Friday, December 18, 2015

In a Christmas Galaxy Far, Far Away

Started a cloudy and cold morning with more Max & Ruby. "Ruby's Gingerbread House" will be spectacular, if she and Louise can apply enough icing to keep it together. Max just wants them to consider his gummy worms. Ruby's feeling a little blue after the holidays are over in "Max's Christmas Passed." Max finds a way to make her feel better. "Max's New Year" is spent playing games and sipping fizzy drinks with Grandma and Ruby. Max would rather just eat Grandma's clock-shaped cookies.

Did the first Laverne and Shirley Christmas episode while cleaning up from breakfast and making Carrot-Coconut Muffins. "Oh Hear the Angel Voices" from the second season has the girls joining Carmine and most of the main cast in a holiday variety show put on for the patients of a mental hospital. Shirley's scared to death. She's heard too many family stories about relatives who were put in mental facilities. Laverne's too busy flirting with patients to notice her worries.

Went right into Perfect Strangers as I put the muffins in the oven. They did two Christmas shows; I opted for the second season episode "A Christmas Story." Larry is devastated when a blizzard leaves him and Balki stranded in Chicago on Christmas Eve. Balki does everything he can to make his cousin forget his troubles. It takes a truly meaningful gift to remind Larry of what Christmas really means.

Worked on writing for an hour. Not only is Scott being accused of stealing Maple's sheep, but toys seem to have gone missing, too. Lisa knows she overheard Mr. Barnaby talking to someone the night before, but she can't get the adults' attention.

When I got off, I went through the boxes in the back room, looking for some to use to send out Mom and Anny's packages. As I got them together and had leftovers for lunch, I ran one of the two Moonlighting Christmas stories. "Twas the Episode Before Christmas" in the second season, and all through the Blue Moon Agency, we hear Maddie yelling at David over his newest brainstorm - the Santa hotline. Then their secretary Agnes DiPesto turns up with a baby she found in a laundry basket. While David and Maddie search for the mother, they argue over the idea of parenthood and babies and children.

I left for work early so I could get Mom and Anny's packages in the mail. I figured the line at the Audubon Post Office would be half-way around the corner. It wasn't at all. It was surprisingly quiet in there at 1:30. I got right in line with no waiting and sent my boxes off in about five minutes.

Work was very busy when I came in, off-and-on steady thereafter. Like the post office, it really could have been a lot worse. I guess everyone's either still at the malls or are spending the weekend baking cookies. I did have problems with my last customer, whose gift cards just would not work. I finally left her with my relief and rushed out as fast as I could.

Finally got my schedule after work. (They were late posting it. It wasn't up when I came in.) Actually, it's very good, the best I've had in weeks. I have Monday and Christmas Day off, and a perfectly normal 10 to 4 shift on Christmas Eve. This will give me the chance to get a lot of things done, including the remaining baking. There's a couple more hours than I have been getting.

There was a box waiting by the mail box for me when I got home. My Christmas presents from my best friend Lauren Miller and her parents had arrived! She always gives me fun stuff. This year, I got an Our Generation Retro white and purple floral dress and shiny purple shoes for Whitney (Our Generation is Target's 18 inch doll line - I love their Retro collection), a pile of American Girl books, including four hardback short stories, Happy Birthday, Addy!, and Changes for Felicity, and some much-needed soft headbands (the hard ones give me headaches, wearing them all day) from Lauren. Her parents gave me 20 dollars in a sweet card. Lauren said they loved my chocolate chip cookies so much, they've eaten all but a few.

Oh, and as a Star Wars fan, I must mention that I'm really excited by all the positive reviews I've seen for The Force Awakens. While I would love to see this in the theater, it's more likely I'll catch it the moment it hits DVD.

No comments: