Laughter In the Sunshine

Began the morning with breakfast and Little Bear. Father Bear wants to read his newspaper, but Little Bear's "Hiccups" keep making noise. His friends try to help him get rid of them. Little Bear is so excited about his "Date With Father Bear," he wakes him up early. They hike up to "Pudding Hill" together, where they go camping and befriend a beaver family.

Called Uber after the cartoon ended. No trouble here whatsoever. The one going to the Acme came in 9 minutes. To my surprise, it only took 2 minutes for the one going to Thomas Sharp to arrive. The one going home came in 5 minutes. No trouble anywhere, and I got to both jobs well ahead of time.

Absolutely no trouble at the Acme, either. Or much of anything else. They were quiet all morning. I barely had any carts to push. It's the middle of the week and the middle of a month without a lot going on besides March Madness and the start of baseball season. Most people won't be thinking of Easter until next week. I was in and out with no trouble whatsoever.

Maybe everyone went out to lunch. Applebee's was a lot busier when I arrived, more than it normally would be on a Wednesday. I enjoyed their Grilled Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwich, fries, and a Diet Coke while watching a family with the most adorable little girl who kept trying to run off. After lunch, I briefly returned to the Acme to buy travel hand wipes for my backpack purse and toothpaste before I called Uber.

Since I got a driver much faster than I expected, I arrived at Thomas Sharp early. Went for a walk around a couple of blocks before school began. Everything is getting much greener now. There's soft green buds on the trees, carpets of emerald grass, and bright yellow daffodils and purple and white crocus in every garden. Not a bit of snow or ice left anywhere, not even in that standing metal container in the shade. 

It wasn't too bad when I arrived. The 9 kids at my table cleaned up quickly and behaved fairly well in the bathrooms. Three of them even gave me hugs in the hall when I told them I loved them. This time, the trouble started during lunch. One of the boys knocked over his bottle of Gatorade, and we're out of paper towels. We had to go get them from the bathrooms. The kids tried to clean up or play in the Gatorade, neither of which were terribly helpful. Four of them were so wild after we cleaned up and the kids were drawing and playing with magnetic tiles, the head teacher kept them in the cafeteria briefly to talk to them while we took the others outside.

Things improved once everyone got out in the sunshine. The clouds had been in and out all day, but by quarter after 4, it was sunny as can be. Two of the boys bonked their heads on the slide equipment, but they seemed to recover quickly once they got ice packs. I talked to one girl who got upset because one of the boys had already shared his toy with her and wasn't giving her another turn when she'd already had two. Otherwise, they all had a great time, chasing each other and dancing to the themes from PJ Masks and Bluey, "I Like to Move It," "Swab the Deck," "The Gummy Bear Song," and songs from Moana, Moana 2, KPop Demon Hunters, Trolls, and Encanto. By the time I had finished and called Uber, they were down to two younger kids and five older ones, and they were all outside, running around and pushing each other on the swings.

Went straight into The Price Is Right when I got home. Alas, I came in just as the lady got the final red X on Three Strikes. The Showcase Showdown went a bit better. The lady bidding on a spa and dining room furniture went way over. The one who bid on the "How to watch movies at home"-themed car, TV, and projection equipment Showcase got so close, she just barely missed getting both showcases.

Started off with Match Game Syndicated for the first hour. They were on the week where Marcia Wallace, Joyce Bulifant, and Betty White all rotated taking over for Brett Somers when she was out doing a play. Joyce commented that she could finally understand how everyone on the top tier kept taking everyone else's answers - she could see them clearly from Brett's usual seat!

For some reason, the second hour flipped way ahead to Match Game '90. Betty and Charles stuck around, joined by Joe Alasky, Vicki Lawrence, and game show host Johnathan Prince. Ross Shafer asked the questions and led everyone through the Match Up mini-game that had contestants doing quick matching with the celebrity of their choice. I'm not overly fond of the Match Up game, which slows the pacing, but otherwise, I seriously regret that the Philly ABC didn't run this when it came out. I think I would have gotten a kick out of it as an 11-year-old.

Finished the night with an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in honor of Women's History Month. Angels Revenge is just about the most 1979 B action movie you can possibly imagine. Six gorgeous women (and one really pretty teenager) stop the drug cartel that has been selling its wares among the students of one of them. Needless to say, Mike and the robots are very quick to point out how absurd this is, how none of the women can act, and how genuinely good actors like Peter Lawford, Jack Palance, and Jim Backus ended up here for paychecks. Definitely not recommended for anyone but true aficionados of really, really cheesy B action movies of the 70's and 80's.