Happy Holidays With Family

Began the morning with the Colliers Harvest of Holidays book Linda Young sent me years ago. My favorite of the short stories here is "Miss Flora McFlimsey's Christmas Eve." An old doll stored in an attic manages to walk downstairs and see the tree on Christmas Eve. The other dolls make fun of her when Santa puts her aside to give to a little girl, until her mouse friend and the tree angel bring down her trunk and remind her of how beautiful and loved she really is. There's also the story of "Barney and the Wee Cap," as an Irish miser tries to escape his neighbors begging for charity by taking a leprechaun cap that allows the wearer to travel wherever they want. He discovers that poverty and charity are everywhere, and it's not so bad to help your fellow man out.

Since we're supposed to get snow later this weekend, I put on The Snowman while eating breakfast. This dreamy British special has a young boy creating a snowman who comes to life. He introduces him his home and room. The snowman rides a motorcycle, then takes the boy to the North Pole, where he meets Santa Claus and dances with other snowmen.

Switched to The Little Drummer Boy as I got organized. I went further into this classic Rankin-Bass religious special at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog on Christmas Eve 2020.

The Little Drummer Boy

I first opened gifts with a friend and her teen daughter. I had gifts for them, for her adult son and his girlfriend, and for their cat. They gave me fluffy pink sleeper socks and candy, including a bag of peanut brittle, a box of chocolate truffles shaped like shells, dark chocolate "wave" candy shaped like potato chips, and chocolate-covered gingerbread.

Headed out to Rose's shortly after at around quarter of 1. As at Thanksgiving, Finley and their dogs Oreo and Cider met me at the door. Jessa arrived just a few minutes after I did. Though she seemed to like the dinosaur book, Finley was mostly excited about the Pokemon cards I gave her, especially the ones I found in the parking lot of the Acme! Finley is also crazy about magnetic tiles. She had made a massive castle with her new set and had spent her morning trying to keep the dogs from knocking it down. 

I got some pretty nice gifts from them, too. Rose and her family gave me a small but elegant box of Godiva chocolates. My present from Jessa was a lovely glass popcorn ornament and a gift card to AMC Theaters. (Good, I want to see the new Hugh Jackman movie Song Sung Blue sometime next week, probably Tuesday. I'll go to the Deptford theater - it's nicer than the AMC in Cherry Hill.) 

I spent most of the afternoon chatting with Rose and Jessa. It was nice to be able to talk to adults! I don't get to see Rose that often, and we don't really get to talk as sisters. We discussed our jobs, how happy I was to be off of both my jobs this week, and why Rose and her family stayed in South Jersey for the holidays instead of going to New Hampshire. Rose had a huge spread out. In addition to most of the same things she had at Thanksgiving - the shrimp cocktail, vegetable tray, plate of grapes and berries, platter of cheese, and bowls of chips, rolls, and crackers - there were wet, tasty steamed clams. Rose said she should have soaked them longer before she brought them out, but they tasted fine to me.

Craig spent most of the afternoon watching the Cowboys-Commanders game. Considering the Commanders are not great this year, this was a lot closer than I thought it would be. In the end, the Cowboys finally outran them 30-23.

Jessa finally drove me home around 4. I spent the next few hours eating a ham and cheese wrap and watching game shows on YouTube, starting with the annual Match Game Christmas marathon. I came in for the 1975 episode. In 1976, Charles complained about not getting to dress as Santa again. (He did that once, in 1973.) He got his wish in 1977, where he pretended to be a drunk Santa complaining about appearing on all the other networks. (At least, I hope he was pretending to be drunk.) He and Brett had more fun in 1978, where he dressed as Santa, and Brett was a little girl sitting on his knee.

The only Christmas Syndicated episode ended with the entire panel singing "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." Christmas on The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour featured Jon Bauman in a Santa hat and beard, while Nedra Voltz dodged sexual and age-related questions and Marty Cohen reminds everyone that Hanukkah ended a few days ago. Match Game '90 got even more into the holiday, with lavish decorations and Rip Taylor and his confetti replacing an on-vacation Charles. Marcia Wallace spent her week explaining her increasingly wilder injuries, while Taylor hit Fred Travalena over the head with his toupee for doing a bad imitation of him.

Wait, there's more! The 1977 Match Game Christmas episode, with Charles dressed as a drunken Santa, was run separately later. We also had the 1982 Christmas episode of Family Feud, Bert Convy and Carol Burnett doing battle on Password Plus during Christmas week 1979, and the 1987 All Star Super Password with the cast of Father Knows Best not doing very well guessing words. It's a riot of ho-ho-ho holiday game show hilarity!

Match Game Merry Christmas 2025 Blank-a-Thon

Family Feud (1982)

Match Game (1977)

Password Plus (1979)

Super Password (1987)

Finished my night at Amazon Prime with The Christmas Toy. I go further into this classic Jim Henson holiday special from 1986 at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Merry Christmas! - The Christmas Toy

And I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend, surrounded by all the people you love to match with! 

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Began a cloudy gray Christmas Day nice and warm inside with Colliers Harvest of Holidays. Of the three longer pieces, my favorite is "Flora McFlimsey's Christmas." Santa recruits an old doll who has wandered down from the attic to be the Christmas gift for one of the little girls in the house. The new dolls make fun of her old-fashioned summer outfit, until the tree angel and her friends the mice find her original Victorian velvet splendor. Little Sophie is encouraged to save her money in an applewood box until her brother asks for a wooden star, and she knows it's the right time to spend her last coin on "A Star for Hansi."

Watched Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales during breakfast. This series of skits was made to fill an hour slot with Charlie Brown Christmas, but it has some entertaining material in its own right. Sally writes to "Samantha Claus," Snoopy deals with Lucy while working as a sidewalk Santa and dodges the cat next door, and Lucy tries to get Linus to buy her gifts.

Moved on to Garfield's Christmas while I got dressed. Jon takes Garfield and Odie to his parents' farm for Christmas. Garfield's not too happy about it, until he bonds with Jon's supremely tough and sarcastic grandmother. Grandma's badly missing her late husband, but Garfield stumbles onto something in the barn that might make her holidays a little merrier.

Ran Little Drummer Boy and Little Drummer Boy Book II next. I went further into these on my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog Christmas Eve 2020. 

Little Drummer Boy and Little Drummer Boy Book II

Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas was one of the first Jim Henson productions to use relatively realistic-looking animals, and among the first original holiday specials on HBO. Impoverished Emmett and his Ma are facing a bare Christmas, until they hear about a talent contest being held in the nearby town on Christmas Eve. They give up the things they use for their regular work for their acts...and while it doesn't work out like they expect, they get something even better in the end.

I called Rose to see when I could come over...and as it turned out, it was not today. She and her family were going to Craig's parents house in Westmont for Christmas. I was very disappointed. I was looking forward to spending time with them and giving them my gift after I had such a lovely Thanksgiving with them. She said I could come over on New Year's Day after the Mummers' Parade instead.

Ended up joining a friend and  her family for Christmas instead. I had a lovely book shaped tea tin for her, sheet music books for her daughter, cookies for her son and his girlfriend, and a bag of treats for their cat. They and my friend's sister gave me a pair of wonderfully warm fur-lined knitted boot slippers and tons of candy, including chocolate-covered sea salt caramels, a bag of Goetz caramel creams, and a whole box of assorted Russell Stover chocolates. 

After we opened gifts, I quickly rode my bike over to Rose's. I had to bring her gifts over today. The cookies weren't going to keep another week. I left the bag with their presents and cookies on her front stoop, then went for a short ride around the neighborhood behind the school. Maybe it's just as well that I wasn't out for long. Though it wasn't raining or snowing, it was also chilly, cloudy, and damp. Not the nicest weather. I hurried back quickly.

They started Elf shortly after I got in. My friend's son and his girlfriend are big fans of this wacky and heartfelt 2003 comedy. They even had Elf wrapping paper. Buddy (Will Farrell) is a very tall elf who discovers from his adopted father (Bob Newhart) that he's actually a human. His birth father Walter Hobbs (James Caan) now works for a publishing company that's desperate for a best-seller. Buddy's delighted that he's found his father, but Walter finds him to be more of a nuisance, especially after he inadvertently insults a writer (Peter Dinkalage) by saying he's an elf. He has more luck when he falls for department store worker Jovie (Zooey Deschanal), charms his stepmother Emily (Mary Steenburgen), and wins over his half-brother Michael (Daniel Tay) after helping him with bullies in Central Park.

After Walter insults him, Buddy takes off. He couldn't have left at a worse time. Santa's sleigh crashes in Central Park, and there's not enough Christmas spirit to take him back into the skies. It'll take a concentrated effort from Jovie and everyone Buddy has touched on his journey to prove that Christmas spirit really can be found everywhere, even in the hearts of jaded New Yorkers.

Some of Farrell's brand of manic comedy may not work for everyone, and there's dated aspects (like how that short writer is treated) that would never fly even 20 years after this film's release. Still, there's enough charming and enjoyable moments to make this a favorite of many. Farrell and Caan are the stand-outs as the man-child who wants everyone to love Christmas like he does and his taciturn, frazzled father. Well worth checking out if you're a fan of Farrell or are looking for a more recent Christmas film for older kids and teens.

The movie ended literally just as my friend declared dinner was ready. We had huge lobsters, tails and claws and all, with sweet potatoes, roasted potatoes, cucumber salad, and a stuffed butternut squash for her son's vegetarian girlfriend. It was all amazing, especially those juicy lobsters! The sweet potatoes tasted just as good dipped in butter as the lobsters did.

Headed upstairs after dinner to finish the night online. What little I saw of the Match Game Christmas Day marathon was a repeat of yesterday's, but I did get to see Rip Taylor in a Santa costume. I did better with other shows. We continued yesterday's 1978 Card Sharks as that lady, to her delight and shock, went on to pick up almost $20,000 on the Money Board. Bob Eubanks' first Card Sharks Christmas pit a young lady against a very funny older man.

Family Feud celebrated Christmas 1979 with gifts for Richard and the contestants singing carols for him. Charles continues to spend the week on Match Game '76 complaining about not being able to play Santa that year while the others get to know a woman who brings a sock-type puppet along to help her nerves. Rip Taylor, on the other hand, did get to play Santa on Match Game '90...three days late. Debralee Scott and Gina Hecht continue to do well on Password Plus, once again making it to the Alphabetics round. Gary Collins did get his contestant to the Super Password bonus round, but he misunderstands a word and just gets the lady confused. 

Finished the night with The Walt Disney Very Merry Christmas Parade from 1988. Joan Lunden and Alan Thicke are the hosts here, with Regis Philbin interviewing the crowds and plugging the then-upcoming Disney-MGM Studios. Sarah Purcell hosted the segment in Disneyland, while Scott Valentine tried to get on the just-about-to-open Splash Mountain. Almost all of the floats but a beach-themed one and one with the Country Bears represented a then-popular Disney animated film. We even saw movies like Robin Hood and The Jungle Book that would likely never even be mentioned in a Disney parade today! The show begins and ends with dancers doing Christmas Carol medleys. The opening has them dancing down Main Street. The sleigh-based finale is performed at Cinderella Castle.

Here's all of tonight's programming, so you can enjoy your own vintage Christmas! And I hope you had a wonderful holiday with all the family and friends you love to match with.

Match Game - Merry Christmas Blank-a-Thon

Match Game (1976)

Card Sharks (1978 and 1986)

Family Feud (1979)

Password Plus (1980)

Super Password (1986)

Match Game (1990)

The Walt Disney Very Merry Christmas Parade 1988

Matching For Christmas

Started off a cold, clear Christmas morning with breakfast and stories from the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology. My favorite was "Flora McFlimsy's Christmas." Flora is a doll who was left in the attic by her previous owner. She manages to climb downstairs on Christmas Eve and see the tree. Santa gives her to one of the children who currently lives in the house as a gift. The newer dolls make fun of her, until the angel gives her things from her trunk that make her the hit of the holidays. There was also 'Barney's Wee Red Cap," about an Irishman who uses the cap to take him to places where he won't have to hear about charity...and everywhere he goes, he sees the Christmas spirit in action. "A Star For Hansi" has a grandmother telling the story of how she had an applewood box and would leave one coin in it.

Unwrapped my gifts from Linda and James Young soon as I finished reading and writing. Linda gave me the Han-Leia story The Princess and the Scoundrel, the Star Wars history Secrets of the Force, and a nice journal. My "stocking stuffers" were You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros Story and a new set of Rich Steves Europe episodes. 

Had a quick breakfast while watching A Pink Christmas. The homeless Pink Panther is having a difficult Christmas in this retelling of the O Henry short story "The Cop and the Anthem." He tries everything he can to get a good meal, from shoveling the sidewalk to posing as a Santa to trying to get himself arrested, but nothing works. After he gives his only bit of food to a hungry dog, the duo end up with a big Christmas surprise.

As I got organized, I switched to a Rankin-Bass double feature. Aaron The Little Drummer Boy lives with his animals in the desert and hates all humans after thieves killed his parents. He's kidnapped by the wily head of a traveling troupe who thinks he'll be perfect to lure the heavily-taxed crowds, but he's so angry, he drives them away instead. They sell the boy's camel to three kings who follow a star. Aaron follows them, and finds a certain child in a manger who is the only one that can help when his lamb is hurt.

Aaron, his animals, and his drum are recruited again, this time to help one of the Kings in The Little Drummer Boy Book II. A bell-maker wants to ring his silver bells to announce the birth of the Baby Jesus, but they were stolen by Greek soldiers who took them for taxes. Aaron helps distract the soldiers, so they can rescue the bells before they're melted down. The price, however, is high for Aaron...

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus won an Emmy in 1974, but it's rarely seen nowadays. That's a real shame. This is a charming retelling of the little girl in late 19th century New York who wrote to the New York Sun's editorial department, asking them about the existence of Santa, and the editor's kindly answer. It was obviously done by the same people who did the Peanuts specials. There's a similar animation style and some of the same voices.

A friend called me to join her Christmas celebration. I had gifts for her and her daughter and son and girlfriend. I even had treats for their cat. They gave me a reading light, a huge tin of three different kinds of popcorn, and a 25 dollar Fandango gift card. (The last-named will come in handy when I go to see Wonka tomorrow.) There was a huge brunch with scrambled eggs and cheese, waffles, scrapple, sauteed asparagus, toasted bagels, and bacon. 

After I ate, I walked to Rose's house and straight into a crisis. Poor Oreo the dog had gotten a bad cut on the bottom of his paw. Rose and Craig were wrapping up his paw just as I arrived. I played with my niece Finley in her toy room for a while before we came out to plates of cheese, grapes, berries, pineapple-coconut balls, sugar cookies with tie-dyed frosting, Reeces cup cookies, chocolate chip bars, and cherry-topped cheesecakes. I went home with far more. Craig brought home eggplant Parmesan, green beans, and a beet salad from Anthony's in Haddon Heights, where he works. Rose gave me some of it. She gave me cherry cheesecakes and pineapple-coconut balls, too, and sugared nuts. along with a beautiful holiday tin of tea. 

The kids loved their things, too. Finley is learning to read, and she was delighted with her Dr. Seuss book and activity book. Khai was happy to get an Eagles blanket of his very own that he didn't have to share with his parents. Khai is getting so tall! His hair is really dark, too. I have to agree, he does kind of look like our father Bruce, with his broad shoulders and dark hair. I got to admire their beautiful real tree with ornaments Rose got from Mom as a kid or that Jodie gave to her after she cleared out Dad's holiday decorations. 

Finley and I settled down in the living room to watch her play animal games on her iPad and to make sure Oreo didn't try to get his bandages off. Craig had the big Eagles-Giants game on. The Eagles started strong and fast. They were up 20-3 by the time Craig and Finley drove me home. (Apparently, they faltered in the second half, but not enough to lose. They still ended up winning 33-25.

Finished the night at YouTube with an extremely long Match Game marathon. The owner of the Match Game Productions channel gathered all the episodes beloved by his mother, who introduced him to Match Game. I came in just as everyone was trying to help a sweet French contestant. There was the episode where Fannie flirted with a handsome high school teacher, and the one I saw on Buzzr last week where Betty White did something like a stripping routine. In a later episode, Gene came in carrying what proved to be Patti Deusch's toddler son Max and Gary Burgoff's adorable little girl Gina. 

One night time episode featured Charles and Richard sporting wide-brimmed straw hats as "Your Basic Big Picture Hat Society." Another had two of the most hapless contestants to ever play the game. The only reason one even made it to the bonus round was Charles matched each of them once, and then matched one in a tie breaker. There was also the one where Richard and Betty pretended to be Brett and Charles, and even wore their hat and glasses. At the end of an episode, when Richard was kissing a contestant, Gene tried to pull her back, only for Richard to hang on! Poor lady joked that her arms were longer when Gene finally got her away.

Enjoy the holidays matching with your mom on this very long marathon! 

Match Game Christmas Day Marathon

A Very Matching Christmas

Started off a clear, cold Christmas Day with material from the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology. My favorite story is "Flora McFlimsey's Christmas." Flora is a doll who has been forgotten in an attic. She manages to get downstairs to see the tree on Christmas Eve, where Santa leaves her as a gift for one of the girls in the house. The other new dolls make fun of her, but the angel on the tree and her mouse friend bring down her trunk and make her beautiful as ever. "Barney and the Wee Red Cap" is the Irish tale of a stingy man who learns about giving to the poor when he uses the title cap taken from leprechauns to avoid his needy neighbors, only to land in more trouble. A grandmother teaches her granddaughter the importance of saving when she tells her about how she always kept one coin in her special box to "call" to the others and finally spent it on "A Star For Hansi."

Mom called just as I awoke. Everyone in Virginia loved the gifts I gave them. Mom is a huge Carol Burnett fan and was delighted by the set of Carol Burnett Show episodes I sent her. My brother Keefe called out a greeting from the kitchen, too. She cut the call short - apparently, Keefe was in the midst of a "pancake crisis" - but not before she suggested Rose might be finally ready to talk to me.

After I wrote in my journal, I had a short, quick breakfast while watching Match Game '78 on Buzzr's Betty White Christmas marathon. Helaine Lembeck of Welcome Back Kotter celebrates the holiday by holding up her nails with mistletoe painted on them over her head, getting a kiss from Gene in return. Gene, meanwhile, is upset that the fly swatter he got from Betty is too full of holes to swat much of anything. 

Switched to A Charlie Brown Christmas after the episode ended. Charlie Brown is upset by all of the grab, grab around him. He's eager to direct the school Christmas pageant after Lucy suggests it to him, but not when the other kids keep turning it into a jazz concert. The girls don't appreciate the tiny tree Charlie buys to improve morale, at least until Linus makes a very famous speech on the real meaning of the holiday.

Peppermint Patty and Marcie join in for It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown. Patty spends her holiday season avoiding homework, joining Marcie to see the Hallelujah Chorus, and complaining because Marcie got to be Mary in the school pageant and she's only a sheep. Meanwhile, Sally tries in vain to remember her one line. Charlie Brown sells wreaths door-to-door to earn money for a gift for the Little Red Haired Girl, and Lucy bothers Schroeder about Christmas gifts at his piano. 

Even as Christmastime Again ran, a friend called me to join her holiday celebration. I opened gifts with her, her son, his girlfriend, and her daughter. I even bought presents for their cat. Her son and his girlfriend gave me a $50 gift card to Barnes & Noble. She and her daughter gave me a lighter robe to wear around the house, a much warmer hat, scarf, and gloves set than I currently own, and a darling tan teddy bear in a plaid bow named Liam. She made scrambled eggs, toast, and baked bacon for brunch, and they were delicious! (Especially the melt-in-your-mouth bacon.)

Checking my phone after breakfast revealed that Jessa hadn't texted me...but Rose had. They didn't go to Maine after all. Craig's brother and his wife just had a baby, and they didn't think it was a good time for a lot of visitors. (Not to mention, this is hardly the appropriate weather for driving up to New England.) They had no plans for the afternoon and invited me over for lunch. My friend was eating at an aunt and uncle's house, so I had no plans, either. Grabbed my coat and boots, put on my new winter accessories, and rode on over.

Rose's house was noisy but merry when I arrived. Khai and Finley are getting so big! The first thing Fin said was that she is proudly in kindergarten now. Khai's getting so tall. Rose said he excels in school, especially English, and is really getting into swimming. He's taking paleontology with a teacher who is a real paleontologist. They also have another puppy, a big frisky fellow with black and white blotches named Oreo. (Poor Mr. Fish, who was a good companion for Lynx the cat and me last Christmas, finally went to goldfish heaven last summer. A replacement goldfish apparently didn't last more than a few weeks, and they decided they had enough pets and got rid of the tank shortly after.) 

Rose was glad to hear I went to see a neuropsychologist last spring. At least I have a better idea of what's going on in my head. And while this wasn't the ideal Christmas, it certainly went a lot better than last year. Rose said I look a lot more content. I don't know about content, but at least I have a place to stay and people who are going to help me find a job, and that's more than I had this time last year.

For a small-scale Christmas, Rose had a pretty big snack spread out. I got to enjoy Triscuits, raspberries and blackberries (the kids are apparently big berry fans), cheese and salami slices, cut-out butter cookies that melted in my mouth, snickerdoodles, gingerbread cookies decorated by the kids, and foccacia bread sliced into sticks with bruchetta topping for dipping sauce. She apparently had a rough few months herself (including getting sick several times and losing two beloved pets to old age and illness), which was why she hadn't contacted me sooner. 

They did have a huge real tree this year. Probably due to the dogs, they moved the tree from the living room to the dining room. I love their ornaments. There's huge hand-print ornaments the kids made and beautiful vintage glass balls that likely belonged to Uncle Ken (including a delicate Eagles ball). There's one that looks like a trailer, and a sketch of a city landscape against a frosty blue ball. 

(Oh, and Craig was watching the Packers-Dolphins game when I was there. Packers were up as I left, and ultimately won 26-20.)

Headed out around 4:30, at sunset. Wanted to stop at WaWa to pick up dinner before the sun vanished entirely. I'd mostly ate protein and carbs today, so I went with a vegetable quesadilla and a small container of fruit. Treated myself to a very sweet and buttery Frosted Sugar Cookie Smoothie.

It remains cold here, but not bitterly so like yesterday. It's still chilly - every puddle leftover from the showers on Thursday is frozen solid - but probably in the upper 20's-lower 30's. That's balmy compared to yesterday's high of 18! Otherwise, it was a really nice day for a short bike ride. The sun was out, the sky was clear, and the wind had died down to a chilly breeze. 

Went straight into Christmas game show marathons when I got home. Match Game Productions, the owner of the channel who posts the Match Game, Password Plus, and Super Password episodes for live chats, has had "Christmas specials" marathons of Match Game, Password Plus, and the original Richard Dawson Family Feud all week. I arrived just as Family Feud's last Christmas from 1984 began. Richard lead two family through Christmas-themed survey questions, and even got serenaded by the challengers. 

Match Game did Christmas episodes from 1973 straight into 1990. Charles Nelson Reilly often played Santa Claus in their Christmas Day shows. My favorite Match Game holiday episode is from 1978. Not only did Charles dress as Santa here, but Brett Somers turned up in a pink pinafore and golden Shirley Temple ringlets as a little girl sitting on Santa's knee. One episode of the syndicated series in late 1979 ended with everyone singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" for no apparent reason other than they wanted to. 

Christmas Day on Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour had a lady winning big bucks as Jon Bauman's Santa hat keeps getting passed around, cool older lady Nedra Voltz fields some pretty sexy questions, and Marty Cohen reminds everyone that Hanukkah is going on, too. Match Game '90 went as all-out on Christmas as they did on Halloween and Veteran's Day. Rip Taylor was a more-than-adequate substitute for a vacationing Charles. He got one of the funniest moments of the entire series when he yanks off his toupee and hits Fred Travalena with it for doing a bad imitation of him. Meanwhile, Marcia Wallace's bandaged cut on her finger escalates into a series of crazy injuries over the week, until by the last day, she's seen in a sling and neck brace. 

Here's all three marathons to show your family and those you love to match with!

Family Feud 1983 - Christmas Special

Family Feud 1984 - Christmas Special

Match Game Merry Christmas Blank-a-Thon

Finished off the night with more festive episodes from other franchises. Joyce Bulifant and jolly Johnny Brown throw balls into gift boxes and slide ornaments into stockings on the 1979 Beat the Clock, beating Ronnie Schell and Joyce Bulifant. Bob Barker had no better luck on The Price Is Right in 1991. Despite giving out expensive cars and other goodies, no one won any pricing games, though someone did take home the trip-oriented Around the World Showdown. 

Things were certainly looking up on the Wink Martindale High Rollers in 1987. The champ won $10,000 with the right roll of the dice, while another gentleman picked up a vacation package. Sale of the Century also had trips to Santa Claus, Indiana as an Instant Bargain. By the time of what looked like Christmas 1988, the bonus round was "guess the subject from the clues." The lady who won messed up on the first puzzle and never really recovered. Hugh Downs led two Santas playing for charity through Christmas rebuses with an audience of children from around the world on Concentration in 1969. 

Celebrate the season with even more holiday games!

Concentration (1969)

Beat the Clock (1979)

High Rollers (1987)

Sale of the Century (1988)

The Price Is Right (1991)

And I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, no matter where you spent it or what you celebrate!

Dreaming of a Wet Christmas

Started off a gray morning with the Christmas material from Colliers Harvest of Holidays, which I brought with me for my annual holiday readings. My favorite story was "Miss Flora McFlimsey's Christmas." An old-fashioned doll who was forgotten by her own makes her way downstairs, only to be made fun of by newer dolls who were left by Santa. A mouse and the angel on the tree help her to look brand-new again. "Barney's Wee Red Cap" sounds more like something that should be told at St. Patrick's Day. The title character uses the Red Cap from the Leprechauns to travel...and gets into a pickle when he loses it and a king wants his head! "A Star for Hansi" has a grandmother teach her granddaughter the value of saving when she recalls how she spent her much-saved last coin on a special present for her brother Hansi.

Fed the cats and fish, ad a quick breakfast while watching another marathon from Sam Mitchell. This one focused on the hosts, both starring and as panelists on shows. I came in for the second half of the 1987 syndicated Blockbusters. Bill Rafferty lead a one-on-one contestant duo through trivia questions on a hexagonal board that otherwise resembled the 1980 version. Bill himself turned up on a 1985 episode of Super Password, joking with Bert Convy and Jill Whelan. Gene Rayburn hosted the Match Game segment of The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour, then switched places with Jon Bauman to be a panelist. Bob Eubanks also joined in for a lot of cat questions during the featured episode.

Mom, Rose, and Jessa also texted me around this time. Mom loved her fancy soap and holder. Rose was happy to note Toothless actually put in a brief appearance during breakfast. Jessa had less good news. She thought I was going over to her house! She said she'd come over briefly later. I'd still at least make something for her.

Put on A Christmas Story while I started the dough for Rosemary Bread. I couldn't find Rose's rosemary, so it became more general Herb Bread. Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsly) is determined to get a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas. Trouble is, his mother (Melinda Dillon) isn't big on guns to begin with, and his father (Darren McGavin) is too busy fighting with the neighbor's dogs and their furnace to notice his son's wishes. Ralphie himself may not dodge neighborhood bullies, blurting out bad words in front of his father, and other childhood pitfalls long enough to make it to Christmas Day...and even then, the holiday doesn't go quite the way he or his family planned.

This is another old family favorite. We ran our old copy taped off HBO constantly during December, long before TNT and TBS started running it 24 hours on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Everyone here is pitch-perfect, from determined Ralphie to Dillon and McGavin as his harried parents. 

Let the home-made DVD go into Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas, another old family favorite, while I started the baked ziti. This 1977 special made its first US appearance on HBO a year later, which is where we first recorded it in the late 80's. It was one of Jim Henson's first specials to use Muppets that resembled realistic animals. Emmett Otter (Jerry Nelson) and his mother Alice (Marilyn Sokol) are facing a bare Christmas, until they give up the things that let them make a living to join a local talent contest on Christmas Eve. 

I also unwrapped my present from Rose and her family at this point. It was a small tool kit, complete with a real large bolt wrench and screwdriver. I've used the same three cheap tools from Dollar Tree since I got out of college. Rose pointed out back in the summer that adults need a lot more than three cheap tools to survive. 

Threw on Match Game after that, but it was one I saw this week. Slid the bread out of the oven and taste-tested it while returning to Sam's marathon. By the time I got back, they were on the original one-on-two Blockbusters from 1980 with Bill Cullen. Cullen stuck around for a 1981 Password Plus episode with Barbara Rhodes as his partner and Tom Kennedy hosting. Monty Hall turned up in an earlier 1979 Allen Ludden-hosted Password Plus with Janet Lennon, then was seen hosting his best-known show Let's Make a Deal in the early 70's. Jack Narz hosted the complicated word-based game show Now You See It in 1974 and announced the 1979 Monty Hall Beat the Clock. He made a rare and funny appearance during a stunt in the latter.  

Jessa turned up as Beat the Clock ended. We enjoyed the tasty baked ziti and delicious, crusty Herb Bread together while she kept her little dog Midnight from going after the cats' food. After we ate, we had a long talk about my finding a place to live. I know I should probably move back down to Mom and Cape May County and help take care of her, but...I was hoping to find my own way. 

The trouble is, I just plain don't make enough money at the Acme, even with the raises I've gotten in the past year, and no one gives a fig what I have in my bank account. I was hoping to not have to go to the government either. I wanted to do this on my own, but I guess I'm just not good enough. I don't know if there's any government buildings around here, or if they'll take me with the money I have in the bank, or if I'll be stuck on a waiting list. I can't afford to wait. I need something NOW. 

I did end up going to Deptford with Jessa and Midnight to spend a few hours with her husband Joe and Joe's children, 13-year-old Danica and 11-year-old Connor. The kids and Joe were bopping along to the most recent version of the dance video game Just Dance when I arrived. I only played once, and not well, but I laughed watching Jessa, Joe, and the kids dance along to popular hits and novelty rock songs like "Rasputin" by Boney M. (Lithe Danica's smooth moves kept blowing everyone else away, even her brother.) Joe and Jessa have two smaller versions of actual arcade consoles in their living room. I played Pac Man a few times. 

Played Fruit Ninja with Connor while the other three made the kids ramen bowls for dinner and sliced the bread. This one is pretty simple. You make slashing motions with your arms to slice fruit and gain points. Avoid the bombs that take time off! Mini-fruit and big combos can give you even more points. All that arm-slashing is pretty tiring after a few games. I let Connor handle the mini-games.

We watched Mickey's Christmas Carol on Disney Plus and How the Grinch Stole Christmas on Peacock while the kids ate dinner and rain poured down outside. All the Whos down in Whoville like Christmas a lot...but the Grinch who lives up on Mount Crumpet thinks it's a lot of noise. He dresses as Santa and heads down to the town to steal their Christmas goodies. It takes the Whos celebrating no matter what to make the Grinch understand what the real meaning of the holiday is.

(Incidentally, I will absolutely be making that bread recipe again. It was a huge hit. Everyone ate at least one big slice and asked for more.)

The rain slowed down slightly by the time we all headed out at 8 PM. Joe drove his kids home to their mother, while Jessa took me home. I hurried in while the rain slowed down, greeted Lynx with a good head scratch, and went on the laptop to watch A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa on Disney Plus. I go further into this cute Muppets holiday special at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Merry Christmas! - A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa

And here's hoping you had a wonderful Christmas, no matter whom you spent it with or where!

Holidays and Matches

Though I awoke to a cloudy Christmas morning, the rain finally stopped by the time I opened my eyes. Began my Christmas with short stories, poems, and carols from Colliers Harvest of Holidays. My favorite of their Christmas stories is "Miss Flora McFlimsey's Christmas." An old doll who has been abandoned in the attic for years manages to make her way downstairs to the Christmas tree. Santa insists on her staying there for a new little girl. The other dolls tease her and call her old-fashioned, but the tree angel and her mouse friend bring down her original clothes and make her look like new again. I'm also very fond of the sweet "A Star For Hansi." A grandmother teaches her granddaughter the importance of saving with a story about how she saved her last coin for something very important.

Opened Mom's gifts to me under the tree after I wrote in my journal. My smaller gift were two of the most beautiful spoons I ever saw, rainbow-colored and made of heavy bamboo. The squishy larger gift was a soft tan velvet blanket from Land's End. I texted her after I opened them to thank her. She thanked me for the Password DVD set and mentioned she intended to spend her Christmas afternoon at Anny's house. 

Had breakfast while watching Tattletales. Betty White and Allen Ludden were joined in 1974 by Conrad Bain (later of Different Strokes) and his wife Monica and football star Tommy Mason and gymnast (and future Peter Pan) Cathy Rigby. White and Ludden won the first episode hands down, getting most of the questions right; they tied in the second.

Packed up most of the bags of cookies and remaining gifts and headed out around 11. Dropped boxes of candy with the neighbors next-door and across the street, then strolled up Manor and left a bag of cookies and a card for Andy and Linda, old friends of Dad's and Uncle Ken's, on their porch. Rose called twice on that walk. I called her on Manor and told her I was on my way.

Arrived on her doorstep ten minutes later. Finley was pretending to be a dog in the enclosure Rose and Craig set up in the living room for the new puppy they intended to pick up later in the afternoon. She and Khai loved their presents. Finley got glitter markers and a Fluttershy My Little Pony, Khai got a collection of three later Garfield comic books I hadn't given him during the summer. 

Watched Spongebob Squarepants Christmas episodes with Finley and Rose while I opened my gift bag from them. Rose went crazy buying me cute kitchen and laundry supplies. There's a garlic press shaped like Dracula, a pair of tongs with silicone hands on the end, two cactus-shaped dryer balls (I call them "the Tobys" after Sheriff Callie's cactus friend), and coasters shaped like records. By far the most useful items I received were new pastry and baking mats. I realized while making this year's cookies how worn out my baking towels were getting. The one I use to cool cookies on has huge holes. Rose also gave me cookies and shrimp and pasta that the restaurant in Haddon Heights where Craig worked way overstocked. 

(I also found out why Jodie's been scarce the past few days. Her father died of a virus-related illness three days ago. She did mention a lot of her family was sick, including him and her Aunt Colleen, but she never told me he died. I feel really sorry for her. She's had a rough year.)

Rose finally insisted around 1:30 that she wanted to get Finley settled down for a nap. Craig and Khai dropped me and my goodies off before heading to pick up that new puppy. I ended up having some of the shrimp and pasta for lunch; put everything else away.

Made a delicious Christmas dinner of cranberry citrus chicken, green salad, a baked sweet potato, ambrosia, and a dark chocolate coconut cream pie. The cranberries in the chicken burned a little, and despite the recipe saying browning would seal in the juices, even the boneless thighs I used came out dry. I think I left it in for too long. At least it tasted pretty decent.

Finished the night online with another Match Game marathon on YouTube. This one consists of episodes that were a favorite of the channel owner's mother, who sadly passed away in May. Apparently, she turned him on to Match Game when he was younger. She had good taste. Richard Dawson was her favorite panelist, so all of the episodes revolved around him in some way. He was there to calm poor Evie, the most nervous contestant to ever appear on the show, and to witness Fannie fall for the handsome high school teacher Ron Valenti. He and Betty White pretended to be Brett and Charles respectively in one PM episode; another had some of the worst contestants in the history of the show, with the man only winning because Charles matched them each once. 

Here's the marathon, to share with your mom during the holidays! And I hope you had a wonderful Christmas too, with all the people you love to match with.

Mom's Christmas 2020 Gift - Match Game Marathon

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Merry Christmas! I began a beautiful holiday morning with the Colliers Harvest of Holidays. They have at least five Christmas stories, more than for any other holidays. My favorites are "Flora McFlimsey's Christmas," about a little doll who manages to walk down to the tree on Christmas Eve, where the angel on top cleans her up for a little girl, and "A Star For Hansi," as a grandmother teaches her granddaughter about saving with a story on how she bought her little brother a star with her last saved coin.

Sun was streaming through the window overlooking the park as I crept to the tree. I always open the presents Linda Young gives me on Christmas morning. This year, my big gift was a beautiful warm woven wrap in red and blue plaid. The other larger gift was a cozy mystery novel set in an ice cream shop. The "stocking stuffer" was a new pair of gloves. I especially appreciated those! My cheap black gloves are stretched out and badly pulled.

Watched Match Game on Buzzr as I opened gifts. Betty White appeared with her husband Allen Ludden of the Password franchise on a week of episodes in 1976. In the first one, Allen got a look at this crew's usual shenanigans when his wife again rolled up Gene's pant legs while he talked to the upper desks. "Is this what goes on when I'm not here?" asked her amused husband. In the second, a question about their social life sent them both blushing and giving strange answers.

Strolled to Dad and Jodie's around quarter after 10 on foot. Everyone was already there when I arrived, including Jodie's son TJ and his fiance Eric and her other son Jesse and his wife Dana, along with Vanessa, Jessa, Joe, and Midnight, and Rose and her tribe. Along with leftover candy, ham, and macaroni salad from last night, Jodie and Dana set out Jodie's amazing French bread casserole, Dana's sausage bake, egg muffins, blueberry and plain English muffins, a plate of pineapple chunks and berries, real syrup, and orange juice. Dad had the Christmas Story marathon going in the background all morning, and someone found the Gatlingburg Festival of Lights Christmas Parade on WPHL 17. (Why a Philly station played a parade from Tennessee is way beyond me, but it was fun.)

We unwrapped the gifts around 11. I gave everyone their cookie boxes. Khai got a book on codes and Super Mario Maker 2. Finley got the most adorable play barn and her own stuffed "puppy" on a leash, so she could have a dog to lead around like Midnight and Nala. I got warm alpaca wool socks from Dad and a brand-new laptop and 50 dollars from Dad and Jodie. I'm typing on my new laptop now. It's a HP and is a lot smaller - and ten times faster - than my old Toshiba.

Everyone but Dad, Jodie, and the kids took part in the gift exchange. This time, everything but my cocoa mug was wrapped. We grabbed them based on size and shape alone. I was first; I took the only bag under the tree. Jessa wanted a box that included a pair of light-up chopsticks, but Dana snitched it. (She eventually kept what was in the box but gave Jessa the chopsticks.) The others kept switching around a package wrapped with brown paper and a thick rope. Jessa ended up with it; she got a cool slide music maker. I think Joe got the cocoa mug.

Everyone says I got the best present. Someone wants me to move into the 21st century. My present was a Google Nest thing that acts as an alarm and controls everything in the room. I'll figure it out tomorrow or later in the week.

Rose and her crew drove me home. Mom called while I worked on setting up my laptop. She absolutely loved the cookies I sent her. She's still trying to figure out her new, smaller stove. Her best gift, though, was getting to see Lilah when she had to deliver a package to Collyn and his dad Mike in Wildwood. Mom and Anny are still having problems, and Mom hasn't seen her grandchildren in ages...so a hug from her granddaughter was the best possible present she could have gotten.

Jessa didn't pick me up until nearly 1:15. We were about 20 minutes late to the mid-afternoon showing of Rise of Skywalker. We missed the commercials and probably about the first ten minutes or so, but we did see most of it. Or at least, I saw most of it. Poor Jessa is still wiped out from working early all week and slept through the majority of the film.

I'm not going to do the plot here because of spoilers, but...I loved it. Maybe not quite as much as The Last Jedi, but I did still enjoy it a lot. On one hand, I wish we'd seen more of Rose, that it had wrapped up some plots better (and I frankly liked the idea of Rey being a nobody more than her having a fancy linage)...but I also approved of many of the changes, and I like that in the end, Rey,  Finn, Poe, and Rose all opt to just stay friends instead of going for the obvious romance. Also, I mostly approve of how they ended Leia's story. It seems right.

In the end, I think all five of the Star Wars films released by Disney have gotten a bum rap. Fans and critics tend to just expect waaaaaayyyy too much from these movies. If' you're a Star Wars fan who enjoys the sequels or the franchise in general, I'd totally disregard the reviews and go check out the end of Rey's story.

Jessa and I drove over to her and Joe's condo in Deptford after the movie ended. Joe and his 14-year-old daughter Dannica and 11-year-old son Connor were playing the newest Just Dance when I arrived. I laughed and watched them and Jessa shake their booties to "Prince Ali" from the live-action Aladdin remake and a few other songs.

After the kids finished their game, they opened their presents from their father. Dannica seemed happiest with a new sketchbook from Jessa and a sequined pillow with Danny DiVito's face on it from her father. (I didn't ask about the latter.) Connor loved his box of practical jokes and goofy little toys and Mad Libs book.

While the kids opened their gifts, Joe showed me the tons and tons of offerings on Disney's new streaming service, Disney Plus. We watched two funny shorts featuring Sporky, the new "hand made" toy character from Toy Story 4, and the classic Mickey Mouse short "Lonesome Ghosts." Joe started Return of the Jedi while the kids were looking over their presents, but they lost interest around the time Yoda died, and everyone was hungry.

Truth be told, no one had any idea what we were going to do for dinner. The only place we could find open was WaWa...but the kids loved it. I got a double mocha chilled cappuccino and a cheeseburger quesadilla (ground steak with pickles, cheese, and onions on a crispy tortilla). Everyone else had soda, chips, popcorn, and hoagies.

We took them home and had Christmas dinner while watching Dannica's favorite movie The Greatest Showman and playing Mad Libs with Connor. It was a lovely and cozy couple of hours. The kids were happy, we all laughed, Midnight sniffed around our legs, and I was glad to be around people who were having fun and wanted nothing more than for me to write a goofy answer to a silly story and sing along to "This Is Me" and "Rewrite the Stars."

We headed out around 7:30-quarter of 8. The kids had to be home between 7:30 and 8. They live in a gated community; the opening gates glowed like blue and red lightsabers, and you had to type a code on a pad to get in. Joe took the kids up to their mother while Midnight, Jess and I waited. Jessa and Joe dropped me off ten minutes later.

This was one of the best Christmases I ever had...and the present I loved most of all was just spending time with everyone in the family, people who enjoyed my company and enjoyed being around me and each other. I had more fun today and yesterday than I've had in a long time. Here's hoping your holiday, no matter what you celebrate, was equally wonderful!

Trip a Little Light Fantastic

Christmas Day dawned sunny and clear across the Delaware Valley. I began the day with short stories, carols, and poems from the Colliers Harvest of Holidays. My favorite story was Flora McFlimsey's Christmas. An old-fashioned doll who is feeling lonely on Christmas Eve manages to get herself down to the tree to check it out. She gets quite a surprise when Santa realizes he's missing a doll for one of the kids. None other than the angel on the tree helps clean up Flora and make her presentable to be loved by a child again.

Crept out to the tree to open presents around 9. My card from Mom held fifty dollar and twenty-five dollar gift cards to Target. Linda and James Young gave me a beautiful journal with a galaxy-themed cover, a nice bookmark on a gold-plated chain, and a wonderful plaid purse. The plaid purse even had a penny in it. (Linda later texted me and said that the penny was included to encourage more pennies to come to the purse.) Mom's card was a lovely Christmas tree; Linda and James gave me a cute one with woodland animals.

Watched Sailor Moon S: Hearts In Ice while I got ready to head out. Luna, Usagi's guardian cat, has an adventure of her own when she's rescued by a handsome scientist. He found what he thinks is a comet, but is actually a snow crystal sent by a wicked queen who wants to turn the Earth into her own personal ornament! While the girls try to figure out how to stop her, Luna deals with her feelings for the scientist, especially since he's already seriously dating a woman astronaut.

Strolled to Dad's at 10. I figured that what I'd be getting would be too awkward to carry on the bike, so I walked. It was a glorious day for it. The weather was even nicer than yesterday. It was chilly, but also sunny, probably in the lower 40's. There was a breeze, but it otherwise wasn't anywhere near as windy as yesterday, either. Surprisingly, there weren't that many people out. I saw one guy coming out his door. I guess everyone was having their Christmas breakfasts.

I was the first person to arrive at 10 after 10. Jesse and Dana were already there, and TJ slept over. Rose and her family didn't come until nearly 10:30, and it was closer to 11 when Jess and Joe arrived with Joe's kids. While we waited for everyone to come, we enjoyed Jodie's amazing French bread casserole, blueberry and cinnamon raisin English muffins, Dana's sausage pastry bake, egg and bacon muffins, and orange juice.

When everyone finally arrived, we could open the presents. Dad and Jodie gave me a new pair of Ugg boots with the softest sheepskin lining. My Bearclaw suede boots were falling apart again after two winters of constant use. Dad also gave me 200 dollars and a pair of really nice, comfortable socks that will be great for work. My cousin Mark gave me a twenty five dollar gift card to Applebee's. That's perfect. There's an Applebee's next-door to the Acme. I could have dinner there on Friday after work. Jessa and Joe gave me a nifty Solo: A Star Wars Story poster and the DVD for the comedy Noises Off! I haven't seen that goofy farce in years. I remember really enjoying it in the early 90's, when Dad-Bill would rent it from time to time.

Khai sported his new Five Nights at Freddy's t-shirt and a dapper top hat. In addition to being a video game nut like his mother, he's also a fan of dinosaurs. He loved the Jurassic World mini-dinosaurs I gave him. While Finley did like her Fluttershy and Angel figures, her favorite present was the Trolls Princess Poppy sing-along karaoke "boom box" Dana and Jesse gave her. She adores Trolls in general and perky Princess Poppy in particular. She was so cute making noises into the microphone that probably constituted singing along for her.

As much as I loved the boots and other things, my favorite present came from the gift exchange. TJ, Jesse, Dana, Rose, Craig, and I took part in this one. We each placed a gift in the center of the living room, in front of the tree, then chose numbers. Someone picked a present. The next person could take another present, or steal the present the previous person chose. We'd go around until all the presents were picked or swapped.

Thank goodness no one wanted the present I picked! The moment Rose set the huge cast-iron pizza pan on the bar counter, I knew I had to have it. It was heavy and thick, with big holders on either side. It was wrapped with two bags of crust mix, a jar of pizza sauce, and a pizza cutter. I have pizza pans, but they're cheap, thin metal rounds I bought at least 15 years ago, when I was living in Wildwood. That's why I rarely use them. They don't really cook pizza very well.

(Incidentally, I think Craig ended up with the gloves from me. TJ swapped him for an Amazon gift card. Rose got a waffle iron, and Jesse chose one of those Echo Dot room things.)

I walked home with my bag of gifts around 12:30. After I put everything away and tacked up the poster, I worked on writing for a while. Luke insults Leia and tells Han to stop calling him a kid, then takes off into the snow. He encounters the Snow Queen, who thinks he'll make a fine plaything for her. She kisses him, which freezes his heart into ice, and drives off with him. Leia, Han, and Chewie go after her in a repulsor-sleigh.

Jessa picked me up at quarter of 3. (Joe took his kids to their mother's house.) As we did last year, we spent the afternoon and early evening at the movies. I suggested Aquaman or Mary Poppins Returns. This year, the musical won. We saw Mary Poppins Returns...and I loved it. The music was an absolute delight, and Emily Blunt was a perfect Mary.

(The commercials in the beginning indicate that next year's live-action Disney remakes are Dumbo and The Lion King. I could handle Dumbo. Like Pete's Dragon, that's little-known enough that they could have fun with the story and try different things. The Lion King is another matter entirely. Not only is it not really my favorite Disney movie to begin with, but it's so well-known, I don't know how much they could get away with changing.)

I spent the rest of the evening at home alone. Unlike a few years ago when I was alone on Christmas night and went out for Chinese food, this time, I had absolutely no problems with it. I wanted to try my new pizza pan. I ended up using the bacon and broccoli I'd intended for a quiche for toppings and made Broccoli, Turkey Bacon, and Cheddar Pizza. Oh yum. It was a little doughy, but otherwise came out perfectly, chewy and filling.

Called Mom after dinner to wish her a Merry Christmas. She had just gotten home from work and was enjoying a quiet meal of her own. Evidently, she and I are both doing better than my sisters. Not only is Rose still feeling under the weather, but Anny got so sick, and her sinuses got so bad, she actually ended up in the hospital. Apparently, both are doing somewhat better now, but stress over Christmas has worn them down. Mom herself was fine, and other than being cold from bay breezes, hadn't minded working the ticket counter at the Ferry at all today.

I enjoyed Mary Poppins Returns so much, I had to watch the original Mary Poppins during dinner. I go into more detail on the original film and the sequel at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Returns

Here's hoping that you also had a "practically perfect" Christmas, with all the people you love!

Merry Christmas from a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Howling winds woke me up late on what was otherwise a lovely Christmas morning. I read short stories, poems, and sang carols from Colliers Harvest of Holidays, then went out into the living room to open my presents from Linda and James Young. The soft tubular gift was a warm knitted red and white hat with "snow" across the front. Opening the larger package revealed a new journal (I can always use more journals) and a real ink nib pen, complete with ink cartridges. My "stocking stuffer" was a set of LED bicycle lights for my bike wheels, to help with riding at night.

Ran one final holiday special while getting dressed and organizing the bags filled with gifts. The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas introduces Ted E Bear, a little fellow who is always curious about everything, but especially Christmas. Bears normally hibernate through December and don't really get to experience the holidays. Ted is determined to stay up and find out just what Christmas is, even if he has to make his way to the city to do it.

I ended up walking to Dad and Jodie's around 10. Not only was it too windy to ride the bike, but I had too much to carry. Despite the blustery blasts and the chilly air, I had a rather nice stroll. The neighborhood is bare now, the leaves gone from most of the trees, but houses are brightly decorated, and the few people out happily chatted with their neighbors or greeted relatives as they arrived.

Dad, Jodie, Jessa, Joe, and Dana were there when I got in. Rose arrived with her brood shortly after, followed by Vanessa and Mark, Jesse, TJ and his friend James, and Craig's parents. Dana made her decadent sausage bake. Jodie put out egg and bacon muffins, French toast casserole with homemade cranberry syrup, English muffins, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and a raspberry coffee cake. Craig's parents brought tiny sticky buns, a chocolate-walnut loaf cake, and a massive caramel cheesecake from Desserts by Design. I had two egg and bacon muffins, the casserole and syrup, orange juice, a small slice off coffee cake, a slice of the loaf cake, and a few sticky buns. Khai put on The Nightmare Before Christmas in the den; Dad had the 24-hour Christmas Story marathon going in the living room.

We finally unwrapped our gifts around 11:30. Yes, I got a new coat, a beautiful silver quilted coat with thick silvery fur trim from Jodie. Dad's gift to me was a nice CD player. It's a bit bigger than my old Emerson, with separate speakers and Bluetooth capabilities. They also gave me a new cake pan...that was much bigger than I needed. I traded it with Jessa and Joe, who had an 8-inch metal cake pan they didn't use (Jessa said they preferred their glass pan) but needed a new larger one. Dad also gave me 150 dollars in a lovely Santa Claus card. 

Everyone loved everything they got. My cookies and candy were much-praised. Rose said her silver earrings were perfect. Craig was my Secret Santa for the second year in a row. He just got me a Target gift card. Khai's favorite gift was a gigantic Nerf gun. It was so massive, it needed Dana and Jesse to put it together and half a pack of batteries. Finley ended up napping through a lot of brunch, though she did wake up in time to open her pop-roll elephant from me. 

Most people were starting to clear out when Jessa, Joe, and I left around 12:30. They dropped me off at my place so Joe could get ready for work (Joe works at Lincoln Financial Stadium) and Jessa could put away their gifts. I got the CD player set up as soon as I walked in the door. It proved to be very easy to set up and plug in. I didn't even need to read the instructions. The main box fit where the old Emerson used to be. One speaker went next to the DVD player. The other was moved under the TV and CD player, next to the Wii. 

Spent the next few hours making the bed, listening to my Peggy Lee Christmas Carousel and one of my classic rock Christmas CDs, and texting and messaging a few folks. I thanked Linda Young for the gifts and wished Mom a "Merry Christmas." Mom was on her way to work at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, but she did wish me the best of the day.

Jessa picked me up around 3:30. We made it into the Cinemark at Sommerdale (the same one I went to see Beauty and the Beast at on my birthday) just as the previews were starting. It was the 3D showing (complete with glasses), which may be why it was busy, but not nearly as full as I figured it would be. We shared a big refill bucket of popcorn and cup of Coke (the latter in honor of Carrie Fisher, who loved Coke and was rarely seen without a bottle or can of Coke Zero by her side). 

I'm not going to give a really heavy plot description because of spoilers but...I loved The Last Jedi. I absolutely adored it. I think I may have liked it more than The Force Awakens. I like that it tried different things. I liked that it didn't go where you expected it to go. I loved the segment in the casino world Canto Bight that even many critics complained about. I loved what they did with Finn, Poe, and especially Rey. Rose Tico was a sweetheart, and a worthy addition to the roster of heroes. And while I still think he's a jerk and don't want him within five hundred thousand parsecs of Rey, I do like what Kylo Ren did to his boss. Maybe he'll be redeemed. Maybe he won't. But at least he's not bowing down to other people now. I thought the humor was hilarious in all the right places and even cried several times. 

I do have a few minor complaints. I wish we'd seen a lot more of a couple of characters, notably Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern), Maz Kantana (Lupita Nyong'o), Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie), and TJ (Benicio Del Toro). I also really, really wish the movie were a lot shorter. Some of the battle scenes could have been tightened or eliminated, and while Canto Bight was fun, yeah, some of that could have been trimmed as well. There were also a couple of plot holes, including the whole Canto Bight scheme ending up not mattering that much in the long run. And I can sort of understand Mark Hamill's complaints about his role being a little off.

I think you probably already know if this is for you. I like it when the Star Wars universe probes its more shadowy corners. The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite movie of all time, period, and Revenge of the Sith is by far my favorite of the prequels. I'm also not a purist and am willing to try something different in my franchises. If you're looking for something lighter and softer or a total rehash of Empire, or you're a major purist, you likely won't get much more out of this than Hamill did. If you can handle the darker side of a galaxy far, far away and have time on your hands, hop on the Millennium Falcon and enjoy the ride. 

The concession stand at the Cinemark was selling Star Wars Funko Pop stuffed dolls. They had Last Jedi Rey and New Hope Luke on display. I thought they were so cute, I had to have them. I went up to one of the concessions with them...and happened to look over and see Jessa buying me Rey in the next register! Aww. I ended up buying Luke for a Christmas gift for myself and getting Rey from her.

The movie took so long, we almost literally flew out the door of the theater and were late getting to Mark and Vanessa's for dinner. They'd already started when we arrived. Thankfully, there was plenty of macaroni and cheese, pork tenderloin, sausage stuffing, and spinach salad with walnuts and goat cheese left. Vanessa's daughter Brittany made it all, and it was excellent. The mac and cheese in particular melted in my mouth. There was an apple tart for dessert. Brittany fussed that it was too flat; Vanessa explained she made it in too big of a pan. Flat or not, it was perfectly sweet and cinnamon-y, and very tasty with Haagen-Daaz vanilla ice cream.

I chatted with Mark in the dining room after dinner while Vanessa, Brittany, and Jessa messed around with Vanessa's new Alexa android from Amazon. They were watching the tail end of the Steelers-Texans game during dinner. After the Steelers mauled the Texans 34-6, NBC switched over to the animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The live-action one was just starting as Jessa and I headed out.

We finished the night at Dad and Jodie's for the first half of the Eagles-Raiders game. They'd just gotten home from having dinner at Jodie's aunt's house and were chatting with their neighbor Sandy. Jodie washed off poor Luke, who got soda on him in Jessa's car (spilled during the dash to the car after the movie), and we told them about the movie and our own dinner. We finally got so fed up listening to Dad complain about how bad the Eagles were doing, we headed out around 9:30. (And while the Eagles didn't play great tonight, they did well enough in the second half to win 19-10 and get home-field advantage for the entire playoffs.)

And the previous two hectic days at work aside, this has been the nicest holiday season I've had in years, up to and including Christmas Day. I hope all of you had just as much fun today and on whatever holiday you celebrate!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Christmas Day dawned cold, clear, and bright across South Jersey. After reading Hanukkah and Christmas stories from the Collier's Harvest of Holidays book, I crept into the living room to unwrap the presents from Linda Young. The two little "stocking stuffer" gifts were magnets. One contained three small bike-themed magnets. (Ironically, the silver-aqua color sort of resembles my new bike.) The other had an inspirational quote about not giving up, ever. There were also two magnetic pads, which I can always use (I keep one on the refrigerator door at all times for grocery lists and writing my schedule down), a new journal with a really nice cover, and Flappers and Flivvers, a gorgeous hardback collection of stories about people's memories of the 1920's.

Did two quick specials as I changed, got organized, and ate two clementines to tide me over until I got to Dad and Jodie's. How the Grinch Stole Christmas takes us to Whoville, where all the tiny citizens are preparing for a Christmas filled with trees, stockings, toys, and roast beef. The grouchy Grinch, who lives on Mount Crumpet, is tired of their noisy traditions. He dresses as Santa and descends to the valley to steal their goodies. When the Who continue their holiday sing-along with or without gifts, the Grinch learns that "Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."

The Bernstein Bears' Christmas Tree will be the best ever, if Papa Q. Bear has anything to do with it! Like Clark Grizwauld, he's determined to get an extra special tree out in the wilderness. Every time he and the cubs choose a tree, it's the home of woodland animals who don't want to give up their residence. They finally come down the mountain without a tree, but the woodland animals whose houses they spared have a surprise for them when they get back.

Strolled to Dad and Jodie's around quarter of 10. I walked because I knew I'd have a big present to get home that wouldn't fit on the bike. It was a nice day for a walk, anyway. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was sunny and breezy, neither too warm nor too cold for late December. There were many kids out testing new bikes and adults wishing the best of the season to their neighbors. I wished "Merry Christmas" to all of them.

Dad, Jodie, Rose, and her family were already there when I arrived. Khai was playing Mario Kart on his new Nintendo 3DS. Everyone else was eating breakfast and watching TNT's annual 24-hour run of A Christmas Story. In addition to the cupcakes and the cookies from last night, there was French toast casserole, a sausage casserole made with cream cheese and breakfast sausage topped with pop-can biscuits, toasted English muffins, and eggs and bacon cooked into muffin tins. Rose provided a fruit tree, made from sticking strawberries, grapes, and pieces of watermelon and honeydew on toothpicks inserted in a pineapple and pear base, with a cut-out pineapple star. 

Though Joe and Jessa had to leave briefly to pick up something at Joe's place, Khai couldn't wait any longer. We opened gifts around 11. My Secret Santa was Craig. He gave me a new muffin pan (I've had the old one for at least a decade) and a really nice orange silicone spatula and ladle. Dad gave me very soft sleep socks and 200 dollars. He and Jodie gave me black rolling luggage. It's a little smaller than Dad's similar suitcase, but also a bit deeper. Khai loved his new night-vision "spy goggles" from his grandparents and wore them for the rest of the morning. Jodie got especially nice gray ankle boots from Dad. (And Jesse did love his Amazon gift card! He gave me a big hug.)

Mark and Vanessa appeared around 11:30. I lingered for a little while longer, even after Rose and her family went home. I finally just left the cupcake pan with Dad (I'll pick it up later this week), loaded everything into my new luggage, and strolled on home.

When I arrived, I got organized, then went online. I did finally work on my story a bit. As the weeks turn into months, Luke and Leia formulate a plan to keep them both from ending up being turned into gingerbread people. Leia reveals that Han told her Palpatine is blind as a bat. Luke will eat, but only show him chicken bones instead of his finger.

Leia can't figure Han out. During most of the day, he's distant, silent, and moves stiffly, as if he's being controlled by someone else. There are flashes, especially late in the day, when he breaks out of that control and shows his good-natured, cocky side. He disappears at nightfall, which is when the majestic, handsome Falcon appears. The Falcon remains with Leia and Chewie until dawn, when he vanishes again.

Broke around 3:30 for a ride to WaWa. It was too nice of a day to hang out inside. I treated myself to a Mint Chocolate Cookies and Cream Milkshake. They were surprisingly busy for Christmas Day, probably because they were also the only place open at almost 4 PM on Christmas Day.

Finished out a few cartoons when I got home. Bugs Bunny's Christmas Tales is an anthology of three original shorts - a Christmas Carol spoof with Bugs and Yosemite Sam, a typical Wile E Coyote/Road Runner romp, and a second Bugs tale with the Tasmanian Devil. A Walt Disney Christmas is a collection of Disney winter and holiday shorts, such as "Donald's Snow Fight," "Once Upon a Wintertime," and the two Santa Claus Silly Symphonies. "The Night Before Christmas" was the first Tom & Jerry cartoon to get an Oscar nomination. The two chase each other under the Christmas tree, amid toys and gifts...until Tom is thrown out, and they're reminded that the phrase "Peace on earth, goodwill toward's men" applies to cats and mice, too.

I was originally going to make a big Italian sausage dinner...but I spent a lot of the last two days eating and not doing much else. I was beyond full. I finally decided to save the sausages for later this week and make my favorite Tex-Mex Black Bean Dip for dinner instead. 

Ran The House Without a Christmas Tree as I ate. Like Ralphie Parker, Addie Mills (Lisa Lucas) wants one special gift for Christmas. What she wants, though, is hardly violent - a Christmas tree. Her family has never had one. It reminds her taciturn father (Jason Robards) too much of his late wife...and so does his strong-willed daughter. While her eccentric grandmother (Mildred Natwick) and best friend Carla Mae (Alexa Kanin) support her wish, Mr. Mills keeps saying "no" despite her pestering. Addie does win her classroom tree, but her dad gets upset when he comes home and learns that she did it behind his back. It takes her grandmother explaining about charity to get Addie to give the tree away...and finally convince Mr. Mills that charity, like healing, begins at home.

Lovely, touching tale, the first in a series of holiday-related TV films about Addie and her life in small-town Nebraska in the mid-40's. Robards, Lucas, and Natwick are all absolutely wonderful as the Mills trio. A nice, quiet movie, perfect for viewing on Christmas Eve or later on Christmas Day, especially for families with girls Addie's age. 

Finished the night with more Super Smash Bros Brawl. I went back to Solo Classic first on Very Hard. I only got through Round 11 before running out of continues! Didn't get to the Hand this time. Decided to try "Adventure Mode," which is the story mode, instead. Rather than fighting other characters, the various Nintendo characters fight strange electrical aliens from another world who have destroyed their stadium. The first world after the stadium was the cloud-themed Skyworld, featuring Pit of the Kid Icarus series. I'll do the second world the next time I play.

And I hope you had an equally fun Christmas Day and second day of Hanukkah! 

A Very Merry Christmas

I began my Christmas with a phone call. It was from Mom, wishing me the best of the day. We had a nice long chat. I told her about the party the night before and the pair of boots I'd picked on Amazon (another pair of Bearclaw winter boots like the old ones - I miss them). She told me about spending the night before with Anny and Dad and J.J and the kids. We talked about Christmases past, and I told her how much better I've felt this year than last year.

After I read some stories and sung some carols from Collier's Book of Holidays, I went into the living area to unwrap presents from Linda and James Young. The "stocking stuffer" was a metal Three Stooges sign. The big one was a book on Thanksgiving and Roller Skates, about a little girl in 1890's New York who spends a year exploring the city on her skates.

But by far my favorite title Linda and James gave me was Strippers, Showgirls, and Sharks, on musicals that lost the Best Musical Tony, despite being as beloved as Gypsy or as popular as Wicked. I've almost bought that one from Barnes & Noble a hundred times, but I either didn't have the money, or I would see something else I wanted even more. They couldn't have made a better choice.

Headed out to Dad's house for their brunch around quarter of 11. It was still pretty decent out at that point, despite it still being incredibly humid and warm for late December. Jodie made her famous French Toast Casserole and toasted English muffins. A friend had made Egg and Bacon Muffins, scrambled eggs wrapped with bacon and cooked in a muffin tin at a party the week before, and Jodie had decided to try them herself. They were delicious, just salty-cheesy enough. There was a fruit tray and a tree-shaped fruit tart Rose brought, along with leftover cupcakes and cake pops and cookies and pumpkin mousse pie from the day before. Dad had the A Christmas Story marathon on PBS running all morning.

After Rose and her boys, Jessa and Joe, and Dana and Jesse arrived, we all opened gifts. Dad and Jodie gave me 300 dollars. Rose and her gentlemen gave me a CVS gift card. I got an adorable mini stuffed Fozzie Bear and a green bear angel Beanie Baby named Gift (to go with my white sparkly one named Herald) from Jess and Joe. Dana and Jesse gave me a small but elegant box of gourmet Belgian truffles.

But Rose and Craig and Dana and Jesse got the best - and certainly the largest - gifts of all. After all the other presents were opened, Dad and Jodie lead us to the garage, where we found two huge white boxes topped with red and white tinsel garland and bows. They were new mobile dishwashers for Dana and Jesse's recently-remodeled apartment and the house Rose and Craig are still trying to furnish.

Jessa and Joe invited me to go to a record store with them and see The Force Awakens sometime next week. We'll see when I work next week. I do want to get to one of the malls. I might be able to tie that in.

The neighbors arrived later with more gifts. Chloe, so cute in her new Queen Elsa outfit, played Scrabble Junior with Khai while the rest of us helped Rose and Craig get their dishwasher into the car and Dana and Jesse get theirs into their place. (I also got to see a little of their tiny apartment.)

I finally headed out a little after 1, shortly before Rose and her crew did. I thought I'd see if CVS was open and use that gift card. They were open, but I never saw anything I really wanted or needed, and I was too full for a treat. I just headed home.

Spent the rest of the afternoon messing around online and working on my story. The kids have escaped Barnaby and his men. Mr. Eldridge simply disappeared. They trick the trolls chasing them into the garbage chute, then go to the basement to free the others.

It started pouring somewhere around 4 PM. It was still raining hard when my cousin Mark picked me up to go to dinner at 6:30. It was just me, Mark, Vanessa, and Vanessa's 20-something daughter Brittany. That was fine. There was plenty of sausage stuffing, macaroni and cheese, turkey breast, collard greens, mashed potatoes, and sweet pop-can biscuits to go around. We had a Marie Callendar pumpkin pie afterwards that wasn't bad. I had everything but the mashed potatoes (I'm not a fan of white potatoes). I especially loved Brittany's extra-cheesy macaroni and cheese. There were so many leftovers, I took a big container-full home.

When I got home, I finished out the night with The House Without a Christmas Tree. This one has a lot in common with A Christmas Story - a kid in the Midwest in the 40's just wants one special gift for the holidays. Here, the kid is a girl, Addie Mills (Lisa Lucas), who lives with her sweet but eccentric grandmother (Mildred Natwick) and her taciturn father (Jason Robards). Addie's father has never had a Christmas tree. It reminds him too much of his late wife...as does Addie, which is why the two often don't see eye to eye. When Addie wins a tree at school, it causes an explosion between her and her father. It's Grandma who finally reminds the two that charity begins at home...and it's never too late for a heart to start to heal.

And...yeah, I had a far more enjoyable Christmas this year than I did last year. It's not presents or weather that make a holiday. It's doing things you love with the people you love...and being able to do what you enjoy again. I hope all of you had holidays that were just as much fun!

Ho-Ho-Ho Holiday Fun

It was gloomy, raining, and way too warm when I got up this morning. I started my Christmas Eve by finishing this year's reading of A Christmas Carol. Since the last chapter of Christmas Carol is pretty short, I tossed in two American Girl stories that showed how difficult the holidays were in the mid-20th century.

Kit's Surprise takes us to Cincinatti in 1932. Kit Kittredge is not having the most fun Christmas. Her father is out of work, she just had an argument with her best friend Ruthie about her picking up the tab for their annual post-Christmas outing, and she's stuck working for nickels for her grouchy Uncle Hendrick. But when she lets her imagination roam and creates a special gift for Ruthie, she discovers just how powerful fantasy can be.

Molly McEntyre's holidays aren't going much better in Molly's Surprise, set in 1944 during the tail end of World War II. Her dad is overseas, and she's missing him more than ever. Her older sister Jill keeps telling her this Christmas is going to be "realistic," owing to the war. Molly wants the same kind of wonderful surprises her dad used to bring to the holidays. She and Jill learn that everyone in the McEntyre family is good at making surprises...and that Christmas miracles can come in the most unusual ways.

I got up early enough to enjoy some movies and cartoons during breakfast and before I went to work. Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas is an anthology of three festive tales featuring the Disney gang. My favorite is "Donald Duck: Stuck on Christmas." Huey, Dewey, and Louie wish it was Christmas everyday...and then regret it when they get stuck constantly repeating Christmas Day. After one day goes especially bad for their uncle, they finally discover the importance of family. Goofy's son Max has questions about the existence of Santa in "A Max and Goofy Christmas." Goofy becomes determined to show Max that Santa - and Christmas spirit - is real. Mickey and Minnie do their version of one of the most famous Christmas short stories in "Minnie and Mickey's Gift of the Magi." The two mice give up the things that mean the most of them to buy gifts for each other.

As the showers continued off and on, I decided to combat the gloom with some wonderful memories. I went in the back room and pulled out my Christmas photo books. I have pictures going back as far as my middle high school years, when Keefe was about 3. (One photo shows him as a toddler with a pacifier.) There were photos of Christmas Day parties with Rose's pals, of Anny getting that Lite Brite she wanted when she was sixteen (I never saw her happier), of Mom and Dad usually looking very groggy at 6 AM on a morning when everyone was otherwise off from everything.

Switched to Happy Days' first holiday episode as I got ready for work. "Guess Who's Coming to Christmas?" Fonzie, who keeps claiming he has a party to go to on Christmas Eve. Richie thinks otherwise. He convinces Fonzie to join his family's Christmas Eve celebration, despite Mr. Cunningham's continued insistence that the night be fore family only.

It was raining a little bit when I went to work, but not heavily. I was only slightly damp when I arrived. I'm glad I wasn't late this time. Needless to say, we were crazy for most of the morning and early afternoon, especially in the self-checkout lane. Jodie came through my line not long before my break. Yes, she and Dad were having their annual Christmas Eve party, and yes, I was invited. I'd rest at home, then go there. Work did slow down a bit after about 2:30 as more people started to head to their Christmas Eve events and get-togethers. I was fueled by sugar. They had lots of snacks in the back room - madelines, mini-brownies, mini-cupcakes, pastries, pumpkin and apple pie, those yummy soft sandwich cookies I love, and someone brought in a cookie tray.

When I got home, I ran Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too while changing and getting my gifts to give tonight together. When Pooh forgets to put what he wants on the Hundred Acre Woods' crew's letter to Santa, they retrieve it...but find they can't send it again. Pooh first tries to play Santa for his friends, then becomes determined to deliver the letter himself.

I found a little gift on one of the plastic chairs on my porch when I got in. My landlords Miss Willa and Richard gave me a very nice ceramic cup with a beautiful hand-painted Christmas tree, a mini container of Red Velvet Cake anti-bacterial hand gel, and a bag of home-made peppermint bark.

Headed to Dad's around 5. Although it was just Dad, Rose, Craig, Jodie, and Khai when I arrived, other people gradually turned up throughout the night. There was plenty of food along with my cupcakes and pumpkin mousse pie. Rose contributed a cookie tray, including tasty Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies and her heavenly Cherry-White Chocolate Cookies. There were baked ziti (I ate so much of that), Caesar salad, hot sausage, meatballs, very moist and flavorful turkey, a ham, macaroni salad, and rolls. Appetizers included shrimp, brie with blueberry sauce, and a pepperoni and cheese tray.

Khai and the neighborhood kids had a ball with the old-fashioned train set Dad had set up around the tree in the living room. They loved watching it go around and around, sometimes dropping plastic "cargo" pieces into the beds. The parents and I enjoyed Nickelodeon's Ho-Ho Holiday Special, which apparently Khai adores to the point where he's watched it five times. Goofy, punny random skits and musical numbers are whittled between a funny story that has some of Nickelodeon's current stars attending a big Christmas party at a huge house...and then being trapped there by a mystery person who doesn't want them to leave this party.

Considering I know nothing about Nick's current live-action offerings, I got a big kick out of it. No wonder Khai likes it. The kids are funny, the story is hilarious, and some of the skits are really cute. Check out the game show spoof and the number with the rapping "grandmothers."

The adults switched to Snoopy Come Home on Demand after they couldn't find any holiday specials on the networks. (It was 6:30. Most of the networks were still running news shows; most cable channels were in re-runs or showing holiday movies for adults.) I haven't seen the second Peanuts movie in a long time, and evidently a lot of the adults hadn't, either, from the delighted exclamation of fond memories of watching this on VHS. Charlie Brown is shocked when Snoopy up and leaves to visit his former owner in the hospital. This leads to a problem when Snoopy is torn between his two owners...but the strict no dogs rules that drive Snoopy crazy throughout the movie ends up working to his advantage...

Headed out around 7:30. It was a little foggy, but still very warm, probably in the lower-70's, upper 60's. I rode around Oaklyn, near Dad's house and the Oaklyn Library, looking at lights. I love all the colorful displays. The rainbow ones are my favorites, but those new sparkling floodlights are really pretty, too.

I went online in the living room as soon as I got in. I finished out The Monkees' holiday episode as I got organized. The groovy 60's rockers did their only Christmas show in the second season, just as the show was starting to get a little stranger. The boys think they're going to be play for a rich woman's party, but they end up babysitting her stuck-up nephew (played by The Munsters' Butch Patrick). They do everything they can to show the kid some Christmas spirit, but he's not impressed...until Mike Nesmith figures out what he really wants.

Did The Bishop's Wife next. David Niven plays the bishop, who desperately wants funds to build an elaborate new cathedral. He's neglecting his old parish and selling out to the rich, crotchety old woman (Gladys Cooper) who wants the cathedral to be a monument to her late husband. He's also neglecting his beautiful wife Julia (Loretta Young), their daughter Debbie, and their friends, including the eccentric Professor (Monty Wooley). His call for divine intervention brings in Dudley (Cary Grant), an impossibly handsome and suave guardian angel. He's supposed to be helping the bishop figure out what he wants...but what he's really doing is falling for Julia.

One of the three big Christmas movies released in 1946-1947, it wasn't successful at the time despite the wonderful cast. Too bad - this is a very sweet movie, with fine performances from the lead and a lovely final speech involving an empty stocking.

Remember WENN's Christmas episode also came out during its second season. In the show's only hour-long episode "Christmas In the Airwaves", the staff of radio station WENN is looking forward to a fun and festive Christmas 1940. Their plans are sent off the rails when the station's grieving owner and her nasty, miserly financier arrive. Their owner lost her husband the Christmas before, and she doesn't want to be reminded of anything about the holiday...including programming at WENN. The financier just wants the station to shut down. The cast tries to figure out how to get their holiday shows around the miserly accountant and prove to their owner that life and holidays go on.

I'm finishing the night with A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown. I'll do a few more animated shorts after this, then end my Christmas Eve with music and chatting with Lauren.

From all of us to all of you, I hope you have the merriest of Christmases and the very happiest of holiday seasons!

Into the Green Mountain State

Got an early start today, heading out to the Berkshire Mall, about a half-hour or so from Lauren's house, around 9:30. It proved to be too early. The mall wasn't open yet. We hit her local farm market first. This farm market is on Wednesday mornings and Saturday afternoons. Lauren didn't need anything; I bought three pears for later in the week.

We did some quick runs into the mall and Target next. I needed new hair clips. The ones I already had were way too small. I wanted headbands as well, but they were expensive. They'll have to wait. Also took out more money for the week. Neither Target nor Jay Street Video Games had the title Lauren was looking for, Mario Party 10. We ended up riding down to a GameStop about five or so minutes away at the Allendale Shopping Center, then heading back to the Best Buy at the mall to pick up three Amiibos - figures that you use to play some Wii U games. Lauren grabbed Mario and Princess Peach. She also found Luigi on a good sale.

We hit the road after that, making our way across Massachusetts to southern Vermont. The view from the highways and back roads were breathtaking. The leaves are at the height of their fall beauty, bursting in amazing shades of rust, orange, golden yellow, and sienna brown. We passed by sprawling ski resorts with huge, rustic wooden hotels, tiny summer cottages, well-restored mill towns, and farms with cows grazing in bright green meadows.

Heavy dark clouds gathered even as we were heading north. They looked like fat gray cotton balls rubbing reddish and deep green streaks on the majestic mountains surrounding us. We were hit by a few showers, including one that came down at a pretty good clip for about ten minutes.

The rain was long gone and the sun was slowly emerging by the time we finally arrived at Weston, home of the Vermont Country Store. This rustic general store is filled with everything from stuffed Peanuts toys to heavy Vermont flannels to maple syrup and penny candy. They were also busy as heck. Not only was a bus filled with elderly travelers in the parking lot, but Lauren and I saw license plates from as far away as Colorado, Wisconsin, and Nova Scotia.

We wanted to eat at the Bryant House, the restaurant next-door to the Vermont Country Store, but they were even busier. Their waiting room was crowded with people who hadn't eaten yet. Lauren gave them her name, and we walked around in the store for a bit instead. I bought a tiny bottle of maple syrup, a bag of vintage chenille candy canes (I remember Mom had them on her tree when we were little until they fell apart), and a box of my favorite Cookie Buttons, tasty crunchy mini-wafers. (I decided to try their new Pumpkin Pie flavor.)

Made it over to the Bryant House around quarter of 2...then waited another 10 minutes or so. We finally got in around 2. The Bryant House is known for their Vermont and New England specialties, made with the finest local ingredients. They're also expensive, which is why we both opted for a simple meal of a cup of soup, a half of a sandwich, and potato chips. We ended up getting the Grilled Cheese - Vermont is famous for its cheeses. Lauren had the Creamy Turkey-Vegetable Soup; I had the New England Clam Chowder. Yum. It was thick and rich, filled with big pieces of clam, potato, and celery. The potato chips were warm and not too greasy - I wonder if they were hand-made.

Lauren spotted a Christmas ornament shop across the street when we were going to the Bryant House. We strolled over there next. It was awesome. It looked so small from the outside, but it was three rooms filled with ornaments of every size, shape, type, and theme you can imagine. Sports, dance, favorite characters, hunting, animals, pets. candy and baked goods, soda, princesses...you name it, and they probably had it. I saw at least four different lines of Christmas porcelain houses and accessories (including a Disney set and the ones Mom collected when I was a kid) and a small but intriguing section devoted to Halloween. They were the best Christmas shop I'd seen outside of the Winterwood branches in Cape May and Rio Grande. Even so, most of the ornaments were too big for me to carry home. We walked out with nothing.

We did better back at the Vermont Country Store. Lauren saw a pillow that would be perfect to replace the sagging one she'd used for years, and we both wanted to hit the candy jars. I had a hard time deciding among the many varieties of sweets until I saw the individually wrapped fruit slices. That's one of my favorite candies. I bought a half a pound. Also treated myself to some butterscotch peanut butter cups for the way home. Lauren bought raspberry cordials for herself, orange cream drops for her dad, dark chocolate cherry cordials for her mom, and the pillow.

By the time we were driving through Barrington, the sun was out, the clouds were vanishing, and the sky was a lovely shade of blue. We made a brief stop at a Goodwill next to a bank in a small shopping center in downtown Barrington. It was twice the size of the tiny one we visited in Lee yesterday. Alas, the records I would have loved to buy were too big to carry home.

Went straight home after that. After we showed off our purchases and gave Mr. and Mrs. Miller their candy, we went downstairs and had spicy black bean and vegetable soup and turkey deli meat for dinner while watching more of Lauren's wrestling.

Switched to Mario Party 10 after we ate. The latest version of the popular board game franchise switches things up by using "Amiibos" - figures of various classic Nintendo characters - to save game data, roll "dice," and pick up tokens on the boards. You place your figure on the indicated place on the Wii U game pad and gently pull it up again to activate and play. Lauren used Mario; I was Princess Peach. I won the first board, Mushroom Park. She won the Mario-themed shorter "Amiibo board."

Right now, we're chatting and listening to an online radio station that specializes in 20's jazz and big band music while a fire crackles softly in the small cherry wood fireplace in the corner of Lauren's room. Tomorrow, we're going to explore two more near-by small towns, Stockbridge and Great Barrington, including a general store that sounds interesting.