Light Up the Holidays

Started off a sunny, windy day with breakfast and one of the two holiday episodes of Laverne & Shirley. "Oh Hear the Angel Voices" from the second season has Carmine recruiting the girls, Lenny and Squiggy, Mrs. Babish, and Mr. DiFazio to perform at a mental hospital on Christmas Eve. Shirley's terrified. She's heard a few too many family stories about relatives who were tossed in loony bins. Laverne's too busy flirting with one of the patients to worry much.

Thought I'd try something different for Jodie and Dad's Christmas Eve party this year. I enjoyed making coconut fondant patties so much during the summer, I thought I'd do them for the family for Christmas. Added mint and vanilla extract instead of almond this time and coated them in melted chocolate chips. Coating them took a while. I had to freeze the fondant until firm, then figure out how to dip them into the chocolate. I got the hang of it after a while, but the first batch was sort of messy.

Watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation as I worked on the candy. Clark Grizwauld (Chevy Chase) is looking forward to the best Christmas ever, with a huge tree, a big bonus from work, and all the family together for Christmas dinner. As usual, what Clark imagines and what actually happens are two entirely different things. His dream tree is bigger than his house, never mind his living room. The two sets of grandparents he invited for the holidays do nothing but bicker. The yuppies next door think he's off his rocker. His boss (Brian Doyle Murphy) refuses to hand out bonuses. He has so many lights on his house, he shuts down the neighborhood power grid. And then his hillbilly cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) arrives with his family and causes even more chaos. Christmas Eve turns into one disaster after another, until Clark finally snaps. After the SWAT team comes through the windows and the squirrel exits the house, Clark finally figures out that no holiday is perfect...but even the worst holiday calamities can create lasting memories.

One of the most popular holiday comedies of the last 30 years along with A Christmas Story, this is another old favorite that used to show up on cable a lot in the 90's. Mild slapstick violence and scatological humor makes this for older kids who will be going on their own Christmas breaks this weekend and adults who have probably been through a lot of what Clark does here.

Headed out as soon as the movie ended, around noon. I had a ton of things I wanted to get done today, starting with lunch at Phillies Phatties. There were a couple of people eating cheese steaks and watching sportscasters on ESPN discuss basketball and football. I had a slice of cheese, a slice of broccoli, and a can of Sparkling Mountain Dew Lemonade (which was just as deliciously crisp as the Raspberry Lemonade) and contemplated which football teams have the best chance of joining the Eagles in the playoffs.

Next stop on my list was the Oaklyn Library. They were unusually busy despite the nice day, with several people on the computers, a mother doing paperwork at a table, and her toddler daughter playing with the wooden train tracks in the kids' area. I organized DVDs and had a sweet chat with the little girl about the train tracks and what she wanted to do with them.

After I left the library, I headed across the White Horse Pike to the Oaklyn Post Office. I had to send off Mom and Anny's packages. To my surprise, the post office wasn't busy at all. There was one other person in line, and both lines were open. Got my packages out with no trouble.

It was such a nice day, I took my bike across Newton Lake Park to Westmont. I'm surprised I only saw two people out for a stroll and several flocks of Canadian geese and ducks looking for a late lunch. Maybe it was because it was quarter of 2, and most people were probably at school or work. Their loss. The weather was gorgeous, if warm for this year, sunny, windy, and probably in the mid-to-upper 50's. I was fine in a heavy sweater.

The Haddon Township Library was a lot less busy than the Oaklyn Library had been. There were a few people on the computer, and that was it. Everyone must be waiting until they're on Christmas vacation to take out DVDs and books. The shelves were so stuffed full of DVDs, they were jammed in until they couldn't move. I thinned them out and put away adult titles. (A lot of the kids' titles couldn't fit in the spinning racks!)

I still have plenty of movies to watch for Christmas this week, but I did take out a few animated discs. I found holiday shows for Toy Story, The Cat In the Hat Knows a Lot About That, and Kung Fu Panda, along with a Scooby Doo set that included two snow-themed episodes and one of their Christmas specials.

Stopped at WaWa on the way home. I was really thirsty. Grabbed a Blackberry Sparkling Ice. Fortunately, they weren't that bad, either. Despite it being almost rush hour, the line moved quickly.

Worked on writing when I got home. As soon as Barnaby leaves, the Knights of Ren arrive, lead by the evil Black Knight Sir Kylo Ren. They want to destroy the machines in the factory! Poe has a way to head them off. He takes Rey, Finn, and BB to the factory's storage room. They encounter Rosie Grumio, the factory repair woman. She's fixing a fleet of remote control airplanes and sets of life-size toy soldiers. Poe and Rey think they could use them against the knights, and so does BB...

Broke at 6 for dinner and to get the candy (which had been on cookie trays in the freezer) organized. Made a tasty catfish fillet and leftover green beans while watching The Cat In the Hat Knows a Lot About That Christmas special. Ralph the baby reindeer got off at Nick and Sally's back yard by mistake when the Cat drops them off after his big Christmas Eve party. The Cat, the kids, and the fish want to get Ralph home to Freeze-Your-Knees Snowland, but the Thing-a-Ma-Jigger keeps breaking down. While they repair it, the Cat and his crew learn about how elephants, dolphins, and crabs travel, as well as reindeer and how they live.

It was such a lovely night, I went out for a walk after the cartoon ended. I usually stroll around the neighborhood and look at lights in mid-December, by which time most people have put up theirs. The weather was too cold and nasty for me to do it last week, but this warm evening was the perfect time. I love how festive most homes in Oaklyn get! Some houses had a rainbow of colors wrapped around their porch columns. Others outlined their houses with lights, making them look like gingerbread dwellings. Some only did the bushes, or projected sparkling green and red lights on the front of their homes. Less showy houses opted for electric candles or small Christmas light shapes in the windows. A few houses had projectors that showed Christmas symbols or snowflakes. While inflatables aren't as numerous or as large as they were in previous years, I did see Lightning McQueen, Hello Kitty in a pink snowsuit, Snoopy on his dog house, a tyrannosaurus holding a gift, and a massive set-up with Santa in a throne and an elf holding a "Free Photos" sign and four reindeer in a red "stable."

Rose and Craig have started doing lights. Their house looks really cute. They have red and white lights, with lit-up candy canes going down the walkway. Richard and Charlie finally hung the lights on the McHughs' house and the fence that keeps Charlie's dogs in.

Went straight in the shower as soon as I walked in the door. After I got out, I went online and opened up the box of gifts from Lauren that arrived this afternoon. She's such a wonderful best friend! I got an Our Generation (Target's 18-inch doll collection) swimsuit and beach cover-up, two American Girl short stories, the Julie mystery The Silver Guitar, Meet Rebecca, the highlights disc from Ragtime: The Musical, a clip with my name on it for my backpack, a cozy mystery about a woman who works at a Scottish book store, three boxes of hot cocoa her parents didn't want, and boxes of healthy snacks from an online company Lauren really likes. Her parents gave me 20 dollars in their cute snowman card. Lauren's card had a recipe for chocolate candy cane bark.

Ran It's a Wonderful Life as I put everything away and chatted with Lauren. George Bailey (James Stewart) thinks life has passed him by. He's lived in tiny Bedford Falls all his life, taking care of his family's savings and loan business, despite his repeated attempts to get away from it. After he accidentally loses money to keep them open, he almost attempts suicide, but ends up saving an old old fellow named Clarence (Henry Travers) instead. Clarence turns out to be George's guardian angel, tasked with trying to make him understand everything he's done for the town. He finally follows-up on George wishing he'd never been born. Now no one knows him, his beloved wife Mary (Donna Reed) runs away from him, and nasty old Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore) has taken over the town. It takes nearly being attacked by his friends to make George understand what a wonderful life he really has.

This is one of my favorite Christmas movies. The first half is so funny and cozy. As wonderful as Stewart and Reed are as the leads, it's the supporting cast that really shines, including Travers as the naive angel and Beluah Bondi as George's mother.

I will admit that, as much as I enjoy it, it's not everyone's cup of Christmas tea. If you don't agree with Capra's pro-small-town sentiments, you may not get a lot of the movie. And there's the last 20 minutes, where George discovers what Bedford Falls would have been like without him. They were filmed like the dark mysteries in vogue in the late 40's, and it's very intense. I got so freaked out by that scene, I fast-forwarded through it for years.

Even with that caveat, I still highly recommend this as one of the most beloved of all holiday films, and just a nice, cozy watch for mid-late December.

Since I did It's a Wonderful Life, I had to follow it with It's a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special. Buster Bunny is trying to put on the big Toons holiday show, but it's sabotaged by a jealous and wheelchair-bound Montana Max. Buster nearly jumps off the edge of the film strip before wishing he'd never been on Tiny Toons. A strange rabbit named Harvey shows Buster what would happen if he got his wish...and just how important his friends are to him. (Look for all the references to Wonderful Life and other classic holiday programming, including the recreated segment from the movie Babs watches at one point.)