Mom called just as I awoke. Everyone in Virginia loved the gifts I gave them. Mom is a huge Carol Burnett fan and was delighted by the set of Carol Burnett Show episodes I sent her. My brother Keefe called out a greeting from the kitchen, too. She cut the call short - apparently, Keefe was in the midst of a "pancake crisis" - but not before she suggested Rose might be finally ready to talk to me.
After I wrote in my journal, I had a short, quick breakfast while watching Match Game '78 on Buzzr's Betty White Christmas marathon. Helaine Lembeck of Welcome Back Kotter celebrates the holiday by holding up her nails with mistletoe painted on them over her head, getting a kiss from Gene in return. Gene, meanwhile, is upset that the fly swatter he got from Betty is too full of holes to swat much of anything.
Switched to A Charlie Brown Christmas after the episode ended. Charlie Brown is upset by all of the grab, grab around him. He's eager to direct the school Christmas pageant after Lucy suggests it to him, but not when the other kids keep turning it into a jazz concert. The girls don't appreciate the tiny tree Charlie buys to improve morale, at least until Linus makes a very famous speech on the real meaning of the holiday.
Peppermint Patty and Marcie join in for It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown. Patty spends her holiday season avoiding homework, joining Marcie to see the Hallelujah Chorus, and complaining because Marcie got to be Mary in the school pageant and she's only a sheep. Meanwhile, Sally tries in vain to remember her one line. Charlie Brown sells wreaths door-to-door to earn money for a gift for the Little Red Haired Girl, and Lucy bothers Schroeder about Christmas gifts at his piano.
Even as Christmastime Again ran, a friend called me to join her holiday celebration. I opened gifts with her, her son, his girlfriend, and her daughter. I even bought presents for their cat. Her son and his girlfriend gave me a $50 gift card to Barnes & Noble. She and her daughter gave me a lighter robe to wear around the house, a much warmer hat, scarf, and gloves set than I currently own, and a darling tan teddy bear in a plaid bow named Liam. She made scrambled eggs, toast, and baked bacon for brunch, and they were delicious! (Especially the melt-in-your-mouth bacon.)
Checking my phone after breakfast revealed that Jessa hadn't texted me...but Rose had. They didn't go to Maine after all. Craig's brother and his wife just had a baby, and they didn't think it was a good time for a lot of visitors. (Not to mention, this is hardly the appropriate weather for driving up to New England.) They had no plans for the afternoon and invited me over for lunch. My friend was eating at an aunt and uncle's house, so I had no plans, either. Grabbed my coat and boots, put on my new winter accessories, and rode on over.
Rose's house was noisy but merry when I arrived. Khai and Finley are getting so big! The first thing Fin said was that she is proudly in kindergarten now. Khai's getting so tall. Rose said he excels in school, especially English, and is really getting into swimming. He's taking paleontology with a teacher who is a real paleontologist. They also have another puppy, a big frisky fellow with black and white blotches named Oreo. (Poor Mr. Fish, who was a good companion for Lynx the cat and me last Christmas, finally went to goldfish heaven last summer. A replacement goldfish apparently didn't last more than a few weeks, and they decided they had enough pets and got rid of the tank shortly after.)
Rose was glad to hear I went to see a neuropsychologist last spring. At least I have a better idea of what's going on in my head. And while this wasn't the ideal Christmas, it certainly went a lot better than last year. Rose said I look a lot more content. I don't know about content, but at least I have a place to stay and people who are going to help me find a job, and that's more than I had this time last year.
For a small-scale Christmas, Rose had a pretty big snack spread out. I got to enjoy Triscuits, raspberries and blackberries (the kids are apparently big berry fans), cheese and salami slices, cut-out butter cookies that melted in my mouth, snickerdoodles, gingerbread cookies decorated by the kids, and foccacia bread sliced into sticks with bruchetta topping for dipping sauce. She apparently had a rough few months herself (including getting sick several times and losing two beloved pets to old age and illness), which was why she hadn't contacted me sooner.
They did have a huge real tree this year. Probably due to the dogs, they moved the tree from the living room to the dining room. I love their ornaments. There's huge hand-print ornaments the kids made and beautiful vintage glass balls that likely belonged to Uncle Ken (including a delicate Eagles ball). There's one that looks like a trailer, and a sketch of a city landscape against a frosty blue ball.
(Oh, and Craig was watching the Packers-Dolphins game when I was there. Packers were up as I left, and ultimately won 26-20.)
Headed out around 4:30, at sunset. Wanted to stop at WaWa to pick up dinner before the sun vanished entirely. I'd mostly ate protein and carbs today, so I went with a vegetable quesadilla and a small container of fruit. Treated myself to a very sweet and buttery Frosted Sugar Cookie Smoothie.
It remains cold here, but not bitterly so like yesterday. It's still chilly - every puddle leftover from the showers on Thursday is frozen solid - but probably in the upper 20's-lower 30's. That's balmy compared to yesterday's high of 18! Otherwise, it was a really nice day for a short bike ride. The sun was out, the sky was clear, and the wind had died down to a chilly breeze.
Went straight into Christmas game show marathons when I got home. Match Game Productions, the owner of the channel who posts the Match Game, Password Plus, and Super Password episodes for live chats, has had "Christmas specials" marathons of Match Game, Password Plus, and the original Richard Dawson Family Feud all week. I arrived just as Family Feud's last Christmas from 1984 began. Richard lead two family through Christmas-themed survey questions, and even got serenaded by the challengers.
Match Game did Christmas episodes from 1973 straight into 1990. Charles Nelson Reilly often played Santa Claus in their Christmas Day shows. My favorite Match Game holiday episode is from 1978. Not only did Charles dress as Santa here, but Brett Somers turned up in a pink pinafore and golden Shirley Temple ringlets as a little girl sitting on Santa's knee. One episode of the syndicated series in late 1979 ended with everyone singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" for no apparent reason other than they wanted to.
Christmas Day on Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour had a lady winning big bucks as Jon Bauman's Santa hat keeps getting passed around, cool older lady Nedra Voltz fields some pretty sexy questions, and Marty Cohen reminds everyone that Hanukkah is going on, too. Match Game '90 went as all-out on Christmas as they did on Halloween and Veteran's Day. Rip Taylor was a more-than-adequate substitute for a vacationing Charles. He got one of the funniest moments of the entire series when he yanks off his toupee and hits Fred Travalena with it for doing a bad imitation of him. Meanwhile, Marcia Wallace's bandaged cut on her finger escalates into a series of crazy injuries over the week, until by the last day, she's seen in a sling and neck brace.
Here's all three marathons to show your family and those you love to match with!
Finished off the night with more festive episodes from other franchises. Joyce Bulifant and jolly Johnny Brown throw balls into gift boxes and slide ornaments into stockings on the 1979 Beat the Clock, beating Ronnie Schell and Joyce Bulifant. Bob Barker had no better luck on The Price Is Right in 1991. Despite giving out expensive cars and other goodies, no one won any pricing games, though someone did take home the trip-oriented Around the World Showdown.
Things were certainly looking up on the Wink Martindale High Rollers in 1987. The champ won $10,000 with the right roll of the dice, while another gentleman picked up a vacation package. Sale of the Century also had trips to Santa Claus, Indiana as an Instant Bargain. By the time of what looked like Christmas 1988, the bonus round was "guess the subject from the clues." The lady who won messed up on the first puzzle and never really recovered. Hugh Downs led two Santas playing for charity through Christmas rebuses with an audience of children from around the world on Concentration in 1969.
Celebrate the season with even more holiday games!
And I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, no matter where you spent it or what you celebrate!
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