Battle of the Birds

I was up late with Lauren last night. She took longer than usual getting online because she had to go to the emergency room with her parents. Her mother broker her arm after a nasty fall. Yikes! I didn't get up until past 9.

Had just enough time for some Gingerbread Pancakes for breakfast. Listened to The Perry Como Christmas Album while I ate. I have two Perry Como holiday LPs, but this later one from 1968 is a favorite of mine. "Christmas Eve" is especially sweet.

Squeezed in a tiny bit of writing before leaving for work. Rey and Finn are setting up teddy bears and the latest hot video game system, Nintendo, when BB and Poe arrive. Poe and Finn exchange stories about playing video games for so long with their loved ones, they almost miss work. Rey talks to BB about her dress and her toys.

Work was busy all afternoon. I was outside the whole time, either gathering carts or the outside trash. It was too nice to be inside anyway. The clouds that had made the morning rather gloomy vanished by around 3, replaced by sunshine and warm-ish lower 50's temperatures.

As soon as I got home, I changed and did a few chores. Finished dusting the entertainment area. I never got to the second black DVD shelf or the smaller shelf with all the Christmas DVDs yesterday. Stripped the lighter sheets on my bed, replacing them with my blue flannel sheets. It's supposed to get colder late next week. Tried to sew the handle back on my yellow floral tote bag, then glue it back on. The thread was too thin to work; the yarn was too thick. The glue wouldn't stay at all. I gave up and put it in the back room until I could think of something else.

Listened to a couple of LPs while I worked, beginning with my favorite Great Songs of Christmas album. There's some lovely tunes here, including Maurice Chevalier's Silent Night, partly sung in his native French, "Caroling Caroling" by Anna Maria Alberghetti, "Lo, How a Rose 'Er Blooming" by Diahne Carroll, and Sammy Davis Jr. having fun with "It's Christmastime All Over the World."

Next up were two very different versions of A Christmas Carol. I have no idea when the one with Ronald Coleman as Scrooge came out; from the cast that includes Hans Conried as the Ghost of Christmas Past, I'm going to say the late 40's-early 50's. Coleman's a wonderful actor, but he sounds too much like his dashing self to be a nasty miser.

It's not well-remembered today, but Mickey's Christmas Carol started as a kids' book-and-record in the mid-70's. It was originally a musical, with eight songs (including two reprises). I can kind of understand why the numbers were dropped. Except for the catchy "Money" for Scrooge and Mickey, they're not really that memorable. Merlin is the Ghost of Christmas Past here; the evil queen from Snow White in hag mode was the Ghost of Christmas Future.

Continued with Disney children's records from the 70's with The Disney Family Christmas Album. This is just the Disney characters and Disneyland chorus doing some popular songs. I have no idea why Chip and Dale and their annoying voices popped up so often. Though their "The Chipmunks' Christmas Song (Please Christmas Don't Be Late)" with Donald was funny, they definitely didn't need to be on every other song on side one. (I did recognize at least two numbers that were later used in the Very Merry Christmas Songs sing-a-long video, "Here Comes Santa Claus" and "Sleigh Ride.")

Ended the night listening to the Eagles-Seahawks game. What a disappointment! The Eagles had penalties galore and could never really get anything going. They ended up losing badly 24-10.

At least I have the next week to get over it. Technically, tomorrow is a regular day off. My actual vacation begins Tuesday, the day my friend Amanda visits from Vineland. We'll probably eat out together and she'll help me with the tree. Other than that, my only other major plans are a trip to the Cherry Hill Mall to finish my Christmas shopping and the usual library volunteering. I'll mostly be at home, cleaning, decorating, and wrapping for the holidays.