It's a Rainy Holiday, Charlie Brown

Started off the morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. It's "Snowflake Day," the big winter holiday in the Neighborhood. Daniel is excited about being the snowflake in the Snowflake Day play who gets to start off the show. He gets stage fright when he's actually onstage, until his friends help him remember his lines. Later on, after the lights onstage go out, he's the one who figures out how to let the show go on.

Switched to Match Game '77 while getting organized. The first episode began with a joke about the old lady who married Old Man Perriwinkle and what he got caught in the spokes of her wheelchair. The others do better helping the champ with "__ Four" on the Audience Match. Dick Martin, Elaine Joyce, and Patti Deustch joins in for the second episode as an older man admits that he's still an "executive mixologist," aka a bartender.

And after much haggling with passwords, I got my schedule at this point. In good news, three days off again, including Sunday for Amanda's visit. In bad news, even fewer hours and no floral department days. 

Let it run into Tattletales. Everyone played well in the episode I saw. Allen Ludden and Betty White adored each other. Jamie and Joy Farr remain married to this day. Shirley and Eddie were just plain cute together. Everyone gave great answers, and I'm actually rather glad this was one of the few episodes I'd seen where all three couples tied in the end.

Headed out after that. Despite my sore toe and wrist and the damp and dark day, I wanted to hit Dollar General. I thought I lost my Scotch tape yesterday. I found it, but it's the last one I have. Bought two twin-packs from the Christmas section. Found Kind bars on a good sale, too. Stopped at the pretzel shop on the way home for a can of Diet Pepsi, pretzels, and a pepperoni-stuffed pretzel. Grabbed coconut macaroons from the Mexican bakery for dessert.

Put on A Charlie Brown Christmas when I got home. Chuck's feeling a bit down about Christmas. He's disappointed in the grab, grab all around him. Lucy suggests he direct the local Christmas pageant, but the kids seem more interested in turning it into a jazz concert. They make fun of the tiny green tree he brings back to add atmosphere, until Linus makes one of the most famous speeches in television history to remind them of what the holidays are really all about.

It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown trades the linear story for a series of skits about the Peanuts' activities during the holiday season. Charlie Brown tries to sell wreaths in order to buy gloves for the Little Red Haired Girl. Snoopy works as a curbside Santa and has to deal with Lucy's complaints. Peppermint Patty dodges homework, joins Marcie at the "Hallelujah Chorus," and protests having to play a sheep in the Christmas pageant when Marcie is Mary. Sally writes her letter to Santa and tries to learn her one line for the pageant.

Started cleaning while the Peanuts were on. Vacuumed, then dusted the main room and my bedroom while listening to Very Merry Christmas Songs. This Disney DVD is an expansion of a Sing-a-Longs video originally released in 1989. Along with the original Disneyland Chorus songs, "Let It Snow" by Bing Crosby, and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by Gene Autry, we have "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," "Jingle Bell Rock," the Bing Crosby "White Christmas," and "As Long as There's Christmas" from Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas. 

By the time I was wiping down the windows, I'd switched to the 1950's Columbia record set Home for Christmas. This is another one I've had for so long, I couldn't tell you where it came from anymore. It was missing the first disc when I found it, but the remaining two still have some good songs. Songs I like on the second record include "The Little Drummer Boy" by Patti Page and a lovely "Ave Maria" by The Philadelphia Orchestra. Good numbers on disc three include "Silver Bells" by Doris Day, "Carol of the Bells" by the New York Philharmonic, and music boxes playing "The Holy City."

By this point, it had also started raining...and raining hard. I could hear it pattering on the roof. It continued to rain off and on for the rest of the evening. 

Worked on writing after I finished dusting. Florrie explains to Cora what she's up against. The man she knows as Stephen is really Harron, Stephen's sorcerer cousin who practices black magic. He's always been obnoxious and egotistical, even as a child, and he'd always picked on the gentler Stephen, too. 

Broke at 7 PM to have dinner and put up the first of the Christmas decorations. I put my old nativity on the crate with the Christmas records. It belonged to Mom's mother, and was one of two nativities Mom usually put out for us when we were younger. It's grimy and old, but I like to think that's what the first Christmas looked like. 

I crocheted the red and green coasters myself a few years ago and found the poinsettia place mat at a thrift shop. Mom made the more elegant snowman stocking in the 90's. Her sister Terri made the gaudier one with all the sequins when I was very little. I bought the feather-type mini tree from Dollar Tree a few years ago. It's decorated with a velvet ribbon, two crocheted flowers I made, a tiny porcelain teddy bear, and chenille candy canes bought from Vermont Country Store during one of my vacations with Lauren. The big plaid bow came from a gift my grandmother sent me many years ago. 

Watched Match Game Syndicated while I worked, and then while I had dinner. Fred Grandy returned this week, joined by Gary Burghoff, Eva Gabor, and Marcia Wallace. Gary reveals how tired he was of playing Radar on MASH by this point when he's awfully hard on him during a question. Eva Gabor is happier to help with "__ Shopping" on the Head-to-Head. Eva has less luck with "Collection of __" in the second episode.

Finished the night back on YouTube with Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. In the last of the three Columbia Sinbad movies, the famous sailor (Patrick Wayne) is in the kingdom of Charak. They're just about to crown Prince Kassim (Damien Thomas) Caliph when his evil sorceress stepmother Zenobia (Margaret Whiting) turns him into a baboon. She wants her son Rafi (Kurt Christian) to be caliph. Sinbad's sweetheart and Kassim's sister Farah (Jane Alexander) turns to Sinbad for help. They and his men set off to find the hermit Melanthius (Patrick Troughton) who knows how to break curses. He and his pretty daughter Dione (Taryn Power) insists on them traveling to a frigid land where a great magic still exists that could reverse what Zenobia's done. Zenobia's not about to let them get there so easily. Sinbad will have to battle everything from a giant wasp to a huge walrus in order to restore Kassim and secure his throne.

The two 70's Sinbad movies ran on cable a lot during my childhood. We taped both of them in the mid-80's. Rose in particular was a huge fan, and she watched this one a lot. I found the Sinbad movies to be just a little too weird as a kid. I like them a bit more today. Ray Harryhausen's creature work continues to amaze - check out the fight between the saber-toothed cat and the cave man in the finale, or how Kassim the baboon looks almost real. Patrick Wayne is a slightly more interesting Sinbad than John Phillip Law was, and Jane Alexander is ravishing as his love interest. Whiting's having a terrific time as the evil sorceress, too. 

If you love sword-and-sandal swashbucklers like Rose and me, the Sinbad movies are worth checking out for Harryhausen's awesome work and the elaborate productions alone.