Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Pick Yourself Up

Got a late start today. In fact, it was so late, it was noon before I had breakfast. Watched Match Game '75 as I ate. The first episode started with the hilarious week featuring Bill Macy, then of Maude. Charles and Brett really lay into each other in the first episode, teasing each other about their answers even more than usual, while Brett makes an early joke about her and Gene going to Encino. (They didn't.)

For some reason, Buzzr skipped way ahead to more than two weeks later...but the episode was one of the funniest of the year, so I didn't mind too much. For possibly the only time in the entire series, Gene went casual in a blue jacket and turtleneck in this show. Sarah Kennedy and Bobby Van watched as Betty White rolled up Gene's pant legs, revealing nifty argyle socks...and then a lady in the audience wants them. Richard has to get Gene back into his suede shoes. 

Headed out shortly after the episode ended. I wanted to do some Christmas shopping at Audubon Crossings behind the Acme...but I rode by Desserts By Design and saw their window open. I hadn't talked to the lady who works there in ages. I bought a yellow cupcake with pumpkin spice whipped topping while she took customers. After they left, I explained everything that had happened to me for the past two years with trying to find a job and a home, and all the disasters from last fall and winter. She recommended looking for a condo in Voorhees. I don't know. It's expensive, and a lot of it is in the middle of nowhere. Still worth trying, though. I know they have a nice library. 

Spent the next hour and a half in and out of stores. The zipper on my purse broke while I was rooting around for my wallet at Desserts By Design. I bought a new one at Marshalls, a really nice one that's a bit bigger than my old one. It actually looks like the wallet I bought last year, with the same leather woven design, only in dark brown...and it has metal zippers. I just tossed the other one...and hurried on after I witnessed two young adult men being thrown out of Marshalls when they attempted shoplifting. 

Found nothing at Ross, but I did find some small gifts at Marshalls and Five Below for Lauren, Amanda, and the daughter of a friend. Picked up my annual advent calendar with the chocolates at Five Below, too. (I haven't seen them at the Acme this year.) Made two awesome record finds at Goodwill, the soundtrack from the Disney movie Summer Magic and the 9-disc record set Reader's Digest's Treasury of Great Operettas. I have a later version of this on CD from 1994, but this one has some shows that set doesn't, including Die Fledermaus, A Waltz Dream, and Mlle Modiste. (And the records were half-price, thanks to them having green tags. Summer Magic dropped to $1.25, the operetta set to $2.49.)

Went across the parking lot for lunch. Tu Se Bella's has the best pizza in the area. Given it was past 3 PM by that point, they weren't busy at all. An older couple ordered sandwiches and panzarotti (and changed their order at least once), and a family waited for sandwiches. Other than that, I enjoyed my slice of cheese, slice of broccoli and shrimp, and bottle of Diet Coke and ignored the dull and silly talk show on the TV over the coolers.

GameStop is next door to Tu Se Bella's. I wanted to find a gift for my 18-year-old nephew Skylar. He'll need something fun to keep his mind off his damaged foot this winter, poor guy. Bought him a long X-Box game and saw something I thought I might get for Lauren. (Amazon had a better price on it later.)

Went straight home after I got out of GameStop. I didn't like the look of the weather. It had been damp, chilly, and cloudy all day. It rained a little bit while I rooted around in Goodwill, but nothing heavy. Thankfully, the real rain held off until I had long gotten home and had taken my laundry downstairs. It's been raining off and on, sometimes heavily, ever since. (And we're one of the lucky ones. A lot of places got snow, including Pittsfield.)

Did some writing after I got my laundry in the washer. Ira Skutch, the Match Game producer, whines about there being mice seen in the area. It's a male and a female, and he's afraid they'll mate and make a whole army of rodents. Announcer Johnny Olsen gently reminds him that he doesn't have to control everything and encourages him to join the others and open his present.

Debralee is delighted to get the largest gift from Gene Rayburn. It's a beautiful hand-carved nutcracker. Gene explains he found it in an old-world gift shop in Cape Cod and thought someone should have it. He even repaired it to actually crack nuts. Bart calls it ugly, but Debralee loves it. 

Broke at 7 for dinner and Match Game '77. Hans Conried finishes out his only week on the show, which is a bit disappointing given he did very well and seemed to enjoy himself. Richard doesn't do as well with "__ Knight" in the Audience Match. 

Continued on with Match Game as I ate dessert and got my laundry out of the dryer. Dick Martin returns the next week, along with supremely sarcastic Conny Van Dyke. Dick actually gets a match for once with the first question about what's under Billy Carter's mattress. Richard is still out of luck with "__ Pizza" on the Head-to-Head.

Finished up the night with Swing Time at Amazon Prime. I go further into one of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' best films and my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

No comments: