Summer In Fall

Began an early morning with breakfast and Yankee Doodle Mickey. This LP from the early 80's is a collection of various patriotic songs, ranging from Mickey singing "Yankee Doodle Dandy" to a very young Molly Ringwauld leading a kids' chorus through "God Bless America." The Disneyland Glee Club performs a rousing "The Liberty Tree" from the 1957 film version of Johnny Tremain, while the Disney characters get the themes from each branch of the Armed Services. Mickey represents the Air Force and the Marines, Goofy the Army, and Donald, of course, the Navy.

Headed out shortly after the record ended. Work was off-and-on busy, not too bad for a Sunday. The Eagles have off this week, and the weather was once again too beautiful for a lot of people to be hanging out inside. There were a few annoying customers, including one that put away more than half her order because she thought a hundred dollars could pay for a full cart. Another one left their cart sitting in my line and never came back for it. I was very happy to finally dash out right on time without a relief.

Took the long way home down Nicholson Road. This is the only time I'll be able to. For the rest of the week, I either work too late, or will have groceries that need to go home. The weather was incredible for November...maybe a little too much. It was warm, sunny, and in the 70's, more like a day in early September than early November. At least it looks like fall here. Gardens are laden with mums and the last of the summer roses. Trees are finally turning brilliant shades of gold, flame red, nut brown, and pale green. 

Worked on writing when I got in. Richard has his own questions to ask Brett. What's she doing there? She'll talk about everything but herself and who she is. She evades his inquiries to take Lorrie below decks. Richard finally stomps to his cabin, leaving everyone wondering why he's been behaving badly since he got his own ship, the Family Fortunes. Gene goes to his cabin to find out...

Broke for dinner at 6. Had leftover ratatouille and a chicken leg with Garlic-Parmesan-Topped Sweet Potatoes and an eggnog ice cream soda for dessert. Listened to two election themed musical albums while I ate. The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band is set in Dakota Territory during the contested Cleveland-Harrison election of 1888. The plot's a bit of a muddle, but the Sherman Brothers wrote some nice music for this one, including the spirited ensemble number for the Family "Ten Feet Off the Ground" and the charming ballad "'Bout Time."

Evidently, the record company that originally released the cast album for Call Me Madam had trouble getting Merman, so they used the original cast with Dinah Shore. Shore can't match Merman's dynamo factor on songs that require belting like "The Hostess With the Mostess on the Ball," but she does get in on a nice "Marrying for Love" with Paul Lukas. 

Finished the night on Buzzr with their second Family Feud Veteran's Day Marathon. Once again, the five branches of the Armed Forces battle it out, this time in syndicated episodes from 1990. For the second year in a row, the Army put up a good fight, but the five gentlemen of the Marines eventually took it all, though they missed the Bonus Round on the last episode. All the teams had a great time, from the enthusiastic Coast Guard member who did an awesome drill sergeant imitation to the Marine who got to order host Ray Combs around. 

Oh, and I got my first Christmas present tonight. Lauren sent me a huge bag of Sunkist Gems round gel fruit candies. They remind me of the fruit candies Dad used to order from Florida. Between the giant bag and what I got on Halloween, I shouldn't need more candy until at least after New Year's. My cookie containers from Amazon showed up, too.