It was so late when I finally finished eating and dressing, I called Uber. Plus I had a few things I needed to get later in the day. This may not have been the best day for Uber. The one in the morning took 9 minutes to arrive, and I ended up being late for work. The one going home took 15 minutes.
Between it being the beginning of the month and the day before Easter, we were mobbed all day. We're also short-staffed this week. Seven Acme employees, including the head manager and the head bagger, went on vacation this weekend and next week. There were long lines for most of the afternoon. I did have to clean up a broken Mexican soda bottle that put me behind gathering carts, which is probably why they pulled a couple of college boys from cashiering and the self-checkout lane to help me later. Other than the clean-up (which no one told me about - I found it while sweeping), there were no problems whatsoever.
At least the weather was nice for all of this. It was in the 80's, hot, breezy, and sunny for most of the day. It clouded up a little later in the evening before the sun returned, but it was mostly gorgeous.
I needed a few things after work that I didn't get yesterday. I didn't think I'd have room for the small bottles of Persil laundry detergent that are on a really good sale. (That brand is expensive, but I've heard such good things about it, I want to try it.) Grabbed tulips as an Easter gift for a friend who isn't a fan of sweets. Got Rose her birthday card and Dunkin Donuts gift card...and was able to give them to her right away when she spotted me waiting for the Uber while she was trying to get Pokemon cards for Finley from the Pokemon vending machine. There was a crowd of young men around it at that point, and they weren't leaving. She said she'd try later.
(Oh, and Rose said she's going to send Finley and Khai to their grandmother's house in Westmont for Easter and will just spend the day resting and cleaning. I'm going out to brunch with Jessa tomorrow instead.)
Listened to my new It's Arbor Day/Charlie Brown's All Stars album when I got home. It's Arbor Day was Vince Guaraldi's last Peanuts special. In fact, he literally died just hours after completing it. It didn't affect the quality of his work. There's some really nice music here with hilarious titles - "Ships Sail Into Arbor," "Young Man's Fancy," "Seeds for Thought," "Sprinkle Your Bird," "Happy Arbor Day, Charlie Brown." Alas, Charlie Brown's All Stars seems to be the only special whose master audio tapes Craft Recordings hasn't turned up at press time. The music here was taken directly from the special itself, which is why "Charlie Brown's All-Stars!", "Oh Good Grief!", "Surfin' Snoopy," and "Pebble Beach" sound slightly lower in quality than the other Peanuts soundtrack albums.
Oh, and at this point, I got Easter goodies from a friend and her teen daughter. They gave me chocolate truffle eggs, two Reeces Eggs, and a pretty card with a butterfly on a flower on it. That was so sweet of them!
Watched The Easter Promise next. Addie Mills (Lisa Lucas) is looking forward to coloring Easter eggs with her best friend Cora Sue (Franny Michel) and to the big school dress design show. Addie and her friends are thrilled when Constance Payne (Jean Simmons), a genuine Broadway actress who grew up in Clear River, returns to town. She goes to her home to ask for her autograph, then invites her to judge the style show and have dinner with her family. Neither works out especially well. Constance drinks too much wine when Addie's father James (Jason Robards) constantly criticizes her life choices and turns up at the style show drunk. Addie still manages to talk her into giving acting lessons to her and her friends. That seems to go well, until Constance gets drunk again before the second lesson. Addie's ready to give up, but Grandma (Mildred Natwick) reminds her that you never know what kind of lives people have lived, and everyone deserves a second chance, especially at Easter.
This lovely tale is my favorite of the four Addie Mills movies that ran on CBS between 1972 and 1976. It brings back so many memories of my own childhood Easters, from Addie and her friends reminding me of my sisters and me coloring eggs and giggling together in our bedrooms to the hilarious style show. (I like Cora Sue's peach "Hollywood" dress the best, but Addie's blue and magenta rickrack trimmed dress is cute too...and very Addie!) Jean Simmons is an especially warm and lovely eccentric actress...which makes those drunken binges all the more heartbreaking. My only complaint is I wish they'd filmed on location in Canada like they did for the Christmas and Thanksgiving films; this one looks a tad less authentic. At any rate, this is charming springtime viewing, especially for families with girls Addie's age.
Switched to It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown after the movie ended. Addie and her friends aren't the only ones excited for the holiday tomorrow. The Peanuts are also preparing for Easter in their own ways. Lucy colors and hides her own eggs and pesters Schroeder for gifts. Chuck takes Sally shoe shopping, while Snoopy buys Woodstock a bird house to get him out of the rain. Peppermint Patty and Marcie attempt to color eggs, but Marcie does everything but hard-boil them! Don't bother with all the fuss, says Linus. The Easter Beagle does all that. Sally is quick to remind him of the Great Pumpkin incident at Halloween, but Easter morning brings more than one surprise for the kids!
Moved to YouTube for The Smurfs' Springtime. The Smurfs are also looking forward to Easter. Smurfette is more interested in the cute duckling who thinks she's its mother. Gargamel wants to turn six Smurfs into gold after he steals a magic book from his godfather Balthazar. He puts Mother Nature to sleep, then kidnaps the Smurfs in order to boil them for gold. Papa Smurf knows that if Mother Nature doesn't herald the start of spring soon, it won't start at all...and then Balthazar figures out what's going on and wants in on it.
Went straight into tonight's Match Game marathon. The show only did one full-on Easter episode in 1975. Fannie and Brett turned up wearing ugly Easter bonnets that somehow migrated onto the heads of Tom Bosley and Gene Rayburn. Other episodes had questions with eggs or rabbits, or were filmed around Easter weekend. Match Game '91 had "Easter __" on the Audience Match in the episode that introduced Ronn Lucas' obnoxious punk puppet Chuck Roast. (Deborah sitting next to him got so fed up with that puppet, she shoved his felt arm into his mouth!)
Other Easter moments were more welcome, like the episodes in 1975 and 1976 where Fannie wore her fried eggs t-shirt. Chuck wasn't the only puppet to turn up around Easter on the show. Kukla and Ollie of Kukla, Fran, and Ollie fame appeared with Eva Gabor and Arte Johnson during a memorable week in 1979. In 1975, Betty White once again managed to roll up Gene's pants legs and socks without him knowing. (You'd think he would have caught on that ages before.) There was also the time in 1978 when we met Earl, the little guy behind the Audience Match board, when he was late with one of the answers.
Celebrate Easter and spring the Match Game way with this adorable marathon!
And here's even more classic Easter specials to watch while the bunny hides the eggs tomorrow!
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