Last Game of the Season

Started out the day with two soundtracks I bought this year. One, The Roaring 20s, was an LP I found at a yard sale a few months ago. Dorothy Provine sings medleys of hit songs from the 1920s, taken from the 60s TV cop show of the same name. I picked up Frozen as a Christmas present to myself in early January. Though "Let It Go" is my favorite number from this and is by far the best-known song, there's some other lovely tunes as well. "Love Is An Open Door" is fun if you don't know what comes later (or what Hans is really after), and there's the heartbreaking "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" and Olaf the Snowman's tour-de-force "In Summer."

It rained while I made delicious Coconut Pecan Pancakes for breakfast. By the time I was heading out to work, the rain was long gone. Even so, it was still dead this morning. A lot of people were buying food for birthday or late holiday parties, and the Eagles-Giants game (last game of the season for both teams) was at 1. It started picking up right before the game and remained steady for the rest of the evening. My relief was right on time, and there were no major problems getting out.

It was still cloudy, damp, and cool but not cold for this time of year when I headed home. I changed into regular pants, picked up Rose and Khai's Christmas gifts, and went to Dad's. Jodie came through my line at work and invited me to watch the game with them. As it turned out, Mark and I were the only ones who came. Everyone else was either sick or still busy with holiday plans. (Vanessa was getting her hair done, which is evidently an all-day task that requires extensions and straightening.)

There was plenty to eat! Jodie bought fried chicken, cole slaw, and potato salad when she was at the Acme. There was a Caesar Salad, Hawaiian rolls and butter, and lots of goodies leftover from Christmas Eve - cookies, coconut cream pie, red velvet cupcakes. and candy. I enjoyed two pieces of chicken, salad, pie, two rolls, and chocolate chip, eggnog, and sugar cookies with characters printed on them.

(Incidentally, as it turns out, I'm not the only one who spent Christmas night alone. Jodie said Dad decided he didn't feel well and stayed home. She was the only one who went to her family's Christmas dinner.)

The Eagles were almost as good as the food. They did falter in the second half, allowing the Giants to catch up to the point where Dad kept saying every five minutes that they were sure to lose. They didn't. They finally won 34-26, ending an up-and-down season on a high note. (Despite all of Dad's fussing that they wouldn't get a good draft slot if they won. I don't care about their draft pick. That's the off-season. I care about now.)  I got so fed up with all of Dad's complaining, I left the moment the game ended, with Mark right behind.

I spent the rest of the night resting online and trying some of the AG outfits Lauren sent on the dolls. Samantha's Frilly Frock is one of the new outfits added when she was re-released in August. It's very tight on my older doll, but it looks so cute on her, with its ruffle-and-lace tiered skirt, big lace collar, and historically accurate pink strap boots. Whitney got to try on the modern Sweet Spring Dress, as well as Julie's new purple coat. (The hat wouldn't fit over her curls.) The coat is supposed to be for Jessa, but she may be sharing it with Whitney until I can find something for her.

I ran more records as I changed the dolls. This time, I went with two cast albums of musical comedy-dramas of the 50s and 60s. New Girl In Town is a Gwen Verdon vehicle and a musical version of Anna Christie. Verdon plays Anna, a prostitute who falls in love with a sailor who doesn't know what her profession is. Thelma Ritter is Marthy, her father's girlfriend.

She Loves Me is also based after a famous play, Parfumerie, better known in its first film version as The Shop Around the Corner. Daniel Massey and Barbara Cook are the battling shop clerks who don't know they're really secret pen pals who have been writing love letters to each other. Jack Cassidy is another clerk who is chasing the boss' wife. This is rather notorious in New York for having a lovely score that never seems go over with audiences. The original 1963 mounting was a minor hit; a revival was a flop. Maybe it's because it's practically sung-through, with some very difficult and delicate songs. Too bad, because they're right that there's some nice music here, especially Cook's "Ice Cream."