Counting Your Blessings

Got a really quick start today with breakfast and Paw Patrol. Mayor Humdinger is horrified when he sees a stranded elf's map and learns that the people of Foggy Bottom aren't considered "nice" enough to get presents, including him. "Pups Save a Bah Humdinger" when he and the Kitten Catastrophe crew steal the Air Patroller and take it up to the North Pole to give Santa a revised list that has Foggy Bottom as the only place he's visiting. The pups follow to stop him before he cuts Adventure Bay out entirely.

Hurried out to Sprouts soon as the episode ended. I wasn't going to have time to hit the Acme today, but I did have time to pick up things here. I got coconut milk, sparkling water, soda, and dug whole wheat flour, sugar, oats, and regular flour out of the bulk bins. 

Just barely hurried home in time, dropped everything off, and hurried back out. Even with all the rushing, I was still fifteen minutes late for work. On one hand, it was the same deal as yesterday with slightly fewer kids. We had 17 children stuck in the cafeteria all afternoon because it remains cold and windy, despite the sunny day. I colored with some children, worked on magnetic tiles with others. One of the teachers had just set the kids watching the Green Eggs and Ham show on Netflix when I was let go early.

I decided I deserved a treat after what had been a very long week. I rode back into Oaklyn but past where I would normally cross the street, down to WaWa. Got a snickderdoodle smoothie, which was basically a cinnamon sugar cookie smoothie topped with cookie crumbs. Not bad. Very sweet, and it did taste like cookie, which is what counts. I stopped at Family Dollar to see if they had something; moved on very quickly when I saw that they didn't and it was busy.

Put on White Christmas when I got home. I go further into the classic musical with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog in one of my first entries from December 2018.

White Christmas

Switched to Match Game Syndicated during dinner. Bob Barker continued to appear on the show through 1980, even after it left CBS. His last week had him between Betty White and Dallas ingenue Charlene Tilton. He and Gene spent almost the entire week drooling over Charlene, to the annoyance of Brett and Charles. On one day, Bob gave one of the only right answers during the entire episode and got a standing ovation for doing so. The next day, his seat broke and sank under the table, and the replacement they found him was too high. Betty White sank down with him in solidarity.

Got next week's schedule around this time, too. It's...identical to this week's schedule, two early days on Wednesday and Saturday, one late day on Sunday. On one hand, that should still give me plenty of time to make cookies, which was all I had planned for next week. On the other hand, I'm surprised I don't have more hours. We should be picking up next week as people start coming out of the malls and buying ingredients for their own holiday baking and Christmas dinners. 

Worked on The WENN Nutcracker Suite. Betty overhears Mr. Eldridge and Gertie talking as she lays on Gertie's gingerbread bed. Mr. Eldridge sadly admits how bad Scott's curse is. He remembers nothing about who he is or was. He has no heart or mind, and can neither think, nor feel. He's merely a toy. Gertie explains that Jeff the Sugar Plum Cavalier is now a dancing wax doll on a music box and is in the hands of spoiled Princess Pirlipat, who rejected Scott after he was turned into a Nutcracker. 

Finished the night with more classic Christmas variety specials on YouTube. Perry Como went to New Mexico for his holiday in 1979. This may have been one of his most unique holiday jaunts. Janet DeWitt, Anne Murray, and Greer Garson (who was living with her millionaire husband in New Mexico by the late 70's) join him to show off a chili pepper-eating contest, Christmas among the early New Mexican pioneers, and among the Pueblo Indians.

We went back across the country in 1982 for Andy Wiliams' Early New England Christmas. Dorothy Hamill is a pretty ice-skating teacher, Eileen Quinn of Annie is one of her students, Dick Van Patton runs the general store, and James Gallaway plays lovely flute tunes that sound like they could have come from this era. Williams joins Hamill's students for their school pageant, tries to get Patton to help him find the perfect Christmas gift, and gets into the community spirit at the town's Christmas Eve dance.

Winds of Christmas

Began the morning with breakfast and A Christmas Carol on Tubi. This is the half-hour version animated by Richard Williams in 1971. No wonder it won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film a year later. Williams' work on this is haunting, from Marley and the ghosts outside Scrooge's window to Want and Ignorance under the Ghost of Christmas Present's robe. 

Hurried out even before the cartoon ended. I was ten minutes late to my appointment with Bryanna. She really just wanted to touch up with me anyway and see how the after-school program is going. That is mostly going fine. I love working with the kids, and I like the Thomas Sharp School. I don't like the constant turnover in the program. No wonder I got a job so easily despite my lack of experience working with kids. Since I don't have kids, it's also hard for me to keep up with the school schedule and remember when they have half-days and holidays. I'm going to stick with the after-school program until at least the end of the school year and see how I feel. The kids don't need to lose anyone else.

I do still want out of the Acme, however. I also still need to find a decent place to live that isn't an attic. Bryanna suggested calling my counselors at DVRS after the holidays to ask about low-income housing. Isn't all of that in Camden, and don't you have to sign a long, long waiting list to get it? I'm probably better off just trying to see what I can afford in Deptford and Cherry Hill.

Made a quick stop at Target on my way home. I was mainly there to get something for my nephew Collyn's birthday tomorrow. I also grabbed a few things to make cookies next week, including nifty hot chocolate and marshmallow-flavored chocolate chips and cake mix for the peanut butter cookies. 

Rushed home, loaded Collyn's birthday gift into his family's Christmas package, sealed the package, and rushed to the Oaklyn Post Office a couple of blocks down. I wanted to send my Christmas packages before work today. To my delight, there was no line when I arrived. I was expecting the line to be out the door. Sent a card for Linda Young and packages for Anny and her kids, Lauren and her parents, and Mom, Keefe, and his family. 

Since I took so little time at the Post Office, I was able to stop at Dollar General around the corner. I picked up red velvet cake mix and maraschino cherries for cookies next week and more bags for cookies. The line wasn't bad, and I was in and out.

Good thing I got to the school on time. The kids were really crazy today. It was sunny, but too windy and cold for them to go outside. They were so noisy in the bathrooms, the custodial staff complained. They just would not sit down in the cafeteria, no matter how many toys we pulled out for them or how many pages they colored. We put music on a speaker belonging to one of the teachers and let them dance, and it still wasn't enough for them to shake their sillies out. I did manage to get off early when there were only 3 pre-schoolers and kindergartners left by quarter of 4.

Hurried home and into baking. Normally, I'd bring cookies to the Acme's Christmas employee buffet, but for some reason, it's being held a week early this year. I don't make my cookies until the week before Christmas. That's why I needed buttermilk yesterday. I made the delicious gingerbread bars recipe from Samantha's Cooking Studio instead. Yum! It came out perfectly and smelled amazing in the oven.

I was so tired, after the gingerbread came out of the oven, I just grabbed my coat and strolled two blocks down to Crown Chicken and Gyro to get a tilapia sandwich and fries for dinner. At least it was a nice night for a walk. It remained cold, but the wind had died down considerably since I'd gotten back from school.

Had dinner while watching Hollywood Hotel. I go further into this Busby Berkeley-directed musical with Dick Powell that introduced "Hooray for Hollywood" at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Hollywood Hotel

Finished the night with two beloved animated holiday soundtracks. A Charlie Brown Christmas is one of the great jazz soundtracks of all time, and in fact, was one of the first records I bought after Dad gave me my first record player in 2006. "Linus and Lucy" and "Christmastime Is Here" were the big hits. I also like the lovely, flowing song played while the kids skate and "O Tannenbaum."

Decca re-released the soundtrack for the Rankin-Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on LP in honor of its 60th anniversary last year. My favorite song from this one is its lively hit "Holly Jolly Christmas," performed by Burl Ives. There's also the Misfit Toys' "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year" and Clarice the Reindeer's sweet ballad "There's Always Tomorrow."

When the Clouds Roll In

Got a quick start today with breakfast and "Santa's Workshop" at Disney Plus. This Silly Symphony short is the first of two Disney made revolving around Santa Claus and what he does. In this case, we get to see the elves making toys and caring for the reindeer, and Santa inspecting and loading the toys. I love the parade of marching toys near the end of the short, especially the tumbling teddy and adorable wind-up piggies.

Called Uber right after the short ended. It was still sunny at 9 AM, but it was supposed to rain later. Not to mention, I figured Uber would get me to the Thomas Sharp School faster after work. I just wish they hadn't taken 13 minutes to come! There was no traffic when they did arrive, but that meant I was late.

Fortunately, that was the worst thing that happened all day. Work went just fine, other than I had a lot of cold items to return. It did pick up around 11:30-noon as the clouds pulled in and the lunch rush hour started. Other than that, it wasn't terribly busy, and there were no major problems. I even picked up buttermilk for a baking project and a card for my nephew Collyn's birthday this week.

Called Uber when I came out. Thankfully, this time they only took 7 minutes to arrive. Once again, there was no traffic going to West Collingwood. The gentleman pulled up at the Thomas Sharp School less than 5 minutes later. 

The classes were bedlam when I knocked on the door. I wasn't the only teacher who was late or couldn't come. One teacher called out sick. Another couldn't get out of her other job at all. At least we only had 17 preschool and kindergarten kids when I came in, more than yesterday but still not the big group we had on Monday. I spent most of the time coloring or building with magnetic tiles with them or taking a few kids at a time to the bathroom. One of the boys even gave me the piles of artwork he did today.

Since it wasn't raining when I got out, I walked home. I had to make one last stop anyway. The post office was still open at that point. Normally, I use leftover Amazon boxes to send my Christmas packages in the mail, but I didn't buy any Christmas gifts from Amazon this year. I just grabbed free boxes from the post office instead.

Packed up the boxes for the post office when I got home. Watched Santa Claus Is Coming to Town while I worked. I went further into this classic 1970 Rankin-Bass special on the origins of Santa at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog way back in December 2018.

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

(Oh, and it started raining again not long after I got home. It's rained lightly off and on ever since.)

Switched to Match Game '75 during dinner. We skipped ahead to one of Bob's best weeks. He and fellow vintage game show host Arlene Francis got to see Carol Bartos become the biggest winner the show ever had up to that point with over $20,000. When Fannie gave her the winning answer to "__ Tie" in the Head-to-Head, she even excitedly tossed out her black bow tie.

Worked on The WENN Nutcracker Suite after dinner. After hearing Mr. Eldridge's story of how he was cursed and Pirlipat rejected him, the Nutcracker separates from the others and sits near a window. He finally speaks, telling Betty he has no idea who he is or what his name is. He only remembers falling over the Mouse Queen and loses his sword. Betty tells him how much he reminds her of her friend Scott Sherwood and that she thinks he's very brave. She passes out on his shoulder, and he gently carries her to Gertie's bed to sleep. 

Took a shower, then finished the night with two vintage Perry Como holiday specials at YouTube. We first head to Williamsburg, Virginia in 1978 for An Early American Christmas. Como explains Colonial holiday customs, receives a rare pineapple as a gift, sings and dances with Diana Canova, and shares a cup of grog with John Wayne at a local tavern. (Sadly, Wayne died less than six months after this special's release.)

Angie Dickenson and fashion designer Pierre Cardin joins Como for Christmas In Paris in 1982. Dickenson is thrilled to get a Paris gown, but Como likes his French holiday trips simpler. They encounter two frog puppets who want to dance for Dickenson, sing in a Parisian music hall with the beautiful French singer Line Renaud, and listen to the Boys' Choir of Notre Dame.

Sky Full of Rainbows

Slept in, which meant it was past 11 when I had breakfast and put on "A Nutcracker Scoob." The series finale of The New Scooby Doo Mysteries brings Fred back in to help Daphne, Shaggy, and the dogs put on a Christmas pageant for a poor orphanage. When the Ghost of Christmas Never Was interferes with the show, the kids are initially convinced that the miser who is after the orphanage did it. At least, until he's at the pageant too when the Ghost steals the true star of the show...

Got ready for work while watching Supermarket Sweep. Caught the first half when they were still playing games. This was an older episode, probably from around 1993. David Ruprecht wore colorful sweaters and pushed the new "super-sized" cans that contestants could grab and the sandwich they could make to get extra money.

Headed out a little early. I wanted to finish my Christmas shopping and pick up gift cards at CVS, since it's on my way to the Thomas Sharp School. I needed two for older friends, two for my nephews Collyn and Skylar, and one for Keefe and his wife Julia. Grabbed them, paid for them, headed out.

Thankfully, it wasn't anywhere near as chaotic at school today as it was yesterday. For one thing, we only had 14 younger kids, down from 25 yesterday. I suspect most of the kids probably went home with their parents after conferences. We even took them to the bathroom as a group with no major trouble. 

It also helped that we got them outside today. It was a gorgeous day, sunny, breezy, a bit chilly but nothing like yesterday. One of the little girls even spotted a small rainbow in the clouds over the school while she was swinging. The kids all gazed at it in wonder until we called them inside. I spent the rest of the evening building with wooden blocks with one group, then watching another play card games until there were only two pre-schoolers left and they let me go.

Hurried home, did chores, then went back out with Jessa. We had dinner at the Silver Diner at the Hillview Shopping Center across from the Cherry Hill Mall. They're a 50's-style diner with decidedly modern takes on old favorites. Jessa had your basic turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberry chutney dinner. I had a small burger with their amazing sweet potato fries. Yum. The burger was good despite its size, and their fries are always amazing. Jess let me try a bit of her turkey dinner, too. She had sourdough bread under the turkey instead of stuffing. We had to try dessert. She had pecan pie and a fancy s'mores-themed coffee drink. I had an enormous slice of chocolate cake with fudge filling topped with chocolate and vanilla sauce and smothered in mini chocolate chips. Jess even let me try some of her pecan pie, too.

I finished the night with Vogues of 1938 when I got home. I go further into this gorgeous 1937 backstage confection that introduced the ballad "That Old Feeling" at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Cult Flops - Walter Wanger's Vogues of 1938

Keeping Cool With Kids

Began the morning with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Plus. "SPOTS the Beagle-Bot" is a robotic dog Professor Ludvig Von Drake invented as a companion to Pluto. Pluto and the others try to teach SPOTS how to do all the things real dogs do, but he's more interested in the Professor than in learning new tricks. 

Spent the rest of the morning finishing up the wrapping. This time, I did get everything done, including Jessa's and all of Lauren's. That ends my gift shopping. Anyone else who turns up unexpectedly will get cookies or a gift card. I'll get the gift cards tomorrow or Wednesday. 

Watched My Little Pony: Best Gift Ever on Tubi as I worked. Hoping to lighten their workload, the Mane Six do what they call a "Hearth's Warming Helper" (or a Secret Santa to us humans) and choose one pony to give a gift. Spike desperately changes recipients with Fluttershy in order to impress Rarity, then can't figure out what to give her. Fluttershy falls for a cheap toy being sold by resident con-ponies Flim and Flam as the "must have gift for Hearth's Warming." Applejack helps her get back at them, but they spend all their money doing so. Discord pesters Rainbow Dash into catching a seemingly cute little critter for Fluttershy, not realizing it isn't so cute at night. Pinkie Pie is sent north to get her gift from a trio of flying reindeer who claim she'll understand what it is later. Twilight desperately tries to make Pinkie a certain magical pudding, but her little niece Flurry Heart adds a few too many ingredients, and it floods everywhere. In the end, after they figure out how to fix the pudding and Fluttershy tames the critter, they realize that the real "Best Gift Ever" is their friendship, not something that came from a store.

Had a quick lunch while watching The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas, which is also on Tubi. Most bears hibernate through the cold months, December included. Ted E. Bear, however, is a curious little fellow, and he's most interested in Christmas. He's heard stories about it and wants to see all the colors and lights, but can't seem to stay awake long enough to see it. His girlfriend leaves him over it; he loses his job when he talks about it to the press. He finally stumbles to the big city, where he learns that Christmas isn't just a time of year. It's a feeling...and one that's best spent with someone you love.

Called Uber after I finished eating. It was way too cold to even consider the bike today. It barely got into the 30's! To my shock, the driver arrived in less than a minute. I was at the school in less than five.

Things did not begin well today. The Collingswood elementary schools are on half-days this week, thanks to parent-teacher conferences. The kids were all rowdy and full of energy, and not being able to take them outside due to the cold didn't help matters. Even the big kids stayed in today. They were especially crazy in the bathrooms, bouncing off the walls, running around in the bathrooms, and refusing to listen to anyone, including me. I tried to read to them after lunch, but they would sit down. The head manager kept having to move them further and further back into the music offices/storage area. 

They weren't all that happy when the head manager told them they had to stay at their assigned tables and play with what was there, either. They're used to being able to go to whatever table interests them. That said, I did have some nice conversations with some of the children at my table, including a little girl dressed as Alice In Wonderland who looked like something out of Tenniel. The kids at my table played with magnetic tiles. I made geometric shapes and a "skirt" with the young lady until she was allowed to join the coloring table. I then chatted with the remaining boys until enough kids went home to move them and the tiles to the front of the cafeteria. By 4:30, it was down to three younger kids and eight older ones, and it had calmed down enough for me to go home.

Instead of calling Uber right away, I walked the brief five minutes a couple of blocks down to Speedy Mart on Collings Avenue. Picked up four bagels for lunch this week and a Propel water for later. Once again, the Uber driver arrived quickly - six minutes at the height of rush hour - and other than some traffic on Collings, got me home even faster.

I took the recycling outside, then put the laundry in the washer and watched The Price Is Right. The wheel was hot this evening! A handsome young Air Force pilot and a pretty lady both hit $1,000, and he got $10,000. He did make the Showcases, but way underbid on a donut-themed Showcase with a trio of trips to Solvang, California, Mexico, and Germany. The other lady ended up winning.

Let it continue into Match Game '73 during dinner. They jumped way, way back tonight, likely to honor Bob Barker, whose birthday would have been this week. Barker made his first appearance on the show during its second week, along with Arlene Francis, Della Reece, Michael Lerned, and Richard Thomas. Thomas and Lerned would be the only actors from The Waltons to appear on any version of Match Game. Learned seemed to have a great time, but Thomas looked like a deer caught in the headlights and didn't really seem to get the humor. 

Worked on The WENN Nutcracker Suite next after I put the laundry in the dryer. Mr. Eldridge continues to tell the story of how Queen Mouserinks took her revenge on King Alexander and Queen Lana of Toyland when they trapped all of her sons but one, the equally greedy and mean Prince Rollie. When their daughter Princess Pirlipat refused to marry Prince Rollie, his mother cursed her into an ugly monster who could only be cured by the meat of a certain very hard nut. Scott gallantly cracked the nut for her, restoring her beauty. The furious Mouse Queen bit him and cursed him into the form of a Nutcracker...but not only did he crush her falling over onto her, Prince Rollie stole his Christmas Star Sword, a family heirloom that could help restore him. Pirlipat refused to marry a Nutcracker and banished him and Mr. Eldridge forever.

Finished the night after I brought the laundry upstairs with game shows featuring host Bob Goen. Goen came in late to game shows, having gotten his start as a California-area correspondent for ESPN in the early 80's. He started out on game shows with Perfect Match, a Newlywed Game clone, in 1986. Basically the same deal, only the contestants get to bet on what their spouse will actually say, and there's more fill-in-the-blank games. Though the spicier stories could be funny, it mostly came off like the cheap syndicated imitation it was. It was gone in eight months.

In fact, Goen is another host who never seemed to catch a break. He always ended up hosting flops like Blackout or summer replacement shows like The Hollywood Game. Blackout from 1988 was the more creative of the two. In fact, I have fond memories of watching this one. Two contestants joined two celebrities to solve pun-filled puzzles. One would record the description of a word. The other would push a plunger and "black out" parts of the recording, making it harder to figure out what was being said. I enjoyed it as a kid and was disappointed when it only lasted four months.

The Home Shopping Game from 1987 was much worse. This syndicated show had people playing a word game somewhat similar to Wheel of Fortune for prizes that a contestant from home could call in and win, too. Goen is charming, but the game is dull, and the home shopping aspects are more confusing than exciting. 

The Hollywood Game fared only slightly better. This summer replacement show from 1992 was basically "Jeopardy with movie trivia." Contestants even bet on how well they could answer a question. It wasn't unique enough to stand out at a time when game shows were falling out of favor and didn't even last a month.

Today, Goen is best-remembered as the host of the daytime Wheel of Fortune from 1989 through its demise in 1991. It was the closest he came to helming a hit. Alas, there seems to be no footage of his tenure online at all, other than a few ads and one badly-recorded tape of a tape recording. 

He didn't have nearly as much luck with Born Lucky from 1993. This was part of Lifetime's attempt to create a shopping-game block with Supermarket Sweep and Shop 'Til You Drop, and it was by far the least-successful of the three. Filmed in malls across the country, contestants had a chance to win "Mall Money" by playing various quiz games and silly stunts. Cute, but the mall setting couldn't disguise that it was basically a less-gross Double Dare with shopping components. 

That's the Question would seem to have more going for it. This 2006 GSN adaptation of a Dutch show had contestants answering questions that filled in letters on a phrase. The answer to the question was already shown. The letters would fill in the question, until one contestant could guess what the question was. Fast-paced and actually kind of fun. I wish this one had lasted longer than a couple of months. (And although Goen continues to host live game shows and hosted Miss Universe and Miss USA for several years in the mid-2000's, That's the Question is his last TV game show gig to date.)

Learn movie trivia, try to figure out what the celebrity is saying, and hope you're born lucky with this disc jockey and sportscaster turned game show charmer!

Perfect Match (1986)

The Home Shopping Game (1987)

Blackout (1988)

The Hollywood Game (1992)

Born Lucky (1993)

That's the Question (2006) 

Star Wheel Matches

Began the morning with breakfast and the rest of the Brian Setzer Orchestra Boogie Woogie Christmas CD. Switched to Merry Christmas From Sesame Street after that ended. As far as I can tell, this is the very first Sesame Street holiday album from 1975. A lot of what's here would be adapted for Christmas Eve On Sesame Street three years later, including Oscar's "I Hate Christmas," the cast number "Keep Christmas With You," and the entire Bert/Ernie/Mr. Hooper "Gift of the Magi" segment, complete with Bert and Ernie singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." 

Most of the other songs exclusive to this album are covers, but we do have a few unique items. "A Christmas Pageant" for some reason involves Bert posing as a Christmas tree and the other Muppets "planting" him. "The Night Before Christmas On Sesame Street" is David's solo, and it reads more as "a mid 70's New York hipster's version of 'The Night Before Christmas.'" Hispanic neighbors Luis and Maria sing two untranslated Spanish numbers, "Saludo" and "Arrurru." The Count gives us his...unusual...rendition of "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth."

Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon wrapping presents. I managed to get through half of them, including all of the gifts for Mom, Keefe, and Keefe's family, all of Lauren and her parents' gifts, one of Finley's gifts, and one of Khai's gifts. I'll finish the rest tomorrow.

Listened to two more Christmas children's albums while I worked. My family had 4 of the 6 Little Golden Book Christmas Stories when I was a kid in the 80's. For all I know, Mom or Rose may still have "Jingle Bells," "Frosty the Snowman," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and "The Night Before Christmas." Of the two books narrated on the LP I don't recognize, "How Lovely Is Christmas" is the more interesting one. A young boy who wants an ax that's his size to clear trees for his pioneer parents dreams that American tall tale icons Johnny Appleseed, Daniel Boone, and Paul Bunyon give him gifts to help his family. "The Twelve Days of Christmas" isn't nearly as effective when the lyrics are recited rather than sung.

Dickens' A Christmas Carol from 1974 is the original version of what would become Mickey's Christmas Carol almost a decade later. There were quite a few changes from the LP to the big screen. Merlin from Sword and the Stone was the Ghost of Christmas Past. The Wicked Queen in hag mode from Snow White was Christmas Future. Gideon and Foulfellow from Pinocchio were the men collecting for the poor. The biggest change is the addition of six songs, none of which would make it to the animated version. To be honest, I suspect the reason for that is they're not that memorable, although I do like the delicious march "Money" as Scrooge explains what he loves most to Mickey Cratchit. 

I was just having lunch when I looked at my watch...and realized it was quarter after 2. I was supposed to have been at work at 2! I was thinking of the after-school program's schedule, not the Acme's. I usually work there in the mornings. I raced around like crazy after that. Took Uber because I thought it would be faster, and because I would be at work after dark. Even with Uber only taking 6 minutes to arrive, I was still a half-hour late.

It was really busy when I got in, much more than it has been. Good thing the Eagles aren't playing until tomorrow night, or it might have been even worse. I ended up getting help with the carts from one of the guys who were supposed to be cashiering. Thankfully, it slowed down enough by the end of the night that I was able to get the carts done on my own, though I never did get to the trash or the side by the pharmacy. Uber took 11 minutes to get me home, not bad for the height of rush hour.

Spent the rest of the night after dinner watching the Sunday Match Game marathon. The addition of the Star Wheel in mid-1978 was controversial from the outset. Admittedly, it did allow contestants to win more money, up to $10,000 on the daytime show and $20,000 on the nighttime syndicated run. It was also supposed to give panelists other than Richard Dawson a chance to play the Head-to-Head. Richard was furious, to the point where he only lasted two weeks after they changed the set to work better with the Star Wheel.

While the idea of giving everyone a chance to play may have been nice, it didn't always work. Some of the panelists weren't that crazy about doing the Head-to-Head, even the ones like Brett who were actually good at it. Sometimes, the Wheel would land on someone multiple times in a row, like it ironically did with Richard the first couple of times it was used. (In fact, the moment it landed on Richard the first time, most of the panel, including Richard himself, walked out!) I know it landed on David Doyle at least four or five times in a row one week during the syndicated era, too. 

Contestants had fewer problems with it, other than some of them weren't all that great at spinning it. It did allow them to win a ton of money. This was particularly true in the nighttime syndicated show. Joyce Bulifant got the chance to help a man dressed all in blue win $20,000. Charles made him his "code of arms" to remind him of a slip-up on the Audience Match and of his big win.

Spin that Star Wheel to get big bucks the Match Game way in this hilarious marathon!

Match Game Sunday Classics - Star Wheel "Special Moments" (1978 - 1982)

Holiday Matches

Began the morning with a quick breakfast and the short "Pluto's Christmas Tree." Mickey doesn't realize that he accidentally cut down Chip and Dale's pine tree home, taking the two chipmunks with him. They're delighted with the decorations and candy canes in their digs, but not so much when Pluto starts chasing them. For the first and only time, Mickey ends up having to deal with them, but he's a lot better at it than his dog or Donald.

Rushed out after that. Work was busy, but it honestly could have been worse on a Saturday morning a few weeks before Christmas. I did have to do a lot of cold returns, including a fairly full cart. Other than that, there were no real problems. I was in and out. Even stopped at the A&A Pretzel Shop down the street on my way home. Got a pepperoni-stuffed pretzel and two regular pretzels for lunch; the shop owner threw in three more.

Changed, then ate my lunch while watching Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. "It's Snowflake Day," the big winter holiday in the Neighborhood. Daniel's excited to play the snowflake narrator in their play, until he gets stage fright. His mother and Katerina coax him back out. Later on, when the lights go out, he comes up with the idea for everyone to use the snowflake lanterns they release after the play to light the rest of the show.

Spent the rest of the afternoon signing Christmas cards. Most of these will be going out in the mail on Monday. I do need to get a gift card for one of them. Otherwise, they're ready to go. I also need cards for those who get gifts in the mail - Mom, Keefe, and Keefe's family, Lauren and her parents, and Anny and Lilah. I'll give everyone else their cards on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Watched Bye Bye Birdie as I worked. I go further into the 1995 TV version of this 60's favorite featuring Vanessa Williams and Jason Alexander at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Family Fun Saturday - Bye Bye Birdie (1995)

Listened to The Brian Setzer Orchestra after the movie ended. It's a Boogie Woogie Christmas with one of the great kings of neo-swing. "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" is probably the best-known number, but I really like his versions of "The Man With the Bag" and "Run Rudolph Run." "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Ann-Margaret is charming too, and there's the Gene Autry spoof "Cactus Christmas."

Took a shower and had dinner, then finished the night with today's Match Game marathon on YouTube. Some of the show's biggest wins were on the syndicated nighttime episodes. There was the energetic 19-year-old whom Richard Dawson was more than happy to help win $10,000 and a handsome Marine flyer who also won $10,000 with Betty White a little earlier in the year. Minnie Pearl and Dick Smothers got to meet a cowboy named Buck Rodgers in an episode from 1977. In 1976, a lady was so eager to give Rich a kiss, she them to him anyway even though she didn't win. Debralee Scott flirted with a handsome young contestant in 1980, while the others made jokes about matching a policeman from Huntingdon Beach in another episode that year. 

Get more bang for your buck at night and see some of the biggest winners ever on the show in this marathon that's definitely not in the dark when it comes to laughs!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Match Game PM: Biggest and Greatest Wins Marathon

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Began the morning with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Plus. "Minnie's Rubber Ducky Doozy" has everyone decorating rubber ducks at her Clubhouse for the Rubber Ducky Parade on Star Lake. Willie the Giant blows them across the lake at first, until seahorses decide to toss them around. After they retrieve them, an old friend helps them figure out how they can have their parade and involve the seahorses, too.

Called Uber after that. It was barely in the 30's today, too cold for biking. Unfortunately, neither Uber showed up quickly. The one going to work took 13 minutes. The one going home took 10. At least there was no traffic either way, but it did make me slightly late to work.

That was the worst thing that happened all day. Between the cloudy, cold weather and most people focusing on gift shopping right now, we were steady at the most during 11:30-12. I ended up sweeping and doing the carts and trying to figure out how to explain to customers early this morning that there was a water main break and our toilets weren't working for the first hour I was there. 

It took them forever to put it up, but I did get my schedule at work. In good news, back to regular hours. In bad news, not enough hours, and I forgot to ask for the 10th off because the school is on half-days next week due to parent-teacher conferences. I'll have to come in late on Wednesday. 

After I got home, I had lunch while watching the Rankin-Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I went further into this at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog way back in 2018.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Called Uber again even before the special ended. Though they took 10 minutes to arrive, I called them early. Too early, as it turned out. I went for a walk around the block until school ended. Though it was still somewhat cloudy and very cold, at least it wasn't windy this time. They only took 7 minutes to come going home.

I don't know if they were tired of being stuck inside or it was just end of the week jitters, but the kids were really rowdy today. They just would not listen and sit down, even when a teacher spread blankets on the floor and let them pretend to have a pajama party while she read stories. The older kids were taken to the library to do crafts while we helped the younger ones build with wooden blocks or magnetic tiles, color, or play with plastic dinosaurs. I got recruited near the end to help the head teacher greet parents and sign them out.

When I got in, I had dinner while watching Match Game '78. The first hour featured the infamous week where Jack Klugman and Brett Somers appeared together well after they'd divorced or separated. For some reason, the second hour jumped back to earlier in the year. Richard Dawson was back, this time with female Welcome Back Kotter Sweathog Helaine Lembeck. 

Finished the night with Scrooged. IBC Network president Frank Cross (Bill Murray) does not hate Christmas. Far from it. He appreciates it as a time when people stay home and watch television. He's pushing his big live Christmas Carol, but he's also treating those around him badly. He fires an employee (Bobcat Goldthwait) who protests his ridiculously violent commercial for the special, won't go to his brother's (James Murray) Christmas party, and makes his secretary (Alfe Woodward) work late on Christmas Eve when she has to take her mute son to the doctor. His social worker ex-girlfriend Claire (Karen Allen) wishes he'd learn to treat people better. She gets her wish when Frank encounters a zombie version of his ex-boss (John Forsythe) and three of the scariest and most violent Ghosts of Christmas Past  (David Johanssen), Present (Carol Kane), and Future who literally frighten him into changing his ways.

This black comedy version of one of the most beloved holiday stories on the planet got a mixed reception when it came out in the late 80's, including in my own family. Dad thought it was hilarious. Mom agreed with most critics and thought it was too mean-spirited. I agreed with Mom then, but it's grown on me over the years. I've seen holiday comedies come out since then that were five times nastier than this. It's worth seeing just for Murray, who puts in one of his best performances as the cynical executive who literally needs to be knocked on the head to learn the error of his ways. The makeup work on the Ghosts was so groundbreaking, it won an Oscar. Not for those in a warm and fuzzy mood, but if you like your Christmas comedies toasty-dark, you'll want to join Frank Cross as he learns the true meaning of Christmas from four of the wildest ghosts around. 

Here Comes Santa Claus

Began the morning with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Plus. This time, Martian Mickey comes to Earth, but he has a "Martian Mishap" when he crashes into a tree after Goofy makes a mistake getting him down. The others have to retrieve pieces of his ship from the forest, the lake, and the desert, so Martian Mickey can get the spices he needs for his Yumblatz (hot dog) Pie.

Switched to Supermarket Sweep while I made my grocery list. This was the end of their "Family Week," with three sets of sisters playing each other. Team 1 not only got almost all of the bonuses in the Big Sweep, they got twice as much time as anyone else. All of those bonuses resulted in them earning the show's biggest-ever Big Sweep total, over $1,900.

Hurried off to run errands next. I couldn't find an egg timer at Target or Dollar Tree. I want it to time me at night and make sure I go to bed and not stay up until 5 AM. Did a little better at Sprouts. Found sugar cookies and more containers of those apple fritter-flavored dried cranberries on clearance. Picked up coconut milk and sparkling water, too.

Sprouts hadn't been busy, and the Acme wasn't really, either. I mainly needed to restock yogurt and oranges here. Found Nature's Valley granola bars buy one, get one free. Cove sodas were $1.50. Got more sliced chicken, too. Bought stamps for when I get the Christmas cards together on Saturday. Found more Winter Spiced Sprite Zero and Diet Coke Lime $2 for 5. 

Newton Lake Park was gorgeous, if chilly, as I rode home. It was sunny, windy, and cold, in the upper 30's. The park is showing signs of winter now. The leaves are almost entirely gone from the trees, the grass is turning yellow, and fewer plants and animals are seen along the banks. 

Had a quick lunch when I got in while putting everything away and watching First a Girl. I go further into this British version of Victor/Victoria from 1935 with Jesse Matthews and Sonnie Hale at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

First a Girl

The movie had just ended when I headed to the Thomas Sharp School. Though the older kids did get to run around on the blacktop, it was too cold for the younger kids to go on the playground. One of the teachers and I read Hot Wheels: Extreme Stunts, Tweety: The North Star's Magical Journey Home, and Move Over, Rover! After that, the kids spent the rest of the afternoon building towers from magnetic tiles that were so tall, they had to be leaned against the cafeteria wall to keep them standing, coloring, and playing with rubber play food.

After I finished, I had dinner at Crust n' Cravings. I was originally going to eat at Phillies Phatties, but Collings Avenue was closer to the school. Plus, to be honest, I just like Crust n' Cravings' pizza better. I ate a slice of cheese and a slice of broccoli and tomato while watching Action News on ABC. 

Stopped at Dollar General on my way home. I was hoping to find an egg timer, but no luck. (I just ordered one online.) I did get aspirin, ibuprofen, and cold medicine here. My head had been stuffed up and I'd had mild sinus headaches all day. Either my allergies are acting up from the wind and dryness, or I'm coming down with a cold. 

Went home briefly to park the bike and put everything away, then went right back out again. Oaklyn had its Parade of Lights and Tree Lighting this evening. They were just starting to hand out the fiber optic lights for the kids when I arrived. There was rich hot chocolate, brownie bites, and four different kinds of cookies. I tried what I believe to be butter pecan and red velvet. They were so delicious! Probably came from Shop Rite, but they still tasted good.

I only saw Rose once and I never did find Jessa, but I did get to see my 8-year-old niece Finley perform several carols with her class on the side of City Hall. Good thing she inherited her mother's height and was wearing a reindeer antlers headband! It was so crowded, I never would have seen her otherwise. At any rate, the kids did a wonderful job, their voices mostly smooth and clear. Near the end of their performance, a "snow" machine spewed foamy "snow" all over, which the kids absolutely loved. 

After the kids sang their carols, the Parade of Lights arrived at City Hall! They had a few actual floats this year, including one lavish gingerbread-themed one, and another with a costumed Grinch. There was one fire truck "pulled" by dalmatians, and others covered completely in lights. Santa arrived in the last truck for Oaklyn. 

Surprisingly, there was no speech or fanfare for the tree lighting this year. The tree just lit up. One minute, I had turned to City Hall to find Finley. The next, the massive "tree" blazed with reds, blues, greens, and yellows, with a huge glittering star on top. After the tree lighting, I gave up trying to figure out where Rose and Finley had gone and just walked home.

Finished the night working on the First a Girl review and listening to two more new (to me) Christmas CDs after my shower. I'm not as familiar with many of the artists in A Very Merry Christmas 5. Most of it is rap or pop that I'm just not that fond of, but there are a few good numbers. We get Stevie Nick's gorgeous version of "Silent Night," B.B King and John Popper doing "Back Door Santa," and Sheryl Crow getting into "Run Rudolph Run."

The Carpenters' Christmas Portrait is on more familiar turf. The most popular number from this one by far is the wistful standard "Merry Christmas Darling." Some of the covers are nice too, notably "Sleigh Ride," the aching "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." Richard Carpenter plays a lively "Selections from The Nutcracker." 

Winter Is Just Around the Corner

Got a quick start with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Plus. "Martian Mickey's Clubhouse" was damaged in a sandstorm, so Mickey and the others help their space counterparts build a new one. Martian bubbles are ten times stronger than Earth ones and make splendid walls and furniture, but they need to call in a friend for the books and games needed to make it truly a home.

Hurried off to work soon as the cartoon ended. Work was off-and-on busy, likely due to it being the beginning of the month. I was constantly called to put away cold items, including during my break. Otherwise, there were no major problems, and I was in and out. I even helped a co-worker who couldn't bend over clean up the ice she spilled from her drink in the break room after I finished.

Put on the 2002 Strawberry Shortcake when I got home and was settled down for lunch. It's a "Merry Berry Christmas" as Strawberry struggles with what to give her friends, especially Huckleberry Pie. She and ever-bragging Honey Pie Pony travel to Holidayland to find just the right gifts. Honey Pie keeps dropping obvious hints and insisting on buying horse things for everyone, even though Strawberry constantly admonishes her that she needs to buy gifts that the recipient actually wants, not just her. Strawberry even gets to meet Santa. When one gift makes a mess, Strawberry thinks she has nothing to give the others. They insist they're just glad to have her back...and are even happier with the surprise at Strawberry's front door.

Headed back out even before the show ended. I don't know if it's early holiday jitters or the full moon, but the kids were really rowdy today. They played with dreidels they got in class, grabbed each other's chocolate coins, and put up a fuss about wearing their coats outside. While the weather was beautiful, sunny, breezy, and bright, it was also in the 40's. Not freezing like it will be by Friday, but not exactly warm, either. Definitely not weather to go without coats!

With two teachers having left for good last week, I ended up in charge of the swings again. Most of the kids were pretty good about it, but I had to argue one of the older boys off when he wouldn't listen and kept saying "whatever." I wasn't the only one who had problems with him and the other older boys, too. I was too busy with the kids on the swings to see it, but apparently, the older boys spent their time outside fighting. It got so bad, we ended up calling them inside earlier than planned. One of the younger girls was so upset she hadn't been able to get on the swings, she cried all the way inside, even after we swore she could go on tomorrow.

Things weren't a whole lot better inside. We had two managers come to check out the new assistants. One of them separated the older kids and younger kids, even though we usually just let them mingle when we came in. I couldn't do anything right. I sat with the group coloring and was told to go with the younger kids. I sharpened colored pencils for the kids coloring and was told to sit with the kids building with Duplos and magnetic tiles. I spilled a teacher's coffee cup when I couldn't find a place for my coat. At least it only had water, and one of the new assistants helped me clean it up, but it was still embarrassing. One of the managers said I was doing fine, but I felt like a klutz. 

Hurried straight home after that mess. Watched Match Game '78 during dinner. Richard Dawson was still around and still playing pretty well at this point. He got to see David Doyle make his debut next to Brett, along with Betty White and glamorous Eva Gabor.

Worked on writing The WENN Nutcracker Suite throughout the evening. Mr. Eldridge tells the story of how the Nutcracker came to be the way he is, aided by Gertie Ginger's fireplace. Queen Gloria, King Benjamin, and their con-artist son Prince Scott were the beloved, benevolent rulers of the Land of Sweets, adored by their people. Mr. Eldridge was Scott's mentor and tutor, but he spent most of his time keeping Scott from brawls and sailing around the world with him. King Benjamin finally gives his son the sacred Christmas Star Sword that is fueled by Christmas spirit before he takes a carriage to Santa's Workshop on Christmas Eve. He does talk to Santa, but never makes it home before his carriage goes over a cliff during a blizzard.

Finished the night with My Little Pony: A Very Minty Christmas. Sock-loving Minty is the title character of the Christmas special for the mid-2000's version of the franchise. The "Here Comes Christmas Candy Cane" tree topper is supposed to guide Santa to Ponyville with its fabulous light. Fussy Minty's attempts to make it "just perfect" end with her knocking it over and breaking it. She first tries to play Santa herself and gives her massive sock collection to her friends. When Pinkie Pie catches her doing that, she insists on going to the North Pole herself to tell Santa what happened. Half of Ponyville ends up following her to tell her that she matters more than any candy cane. 

Rainy Day Angels

Began a rainy morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. "Daniel's Winter Adventure" has him first learning to sled with Prince Wednesday, then skating with his father. In both cases, he's encouraged to try it a little bit at a time until he gets used to it. Margaret walks for the first time too, right to her brother. Daniel ends up performing in the "Neighborhood Nutcracker" when Prince Wednesday gets sick. Henrietta, who plays the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Katerina, who plays Clara, helps him learn his part a little bit at a time.

Put up the winter decorations next, or at least the ones that I could fit out now. I mainly put out the winter stuffed animals, my Webkinz Groundhog Phil, Marie in her little winter collar and hat, and the penguin in the green knit hat. The folksy wooden snowman with the dangling legs and arms was small enough to fit now, as was the snowman candy dish.

Watched Evergreen as I worked, and later when I went online. I go further into this charming British musical with 1930's dance star Jessie Matthews at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Evergreen (1934)

Barely had the time to grab something for lunch and call Uber before work. It took 14 minutes for the driver to arrive, but I was able to get a few quick chores done. It took 10 minutes for the driver home to arrive. In both cases, there was no traffic, and the driver was pleasant. 

Considering it continued to pour even as I arrived at the Thomas Sharp School, I suspect you may already have guessed that we never went outside today. The kids listened to Horton Hears a Who, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and If You Give a Moose a Muffin in the library instead. After the stories ended, some of the kids danced, while others colored, played with blocks (that they kept knocking over), or worked with stencils on enormous sheets of paper taped to the tables. They were all pretty rowdy - they hadn't gone outside earlier in the day, either. Enough of them had gone home by 5 that we finally moved them to the cafeteria, where they colored, played with dolls, and played ball games with the older kids.

After I got home, I did a few chores around the house before Jessa picked me up for dinner. I'm not normally a fan of fast food, but a Roy Rogers just opened in Cherry Hill. I hadn't seen one of those in years, not since they took out the one on the Garden State Parkway. Jessa had chicken tenders, fries, mashed potatoes and gravy, and a strawberry shortcake. I had a Southwestern Grilled Chicken sandwich with bacon (and got to use their famous "Fixin's Bar"), huge onion rings, a peppermint milkshake, and the strawberry shortcake. 

Oh yum. No wonder the lines when this place opened a few weeks ago were apparently out the door. The chicken sandwich was juicy and flavorful. The tenders were cooked perfectly. The strawberry shortcake was real strawberries on a biscuit with what I suspect was real, or at least local ice cream. The milkshake was perfectly minty. I wouldn't expect anything less from the King of the Cowboys! We left the place very full.

Took a shower, then watched Charlie's Angels. "Mother Goose Is Running For His Life" when the owner of a toy company learns that someone from inside the company may be trying to force him to sell to a man who would use the company as a front for gambling. Turns out a slightly unhinged toy designer is angry because his boss won't consider designing his horror-themed toys. Sabrina poses as the daughter of a toy company owner, Kris as a rag doll, and Kelly as a wire tapper to find out how he's getting information out.

Finished the night with Now That's What I Call Christmas 3. There's some really fabulous stuff here, especially on the first half. Johnny Mathis' "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" can be found here, too, along with Andy Williams' "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," Peggy Lee's version of "The Little Drummer Boy," Judy Garland's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Blue Christmas" by Johnny Cash, Dean Martin doing "Baby It's Cold Outside" and The Chipmunks singing "Please Christmas Don't Be Late." Side two includes "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," The Beach Boys' "Little Saint Nick," an absolutely gorgeous "Christmastime Is Here" by Dianne Reeves, Kenny Rogers' "Christmas Is My Favorite Time of Year," Celine Dion's "Feliz Navidad," Christina Agulilera singing "Merry Christmas, Baby," a really fun "Santa Baby" by the Pussycat Dolls, and "It Just Don't Feel Like Christmas Without You" by Rhianna. 

It's the Holiday Season, Charlie Brown

Began the morning with breakfast and finishing off Alice's Wonderland Bakery. Alice needs a "Clever Clover" to make her soda bread. The Queen and King of Hearts helps her wait for hers to grow. "Alice Comes to Her Senses" when the Mock Turtle chef teaches her how to make mini-casseroles that appeal to all of the senses - sight, taste, smell, touch. Her "pie-fectionist" side crops up again when the students in her baking class make a mess of the greenhouse, until she realizes that using all of your senses doesn't mean things work out perfectly the first time.

And that's that. Too bad this seems to have come to an abrupt end on Disney Junior last April. I really enjoyed it. As someone who also loves baking, I appreciated the themes of trying new foods and how food can bring communities together. Some people online has complained that Alice is too bland compared to the original. I disagree. I think she's a lot of fun. My favorite characters are sweet little Princess Rosa of Hearts and her decidedly spicy Queen of Hearts mama. Honestly, if you're a fan of Alice In Wonderland and/or baking like me, you and your little one can do far worse than the charming tales of the most splediferous young baker in all of Wonderland. 

After breakfast, I took my overflowing laundry basket downstairs, then went back up to my rooms and pulled out the remaining Christmas decorations. I always forget I have so much! There's the jolly Santa statue Mom gave me years ago and the Winter Cinderella Barbie-sized doll I found at a yard sale. There's the printed elves, angel made from fabric and a button, stuffed "gingerbread" people and the garland with the fabric stars and green grosgrain ribbon Mom made herself. The colorful wooden "Noel" candlestick holder has been in my family for years. I bought the little white frosted bottle-brush wreath from the Special Service Middle School's annual Christmas bazaar in the mid-90's. Amanda gave me the "Gretel" gingerbread Beanie Baby, and my gingerbread Squishmallow is a doggie toy I found at Target and thought was too cute to be chewed up by some dog! I have lots of holiday Beanie Baby bears, too, Gift and Herald the angels, Wallace in the plaid scarf, the bear with the jingling hat, Ginny "The Beginning" with the silver stars. Aunt Terri gave me the American Girl tin with the recipes for Christmas 2001.

Watched Christmas specials while I worked, starting with the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas. Chuck is upset by all of the grab, grab around him, from Snoopy entering a big neighborhood display contest to Lucy insisting she wants real estate for Christmas. Directing the local pageant seems to be what he needs to boost his flagging spirits, but his pals refuse to listen to him and insist on turning it into a jazz concert. It's when Charlie brings a tiny tree back to the church and the kids make fun of it that Linus reminds them of what Christmas is really all about.

It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown is a less-linear holiday special from the early 90's. Peppermint Patty avoids Christmas break homework and goes to see the Hallelujah Chorus with Marcie. Snoopy works as a sidewalk Santa, while Chuck tries to make money to buy a gift for the Little Red Haired Girl. Sally writes to Santa's wife and tries to learn her one line in the Christmas Pageant. 

The He-Man She-Ra Christmas Special is probably the least-likely holiday show in existence. Orko accidentally transfers two Earth kids to Etheria, where they teach She-Ra, He-Man, and all their friends about the magic of Christmas and peace on Earth. Horde Prime doesn't appreciate the good will they're spreading and orders Skeletor and Hordak to bring them to him. Skeletor gets to them first...but gets a rather strange lesson in the Christmas spirit when he ends up defending the kids against robot monsters.

Switched to the series finale of What's New, Scooby Doo? while eating lunch. It's an "E-scream" when Mystery Inc visits a fan convention that's overrun with Osmons, tiny furballs that are usually very popular, but seem to have gone crazy and are destroying everything in their path. As they solve the mystery, Velma notices that her friends don't seem to be acting like themselves, leading her to wonder if she's solving a real mystery at all. (Incidentally, this is one of the few times in the entire franchise where there's no unmasking, and technically, no villain.)

This is still one of the best and best-regarded Scooby series. They balanced the usual mysteries with people in masks with unique episodes like "E-Scream" (where there's no villain), "Camp Comeandscareya" (throwback to the Shaggy/Scooby/Scrappy solo shorts of the late 70's-early 80's), and "High Tech House of Horrors" (where technology was the villain). There's echoes of The New Scooby Doo Movies in episodes featuring celebrities like "Riva Ras Regas" and "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman," too. In fact, if you have younger kids, this might be the best place to start if you want to introduce them to the franchise. It's faster-paced than the original Scooby Doo, Where are You, and has more stories that might appeal to them.

Headed out to run some quick errands before school. Hit WaWa first to use their ATM machine. I haven't had a smoothie from there in ages. Peppermint Mocha really hit the spot, very minty and even more chocolatey! I got one of the things I needed at Family Dollar, which was laundry detergent, but forgot a timer.

I barely had time to put everything upstairs and head back out again when I got home. I'm glad I just got there on time. We needed all hands on deck. One teacher left, so now the one who was taking care of the pre-schoolers had to step up and take the older kids. The kids were all antsy today, every single one. They would not stay in their seats and gave us a hard time about wearing their coats outside, too, even though it was in the 40's.

It was a nice day once we got out, though, sunny, cold, and breezy. You'd never know we're supposed to get torrential rain tomorrow. I did have to break up some of the kids who were sitting around on the top of the playground equipment, trying to push each other on the slides or blocking them. They aren't supposed to be pushing on the slides, and they certainly didn't need to block them. Other kids wanted to go down the slides, too. I also chatted with kids looking for people walking dogs and admired the beautiful gold sunset as we went inside.

When we got in, I helped the kids color and sharpened colored pencils. I wish they'd just stick to coloring and leave other things alone. Their attempts to cut out paper and use tape ends with them making messes and us with no masking tape. Some of the kids were rowdy even inside and would not sit down and play games. They were finally settling down with the magnetic tiles when I left.

Went straight home and watched Match Game '78 during dinner and as I finally brought the laundry upstairs. We finished the Joe Gargiola week and went on to one with Avery Schriber and Lee Merriweather. At one point when told to "show us your G-string" (answer), Betty White took off her vest and scarf and did a mock striptease, to the delight of the audience and the annoyance of Gene!

Finished the night at YouTube with shopping game shows. People have been shopping or bidding for items on game shows for a long time. Bid n' Buy is a short-lived Price Is Right imitation from 1958. Players began with $5,000 to bid on clues to a prize. If they could guess the clues, they got the prize. If not, they still got to keep any money they had left from the bidding. This one was kind of confusing, and I can understand why it didn't last longer than its summer replacement slot on CBS.

The Price Is Right itself, on the other hand, is still very much going strong today on CBS. This episode from 1977 has a lot going on. There's a big Showcase win, a buxom blonde in a dress barely containing her cleavage that Bob couldn't take his eyes off of, a rare sighting of the extremely short-lived Professor Price trivia game, and an even rarer sighting of a model in a fur coat (before animal-loving Bob Barker banned them). 

Two shopping games from the 1980's exemplify the good and bad sides of shopping shows. Done right, they could be genuinely exciting ways to see people get a bargain, as in this 1986 episode of Sale of the Century. Bargain Hunters from a year later was far less interesting as people attempted to figure out the price of an item. It seemed far more interested in selling the item to home viewers than playing the game.

Supermarket Sweep went through many different mini-games during its runs on Lifetime and Pax TV, but this episode from 1993 is one of the most emblematic. For all the mini games, the hook - that "Big Sweep" where everyone is running around, gathering items - remains genuinely exciting, and it feels like a real win when they get the bonus clues!

Mall Masters from 2001 was filmed in America's largest mall, the Mall of America in Minnesota. There's echoes of Bargain Hunters here, as mall shoppers team up with contestants to help them answer questions about stores or other places in the mall. Slow-moving and not the most exciting, I can see why this cross between Bargain Hunters and Family Feud only lasted a few months. 

Look for good deals on Cyber Monday with these unique ventures into shopping shows past!

Bid n' Buy (1958)

The Price Is Right (1977)

Sale of the Century (1986)

Bargain Hunters (1987)

Supermarket Sweep (1993)

Mall Masters (2001) 

Friends at Christmas

Began the morning with a really quick breakfast and Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis. This is one of Johnny's later albums from 1986. It features one of Mathis' best Christmas recordings, a delightful version of "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" that later turned up in Home Alone 2. He also has lovely versions of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and a medley of "Happy Holidays" and "Caroling, Caroling." We also get music from lesser-known 80's projects, including "Where Will I Find Christmas" from The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas and the Leslie Bricusse and Henry Mancini songs from the notorious cult flop Santa Claus: The Movie, "Giving" and "Every Christmas Eve."

It took me longer to make my bed than I thought it would, and I didn't get out the door until 11, when I was supposed to meet Amanda. Good thing she was picking me up at the parking lot of Oaklyn's City Hall, less than a five-minute walk away. She was there when I arrived. I jumped in her car, and we headed down the White Horse Pike to the Legacy Diner. 

We had a hard time finding a place to park at the diner. They were so busy! There's a church just a block from there, and a lot of people probably went straight from church to brunch. At least it only took about 10 minutes to seat us. We both had pancakes and bacon. She had chocolate chip, I had coconut pineapple. Hers was part of the Legacy Sampler, which meant she also got scrambled eggs. She had hot tea, I had iced tea. The Legacy Diner makes wonderful pancakes, fluffy and huge, the size of the plate, and full of fruit. They were also too big to eat in one go. Neither of us finished our pancakes.

Amanda loves coffee, so we headed back down the Pike to Common Grounds in Oaklyn. They too were busy, but Amanda got us a seat at one of the wrought-iron tables along the brick wall. She just had a cup of coffee. I had a matcha latte. We spent the next hour or so discussing our triumphs and difficulties with our students - she teaches kindergarten at a private academy outside of Vineland - and that she's not really close with most of her family.

It had been raining all morning, since before I left Amanda, not hard rain, but a persistent shower that would continue for most of the day. Between the bad weather and Amanda wanting to get home and decorate her own tree, we ended up calling it early and exchanging gifts in her car. She gave me two fancy tins of hot chocolate, a cute kitten playing with a laptop Hallmark ornament, and another bag of scone mix, this one chocolate. 

After Amanda dropped me off, I went straight into putting all the ornaments on my tree, including the Strawberry Shortcake I bought in Vermont and the one Amanda just gave me. I have so many ornaments! Mom made the folksy-themed stitched Santa and heart, the Christmas tree with the buttons, and Holly Hobbie in the 90's. Later, she bought us all ornaments from Winterwood in Rio Grande, like the beautiful flowered heart, the gingerbread Man in the chef's hat, and the Willow angel with the heart. Mom gave Rose and Anny and me Willow Angels the year they came out. Rose's angel holds a rose, mine has a heart, and Anny's has a child. (She gave birth to Skylar that year.) There's all kinds of pop culture characters and figures I love, Lucy Ricardo in a snazzy green dress, a soft BB8, Yogi Bear, the Disney Cinderella (they both came from half-price after-Christmas sales), Pusheen, Shaggy and Scooby out sledding, Winnie the Pooh dressed as an angel while eating honey, Rudolph and the Misfit Toys. Even my star holds fond memories. I bought the silver-tinsel-trimmed topper from Family Dollar in the late 90's, well before I had a tree. I just thought it was too cute and retro.  

I had a little time after I finally got the ornaments done. Since I just rearranged my stuffed animals on my bed anyway, I got the Christmas bears out. This dates to 1987, when Dad gave Mom a big white teddy bear from K-Mart wearing a knitted hat and scarf. She named him Chester and put him on her hope chest, then dressed some of our other bears in old baby clothes and scarves and hats and had them join him. It was an interactive display. We'd change their clothes throughout the season, even putting tiaras and top hats on them at New Year's.

By the early 2000's, only Keefe was left at home, and Mom was tired of putting the bears out. She gave Chester and the remaining Christmas-only bears and clothes to me after I moved to Wildwood in 2002. I had no idea where to put them. I don't have a hope chest, but I did realize it looked a bit bare under my Christmas tree. The Christmas bears and stuffed animals have gone under the tree almost every year since.

Listened to Christmas records all afternoon while I worked. I picked up Volumes 20, 22, and 23 of the True Value Happy Holidays series on eBay. Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas" and the Carpenters singing "Sleigh Ride" are probably the big ones on Volume 20. Leontyne Price also does a nice "I Wonder as I Wander," and Ronnie Milsap's "It's Christmas" is very sweet. Volume 22 gets its country on with Milsap returning for "Silver Bells," Alabama doing "Homecoming Christmas," and Dolly Pardon covering "White Christmas." Ella Fitzgerald ends the album with a gorgeous "Silent Night." Bing Crosby's immortal version of "White Christmas" ends Volume 23, which Mom bought to play while we decorated the tree when I was a kid. It gets a lot more late 80's with "This Christmas" by the Jets and "Greatest Little Christmas Ever Wuz" by Ray Stevens.

Switched to 80's kids Christmas albums while I dressed the bears. The Pac-Man Christmas Album has a rather sappy story about the Pac family inviting the ghosts over for Christmas, but it does have some good songs. "Snowflakes and Frozen Lakes" and "An Old-Fashioned Christmas" are my favorite numbers here. 

A Cabbage Patch Christmas is even better. In fact, I bought this album because it has four songs by the Sherman Brothers along with numbers by other hands. Ironically, the clear winner was one of the numbers by other hands. "Children Go Where I Send Thee" is the attempt by the Colonel to tell the Kids the story of Christ. The Sherman Brothers' best song is "Gimmie Gimmie Take Take." The resident villains in the Cabbage Patch are confused and annoyed by a time of year when their usual adversaries are more likely to give them gifts than run away from them.

Did True Value Happy Holidays Volume 38 after I got off. The Bing Crosby/David Bowie version of "Little Drummer Boy" that ends the album and "Wonderful Christmastime" by Paul McCartney are by far the most famous numbers here. I loved the jazzy Dave Koz "Winter Wonderland" too. Sawyer Brown's "Please Come Home for Christmas" was the best of the country numbers.

Finished the night after a shower with dinner and tonight's YouTube game show marathon. We leave Match Game behind tonight to honor one of the channel owner's favorite game show hosts, Dick Clark, whose birthday would have been next week. Clark, the world's oldest teenager, had already been hosting American Bandstand for almost a decade when he did his first game show. The Object Is..., which had celebrities describing a famous person by using objects associated with them. It was too confusing to last more than a few months in late 1963 and early 1964. 

After the similar Missing Links also failed, Clark focused on radio and Bandstand until 1973, when he hosted The $10,000 Pyramid. He became so associated with the show, he'd host all versions through 1988 except the syndicated $25,000. I have fond memories of watching the CBS daytime New $25,000 and $100,000 Pyramids when I was a kid. 

Clark hosted many lesser-known shows, too. It Takes Two debuted on the Family Channel in 1997. Three couples have to decide between the averages tied to some kind of event, like a huge meal or how much three San Diego Chargers weigh. Not a whole lot too this one. He ended his career with two short-lived Who Wants to Be a Millionaire imitations. Winning Lines and the two-off special Challenge of the Child Geniuses were clearly designed to steal Millionaire's thunder. They both asked questions of a large group of people before narrowing the field down and asking questions in Millionaire style ladders. Winning Lines was slightly more interesting; the kids on the Child Genius specials were more uncanny than brilliant.

Clark appeared as a panelist on other game shows, too. He was either on the panel of What's My Line? or a Mystery Guest many times, both on the network and in syndication. Likewise, he was also a frequent panelist on To Tell the Truth, including its rare 1980 version. He helped a couple with some pretty wild stunts in the 1970 version of Beat the Clock with Gene Wood. His stint on I've Got a Secret in 1964 coincided with their "teenager day." They introduced famous young teenagers, including Carol Lynley, future basketball star Oscar Peterson, and Bobby Fisher, and showed Paul Anka singing a new song he'd written. 

Celebrate the life and times of the man who could climb Pyramids, challenge child geniuses, and kept New Year's Eve and daytime rockin' for 40 years!

Sunday Classics - Dick Clark Happy Heavenly Birthday Marathon

O Christmas Matches

Got a quick start today with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Plus. "Mickey and Pluto Go Camping" at Friendship Lake. While they enjoy their time together, they also admit that they miss their friends. Turns out the others had the same idea and eventually join them.

Hurried off to work after that. Work was pretty much the same as yesterday. Surprisingly busy in the morning, slowing down as afternoon hit. The fact that it's still sunny, windy, and cold probably helped scare some people off. By the time I finished, I had no trouble whatsoever with the carts. I stopped on the way home to buy Finley one last Christmas gift. Saw these cookie-tart things filled with icing on the clearance rack and thought I'd try them.

The other important thing I did at work today was get my flu and Covid shots. I'm overdue for both. Since the pharmacist goes on break around 1-1:30, I couldn't get it after work. I scheduled the appointment during my break. It was worth losing the extra time just to get it over with. 

As soon as I got home, I changed, had lunch, and went straight into Standing Ovation. I go further into this cute but heavily cliched teen dance movie from the early 2010's at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Family Fun Saturday - Standing Ovation

After lunch, I dusted my rooms, then started putting up the Christmas decorations. The miscellaneous items always come first. I hung the wreath with the gold foil stars and big red velvet ribbon on my door. The needlepoint magnetic poinsettia I bought from a church bazaar, the red and green coasters I crocheted myself, the poinsettia place mats, the huge old Nativity that once belonged to my grandmother went in the living room. The bows and tinsel Garland got hung up in the bedroom and draped over book shelves. Decorated the feather-style tree I bought from Dollar Tree a few years ago with tiny ornaments and chenille candy canes I found at the Vermont Country Store.

The tree went up next as I put on tonight's YouTube marathon. I'll do the ornaments with Amanda tomorrow, but I put up the tree itself, the lights, the star, and the garlands tonight. Watched tonight's game show marathon while I worked. Match Game is far from the only older game shows to have episodes missing or can no longer be shown on Buzzr. In addition to being sensitive about the word "midget," Buzzr also skips episodes where people use the word "Oriental," which is now reserved for things, not people.

Password Plus and Super Password were both hit with the "oriental" clues. Orson Bean's story about a middle-eastern cab driver he met in New York in one episode probably didn't help things, either. Other episodes have bad tape that can't be seen or replaced. A 1973 episode of Match Game with Nanette Fabray only turned up this year due to tape damage. A nighttime Match Game episode had fringing around the edges of the screen. 

See some of the rarest game show episodes of all in this unique and thought-provoking marathon!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Fully Stuffed Marathon: Skipped Episodes of Family Feud, Match Game, Password, and Password Plus

Welcome to the Holidays

Began the day with apple pie for breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Plus. Daisy takes the others mini golfing, but she finds more holes than there should be on the course. She and the others have to figure out who made those holes, and how to help them and still let Daisy get her hole in one.

Rushed off to work the moment the cartoon ended. Work was busier than I thought it would be for the day after Thanksgiving, especially early-on. It did slow down later in the morning as more people focused on other types of shopping. It being a cold day probably didn't help. It was sunny, yes, but still very windy and bitterly cold, barely in the 40's. The wind didn't make gathering carts easy! They all tried to blow away from me.

And I got my schedule next week. In good news, three days off the Acme in a row, including Sunday. I'll be having my annual pre-Christmas get-together with my friend Amanda that day. In bad news, fewer hours, and working next Wednesday and Friday means I'll have two days next week where I have to rush between jobs. 

Did this week's grocery shopping after I finished my shift. Mainly needed to restock apples, yogurt, soda, and granola bars. Found the Acme's generic organic chocolate chunk-coconut granola on clearance. I've never seen Fresca at the Audubon Acme, but they did have Orange Vanilla Coke Zero. Got something small for Amanda, along with cards and candy canes for the Christmas tree (which I'll be putting up this weekend).

Went home and put everything away, then watched two episodes of What's New, Scooby Doo? while eating leftovers for lunch. "Gold Paw" is a gold-covered spook running around Fort Knox, turning military officers into gold statues. Mystery Inc is there to visit Scooby's old friends the Secret Six puppies, who have been tired and going to bed with dirty paws. Turns out they and the Gold-ade Factory next door are at the heart of a mystery revolving around mysteries military explosions that are damaging the factory.

"Reef Grief!" has one of the most unique monsters in the entire franchise, and may be one of the very few times the monster in question wasn't really the villain. Scooby, Shaggy, and the others are in Australia for a major sand castle building contest. The entrants have just begun to disappear under the sand when an enormous coral creature appears, attacking everyone. When Shaggy and Scooby vanish too, the others have to figure out why the creature has left the Great Barrier Reef, and who's the one who is really behind the disappearances.

Headed back out after Scooby ended. After a brief check around Target for one last Christmas present, I finished my grocery shopping at Sprouts. Picked up coconut milk, soda, and peanut butter cookies. They still had plenty of the apple fritter-flavored cranberries left, so I grabbed some of those, too. 

Spent the next hour after I got in and put everything away taking down the Thanksgiving and fall decorations. I'll be putting the Christmas decorations starting tomorrow afternoon. After I got everything down, I vacuumed and Swiftered everything.

Listened to two more True Value Happy Holidays records as I worked. Volume 13 from 1978 is the oldest True Value collection I currently own. 13 and 16 have pretty similar line-ups, probably due to both being from RCA. Both feature Julie Andrews, who sings "Deck the Halls" in 16 and "Jingle Bells" in 13. Perry Como kicks 13 off with "There's No Christmas Like a Home Christmas" and gets "Christ Is Born" in 16. Both feature at least one country singer. Charlie Pride performs "Christmas and Love" in 13, while Dottie West gets the sweet "You are My Christmas, Carol" in 16. Eugene Armandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra perform "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" in 13 and "Angels We Have Heard On High" in 16. Henry Mancini and His Orchestra have "The Christmas Song" in 13 and a medley of traditional carols in 16.

Volume 13 also tosses in Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass with a livelier "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." Lorne Greene recites The Night Before Christmas on Volume 16. Also on 16, we have Roger Whittaker performing "Christmas Is Here Again," and Ella Fitzgerald's rollicking "Sleigh Ride."

Had dinner and watched Match Game '76 and '78 while eating dinner. We started out with the smoky-voiced older contestant Evelyn finishing her long run. For some reason, they skipped way ahead after that to early 1978, before the set changed and Richard left. Joe Gargiola's only week on the show coincided with the introduction of a new camera angle that showed the backs of the panelists and what they were doing. Betty White and Debralee Scott had more fun flirting with the camera and flouting the new angle.

Watched Nutcracker: The Motion Picture on Tubi next. This exquisite version of the beloved ballet was filmed in 1986, with genuinely creepy sets and costumes designed by Maurice Sendak, of Little Critter and Where the Wild Things Are fame. Certainly, the squat, big-toothed Nutcracker looks like his work. Though the first half is pretty consistent with other retellings, it's the second half where this differs. The Spanish dancers are Arabian, and the Arabian Dance is performed by a woman in a peacock costume. The Chinese dancers perform with a huge gnome. Even Drosselmeyer goes Arabian in the second half, where he directly competes with the Nutcracker Prince for a decidedly adult Clara. This is also another version where Clara and the Nutcracker Prince take over the Sugar Plum Fairy's dances. The unique sets and costumes alone make this worth seeing for fans of The Nutcracker or ballet in general.

Finished the night at YouTube for something else that's truly unique. Kevin Perjurer of Defunctland created a four and a half hour documentary on the Walt Disney Company's attempt to create "Living Characters," aka Audio-Anamatronics that can talk and interact with theme park guests. They were apparently really gung-ho on this in the 2000's and early 2010's, but mobile figures like Bunsen and Beaker in their own Muppet Lab or a dinosaur that moved and pulled a cart proved too expensive, too difficult to maintain, and too prone to breakdowns. 

Animated puppet shows like Talk With Crush at the Living Seas With Nemo that gave audiences a chance to talk (and flirt) with versions of a beloved character were cheaper and went over slightly better with Imagineeers and audiences. There were supposed to have been droids and more "living characters" in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, but cost-cutting and the difficulty with their maintenance ended that idea. I didn't know anyone could do a four and a half hour documentary on the history of Disney's attempt to make robots that interact with guests, but Kevin knows how to make even the driest bit of theme park history vastly entertaining and even hilarious. If you have any interest in the history of robots and Disney's involvement with them, you owe it to yourself to check this out, even if you have to break it down into a couple of days' viewing like I did.

Disney's Living Characters: A Broken Promise

Thanksgiving With the Family

Began the morning with the Thanksgiving material in the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology. The long piece for Thanksgiving is a story about a Pilgrim grandmother relating her memories of the first Thanksgiving to her family. There's also several hymns and poems, including "Over the River and Through the Woods."

The original book version of Molly's Pilgrim is pretty close to the half-hour special that debuted in 1985. The biggest difference is it's likely set in what I suspect to be the early 1900's. Elizabeth, the girl who bullies Molly, has long black ringlets rather than straight blonde hair, they go a little more into Molly and her family being Jewish, and Molly doesn't get extra help for English after school. It's still a sweet and charming story, though, a reminder that "pilgrims" continue to search for religious freedom even today.

There's a short story in the Disney Storybookland anthology called "Pilgrim's Party." Mickey takes Minnie, Donald, and Pluto to Plymouth, Massachusetts for a real old-fashioned Thanksgiving dinner. It's all fun and Pilgrim cosplay, until Pluto steals the turkey!

Changed and had breakfast while watching the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Parade. They've gone through a couple of different sponsors through the years. The current sponsors are ABC and Dunkin' Donuts, the latter of whom had an extremely pink donut float in the parade. The only balloon I saw in the air was Clifford the Big Red Dog. There was a modern Netflix Strawberry Shortcake, but I think she had deflated by the time they showed her on the broadcast, because she seemed to be laying down. I saw an Acme float, too, appropriately based around a cornucopia bursting with harvest produce. 

Thank heavens this was broadcast for free on WPVI 6's website. The Macy's Parade is the exclusive domain of Peacock online, but it was more fun to see what Philly did for Thanksgiving anyway. A huge tap group did an enormous number with dozens of kids all tapping together. We had songs from the stage Beauty and the Beast and Here's Love (under the title Meredith Wilson's Miracle On 34th Street: The Musical). The Four Tops, Jordan Sparks, and a group called Cameo performed their hits. There were marching bands from as far away as Indiana. Unlike Macy's parade, which ends with the arrival of Santa, the Philly parade ended with a huge number that included the tap dancers, the All-American Cheerleaders, Santa, and piles of confetti.

Called Mom while the parade was on. We weren't able to chat for very long. She was making pies for my brother's Thanksgiving dinner. Keefe insisted on making the rest of the dinner, including the turkey (though his wife Julia was apparently in charge of the sweet potatoes). There had been a few problems when Elijah came out, but he's as healthy as any darling baby ever born now.

Switched to two delightful Thanksgiving specials from the 1980's after the parade ended. I go further into the charming Paul Fusco puppet show A Thanksgiving Tale at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Thanksgiving Short Subject Special - A Thanksgiving Tale

The 1985 Molly's Pilgrim won an Oscar for Best Live-Action Short Subject that year...and richly deserved it. The story is now reset in the mid-80's. Molly is a young Jewish girl from Russia whose family came to a small Midwestern town in search of religious freedom. Molly is still bullied by children who envy her gymnastics abilities and don't understand her accent or her Borscht lunches. She's upset and feels out of place, especially after her mother makes a clothes pin Pilgrim that looks more like a traditional Russian peasant than the usual Pilgrim. Molly's teacher finally explains to the class that Molly's mother is right - pilgrims still exist today, and they come to America for the same reason the ones at Plymouth Rock did. As her classmate Arthur said, it does take all kinds of pilgrims to make a Thanksgiving.

Since I had food to carry and I wasn't sure how late I was going to be at Rose's, I walked to her house. It was a gorgeous day for it. Yesterday's off-and-on clouds had given way to a beautiful, sunny, if chilly afternoon. It was in the 40's, cold, but really more in line with what it should be during late November.

I was greeted at the door by Rose's two dogs Cider and Oreo barking their hellos. Jessa had already arrived (in fact, she texted me earlier to ask which house was Rose's) as the Green Bay Packers-Detroit Lions game began. It was just Rose, Craig, 8-year-old Finley, 15-year-old Khai, and Jessa this year. Craig's mother apparently went up to New England to visit his brother. 

Jessa played Dinosaur Bingo with Finley and Khai while Craig and I watched the game and we all had appetizers from three huge trays. One tray had sliced vegetables and dip. One had sweet goodies - donut holes, my pumpkin bread, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, pomegranates (Finley ate most of those - she apparently loves them), Danish butter cookies. There were also bowls of chips and pretzels and a yummy shrimp cocktail.

(Oh, and the Packers did very well against the Lions, who are no slouches themselves. The Packers would run and get a touchdown, then the Lions would get one. In the end, the Packers finally outran them 31-24.)

It was well into the Kansas City Chiefs-Dallas Cowboys game before dinner was ready. Rose apparently forgot to put the turkey in early! Jessa left before dinner, but the rest of us sat down to turkey, ham, green beans with bacon and crispy onions, mashed potatoes. cubed orange and purple sweet potatoes, canned cranberry sauce, tossed salad, and rolls. Oh, yum! The two meats looked like they belonged on the cover of a food magazine or the main page of a food website. The turkey was so juicy, I saw Rose cleaning up turkey juice she'd spilled (with the help of the dogs). Even the white meat was moist and tender. The ham was almost as good.

(The Chiefs-Cowboys game didn't go nearly as well. Their game was also close and well-played, but the Cowboys just managed to push ahead at the end 31-28.)

While Khai disappeared into his "office" (a tiny storage area where he plays computer games) and Craig and Rose prepared dinner, Finley and I played something called Zingo. You get a board containing small words, like what, the, she, if, and or (along with the numbers two and three). Someone pushes a lever that makes two yellow chips with words on them slide out of a slot. You have to grab the word before the other person does to fill your card. I did win a few games, but not only was Finley faster, I was tired and couldn't really focus on where the words were.

It wasn't until almost 7 when Rose and Craig brought the sweets tray back out, along with pumpkin pie, apple pie, vanilla ice cream, and home-made whipped cream. Finley and I both went for pumpkin pie with whipped cream. (In fact, I think Finley mainly had whipped cream. There might have been pumpkin somewhere under the enormous mounds of white fluff on her plate.) Khai insisted that he wasn't a fan of pies, so he had a root beer float instead. 

Finley and Craig brought drove me and a huge bag of leftovers home around 8. I went straight online and into the annual Match Game Productions Thanksgiving marathon. This year's theme was "personal favorite episodes of the channel's owner." The marathon started much earlier, but I did get to see two classic syndicated episodes that were also personal favorites of mine. 

In a 1979 syndicated episode, Joyce Bulifant wears a crazy red fright wig that made her look like a demented Little Orphan Annie to keep from being mistaken for the other blonde on the show that week, Elaine Joyce. A later contestant was almost as weird, giving a very strange answer to what a jock centipede bought along with 100 pairs of shoes. 

Betty White turned up in a much later syndicated episode from 1981 wearing a short, flaming red and gold dress made by a friend of Sharon Farrell's. Sharon was no slouch either in her pink pants outfit. She and Richard Paul inadvertently demonstrated mud wrestling when she landed on him during McLean Stevenson's answer for what form of "wrassling" should be an Olympic event. Later on, a contestant's laugh that he supposedly used to wake up in the morning was so terrifying, it sent McLean hurrying for Gene's entrance doors.

At any rate, enjoy your own feast of favorites with this bountiful showcase!

Match Game Thanksgiving 2025 Countdown Marathon