Snowfall

It was snowing lightly when I finally got up this morning around 10. I didn't expect to sleep that long! When I did get up, I ate breakfast while watching Jack Frost. This 1979 Rankin-Bass special has the title sprite falling in love with a human girl. He insists on being transformed into a human, but regrets the wish when the evil Cossack King kidnaps the girl, and then wants to lay waste to her home. He does change back, in time to get help from Father Winter and Pardon-Me-Pete the Groundhog (Buddy Hackett), who predicts the weather.

I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon taking down the Christmas decorations. I started with the tree. It takes a while to put up and take down the tree on my own. Even just taking down the tree alone took almost an hour and a half. The flat, soft paper or fabric ornaments come down first. The beaded and plastic character ornaments go in the large green container. Icicles, clothespin soldiers, and the Disney character ornaments have their own small boxes. The glass and heavier resin and wooden ornaments are wrapped up in tissue paper in larger boxes. The glass balls have their own box; the old-fashioned acorn and accordion-shaped glass ornaments go in an old egg carton. The tinsel garlands were wound on cardboard. The lights, star, and tree skirt just went in the container.

I checked the Camden County Library's website after I put the ornaments in the back. Despite the snow continuing to fall, the libraries seemed to be open. There was snow on the street. I didn't want to chance the bike on the roads. I put the tree away, then had the last of the leftover quiche instead of going out for lunch. Vacuumed really quick where the tree was - it sheds almost as much as real trees do.

Went right into taking down the items in the Santa Bag. These are the things that go up first and get taken down last - the garlands, the nativity, the wreath, linens, small things like the mistletoe, or things that won't fit anywhere else, like the box of New Year's party hats. The garlands are lot easier to take down than they are to hang! I'll have to watch out for tacks for a while, though. I think I lost a few off the thick garland around the big windows in the living room.

It was still snowing after I stowed the Santa Bag in the back, on top of the tree's box. I went right into changing the dolls. The AG dolls are now dressed in heavier, less fancy outfits for winter school and play. Samantha wears her gray "Buster Brown" School Dress with the black boots from Rebecca's School Outfit. Whitney wears Rebecca's School Outfit with the tights and shoes from Samantha's new meet dress. Josefina's in a hand-made blue floral dress with an empire waist from eBay and her rebozo. Felicity's bundled up in her emerald-green Riding Habit and tri-corn hat. Jessa's wearing cargo pants, a navy turtleneck I got off eBay, the vest from the 1995 Mix and Match modern meet outfit turned to the magenta print side, striped socks, and dark blue-violent clogs. Molly went with her After School Outfit paired with her red hula sweater and the brown oxfords from Kit's School Outfit.

The snow finally ended by about 4:30. After I finished the dolls at 5, I went for a walk. It was too late for the library, and I didn't want to chance the bike on the roads. As it turned out, the roads weren't that bad. The end of Manor where I am was bad, probably because it's a dead end street. The rest of Manor and the main roads were mostly fine. I enjoyed my walk. It was chilly, but there was no wind. I loved seeing how the remaining Christmas lights made the snow sparkle, like vast fields of diamonds.

I was going to eat dinner at Aunt Berta's, but they didn't look like they were open. I ended up at Jalapeno's Grill instead, which I figured was appropriate for Three King's Day. It was past 5:30, and they were actually a little busy for a change, with families and couples coming off the road, looking for a hot meal. I ordered the Chicken Burrito. It was hot and tasty, filled with Spanish rice, cheese, and shredded chicken. I was too full for the small cup of black beans, but I did eat the "salad" (shredded lettuce with carrots, radishes, sliced cucumbers, and chopped tomatoes).

I needed milk anyway, so I went across the street to WaWa for a treat. I went with a made-to-order White Chocolate Mint Hot Chocolate. Oh, yum yum! It was sweet, but very minty! It made my hands and my throat feel so nice as I hiked home in the snow. It started flurrying a little as I left the restaurant, but was clear when I got out of WaWa.

When I got in, I put on the first Bowery Boys movie of the year as I got organized, The Boys are Spy Chasers when the king and princess of Louie's homeland ask him to keep a certain coin at his Sweet Shop. It'll be picked up by a courier, who'll tell the king when it's time to return home and start the revolution. Sach nearly derails their plans when the king's scheming adviser and the princess' lady-in-waiting use him to make sure the revolution will fail.

Finished the night by changing the Sailor Soldiers back into their regular uniforms. I found a blue cape with glittery trim for Blondie and a pink skirt that could work as a cape for Queen Serenity, both of whom wear short-sleeved dresses. I put the Cabbage Patch dolls back in their everyday dresses as well. This totally finishes my holidays. I'll start cleaning after work tomorrow.

Surprise Fire In the Sky

Started a sunny day in the 40s with a quick run to the Acme for my paycheck and groceries. I normally do it after work on Fridays when I have a shift, but I didn't get off until 9:30 tonight. I had to restock flour, eggs, cheese (mozzarella this time), and Smart Balance Spread sticks (which Acme has on clearance). Needed lots of fruit, including tangerines, grapefruit, pears (on sale), and raspberries (for Flummery). I also grabbed a bag of Betty Crocker Gingerbread Cookie Mix. The sale wasn't great, but it was the last bag on the shelf. I may or may not see it again after the last bag is gone, so I might as well enjoy them while I can.

Spent the rest of the afternoon at my place. I had leftovers and Raspberry Flummery for lunch.  I made the bed. I aired out the rag rug in my bedroom. I vacuumed the apartment. I put all of the manuals and warranties for various electronics and collectable items in the file folder I bought earlier this week. I talked to my brother, Keefe, who will be leaving for the Navy this weekend. He was playing Wii Dance with his parents and his girlfriend Vicki.

It was rush hour when I got back to work. It was busy up through my break at quarter after 6, but it was steady to quiet thereafter. I left a tiny bit early with no relief and no need for one.

As I rode home, I saw what looked like sparkling red and blue lights on the Black Horse Pike near West Collingswood. I couldn't figure out what was going on until I heard noisy booms coming from the other side of Peter Creek, near where I'd seen the police cars. Much to my surprise, I had a perfect view on my porch of some really lovely fireworks. I have no idea why there were fireworks, but it did make for a rather nice Epiphany treat. 

Oh, and I did get my schedule tonight. On one hand, I don't have another day off until Thursday, which is going to be a pain. On the other hand, I also have Saturday off, and the latest I work is 8 on Wednesday.

Sometime In the Morning

Given today is the Epiphany, the last day of the Christmas holiday season, it's rather appropriate that I spent the morning and early afternoon taking down the last of the Christmas decorations. Took me almost two hours to get the tree down. Heck, it took me a good ten minutes just to figure out how to get all the boxes with the ornaments into the plastic container! Maybe I should get rid of a few next year.

The remaining decorations took another hour. It's a lot easier to take the garlands down than it is to put them up, especially since at least one was twist-tied to the unused curtain rods. I re-dressed the Cabbage Patch Kid girls and put all the miscellaneous items that belonged in the Santa Bag away last, since they're the ones that come out first after Thanksgiving - the mistletoe, the tin with the fabric I use on the dining area table and the coasters, the box with the New Year's hats and noisemakers, the big plastic Ferrro Rocher bell (now in it's own bag, so the little bells inside won't fall out), the wreath, and the poinsettia placemats.

I had a quick lunch of Peanut Butter and Cranberry-Pear Butter sandwiches while watching Get Smart episodes. The decline in quality is a bit more noticeable in these episodes, but they still aren't bad - I especially liked the one where a gangster with a gunshot wound mistakes Max and 99 for doctors...and Max was the one who shot him. (The gangster was played by Henry Cordon, best known by Monkees fans as their blustering landlord Mr. Babbitt and by animation nerds as the second voice of Fred Flinstone.)

Work was more-or-less the same deal as Monday - busy as heck when I came in, dead to the point where I spent the last 20 minutes doing returns when I left.

Twelfth Night

And so, I finish off the 2007-2008 holiday season with a quiet morning on the computer, editing the first parts of our latest Monkees role play (should probably be out by next week), and another crazy day at work. While not quite as frantic as yesterday (and busy Sundays are normal even outside of football season), we were still a bit short on help, especially managers and baggers. There were lots of very big orders and lots of people, but by and by work seemed to pass more quickly than yesterday (where five hours seemed more like five HUNDRED). The worst that happened was a rose display hit the register's keyboard and got spilled. The lady who wanted it threw a fit, then complained about being in a hurry and left before the manager could fix it and actually make it look better than it did before. Items are always getting caught on the register keyboard, which juts out rather awkwardly over the conveyor belt.

Treated myself to one last Three Kings' Day/Epiphany present. I picked up more Hello Kitty, this time a collection of mostly horror-themed spoofs ("Frankencat," "Catula") and two slightly spooky fairy tales. Also got an inadvertent present from the store when I discovered the disc was $4.99, despite the $9.99 label on the box. (I know they're trying to get rid of most videos, but no one said anything about the DVDs being on sale. Sweet.)

Also called Mom tonight to say "hi"; actually got her and Keefe for once. Dad is out on a commercial fishing trip. She and Keefe had apparently spent the whole day (and the majority of their week) working on the new house and were very tired but happy.

Oh, and Keefe loved the Fresh Prince Of Bel Air: Complete Second Season DVD set I gave him for Christmas. Mom said he's a big fan of Will Smith and Fresh Prince, and I thought he might like to see it without commercials.