The Groundhog Saw His Shadow

It was a gorgeous, sunny morning when I awoke to noise downstairs and warm weather outside. Despite the fact that Phil the Groundhog likely saw his shadow today, we're supposed to be in the 50's and 60's for the next few days and the 40's the rest of the week. I still celebrated the holiday with Jack Frost. This unusual Rankin-Bass special from the late 70's has the title character falling in love with a human girl. He begs Father Winter to make him human so he can win her. This doesn't prove to be as easy as he thinks. A handsome knight and a nasty Cossack are also after the girl. It'll take a sign from a certain little underground critter to determine whether or not Jack can keep up with the winter weather that's keeping the Cossack from harming the girl and her village.

I started Lemon Squares while Jack Frost was on. They were in the oven by the time I was running Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown. The Peanuts gang is looking forward to their school Valentine's Day party. Charlie Brown is hoping to get suitcases full of Valentines, or just one from the Little Red-Haired Girl. Linus has fallen for his teacher Miss Othmar and wants to give her something special. Lucy and Sally would settle for anything from their crushes. Meanwhile, Snoopy is putting on melodramatic and messy puppet shows at his doghouse.

(The Lemon Bars came out ok. I didn't put nearly enough lemon juice in them. They just aren't tart enough. Otherwise, they're sweet and have a nice crackly finish.)

Headed to Collingswood first. After a quick stop at PNC Bank to deposit money, I treated myself to lunch at the Pop Shop. It was past 12;30, and they were very busy with families with small children. I watched one family whose daughter had a birthday while I had a "New Jersey" grilled cheese sandwich (provolone, chicken, tomato, and pesto on ciabatta bread) and a scoop of butter pecan ice cream topped with coconut and honey for lunch.

Dodged late lunch traffic on Cuthbert as I headed to the Haddon Township Library for this week's session there. They were pretty busy for quarter of 2, with a lot of people looking for movies (probably to while away the time during the bad weather we're supposed to have tomorrow). I shelved almost as many movies as last week. This time, I didn't take anything out. While I have today and tomorrow off, I do work the rest of the week, and a lot more hours than I have been getting.

Made a quick stop at Thriftway on the way home. The 18-pack eggs weren't on sale anymore, but they were still a better price than at the Acme. I picked up milk and muffin cups (both also cheaper at Thriftway) as well.

Spent the next couple of hours writing. Darren and Kathleen are arguing over whether or not she should sell her work...and it's turned into her desperate wish to be like everyone else in town. He doesn't understand it. There is no normal - everyone is different. Kathleen's been shunned all her life for being different. She's afraid of what will happen if she doesn't act like everyone else.

I was online so long, I didn't get to starting a quick chicken soup dinner until nearly 7. Began Thoroughly Modern Millie while I ate. This is a thoroughly goofy 20's musical about the title character (Julie Andrews), a flapper who is desperate to marry her handsome boss in the New York of 1922, despite her being pursued by a charming paper clip salesman. Meanwhile, the creepy manager of her boarding house (Beatrice Lille) is trying to capture her girlish new best friend (Mary Tyler Moore) for her white slavery ring. Madcap millionairess Muzzy (Carol Channing) is having lavish parties until dawn and cavorting with vaudeville troupes.

One of the few truly original movie musicals of the 1960's is overlong and features several Oriental stereotypes that were common in the 20's, but were uncomfortable by 1967 and may be downright offensive to some folks today. On the other hand, there's some nice numbers here, and I love the authentic and colorful costumes and wacky characters (including Channing's very over-the-top Muzzy). If you're a fan of the ladies or have seen the equally charming stage version, this is a lot of fun and is recommended.