Started the morning with this week's American Top 40 re-run. I was a little over a month from turning 4 years old when this episode first aired in early March 1983. Some of these songs are among the first memories I have from my childhood. Hits from that spring included "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran, "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" by Culture Club, " the duet version of "We've Got Tonight" by Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton, "Pass the Dutchie" by Musical Youth, "Back On the Chain Gang" by The Pretenders, "All Right" by Christopher Cross, "You Are" by Lionel Richie, "Stray Cat Strut" by The Stray Cats, and "You and I" by Eddie Rabbit and Crystal Gale.
The top hit for that week would go on to be one of the biggest hits of the year, from the biggest album of the year. Michael Jackson was the name on everyone's lips. His Thriller album was selling in the millions and became one of the hottest discs of the decade. "Billie Jean" was the first of two songs from Thriller to hit number 1 that year (the other would be "Beat It").
The first thing I did this morning was take down the winter decorations and put up the St. Patrick's Day and spring items. Even Mother Nature is finally ready to change seasons. I'm having some trouble keeping a couple of the spring flower cardboard hangings on the walls. They got bent in the container and keep coming off, even with tons of tape on them. If they don't stay, they're going to have to go in the recycling. I had less trouble with most other things, including the two cute hangings of animals dressed for St. Patrick's Day I got from a local dollar store and the St. Patrick's Day tinsel garland I bought yesterday.
I had a lot of running around I wanted to get done today, and I couldn't have had a nicer day to do it in. It was sunny and breezy, and the temperatures had jumped into the lower 50s. The remaining snow was melting quickly all around me as I first headed to the Oaklyn Library to return the DVDs and do this week's volunteering there. They were in the middle of LEGO Club day, which was surprisingly busy for a morning with such gorgeous weather. I briefly organized the DVDs, but didn't do much else.
Headed to the Acme next. I had to work later, but I wanted to get my schedule and groceries early. Once again, I'm not terribly happy with my schedule. On one hand, I have a rare Sunday off (along with Friday again), and another four-hour shift on Saturday. On the other hand, I once again have several long shifts and several late shifts, including until 9 on Wednesday.
Shopping was a lot easier than last week. It was steady, but not really crazy. The Acme was having a clearance on yellow and red cherry tomatoes for 99 cents - I grabbed a container of yellow, along with an onion and the usual mushrooms, grapefruit, and bananas. Other good sales included Duncan Hines Cake Mix (which is the most expensive of the three major cake mix brands - $1.49 is a good price for them), tomato sauce, canned peaches and fruit cocktail in juice, lamb chops, chicken legs, oatmeal, and Pledge dust cleaner. (I'll be dusting sometime next week.)
When I got home, I put everything away, then ran the last of the Three Stooges cartoons as I made Oriental Chicken Salad (leftover cut-up chicken breast with canned mandarin oranges and yellow tomatoes on a bed of spinach, drizzled with home-made Orange Honey Dressing).
The trio have to avoid a bank robber who dresses as various characters to get them to stop the train carrying a huge ton of money in "Behind the 8 Ball Express." "Bridge On the River Cry" spoofs The Three Billy Goats Gruff, as the Stooges try to cross a bridge owned by a troll without paying the toll. They're "Late For Launch" when they can't launch a ship with a bottle of champagne, no matter how hard they break the bottle (or the ship). It's "A Fishy Tale" when an octopus does his best to keep them from winning a fishing contest. Larry has a strange dream that makes his best pals into comic book heroes, but he's not ready for them to be "Super Everybody." They have to stop "Rob N. Good" before he steals from innocent people, but he evades their attempts to capture him. And they have to "Get That Snack Shack Off the Track" when Get Out Of Town By Sundown Brown robs their new desert diner, and Moe uses the diner to go after him.
By 1 PM, it was so warm, the snow had totally disappeared from the porch. I was easily able to sweep up the remaining salt from last week. I think I'll try to get ice melt as early in the season as I can next year, before things start getting nasty. Rock salt makes too much of a mess.
I had to work at 2. It was still steady when I came in. It didn't pick up until rush hour. Thankfully, it had slowed down enough by 6 that I was able to do some candy shelving and leave without a relief. I was even able to pick up a few things I didn't get this morning, including tomato soup, more mandarin oranges, and Navy beans.
When I got in, I did a short yoga session, mostly just running through basic sun salutations and stretches. After I finished, I had the last of the leftover home-made pizza for dinner, then made Orange Muffins while watching The Princess and the Frog. Tiana (voice of Anika Noni Rose) is a waitress in 1922 New Orleans who is determined to work hard in order to buy her own restaurant. Prince Naveen, on the other hand, only wants to marry a rich girl so he can go on living the high life (his parents cut him off). Naveen is turned into a frog by the voodoo magician Dr. Facillier (Keith David) and needs a princess to kiss him. He sees Tiana in a princess costume and gets her to kiss him...but the kiss turns them both into frogs! They have to travel across the bayou, and then back to New Orleans, to find Tiana's friend Charlotte (who is Princess of the Mardi Gras Parade) and get her to kiss Naveen.
While not the masterpiece Disney was hoping for when it came out in 2009, there's still a lot to like in this enjoyable Big Easy romp. Tiana has become one of my favorite Disney princesses - she's hard-working, intelligent, and dedicates herself to her goals and the ones she loves. I'm less fond of Naveen, especially early on - he does get a bit better when it occurs to him that maybe he really does only need one woman in his life. I also love Ray, the sweet Cajun firefly whose "girlfriend," Evangeline, provides the best song of the movie. Charlotte is adorable too, not nearly as spoiled as you might think from a girl who gets everything.
Recommended for slightly older Disney princesses who can handle some violence towards the end, a slapstick sequence with a couple of frog hunters, and Dr. Facilier's freaky "friends on the other side."
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