It Feels Like Christmas

Rushed right into baking as soon as I finished breakfast. With Christmas a week away, there's still a few things I need to get done. After the mess I made with the Peppermint Cupcakes last year, I decided to try something simpler. The red velvet cake mix I bought from Dollar General a few weeks ago became Red Velvet Cupcakes. Other than I replaced part of the water with buttermilk for a richer taste, I stuck to the instructions on the back of the box.

Since those didn't take long to do, I got the boxes for Mom and Anny together to send out tomorrow. I was able to do everything but the birthday card for Anny's son Collyn (which was last week). That would have to wait until I got money for him after work. I did get Mom's box taped and organized Anny's box.

Ran The Muppet Christmas Carol as I worked. The first Muppet movie released after Jim Henson's death is a sweet and very funny take on the classic story. Michael Caine is Scrooge, Kermit is Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy is his wife, Fozzie is Fezziwig, Robin is Tiny Tim, Statler and Waldorf are the Marley brothers, Gonzo narrates the story as a blue Charles Dickens, and Rizzo is basically there for comic relief. My favorite part of this is some nice music, including "One More Sleep 'Til Christmas" for Kermit and "It Feels Like Christmas" for the Ghost of Christmas Present, and a couple of very funny moments for Gonzo and Rizzo.

If you're a Muppet fan or are looking for a good family or musical version of A Christmas Carol, this is definitely worth checking out.

Did some writing after the movie ended. Barnaby Snoke is ugly and wrinkled. He's after the factory to turn it into a training facility for the Knights of Ren, his bodyguards. He cares nothing about Christmas, the people he's putting out of work, or the toys that need to be made for Santa. Luke the Toymaker tries to remind him of how important his job is, but he insists that his old-fashioned toys are irrelevant in the 1980's. Everyone's standing up for him when they hear crashing and smashing in the main factory floor area...

Broke at 1:30 to frost the cupcakes, then have leftovers for lunch. Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas is a less traditional Muppet holiday tale. Emmett and his ma are facing a bare Christmas, until they find out about a talent contest in the near-by town on Christmas Eve. They both have to sell or break things that allow them to make their livelihood to enter. Emmett joins the titular jug band; Ma sings a ballad on her own. While they both do well, they're not impressive enough to get past a flashy local rock band. They finally discover their own niche while walking home...and that life is all about taking a chance.

Had time for a quick Christmas short as I got ready for work. Sylvester thinks Tweety is "Gift Wrapped" just for him, but he's really for Granny. She has to spend her holiday keeping Tweety out of Sylvester's mouth, and Sylvester away from her new dog.

Other than doing trash inside and out and gathering baskets, I spent almost my entire evening rounding up carts. I had no problems with that. While an employee did mention we'd been busy earlier in the day, by early evening, it was mildly steady. It died so much by the time night fell, as soon as the evening bagger arrived, I let him do the few remaining carts and concentrated on the trash. Grabbed money for Collyn's birthday and a vanilla creme doughnut for a special treat on the way out.

As soon as I got home and changed, I finished organizing and taping Anny's box. Since I did The Little Drummer Boy the other day, I thought I'd do its follow-up, The Little Drummer Boy Book II, while working tonight. Little Arabic drummer Aaron and his menagerie help an old bell-maker and one of the three kings retrieve a set of silver bells intended to herald the birth of Jesus from greedy Roman tax collectors. They do manage to get the bells back, but the price is high for Aaron...

Ended the night with The Owl and the Pussycat as I went online. Doris (Barbara Streisand), an actress and part-time prostitute, lives next-door to Felix (George Segal), who wants to be a writer. She hates all the typing he does. He hates the noisy clients who show up at her door. The landlord finally gets so fed up with their bickering, he throws them out. They end up at the apartment of a friend of his (Robert Klein)...but he gets so annoyed, he leaves. The two decide to make a go of things...and gradually begin to learn that they might not know as much about each other as they think, including their real names.

Maybe it's because I'm not a fan of romantic comedy, but I found this claustrophobic, shrill, and a little dull. No wonder everyone keeps kicking these two out. They're both annoying. A lot of this might have been avoided if they'd been more honest with each other from the beginning. Not to mention, there's an awful lot of sex talk (or inferred sex) for a PG-rated movie.

If you're bigger fans of the leads or romantic comedy than I am, you might get more out of this. Really only recommended for those who are into the cast or genre.