Saturday, September 19, 2020

The Kids In the Neighborhood

Kicked off an early morning with breakfast and the latest episode of Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures on Disney Now. Having cleared out a ton of junk myself in the last few months, I can really relate to "Enough Stuff!" Mickey's hot dog collectibles are starting to take over his house, and the others all have too much in their houses, too. Minnie convinces them all to hold a "Great Give Away" and give their stuff to people in the town who'll need them...but they find it hard to part with all their beloved things. Minnie's horse Penelope the pony is jealous when Minnie gives champion horse Cassidy more attention for "The Hippity-Hop Horse Show!" Minnie has to assure Penelope she'll always be her favorite.

Headed out to work around quarter of 8. Thankfully, work was no trouble at all. We were on-and-off steady all day. It was too nice for anyone to want to be shopping, sunny and breezy and in the 60's. I spent time working on story notes.

Took the long way home down Nicholson Road and Atlantic Avenue. The weather was just glorious. It may have been a tad chilly for this time of year, but the sky was a deep blue and the breeze felt lovely and cool. That could be why Nicholson was fairly busy, especially around the mall. Things quieted down once I headed over the hill and into Oaklyn. I saw a few kids on bikes outside, but no cars.

Put on Match Game as I changed and had a snack. It was a repeat of the episode from the other day with the question about what Ann Elder does after she eats at Richard Dawson's house. The contestant said "throw up," which didn't make Richard happy! I'm not sure how thrilled he was when Gary Burghoff and Patti Deustch matched him, either.

After the show ended, I settled down for a nap. I'm not used to waking up super-early anymore. Slept until quarter after 4, and probably would have gone longer if I hadn't heard a knock at the door. Jodie brought me some margarita pizza from her lunch. Tomato sauce with fresh basil and blotches of fresh mozzarella happens to be my favorite pizza from Phillies Phatties. I took a rare chance to happily enjoy my treat in bed.

Worked a little bit on writing after I threw my plate away. Brett manages to conjure up enough magic to allow a vine to lift her up next to Charles on Malade's shoulders. Meanwhile, Marcia is raging angry when one of the smaller demons attacks Bill Cullen. She tries to attack him, but can't bring up her own mind magic. Prince Bill (Daily) finally sets aside  his cowardice long enough to leap on the demon instead.

Rose arrived with her kids while I was writing. I joined them around 5:30 across the street at the home of Khai's friends Chloe and Bree. Somehow, we all ended eventually ended up around the corner in another neighbor's backyard. Sandy has a fire pit and brought out sticky buns and fresh popcorn for everyone. 

While the mothers and grandmothers chatted over the fire pit, I played with the kids. At first, Chloe, Khai, Finley, Mary, and Emily jumped on the trampoline. Then they decided to climb a certain crooked-limbed tree in another neighbor's front yard (Chloe claimed they had permission), where they perched while playing Pokémon Go on their cell phones. At that point, we were joined by my next-door neighbors Savannah and Ryan, who rode Chloe's pink scooter and tried to figure out what the noisy concert coming from the VFW on the other side of the train tracks was.

As the day melted into a lovely pink and gold sunset (which Chloe and I admired), the kids returned to Sandy's backyard to play what they called "zombie apocalypse." As far as I could tell, it mainly consisted of Ryan trying to hit the girls with foam pool noodles while they told him not to hit them and tried to keep him out of their hiding spot between bushes and vines and their shed. I took over the black wrought-iron chair and table on the other side of the shed, called myself the General, and declared it neutral territory. All the kids could chase whomever they wanted there.

Finally headed home around 8 PM, when Rose took her kids back and realized just how cold my bare toes were. Finished up the night with a quick yogurt dinner while watching Pinocchio on Disney Plus. I go further into one of Disney's most famous early films at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Animation Celebration Saturday - Pinocchio (1940)

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