I awoke to banging and cursing downstairs at about 7:30. It was earlier than I'd planned on getting up, but maybe it was just as well. I had a LOT to do today!
Started off with breakfast and A Walt Disney Christmas. I dubbed this anthology of Disney holiday shorts off an ancient white clamshell box tape I got from the (now-defunct) Blockbuster in Wildwood. Along with the Santa Silly Symphonies and "Pluto's Christmas Tree," we have some less well-known Disney winter shorts. "On Ice" has the regular Disney gang frolicking at a skating party. While Mickey shows off for Minnie and Goofy attempts ice fishing, Donald teases Pluto. "Donald's Snow Fight" gets out of control when he accidentally runs into his nephews' snowman, which leads to an all-out frozen precipitation war! "Once Upon a Wintertime" is a sweet, romantic short from the 40's movie anthologies. Two lovers and two bunnies hit the ice, but when they have a fight, it takes some local critters and a dynamic rescue to reunite them.
Charlie was only about 20 minutes or so late today. He and the electrician showed up around 9:30, while I was making the Vanilla Spiced Cream Icing for the Cranberry-Lemon Cupcakes. They were in and out for less than a half-hour. At any rate, whatever else they did, the outlet by the park window is working again. I plugged the light back in, and it went on just fine.
After Charlie left, I headed to the last Collingswood Farm Market of the year. It was a beautiful day for it. The sun shown and the sky was blue, but it was much cooler than it has been, probably in the mid-50's. Between the nice day and people picking up produce for Thanksgiving, they were packed when I got in. I waved to a black alpaca and a brown alpaca in a pen munching on hay and watching the kids oooh over them as I made my way through the crowds. Though several booths were missing, this was offset by the return of the dairy booth. They still had plenty for me to buy. I ended up with small Gala apples, cranberries, broccoli, carrots, an onion, and much to my surprise, a tomato. I hadn't seen tomatoes in weeks, but at least two booths had big bucketfuls.
Stopped by CVS on my way back. I wanted to get a wedding card for Dad and Jodie. Alas, they didn't have much of a selection. I spent way more than I wanted. I had better luck finding Thanksgiving cards for Mom and Dad-Bill and Rose and her family. Also picked up dishwashing liquid and peanut butter on sale and gifts for my friend Amanda.
As soon as I got home, I put everything away and got the cupcakes organized while finishing out Bugs Bunny's Christmas Tales, which I started before I left. This holiday anthology features three original stories. The first is a take on A Christmas Carol, with Yosemite Sam as Scrooge and Bugs as Nephew Fred. The second takes Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner's antics out of Arizona and into snowier terrain. The third has Bugs dealing with the Tasmanian Devil in a Santa suit.
Went to Dad's first. I wanted to give him and Jodie the card and a couple of cupcakes. I wasn't sure if I would be able to swing by later. It was just them and Dad's friend Gary, who had flown in from St. Louis, at that point. I did give them my gifts and hugs and congratulations, then went to work.
Work was on-and-off busy. When it was off, it was dead...but then everyone would swarm up front, and we'd have long lines again. Other than some cranky customers, it could have been a lot worse, especially the weekend before Thanksgiving. I suspect one of my customers was right and most people opted to clean up yards or gardens this weekend while the weather remains nice.
Today was the Acme's annual Employee Thanksgiving Luncheon. As usual, there was tons of food in the back room when I arrived. I saw turkey, two kinds of stuffing (with and without added turkey chunks), macaroni salad, two kinds of mashed potatoes (with and without skin), macaroni and cheese, lasagna, cole slaw, soft pretzels, two antipasto trays (one with cranberry sauce), deviled eggs, and later in the evening, ham. Desserts included two cheesecakes (one plain, one with cherry topping), chocolate cake, those peanut butter cookies with the Reeces cup in the center, bread pudding, my cupcakes, and a chocolate-cinnamon coffee cake. I had the turkey, stuffing, deviled eggs, and cole slaw for a late lunch, lasagna for dinner, and coffee cake, cookies, and bread pudding for a snack.
As soon as I finished and ate the lasagna, I changed into a normal shirt and went back to Dad's. This time, the place was swinging. In addition to Gary, I saw Rose and Khai, Mary, several neighbors, Dad's long-time friends Brian and Diane from Cape May, and Joe and Jessa came in just as I was leaving. I stayed long enough to hug Dad and Jodie again, eat a very small slice of the white wedding cake someone bought from DiBartalo's Bakery in Collingswood, and ask Rose when she's picking me up on Thanksgiving. Sounds like it'll be between 9 and 10 in the morning - I'll call her later in the week for specifics. Headed straight home after finishing there.
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