It was just cloudy, chilly, and damp when I headed out late this morning. My first stop was Target. Needless to say, they had long lines, but there were a few things I couldn't avoid. Picked up pet gifts for Rose's dogs and cats and a friend's cat and the cherries with stems my friend wanted. (In fact, they turned out to be cheaper at Target anyway.) I also peeked in Dollar Tree, but only walked out with powdered sugar for the Cherry Coconut Bars crust.
Dawn called while I was in Target and said she'd be slightly late arriving at the Haddon Township Library. That worked out very well. I saw a book on adults with the inattentive form of ADHD on the new releases shelf and was reading it when she arrived.
Frankly, we've had very little luck checking for jobs recently. I found one online in the past week. Dawn decided we needed a break and offered to take me out to lunch instead. I suggested the Westmont Diner on the hill under the Library after I checked out the book. It would require less driving than a trip to Collingswood, with easier parking.
I'm glad we went. They were busy when we arrived, but we didn't have to wait too long for a table. They're having winter lunch specials that come with soup or salad, pudding or ice cream, and beverages. She had a giant plate of chicken stuffed with spinach and cheese surrounded by tons of buttery mashed potatoes. I had a turkey wrap with tasty fries. She apparently loves rice pudding. I had pumpkin pie ice cream. She had a diet Pepsi, I had iced tea. We both had a spicy seafood bisque with real crab pieces. (And we got the same gift certificates they gave last year to be opened by the waitress between January 1st and 31st. I'll have to eat there on New Year's Day again.)
Whomever does the painting on their windows is really creative. The pumpkins and squash from last month had been replaced with Christmas lights and garland. It looked pretty and colorful as we ate.
(Oh, and this is likely the last time I'll be getting together with Dawn for the year. She's off for the next two weeks after this. I'll text her again with my schedule the Friday after New Year's.)
Dawn drove me back up the hill, and I dodged traffic and very light rain on Cuthbert riding home. When I got in, I went straight into making the truffles. Of course, first of all, it turns out the chips I bought were green mint white chocolate, not chocolate. Oh well. They'd just be green mint truffles. And then the candy wouldn't set after I'd boiled and whisked it. I left it in the fridge overnight to see if that made it more easy to handle.
Making the coconut cherry bars turned out to be much harder. I couldn't find the square cake pan...because it turned out that the owner saw the non-stick coating was coming off and threw it away. I used two cake pans instead. And I almost forgot to add the coconut. At least everything went fine once I did add it. The crust and topping baked fine and were easily cut.
And that means...yes, other than shaping the candy, everything I need to do for Christmas is now complete. The cookies are made and boxed. The gifts are wrapped and either sent to their intended destination or waiting to be given to their recipients. Now everything just needs to be given out.
As I made the coconut cherry bars, I happened to look up at the window overlooking the refrigerator...and saw snow. It actually snowed pretty heavily for a while. Nothing stuck to the ground and it turned into all rain later, but it still looked pretty, and we can still say we got snow for Christmas.
Threw on two classic holiday sitcom episodes next. Finished out The Monkees with "The Christmas Show" from the second season. The guys get roped into babysitting for the nephew of a wealthy woman while she's on a holiday cruise. The boy is a grumpy human machine who resists all of the Monkees' attempts to show him the Christmas spirit...until Mike Nesmith figures out what he really needs.
Laverne and Shirley are devastated in "Oh Come All Ye Bums" when Laverne's Dad Frank is fired from his job as a department store Santa and declares he won't be able to have his annual Christmas dinner for the homeless in Milwaukee. The girls and Carmine try singing for the money first, but they just end up in trouble. The girls and the homeless are the ones who finally take it on themselves to bring Christmas dinner to Frank.
Checked my schedule online next. In good news, I did get my vacation days, which means I'll be off starting Christmas Day. On one hand, I'm also working from tomorrow through Christmas Eve. On the other hand, the only long shift is Sunday, and that's a normal six hours. My other shifts are all four hours and relatively early. I'll be able to finish the candy and deliver everything.
Switched to Match Game Syndicated next while rearranging the Seasonal inventory. McLean Stevenson joins the crew for the first time since 1978 here. He would stay on permanently starting in the next season. This time around, he had a lot of fun sitting between Jonnelle Allen and Debralee Scott and watching a smitten contestant flirt with the former.
Watched The Muppets Christmas Carol during dinner and Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol afterwards in honor of having started my annual reading of A Christmas Carol yesterday. I went further into these in 2018 and 2019 at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
Moved to Disney Plus for Mickey's Christmas Carol. Here, Uncle Scrooge is his namesake miser who learns the holiday lesson. Mickey is Bob Cratchit, Donald is Nephew Fred, Daisy is Belle, Goofy is a hilarious Jacob Marley, and Big Pete puts in his scariest performance as a very dark Ghost of Christmas Future. Other than I never understood why Disney went for the fire and brimstone in the Future segment, this is far and away my favorite condensed half-hour version of this story.
Finished the night at YouTube for a holiday special that's so weird, I've watched it for a decade and still can't believe it exists. Amazingly enough, The She-Ra He-Man Christmas Special really is a thing. Orko is stranded on Earth after he crash-lands an experimental spaceship and befriends two human kids who teach him about Christmas. She-Ra and He-Man are having their own problems dealing with Hordak's rock monsters who are bullying a group of small but feisty locals. Orko accidentally brings the kids to Eternia after Man-at-Arms figures out how to get him home. Neither Skeletor nor Hordak want these shining beacons of goodness around. Skeletor tries to kidnap them, but (very) reluctantly ends up learning his own lesson in the holiday spirit when he defends them from Hordak and his boss.
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