Once Upon a Wintertime

Began a sunny morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. "Daniel's Winter Adventure" first takes him, his dad, and Prince Wednesday sledding, then to the pond to skate for the first time. Dan's not sure about the high hill or the slippery ice, but his dad tells him to try them a little bit at a time and see how he likes them. The Tigers take Daniel to see the "Neighborhood Nutcracker" at the Enchanted Garden. O the Owl is a little intimidated by the crowds, but his father takes him in a little at the time. Daniel ends up center-stage when he has to join Katarina and Henrietta in the Nutcracker after Prince Wednesday gets sick and has to learn their dance a bit at a time.

Switched to snow and Christmas-themed shorts in honor of the first day of winter as I got ready to head out. "Arctic Antics" and "Winter" are Silly Symphonies depicting animals playing in the snow. The first gives us adorable polar bears and off-key walruses, while the second has more typical woodland creatures running into their holes when the groundhog sees his shadow. "Chip n' Dale" want to steal Donald's popcorn on a wintry day. He does everything he can to fend them off. Likewise, they're "Toy Tinkers" who want to swipe Don's Christmas nut stash. "Snow Foolin'" is a Paramount Screen Gems sing-along version of "Jingle Bells." "The Snow Man" comes to life and terrorizes residents of the North Pole in a strange 30's short.

Struggled into my new winter boots (it took a while for me to zipper them), then grabbed my laundry bag and coat. Saw a huge truck pull up to the curb just as I made my way down the sidewalk. Veterans of America arrived to take Jodie's overflowing donations (and mine too). 

Delivered three bags of cookies to my next-door neighbors, Sandy around the corner, and my friend Erica down the street. Erica was the only one around to accept hers. She gave me sweet and florid compliments on my new black snow boots and the gray coat Jodie and Dad gave me a few years ago.

Made pretty much the same laundry run as last week. Dropped the laundry at the laundromat, then went to Family Dollar for freeze-dried fruit and muffin papers. Picked up a soft pretzel and an Eggnog Smoothie at WaWa while the laundry was in the dryer. The smoothie at least tasted like eggnog, even if it was a bit watery.

Put away the laundry, then had lunch. Started Buttermilk Herb Bread while watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Clark Grizwauld (Chevy Chase) is determined to give everyone a "good-old fashioned family Christmas." Trouble is, the two sets of grandparents he invites over don't get along, the yuppies next door are about ready to strangle him for the mess he's caused, his excessive outdoor light display shorts out the neighborhood power grid, and the bonus he's hoping to get from his grouchy boss (Brian Doyle Murphy) is late. Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) and his brood show up just as Clark gets the lights going and cause even more chaos. In the end, as the tree burns and the SWAT team comes in through the windows, Clark finally figures out that we can't make Christmas perfect...but we can make it memorable.

One of the most popular Christmas movies of the last 30 years or so. If nothing else, this always made me appreciate my family's comparatively quiet Christmases and understand why Mom and Dad always insisted relatives who wanted to visit during the holidays did so the week between Christmas and New Year's. Great fun for pre-teens and teenagers who will be going on their own Christmas vacations this week, and adults who have likely gone through a lot of what happens here.

Came in as Tattletales was on its last question. This is Betty White Christmas week on Buzzr, with all the celebrity-based shows featuring Betty as a panelist or player. Alas, Betty and her Password-hosting husband Allen Ludden were defeated at the last minute by pulp writer Mickey Spillane and his wife Sherri and country charmer Bill Anderson and his wife Becky. Press Your Luck got nearly as crazy as last week. This time, the champ did prevail, winning a trip to Curacao, among other prizes, and retired with over 50,000 dollars worth of cash and prizes.

(By the way, the bread came out beautifully. I haven't tasted it, but it baked perfect and golden brown and smelled amazing in the oven. I need to do more yeast bread while I'm living here.)

Switched to writing for a while as the bread rose again. Gene makes a deal with eager reporter Robert Walden. If he helps him get a new ship and rescue his crew, he'll make sure he gets his scoop and in with his boss. Walden agrees to it, mainly so they can both have dinner.

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Penny Marshall joined in for her only week on Match Game '75, along with Betty, Orson Bean, Melinda O'Fee, and the regulars, as Brett braced for answers on "she's not getting older, she's getting ___." Match Game PM began with Gene appearing to sleep on his usual entryway and ended with him filling in the last few minutes with a spontaneous tap dance.

Sale of the Century got very close today. The champ and the one lady each bought something, and everyone won a Fame Game. In the end, the champ and the other guy were neck-and-neck at the Speed Round, but the champ missed a question that allowed the guy to win the game. He picked up the 10,000 on the Match the Prizes board.

Made Cream Cheese Mints while the shows were on. These didn't come out quite as well as the bread did. I put a little too much milk in, and they got too hard to deal with. I had to chill the candy several times to really be able to work it. 

Switched to Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey while I finished up the mints. Nestor is a donkey with a problem. He has incredibly long ears that drag the ground and make him the butt of all the jokes on the farm. He and his mother finally flee, but he loses her to a snow storm. Sweet cherub Tilly takes him to the Middle East, where he's purchased by a certain couple who need a gentle donkey to take them to Bethlehem. Only he can see the couple and her precious unborn child safely through the sand storm in the desert.

Finished the night with more Christmas programming online. In The Bishop's Wife, David Niven is Bishop Henry Brougham, who wants to convince a wealthy older woman (Gladys Cooper) to donate the money for him to build a huge new cathedral. He's pursuing this so hard, it's causing him to neglect his daughter and his sweet wife Julia (Loretta Young). Enter Dudley (Cary Grant), an impossibly suave and handsome man who also happens to be an angel. He takes Henry's place with Julia in many activities, including skating and hearing the local boys' choir, but falls for her in the process. Henry's friend the Professor (Monty Wooley) convinces him to stand up for his love. Dudley's not there to help him build a cathedral, after all. He's there to show Henry that the most important things in our lives are the people and places we really care about.

Charming holiday tale with all three leads luminous and Grant making an especially delightful angel. Check out his quick method for decorating Christmas trees!

Maddie and David deal with their own holiday troubles in the second season Moonlighting episode 'Twas the Episode Before Christmas." Agnes DiPesto finds a baby in her laundry basket, prompting her bosses to search for its mother. They find a group of crooks who may have been involved in the death of the baby's father, and are now searching for mother and child. David and Maddie try to figure out what happened to the mother, all while arguing over the idea of children and taking care of them.