Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Rain For Christmas

It was pouring when I got up this morning. I thought it was a good day for the quiet story and subdued colors of Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas. This Jim Henson special from the late 70's was one of the first they did with realistic animals. Emmett and his ma are poor residents in a small riverside town. They face a bare Christmas, until friends tell them about a talent show on Christmas Eve. They both sacrifice the items that give them their livelihoods to acquire what they need to enter the contest. Ma sings a folk ballad; Emmett joins the title jug band. The winner of the show turns out to be a surprise...and what happens when Ma and the boys bring their music together is even more so.

Made Cream Cheese Icing after breakfast. This was pretty much just cream cheese, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. I got the recipe out of that mini edition of Holiday Cake Decorating and Cookie Baking for Dummies Linda and James sent me a few years ago. I don't think I mixed it well enough. It was a bit lumpy. Otherwise, it seemed to spread well enough on the cupcakes.

That finishes out my holiday baking. The cupcakes will be split between Dad-Bruce and Charlie and his men. I'll deliver them tomorrow or Christmas Eve. I do need to make a Pumpkin Mousse Pie for Dad and Jodie's Christmas Eve party, but that requires no baking and can be made in ten minutes tomorrow or Tuesday morning.

Switched to I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown as I got ready for work. One of the few hour-long Peanuts specials has less to do with Christmas and more with Lucy and Linus' little brother Re-Run badly wanting a pooch of his own. He keeps trying to invite Snoopy to play, but he doesn't always have the time. The kids finally invite Spike up from the desert...and Re-Run discovers just how hard it can be to take care of a pet.

The rain had been off and on all morning. It was just starting to pick up again when I left. And, of course, it stopped just in time for me to arrive at work wet.

Work wasn't bad when I got in, but it was busy the rest of the afternoon. People were finally starting to come out of the malls and think of their Christmas dinners and parties. There were a few annoying people who wouldn't help bag, otherwise, there were no major problems. My relief was right on time. Thankfully, the rain had ended by the time I headed home.

Did some writing when I got in. Scott, Floretta (Eugenia), and the kids arrive at the camp to find that the others - Maple, Gil, Betty, Jack (Jeff), Jill (Hilary), and Wee Mackie Winkie - have been captured by the other gypsies, who think they're spies for Barnaby. Scott, himself part-gypsy, explains otherwise. He and Betty also scold the kids for going off into the woods on their own.

I finished the night with turkey burgers and sauteed spinach and mushrooms while watching Christmas Eve On Sesame Street. The first Sesame Street holiday special has Big Bird upset because Oscar the Grouch told him if Santa couldn't find a way to come down those skinny New York chimneys, no one would get any presents! Big Bird, Kermit, Snuffy, and the kids try to figure out how he does it. Meanwhile, Bert and Ernie sell the things that mean the most to them, only to get a big surprise from Mr. Hooper. And Cookie Monster would love to write or call Santa and ask for cookies, but he keeps eating the writing utensils.

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