We'll Have the Brightest Christmas

Began a sunny, breezy morning with breakfast and a couple of episodes of Max & Ruby. "Ruby's Puppet Show" will be a hit...if Max would sit in the audience and not keep trying to push his toys onstage. Ruby and Louise are practicing their pirouettes, but "Sugar Plum Max" would rather snack on the fruity confections intended for after their program. Ruby panics when all the ants in "Max's Ant Farm" get loose during a fancy party she's holding for her friends. She and Max try to collect the ants without her friends discovering them.

Worked on writing for the rest of the morning. Rey finds that she really is in a pit. The only light comes from the pit's entrance...which is quite a ways off. She ends up climbing the rock wall. She climbs trees all the time at home. How hard could it be? Very hard..but very rewarding, as she can now hear familiar voices...

Did a Backyardigans holiday episode while eating a quick lunch of leftovers and getting ready for work. Uniqua wants to know "The Secret of Snow" so she can have fun in the cold weather. She goes to Ice Lady Tasha, but the bossy hippo girl has no time for her questions. Austin sticks up for Uniqua, but Tasha is too busy to pay attention. Tasha first sends Uniqua  to the desert, where she meets Cowboy Pablo, then to the jungle, where she and Pablo are rescued by Tyrone of the Jungle. Eventually, the kids learn that there is no "secret of snow," but the secret of having fun during the holidays is to share it with your friends.

Work wasn't really that bad today. It was on-and-off steady, and likely only that because we're getting close to the beginning of the month. They're now remodeling the front entrance, which was a problem. A lot of our customers aren't even aware that we have an entrance on the other side near Nicholson Road, or that the wide back entrance is several steps away from the narrow and slightly hidden exit. A lot of people kept trying to exit through the entrance and vice versa. Not to mention, I had to figure out where to put all the carts that could no longer go on the other side. I was also alone all afternoon, with no help. After filling the hand sanitizer bottles, I alternated between gathering carts and baskets for the rest of the day. Grabbed brown sugar and bran flakes on the way out.

When I got home, I made scrambled eggs with mushrooms, onions, and cheddar cheese for dinner, then made Fudgy Pumpkin Spice Chip Brownies while watching Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. Animation's favorite blind as a bat old codger headlined the very first network cartoon holiday special in 1962. Magoo is Ebeneezer Scrooge; fellow UPA Studios alumnus Gerald Mc Boing Boing has a rare speaking role as Tiny Tim. Gorgeous music by real-life Broadway tunesmiths Bob Merrill and Jules Styne is the real selling point, including the ballad "Winter Was Warm" for Scrooge's fiancee Belle and "We'll Have the Brightest Christmas" for the Cratchit family.

Played Lego Star Wars for about an hour after the brownies came out of the oven. I tried some of the individual round challenges that have you seeking 10 blue pieces in 10 minutes. The only one I completed was the short boss round "Count Dooku." I tried "Gunship Calvary," "Negotiations," and "Darth Maul," but just could never find all those pieces in time.

Spent the rest of the night online, listening to the Eagles game. Long-time Eagles radio announcer Merrill Reece (this is his 40th season as the Eagles' announcer), along with former Eagle Jeremiah Trotter, were inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame during half-time. It was awesome. Too bad the game wasn't as good. The Eagles lost to the Packers 24-13.