Rainy New Year

Began the last day of 2018 with Rudolph's Shiny New Year during breakfast. Rudolph is called by Santa to help Father Time (Red Skelton) find Happy, the baby New Year. He keeps getting upset when people laugh at his unusually large ears and runs away. Rudolph gets help from a motley assortment of characters and former Father Times, including a whale named Big Ben (Harold Peery) and One Million BC (Morey Amsterdam), the oldest Father Time and the head of an island of dinosaurs. They're not the only ones looking for Happy. Aeon, the nasty old vulture, wants to capture the little baby to stop time and keep from dying.

Switched to a couple of New Year's and nightclub-themed shorts while chopping onions, ham, and a potato and shredding cheddar cheese for my Crock Pot Ham and Potatoes and making Cranberry Flummery. Popeye says "Let's Celebrake" when he, Olive, and Bluto go out dancing for the New Year. Popeye gallantly invites Olive's grandmother along. Spinach helps to really get the old lady's feet tapping! A jealous Bluto tries to sabotage Olive and Popeye's act in "Morning, Noon, and Nightclub." Popeye uses spinach to bring and end to his antics.

Headed out as soon as the cartoons were done and the Crock Pot was boiling away. Work wasn't too bad when I arrived...but by 11, it was a madhouse. I got stuck in the register for almost an hour and panicked badly. I did returns before that, then spent the rest of the afternoon gathering carts. I'm glad I had help from at least two other baggers. Even when it started to slow down somewhat by later in the afternoon, it never died completely.

The weather didn't help. It started showering sometime around 1, and has continued raining in some capacity, sometimes hard, for the rest of the day. My coat was dripping when I came in.

I had a few things I needed to pick up after work, mainly items to make Whipped Syllabub for New Year's Eve. Thought I'd try eggnog instead of cream. All of the bottles and cartons of eggnog were only a dollar, even the big ones. Also grabbed sparkling white grape juice, an orange, more of those tasty pumpkin cheesecake cookies, and the Acme's generic holiday gingerbread mix. (I've seen the latter all through the holiday season and have been meaning to try it, but kept forgetting to buy it.)

It was still raining when I stepped out of the Acme with my bike. Oh well. I had to take a shower later, anyway. I just rode home and got pre-wet.

Did one more cartoon while I changed, put everything away, and took the recycling out. Who knew Mickey and Minnie Mouse were the original party animals? In the black-and-white short "The Whoopee Party," their shindig gets so wild, even the furniture dances along! Meanwhile, Goofy decides it's fun to tease Clarabelle with a noisemaker. She doesn't agree...and she has her own way of getting him back.

Worked on writing for about an hour after I finished. Leia, Chewie, and Han arrive at the castle of the Princess Herfa and her husband. Leia's title and persuasiveness manages to get them past the guards, but they get quite a surprise when they realize whom the Princesses' husband resembles...

Broke for my crock pot dinner at 6. Oh, yum. Very salty, but very tasty. It even had these dark parts on the size - maybe cheese - that were really yummy. Had honey-glazed carrots for vegetables.

Watched Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! while I ate. Chuck's not having the easiest New Year. His teacher assigned him War and Peace, of all things, to read for a book report over the Christmas break week. Peppermint Patty's holding a New Year's party that proves to be a distraction, especially when he tries to invite the Little Red Haired Girl.

Moved to a third-season episode of Laverne & Shirley as I cleaned up from dinner. "New Year's Eve - 1960" begins promisingly for the ladies. Laverne got a date to Shirley's couples-only party with an old beau from school, and Shirley's going with Carmine. Things go downhill quickly when Laverne's date ditches her for his ex-girlfriend, and Shirley gets a cold. At least they get to watch Lenny drop Squiggy at midnight instead of the ball.

Put on an episode of Tiny Toon Adventures as I made the gingerbread and got it in the oven. Plucky is "A Quack In the Quarks" when he's duck-napped by alien "exchange students" who think he's brave and smart enough to take on the menacing Duck Vader. Buster, Babs, and Hampton take off into orbit to rescue him.

Finished my year after a shower with the first two Star Wars films. New Hope begins with sassy Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) trying to evade the evil Darth Vader (voice of James Earl Jones). Facing capture, she leaves a message with a droid, R2D2, and his fussy protocol droid buddy C3P0 (voice of Anthony Daniels). They end up on the desert planet of Tatoonie, where they're bought by bored farmer Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and his aunt and uncle. After R2 takes off, they're rescued by Obi-Wan Kenobi (Sir Alec Guinness), a mysterious hermit who gives Luke a lightsaber that had once belonged to his father. He offers to teach him the way of the Force...and after stormtroopers kill his aunt and uncle, Luke doesn't have a choice. They convince space pirate Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his furry buddy Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) to take them to deliver the message, but are waylaid by the Empire's huge Death Star battle station. Now this motley crew has to save the Princess and stop the Death Star, before the Rebellion is the station's next victim.

The Empire Strikes Back takes place three years later. The entire crew is now on the frozen snow planet of Hoth. While Han tries to flirt with Leia, Luke is nearly eaten by a Wampa and sees a vision of Obi-Wan telling him to go to Dagobah to train with Yoda. The Empire shows up and drives them all off the planet. As Vader chases Han and Leia across the galaxy, the two begin to realize that they might have more than a few feelings for each other. Meanwhile, Luke begins his training with Yoda (voice of Frank Oz). He may look like a goofy little Muppet, but he's a tough taskmaster and a wise old sage. Vader, however, is determined to capture Luke, and sets up a trap for him at Cloud City, run by Han's old friend Lando Calarissian (Billy Dee Williams). Luke goes after his friends, but eventually regrets his decision, especially when Vader drops one hell of a revelation on him.

Yeah, I'm still a big Star Wars fan, and I probably always will be. Empire is my favorite movie of all time, but every Star Wars film (even the prequels) have something interesting in them. If you've ever wanted to give the series a try, these two movies are probably the best places to start. Grab your favorite version and have fun.

Empire had just ended when I heard the first pops and crackles over the creek. I peered out my window to see fireworks going off, in defiance of the showers that continue to come down. Here's hoping that you're start of 2019 was equally colorful!