Kicked off a cloudy morning with a war-related Three Stooges short I didn't get to last weekend. They're "Dizzy Pilots" who are hoping their newest airplane will revolutionize warfare in their country and keep them out of the draft. Trouble is, first they keep knocking Moe into the tar and nearly let him float away. Then they can't get the plane out of the hanger...and even when they do, they have no idea what they're doing once they're up in the air.
It was past 11 when I headed out to Collingswood for the final Farm Market of the year. Even late in the day, they were crowded with people looking for fresh produce for their Thanksgiving dinners. Pumpkins, peppers, and eggplants were gone, but chestnuts and fresh spinach were out in full force. Most of the food booths were gone, too, replaced by more craft booths and two alpacas munching on their hay lunch in a pen (to the delight of local kids). I ended up with my favorite little apples, a few broccoli florets (it takes me forever to eat the huge ones), mushrooms, spinach, and cranberries for the bread I'll be making to take to Dad and Mom's house next week.
Made a brief trip across the street to WaWa after I finished at the Farm Market. I wanted milk and orange juice for the cranberry bread. Grabbed my favorite Vanilla Coke for the way home, too. The line was a little long, but given the Farm Market was still going on and we were less than a week before Thanksgiving, it could have been worse.
Put everything away when I got home, then went into a little bit of writing. Chewbacca and the girls and frogs do everything they can to provide a romantic get-together for Master Harold and Leia. They serve them the closest they can get to a full-course meal with what's available on the premises, then play music and dance for them. It has the desired effect. Leia finally agrees to sleep with Harold, just for one night. She'll never forget Han, but she's starting to have feelings for him, too. There's something strangely...familiar...about him...
Broke at 1 for lunch and Gift of the Night Fury. This How to Train Your Dragon holiday special takes us to the Viking village of Berk for their annual winter festival Snoggletog. Everyone is looking forward to sharing the holiday with their dragons...until the dragons suddenly up and vanish. Even Hiccup's beloved Toothless leaves after he makes him a mechanical tail. While the other kids of Berk try to create new traditions to cheer up their parents, Hiccup follows one of the dragons to figure out where they've gone to.
Work wasn't anywhere near as bad as I figured it would be the Saturday before Thanksgiving. It did get busy a bit later, during rush hour. Otherwise, it was no more than steady the whole night. The weather may have been a factor. It had been sprinkling on and off since I was on the way home from Collingswood. By around 5, it had turned into a steady shower. Though I did gather baskets and bagging and picked up trash in the front, I was mostly doing carts and getting wet. And of course, the rain was slowing down when I headed home. It's just been windy ever since.
Had leftovers for dinner (including finally polishing off the last of the macaroni salad I got from Jodie two weeks ago), then made apple crisp for dessert. I had a couple of apples leftover from last week that were getting soft. Oh yum. It came out mostly perfect, if a little too sweet. I think I'll lower the sugar content on that Betty Crocker recipe the next time I try it.
Ran Barbie In the Nutcracker while the apple crisp was in the oven. The very first Barbie movie was, in fact, a Christmas tale. Barbie relates the story of how Clara, a young girl who has been sheltered by her stern uncle, finds herself following her moving Nutcracker into the Land of Sweets after the wicked Mouse King (Tim Curry) shrinks her. They have to find the Sugar Plum Princess and save the kingdom. It'll take all of Clara's intelligence and courage to dodge the rock monsters and outwit the power-hungry rodent. But the Sugar Plum Princess isn't whom anyone expects her to be...
The first Barbie Is/As special came out in the late 90's and definitely shows its age. The CGI is waxy and stiff, which is especially obvious with major effects like the rock monster mid-way through. Honestly, besides Clara, the Nutcracker, and a few references, this doesn't really have much to do with the original ballet, either, and the ending with whom the Sugar Plum Princess is turns out to be a bit of a cop-out.
On the other hand, the story is charming and funny, and Clara is a wonderful heroine, resourceful and brave. I like her aunt in the opening and closing, too. Major Mint and Captain Candy have their moments as the comic relief.
If you have a little girl who loves Barbie or ballet or have fond memories of seeing this as a ballet-crazy little girl, it's still worth at least a look.
Finished the night with the newest Strawberry Shortcake set, Dance Berry Dance. Oddly, despite the title, only two out of the four shorts actually involve dancing. The first has Sour Grapes wanting to celebrate her birthday without sharing it with Sugar. She realizes how much she misses her sister when Sugar gives her the wish she wanted - a birthday to herself. The second story is a take on "The Red Shoes." Apple Dumplin' wants to impress everyone with her dancing, but she knows nothing about ballet. She creates shoes that can dance on her own, but they work too well and won't stop dancing! Huck and his dog Tom-Tom have the opposite problem in the next episode. They both have terrible stage fright. Huck doesn't want to dance at all. Tom-Tom will only do it for his master, despite being drafted into Plum Puddin's all-dog dance show. When he runs off, Huck realizes it was wrong of him to try to push his pup into it. The final story has Cherry Jam trying to write a song for the Queen of Berryvania. She dashes off a fun dance number for the puppies to perform to...but when it hits the Internet and is a smash, she has to deal with more celebrity than she can handle.
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