Tuesday, February 05, 2019

A Little Bit of Spring

Kicked off a sunny morning after breakfast with finally putting up my Valentine's Day decorations. I have more for this holiday than I thought I did, including a cute pink bear tin, a small vine wreath heart Mom gave me in college, two tinsel garlands in white and red, and a ruffly heart-shaped box I thought was too pretty to throw away after I ate the candy. The majority of my Valentine's decorations are cardboard hangings. Two large cardboard and Mylar hearts went on the windows on either side of the house. The smaller hearts were taped onto the kitchen window and front door. Two vintage cardboard cut-outs, a teddy bear holding a heart and a Holly Hobbie-style pioneer girl and her kitten, also went in the kitchen.

Ran episodes of The Cat In the Hat Knows a Lot About That as I worked. Having pretty much exhausted their knowledge of the animal world in the first two seasons, the Cat moves on to teaching Nick, Sally, and the Fish basic science concepts in season 3. Fish is upset when the boat Nick and Sally built him sinks. The Cat takes them to a floating island to teach them how to make a boat that'll float in "Whatever Floats Your Boat."

The kids want to make a drawbridge, but they have no idea about "Building Bridges." This time, the Cat takes them to a mountainous land filled with bridges to learn more about their construction. They have to figure things out in a hurry when a dragon starts chasing them.

They're trying to get Sally's dress-up trunk into their tree house, but it's too heavy for them to lift up the stairs. "Pulling Together" gives them the answer when the Cat teaches them about simple machines...including pulleys. It's "Fact and Friction" when Sally can't make it down the previously-fast slide. This time, they head to a mountainside covered in slides to learn about friction and figure out what happened.

Nick and Sally are having their first sleepover in the tree house, but they're spooked by shadows in the night. The Cat takes them to a shadowy valley to show that "Shadow Play" is nothing to be afraid of. Nick gets angry at Sally when she her yo-yo tricks end up with her putting a hole in the top of his mountain and spilling his green paint. The Cat settles their quarrel by taking them to Sara of Sarandip, an experimenter who believes that "Accidents Happen...If We're Lucky."

Headed to work around quarter of 11. I couldn't believe how warm it was! I didn't even need the fleece jacket I wore this morning. I barely needed a long-sleeved shirt. Despite the fact that it was even more quiet than yesterday, I ended up in the registers for half the day. We simply didn't have enough help. I did manage to get out and help the head bagger with the carts towards the end of the day; also gathered baskets and the plastic bag recycling.

It was so beautiful, I took the long way home. As soon as I got home, I changed, dodged Charlie working on the dormer roof, and went right back out for a walk. It was too nice to be inside all day. I strolled to WaWa to treat myself to a cherry-blood orange Icee. I was fine in a sweater and capris! The marquee at Oaklyn's City Hall said it was 66 at 4 PM. Passed by groups of kids on bikes or scooters or out chatting with their buddies and people out for their own walk or finally taking down the last of their outdoor Christmas decorations.

Did research on partial unemployment when I got in and a little writing. Friar Yoda reveals that Sir Carlist Rieekian, a friend of King Bail's, is in debt to Sheriff Vader. If he doesn't pay, his home and lands will be repossessed, and he'll lose everything. Leia is also friendly with Rieekian and convinces Han and Luke to help him.

Finished out The Cat In the Hat while making broccoli and chicken stir-fry for dinner in honor of Chinese New Year. "Opposites Attract"...but not the two magnetic ends of Nick's engine and coal car, which won't stick together. They head to the Magnetic Fields to figure out how they work and why some magnets don't attract one another. The group's off to Ballaballoo to "Play Ball" and find the perfect bouncy ball to replace Sally's lost basketball.

Sally and Nick want to play their instruments together, but they can't hear one another when their windows are closed. The Cat takes them on a trip to the Soundy Sea, where "Making Waves" teaches them how sound waves work. The kids want to see how a mother robin builds her nest, but they keep scaring her off. The Cat takes them to the Hall of Mirrors to see how to make reflections and bend them to their needs in "Mirror Mirror."

Ended the night after a shower with Flower Drum Song, the first (and to my knowledge, only) American movie musical with a mostly-Asian cast. I cover this Rodgers and Hammerstein show more thoroughly at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Flower Drum Song

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