A Christmas Decorating Story

Kicked off the morning with breakfast and Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales. This series of skits from the early 2000's may have been created to fill an hour with Charlie Brown Christmas, but it has some entertaining material in its own right. Favorite shorts include Sally writing "Samantha Claus" and her unusual way of getting a tree and Snoopy playing "Lady of Spain" on an accordion during his sidewalk Santa stint.

Work was even quieter than it was yesterday. Though it was cloudy and chilly, that's as far as it got. I spent the morning gathering carts and rounding up the outside recycling, and the afternoon sweeping the store and organizing gift cards. Other than getting called to do a few things when I was trying to do something else, there were no problems whatsoever.

Went straight home when I finished. Spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening dusting the apartment. Twice a year, right before Christmas and in the late spring, I move everything I can and dust under it. Considering how much stuff I have, it takes a while! It helped that I dusted the book shelf I got from Rose when Craig and Keefe brought it and under the self-help books on top of the desk before I put them back.

Ran The Bells of St. Mary's while I worked. Father O'Malley (Bing Crosby) has been reassigned to St. Mary's Parochial School, a run-down parish in the middle of a city that's on the verge of being condemned. He's supposed to decide whether the school should be closed, but the sisters who live there believe that grouchy old Mr. Bogardus (Henry Travers), who owns the fancy new office building next door, will give them their building. O'Malley and head nun Sister Mary Benedict (Ingrid Bergman) clash over everything from whether two boys should fight to allowing an eighth-grade girl who boards with them to graduate, but they do see eye to eye on the importance of St. Mary's to the community. When Sister Mary gets very sick, it's Father O'Malley who sees that she's transferred for her health. She thinks it's because of all their arguments, but O'Malley respects and appreciates her more than she'll ever know.

I like this a lot more than the too-sweet Going My Way. Ingrid Bergman's tough performance helps cut the sugar levels, the story is a tad less melodramatic, and the secondary romance isn't focused on as heavily. There's also the utterly adorable sequence with the parish 1st-graders rehearsing their Christmas play. It has nothing to do with the rest of the story, but it's still too cute for words. Way may have won the Oscar, but this is the one you really need to check out.

Did a little bit of writing when I finally finished the dusting. The trolls are ugly creatures who do their best to reduce the marketplace to splinters when they arrive. Patti runs off, and Bill's ready to, but the others stop him. They're going to try to fight the creatures off. Charles, however, is terrified of trolls...and may be too scared to help...

Moved on to A Christmas Story while eating dinner, and then while pulling out the first holiday decorations of the year. Yeah, I know it runs for 24 hours on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but I love it so much, I try to watch it at least once before then. All 9-year-old Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsly) wants for Christmas 1939 is a "Red Ryder BB Gun with a compass and a stock and this thing that tells time." His mother (Melinda Dillon) thinks it's a bad idea, and his father (Darren McGavin) is too busy yelling at the furnace and the neighbors' dogs to notice much else. Ralphie himself may not survive childhood pitfalls like bullies and essays long enough to make it to Christmas Day...and even then, the present of his dreams doesn't turn out quite as he expected.

I may have grown up in the 1980's rather than the late 30's, but there's still a lot here that I relate to. My stepfather was a Ford man and also treated breakdowns like races, my sisters hid under the sink when they were upset and were picky eaters, Dad used to negotiate for our Christmas tree too, and I had my own problems with bullies and cartoons that were barely-disguised commercials for toys. (One thing I can't relate to is that Major Award. Mom would have taken one look at that leg lamp and said "no." Or at least banished it to a back room or something.) This is one of the best holiday comedies of the last 40 years. If you can relate too, check it out - whether you opt to wait for the marathon or not.

Finished up with the rest of the Christmas decorations. I always pull out the miscellaneous stuff first - the poinsettia place mats, crocheted coasters, mistletoe, nativity, mini-feather tree and its decorations, and garlands. I wasn't able to put up the big garland on the dining area windows this year. I don't want to tack it on the new walls. I was able to put up the garland over the park-side window normally and drape the other garlands over furniture. Everything else is in its regular place. Tomorrow, my college friend Amanda will visit; we'll have lunch together and and put up the tree.

(Oh, and it did finally rain - while I was working on writing, well after I got home.)