Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Snow Day Surprises

I expected to wake up to snow on the ground with more coming down. The National Weather Service said it was supposed to snow all early morning and into the afternoon. What I saw outside was about 2 inches of new snow...and clouds. The snow had ended by 7, much to everyone's surprise. There didn't look like there had been any rain, either.

I still called Rose for a ride to work. I wasn't sure what the roads were like, or what they'd be like later. Rose did drive me, but she also reminded me that she's hoping to get a full-time job with a law firm soon and won't always be able to haul me around. I need to figure out alternative transportation besides rides, walking, and the bike.

Work was very, very quiet for almost the entire day. Good thing, because I ran out so fast, I forgot my uniform shirt! I was still wearing the blue long-sleeved t-shirt I wore this morning. I had to borrow a new work shirt. That was not only the worst that happened today, but the most that happened. I spent almost the entire afternoon either doing returns or standing around. By the time the evening rush hour began and it started to pick up, I was on my way out.

When I stepped out of the Acme, I found a very different world from the one I saw at 9AM. Some of my customers mentioned it got really warm, into the mid-40s. They were right. It was so warm, I barely needed my coat, never mind the earmuffs and scarf. The sun was shining, and the snow was melting, including what we got this morning.

Rose drove me home again, after a stop at a very busy TD Bank for her to make some deposits. When I got in, I went right to the mail box. Yes, the package from American Girl had finally arrived! There were two other smaller packages as well. I hauled all three upstairs. Good thing the stairs are always the first place the snow melts from in the winter. They're in direct sunlight. There was no snow left of the stairs at all, and no snow or ice left around my door.

I opened the smaller packages before tackling the big one. One was Kit's Cooking Studio, the fourth and last American Girl "Cooking Studio" I want to buy. (I'd like to get Addy and Kirsten's cookbooks, but I don't think they ever received the hardback upgrades.) The other was the 1982 version of The Scarlet Pimpernel with Jane Seymour, Anthony Andrews, and Ian McKellen. I rented the video as a young teen and loved it, but never saw it again until it was re-released on DVD and I found it listed on Amazon.

The big item, of course, was my new doll. She is my first, and probably last, doll purchased directly from AG. I never bought one new before because they're expensive, but I got an exceptionally good tax return and didn't really need a ton of other things. She's one of the modern dolls, #58, and she's adorable. I named her Whitney McKinley and bought her the new Sparkle Sequin Outfit for Valentine's Day. Here's a photo story on her arrival, from the point of view of my other dolls:

Welcome Whitney!

After I cleaned up from the photo shoot, I made use of the new hangers I bought with Whitney to pull out the dolls' Christmas dresses and coats and get them on the pewter rack where I keep most of their clothes. The shirt and skirt Whitney came in and Molly's Miss Victory Tap Costume were moved to the separates dresser. Most of what was in the yellow crate went into the gray plastic container.

Ran The Scarlet Pimpernel as I organized and had leftover Chicken Vegetable Soup for dinner. A combination of the original Scarlet Pimpernel novel and the fourth book El Dorado, we once again have clever French actress Marguerite St. Just (Seymour) falling for seemingly ditzy Brit Sir Percy Blakeney (Andrews), only for him to push her away after they're married. Meanwhile, everyone wants to know who the daring Scarlet Pimpernel and his men are. Chauvelain (McKellen) would especially like to know. The League of the Pimpernel keeps snatching aristocrats out from under his nose. He's determined to make sure that the Pimpernel doesn't succeed in rescuing the little Dauphin, the heir to the throne of France. The Pimpernel is equally determined to see that the child is safe and out of France.

Still a lot of fun today, this is probably the definitive version of Pimpernel. Others, including the 1934 Leslie Howard version and a later TV show, aren't as detailed, passionate, or close to the original books. Andrews in particular is marvelous as Blakeney himself. Look around for this on DVD or cable if you're a fan of the books, the cast, or swashbucklers in general.

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