to my neighbor, she told me Andrew hired an unfamiliar man to shove the path. That would explain it. He probably told the guy to just shovel the path, but forgot that wasn't the only thing I'd be walking on. I really need to pick up my own shovel when they start restocking snow removal items after the storm again. I should be doing this myself.)

Spent the rest of the day inside. When I got in, I did some at-home yoga. Put on my two-disc album of music from the movies of the late Shirley Temple to cheer me up on a gloomy day. I didn't have the book I took out of the library, so I did all the moves I could remember from class.

When Shirley ended, I switched to Sing the Hit Songs From Sesame Street as I worked on that positive music project for Mrs. Stahl. I bought this 1974 record a couple of years ago, but never got around to listening to it until now. Needless to say, it features some of the earliest songs associated with the show, like "Sing" and "C Is for Cookie," and yes, "Rubber Duckie." I don't know how kids nowadays would enjoy it, but I recalled a lot of fond memories. (For the record, my favorite Sesame Street character has always been good ol' Bert.)

I had leftover chicken soup for dinner, then worked on crocheting another dish rag while watching Mame. This adaptation of the musical from the early 70s puts Lucile Ball in the role of Auntie Mame, the madcap New York dillitante for whom every day is a new adventure. When she adopts her nephew Patrick, she takes it on herself to show him all the fun and delights of the Big Apple in the Roaring 20s. Even the Great Depression doesn't stop Mame; she just marries a handsome southern millionaire (Robert Preston). Mame is taken aback when Patrick grows up and claims he wants to marry a snobbish young woman from an obnoxious and bigoted family. Mame turns to her friend Vera Charles (Beatrice Arthur) and maid Agnes (Jane Connell) to show Patrick that life really can be a banquet when you open up your eyes to new people and experiences.

A lot of critics have problems with this one, complaining about the soft focus photography and Ball being miscast. I think she's fine, especially during the fox hunt after she's met the southerner's family. The hilarious "Bosom Buddies" number, with her and Arthur sniping at each other, is worth the DVD purchase alone.