Holiday Fantasies

Had enough time for a decent breakfast this morning while watching Charlie & Lola. Lola's grandparents gave her an alligator costume, and she refuses to take it off for anything. "But I'm An Alligator," she keeps insisting, despite her brother's obvious embarrassment. Charlie's really worried when he learns Lola plans on wearing her alligator costume in front of the whole school. Lola however, has her reasons for wearing it - to explain how much she loves dressing for any part.

I awoke to rain. It seemed to be coming down at a pretty good clip when I got up, so I called Uber. Not only did it slow down even as I walked outside, but it took them 17 minutes to arrive. Naturally, that made me late for work. 

Thankfully, that was the worst thing that happened the entire day. We were off-and-on steady, probably because one morning cashier called out sick, and another said she didn't feel well and went home early. It's the day after the biggest food holiday of the year. Most people are shopping for everything but food this weekend! Other than my last two breaks being late, there were no major problems. It died so quickly by 6:30, I was able to shut down with no relief and no need for one.

Though the rain had long vanished by 6:30. the wind whipped around the carts as I headed outside. I called Uber again. This time, they took 13 minutes. I went further down to check if a car was them...and it not only wasn't, but the right car showed up just as I did that. Fortunately, we had no trouble once we got on the road, no traffic anywhere.

When I got home, I went straight into dinner and The Care Bears Nutcracker. The Care Bears and Cousins head down to Earth to help lonely Anna get over her best friend moving away. Her brother Peter just wants adventure. They both get what they want when a confused nutcracker falls through a hole opening in Anna's room. Anna's shocked to see an army of rats, including the Rat King, on his heels! Anna and the Bears and Cousins eventually join the Nutcracker to help him save Toyland from the rats and the evil Vizier. Peter tags along with Hugs and Tugs, who are looking for their own special ornament. 

Finished the night online with more vintage holiday fantasies. Found the Laurel & Hardy March of the Toy Soldiers on Tubi. I went further into this at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog back in November 2018. 

Family Fun Saturday - March of the Toy Soldiers (Babes In Toyland)

Ran into the Mikhail Baryshnikov Nutcracker at YouTube. This is more-or-less a traditional version of the ballet's story. Here, though, the emphasis is on the Nutcracker Prince and Clara (Gelsey Kirkland), who replace the Sugar Plum Fairy and her cavalier in their dances and dance with the snowflakes as well. Mother Ginger's dance is down to just a group of clowns cavorting.