Love In a Home

This time, I started the day at work. I did the carts for the first hour, but someone came in to do them after that. I spent the rest of the morning doing returns and a very short test that involved being able to tell organic produce from regular produce. I briefly ended up in the register once to cover for a manager; otherwise, we were very quiet, especially for December.

To my dismay, I got a message on Facebook during break from the lady who was supposed to buy the American Girl bed. Turns out her daughter had already bought a bed for her child and she wouldn't be buying mine after all. I'm so disappointed. I thought it would really work out, and I desperately need the money. I'm behind on bills, and I'm never going to be able to do my Christmas shopping.

(Please, if anyone in the western Camden County area needs an American Girl bed and bedding or a Molly's Scenes and Settings and are willing to pick them up, contact me as soon as possible!)

In good news, I did manage to switch to earlier hours on Thursday. Trouble is, I didn't realize I'd accidentally requested fewer hours. I might have to ask if I can come in earlier that day. Like I said, I really need the money.

Went straight home after that. Made a banana-cranberry smoothie and Cranberry Flummery for lunch while watching winter and holiday-themed Scooby Doo episodes. "There's No Creature Like Snow Creature" was the pilot episode of What's New, Scooby Doo? Fred's excited to be at a big snowboarding competition, but his delight goes sour when they discover that the boarders are being injured one by one by an icy monster. When Fred's attacked and Velma gets a cold, it's up to Shaggy to join the competition and help Daphne solve this case.

"A Scooby Doo Christmas" is also from the first season of What's New, Scooby Doo?, and is the franchise's second Christmas episode. The gang find themselves stranded in a town called Winter Hollow on Christmas Eve. The residents don't celebrate the holidays because a giant snowman shows up and destroys their homes. Hoping to restore their holidays, the gang takes the case.

Finished up with "That's Snow Ghost" from the original Scooby Doo, Where are You? as I got my laundry organized. This time, Mystery Inc end up at an ancient ski lodge, where the creepy owner warns them to lock their doors at night, lest the Ghost of the Yeti turn them into Ghosts! An old Tibetian man thinks he's the reason for the monster's appearance, but Velma thinks the real reason for the ghost's appearance has nothing to do with his stories.

Hit the laundromat as soon as the episodes ended. For once, I came at the right time. While they were a little busy, it wasn't nearly as crowded as it has been the last couple of Saturdays. I didn't really have that much laundry, anyway. I was able to get my load done, work on story notes, and half-listen to golf in relative peace.

Put everything away as soon as I got in, then went into writing. After Rey leaves, Scrooge follows her to Lando's Tavern. Turns out the tavern's mortgage was transferred to the Takodana Bank, and Old Maz Kantana, despite her reputation as a bit of a pirate, is much kinder than Scrooge and is willing to wait on the money. Lando's nothing but happy with Scrooge's death...and Leia is in shock over the loss of her husband to a heart attack after his son took control of his business and the loss of her charity.

Broke for dinner at 6. I had leftover meatballs with sauteed Brussels sprouts and pasta for dinner, then tried to make Cranberry Oatmeal Bars...but they never cooked right and came out more like Cranberry Cobbler. Oh well. At least I was able to watch the Rankin-Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town to review for my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog tonight.

Animation Celebration Double Feature: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

Moved on to A Christmas Story after a shower. Yes, I know this runs for 24 hours on Christmas Day, but I thought it would be nice to get to watch the whole thing in full before that. Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsly) badly wants a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas 1940. He's the only one who thinks it's a good idea. His mother (Melinda Dillon) keeps telling him that he'll shoot his eye out, and his father (Darren McGavin) is too busy fighting with the furnace and the neighbors' dogs to notice. Ralphie himself may not survive childhood pitfalls like bullies, punishments for bad words, and kids' shows that turn out to be barely-disguised commercials long enough to make it to Christmas Day!

This is a long-time favorite of my entire family. We ran our own marathons of it in the weeks leading up to Christmas long before TBS did. I can relate to so much here, from younger siblings hiding under the sink when they were upset to being chased by bullies to "the old man" negotiating for the Christmas tree and treating break downs like "being in the pit of the Indianapolis Speedway in the 500." (One I definitely can't relate to is the Major Award. Mom would have taken one look at that lamp and said NO. Or at least banished it to a less-used corner of the house, major award or not.)

Finished the night with The Andy Williams Christmas Show. This is another variety special, this time from 1966. While the special begins in a generic "town," with Andy and the cast singing his most famous holiday hit "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," it's mostly set in his home or his parents'. There's two segments with the Williams Brothers, one with them as elves singing "Whistle While You Work," and another later that's a medley of traditional carols. I like it a little bit better than Dean Martin's show from two years later. It feels cozier and a tad less smarmy, possibly due to the family theme and the use of "Love In a Home" from the Broadway musical Lil' Abner. It's on YouTube if you're interested in Williams or vintage holiday variety specials:

The Andy Williams Christmas Show