Switched to Buzzr for Match Game '78 next. Today begins Buzzr's annual "Betty White Christmas" marathon. All morning and afternoon weekday programming and all weekend programming will feature Betty White in some way or the other from today through Christmas Day. Gene and the panel are more than a little nervous when a contestant announces that his wife is in the audience and is in labor! Thankfully, she's gotten to the hospital by the time of the second episode. Former baseball player Joe Garagiola doesn't appreciate the Howard Cosell jokes. Brett points out they're typical on the show.
Got my schedule at this point. In good news, three days off again next week, which I absolutely did not expect, and more hours. Sunday's seven hours, though, but I have Monday and Tuesday off after that, Tuesday for a dental appointment. Probably just as well that I only had baking and candy making planned for next week anyway along with the dentist.
Decided I would test how my wrist was on the bike today. Pumped my front tire, then went outside...before coming right back in. A box from L.L Bean for me was on the front porch. I hadn't ordered anything. It was a Christmas present from my mom, really nice boots with strong rubber soles. Alas, they were much too small. Research reveals that L.L Bean does have 8 1/2 sizes left. I do like the boots, so I'll send out the exchange next week.
(Had more luck with gifts later this evening. My second Amazon present from Lauren arrived! I got the last two seasons of Laverne & Shirley and the sixth season of Happy Days, the last season currently available on commercial DVD.)
Headed out even before the second episode ended. I wanted to run errands and have lunch at the Westmont Plaza before it was overrun with teenagers out of school. Started with lunch at the Westmont Bagel Shop. It was 1:30 by then, well past the lunch hour. I enjoyed a delicious, just right-sized spinach and feta omelet with hash browns and a toasted multi-grain whole wheat bagel while listening to 80's hits on their radio.
Made quick runs to Sprouts and Target next. Sprouts didn't have granola bars on sale, but they did have a good price on whole wheat flour. I bought my usual coconut milk here, too. Target was slightly busier. They didn't really have any granola bars on sale, either, but I got Make Good anyway. Bagged gala apples were a good price, and I picked up my usual bag of nuts and one yogurt for tomorrow. Stopped back at the bagel shop before I left to buy bagels for lunch this week.
Hurried out after Target, just as the kids began to arrive. It took me long enough to cross Cuthbert just as the schools finished for the day. And...I think I might hold off on the bike another week. My wrist is still sore and can't really grasp the handlebars without pain. I've been pushing carts one-handed. We'll see how I feel Wednesday. It's supposed to rain on Sunday. I may end up doing Uber that day anyway.
At least the weather was nice. In fact, it was too nice. It remained sunny, but it had jumped into the mid-50's. I was warm in my heavy coat and scarf when I ran errands!
Put on Super Password while I got organized upstairs. These episodes finish out the Lucile Ball/Ann Dusenberry/Betty White/Estelle Getty week. The first episode was particularly hilarious. The entire set was determined to be troublesome. The buzzer wouldn't work, then the slats covering the answers wouldn't move. It got kind of ridiculous after a while. The set behaved much better on the second episode. Betty White and Estelle Getty ended the week as the winners, picking up money for The Humane Society.
Moved to the original 1945 Christmas In Connecticut next. Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck) is the author of a wildly popular cooking and lifestyle column that describes her adventures and recipes developed while caring for her baby on her Connecticut farm. Trouble is, it's all fiction. Elizabeth is really a city girl who can't boil water and lives in an apartment. All of her scrumptious recipes come from her good friend Felix (S.Z Sakall).
Her house of cards comes crashing down when her boss Alexander Yardley (Sydney Greenstreet) insists on not only coming to her farm for dinner, but bringing handsome soldier Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan) with him. In desperation, she agrees to marry the dull architect John Sloan (Reginald Gardiner) who does have a farm in Connecticut. His housekeeper Norah (Una O'Connor) even takes care of babies for the local factory workers. John and Elizabeth keep trying to get married, but something always interrupts them. Not to mention, Elizabeth is starting to fall for Jefferson. After a long Christmas Eve of switching babies and runaway cows, she finally learns that honesty really is the best policy, especially where love is concerned.
Charming romantic comedy is stolen by Greenstreet and Sakall as the bosses with very different ideas on listening to their employees. A perfect cozy watch for a chilly holiday afternoon curled up at home.
The Warners DVD comes with the Oscar-winning short "A Star In the East." Master of accents J. Carrol Naish plays Tony, a hotel owner in the Arizona desert whose demanding customers have left him with a low opinion of humanity. A mysterious stranger points out that there's peace and goodwill in the heart of everyone at this time of year. Tony learns how true it is when his customers and three wandering cowboys come together to aid a Hispanic youth and his pregnant wife.
Worked on writing for a while after that. Charleton, Stephen's valet, is the first person from the castle to find Florrie's cottage. Everyone's looking for them, he tells Cora and Stephen. The wedding had to be called off until they were found. To Stephen's utter delight, he recognizes him despite his disfigurement. Turns out no one in the castle has any memory of the past few months, other than their king is going to get married.
Broke for dinner and Match Game Syndicated. For some reason, they skipped two episodes, ending up with the last of the week with Gary Collins. Bill Daily sported a snazzy tuxedo, while North Jersey native Debralee Scott teased the male contestant about his decided lack of New York in an answer. Bart Braverman and Robert Walden came along for the next episode as everyone complained about it being cold in the studio in the opening. (Including Brett - Robert kindly let her borrow his jacket.) Connie Stevens has less luck with "Mail __" in the Head-to-Head.
Moved to Kanopy for another holiday movie I never heard of before, the British The Holly and the Ivy from 1952. Reverend Martin Gregory (Ralph Richardson) and his children and two maiden aunts gather for a big Christmas celebration at his rectory in Norfolk. Older daughter Jenny (Celia Johnson) wants to marry an engineer (John Gregson) who'll be leaving for South America in a month, but she also doesn't want to leave her father without care. Younger daughter Margaret (Margaret Leighton) was living in London as a writer, but recent tragedies and her lack of work have left her a bitter alcoholic. Son Michael (Denholm Elliot) is currently in the Royal Artillery, but he's not a fan of religion and questions going to college after he gets out of the services.
They come together with no-nonsense Aunt Bridget (Maureen Delany) and dreamy Aunt Lydia (Margaret Halstan) to share Christmas dinner and morning together. During the course of the evening, old anger and resentments bubble to the surface. The three younger Gregorys see their father as formidable and fear offending him. Turns out that Martin isn't so easily offended after all, and maybe all the three Gregory children need to do is to see past their feelings on religion and remember that their father is human, and that we humans were meant to communicate with one another.
Apparently based after a hit play on the West End in 1950, this was a very sweet and simple tale of one English family learning a lot more than they ever planned on about each other during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Leighton is particularly devastating as the Gregory sibling with the most heartbreak whose city life isn't nearly as glamorous as it seems at first. This is another good cozy watch for a chilly evening.
Finished the night on YouTube with the original Rankin-Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I went further into their first major holiday special at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog in 2018.
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