The Sunny Side of Valentines

Began the morning with breakfast and The Valentine's Day That Almost Wasn't. I go further into this unique 1982 puppet special from later ALF creator Paul Fusco at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Valentine's Short Subject Special - The Valentine's Day That Almost Wasn't

Ran downstairs to catch an Uber before the special ended. I forgot today is a holiday and it's a holiday weekend. It took me two tries to get a driver, and the second one came in 11 minutes. I ended up being late to work. Thankfully, the one I took to Oaklyn only took 7 minutes.

The Acme was insanely busy for most of the day. First of all, it's Valentine's Day. A lot of people were buying flowers, candy, and stuffed toys for their sweethearts and children or big dinners for those they loved. Second, it's not only a holiday weekend, for many workers, this is the last major holiday weekend until May. Third, the weather was gorgeous. It was the nicest day we've had since early January. Sunny and warm, with not a breeze or a cloud to be seen, probably in the upper 40's-lower 50's. I had no help. The head bagger was in a register. They had to get two different male cashiers to do the carts with me at one point. No matter how many I gathered, the carts kept vanishing.

Took Uber into Oaklyn after work instead of going home. I brought the cupcakes for Rose and her family with me and kept them in the refrigerator in the employees' lounge. I got off near her house, and since it looked like she and the kids were probably out at sports or Finley's dance recitals, dropped the bag on her front stoop.

Had a late lunch at a very busy Common Grounds Coffee House. I hadn't eaten there in a while. There were lots of people studying on laptops, or groups of ladies chatting over coffee and muffins. I treated myself to a Vanilla Rose London Fog Tea, a slice of their delicious crumb cake, and a slice of broccoli bacon cheese quiche. Oh yum! They make great crumb cake, with a nice, thick crumb topping, and the tea was just sweet enough.

I strolled home to enjoy the weather, despite my knee still being sore. The snow is finally starting to melt here. I can see ground and grass and sidewalks that haven't shown in weeks, and it's no longer slippery to walk in some places. Other places are still a tiny bit icy and I had to walk around them. We're supposed to get rain and slushy snow later in the weekend. Hopefully, that'll start getting rid of the old snow.

Went straight into Valentine's Day specials when I got in and changed, starting with the Valentine's Day episode of Happy Days. Joanie's thinking "Be My Valentine" when she gets her first real boyfriend and dreams her family and friends into romantic musical situations. Potsie sings "Save the Last Kiss for Me" to his girlfriend while dressed as a Naval officer. Ralph, of course, wants "My Funny Valentine." Chachi says "Thank Heavens for Little Girls" in his idea of a tux-and-cane number. Fonzie recites love poetry to besotted co-eds. Laurie and Richard do a surprisingly good apache dance. Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham steal the show with their hilarious recollection "I Remember It Well."

Called my mother while Happy Days was on. She started calling me earlier, then realized I was likely either at work or asleep and ended the call. She was right - she originally called me when I was heading out the door to pick up the Uber to work. She's doing fine. My 3 1/2-year old niece Aurora is in pre-school in her area now. In fact, one of the reasons my brother chose the town where they live is it's in a really good school system. Aurora loves school and loves learning. Mom says she loves the books I sent for Christmas, too, especially the one about being a big sister. 

Bugs Bunny's having an even more complicated Valentine's Day in Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers. An Elmer Fudd-like Cupid spreads love among the Toons, but Bugs insists he's meddling. He's just as good at finding the Tasmanian Devil a mate or keeping Yosemite Sam from pursuing Granny (and her money). Cupid sends a semi-innocent dame after hard-boiled private eye Daffy, French Legionnaire Pepe Le Pew after desert kitty beauty Penelope, and a plump, love-crazed, European-accented bunny after Bugs.

Moved to DTV Valentine next. From 1984 to 1989, Disney rode the wave of the music video craze by creating videos of their own to run between cartoons on their channel, or be strung together in a themed episode. I enjoyed the wide variety of music they used, from jazz standards to the most recent rock hits to their own songs. I first heard Lena Horne's rendition of "Stormy Weather" in a DTV video. Rock hits figure into this hour-long syndicated special. Most of them are more recent, like "I Just Called to Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder and "You Give Good Love to Me" by Whitney Houston, but we do get Elvis Presley's "Teddy Bear" accompanied by bits featuring Disney bears like Baloo, Bongo, and Humphery.

Stayed at YouTube to finish the night with tonight's Match Game marathon. Romance abounded on a show where many of the panelists and more than a few contestants were single. Many audience members frequently gived the panelists flowers, too. There was the time Gene held flowers on his microphone to keep it from crackling, or when a woman gave everyone small wrapped roses. Charles went into macho mode, while Richard's was in a pocket and almost hid his face. Fannie once gave Brett a huge arrangement of dead yellow roses as a joke, and she and Lee Merriweather wore rose-print t-shirts. Someone gave Jamie Lee Curtis a rose on a PM episode.

Sometimes, contestants could get a little too amorous. In 1974, a red-haired guy who looked something like a leprechaun in a suit got so excited, he kept trying to kiss Fannie and Brett! Charles and Richard defended their honor (such as it was). On that PM episode, the contestant ended up in Jamie's lap while Brett, Charles, and Richard Paul sang about the Eyes of Texas and Gene showed off his snazzy bright red shoes. 

Give flowers to those you love and celebrate Valentine's Day in all its forms in this adorably loving marathon!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Valentine's Day Marathon (Featuring Hearts, Flowers, and Love)

And here's even more classic Valentine's Day specials for this holiday weekend!

The Popeye Valentine's Day Special: Sweethearts at Sea

The Smurfs: My Smurfy Valentine

The Woody Woodpecker Valentine's Day Special: I'm With Cupid, Stupid

Buttons and Rusty In the Honey Bunch (A Chucklewood Valentine)

For Better or for Worse: A Valentine from the Heart

Cathy's Valentine

A Special Valentine With the Family Circus

From Disney With Love

Happy Sister-tine's Day

Began the morning with Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You. I went further into this bittersweet Pooh holiday special at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog in 2023. 

Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You

I tried to call Uber after the cartoon ended, but I just couldn't get through to anyone. Not to any Uber driver, not to any taxis. Everyone was either taking people to the Eagles parade or at the Eagles parade. I ended up taking the bike, but I was 20 minutes late getting in.

The floral department manager was frantic when I got in. She was desperately trying to fill buckets that were constantly emptying. I ran around, gathering buckets, setting flower arrangements on the table, and gathering bouquets for Door Dash orders.

I was loading buckets with huge double-sized bouquets of roses when I ended up being pulled to do carts. The head bagger was needed in a register to handle all the people on their way to the Eagles parade. I wasn't happy about it. They told me I was in floral today. They said they had no one else...until someone came in at noon, of course. He took over the sweeping, but I still did the carts, and cleaned up a spill and put cold items away, too.

Not really thrilled with my schedule next week. On one hand, still a lot of hours (if not to the degree of this week), a rare Sunday off, and all early four-hour days. Trouble is, Sunday is my only day off. The head bagger always takes the week following President's Day for her last vacation until our cycle starts over. I don't know why one of the guys couldn't have worked one morning. It wouldn't have killed them. The early hours should still give me the time to do some things, including get a cell phone.

Oh well. At least it was a nice day for all of this. Though it was chilly and blustery, it was also sunny, with a radiant blue sky. If we could only have one nice day this weekend, I'm glad it was the day of the parade. The floral department manager even gave me and the other two employees who helped her this week $5 off reward coupons for doing a good job.

And that coupon couldn't have come at a better time. I needed groceries. Restocked yogurt, granola bars, pads (had an online coupon), and prebiotic sodas. The store has just started to stock more Poppi flavors. Decided to try root beer and cherry cola. Thought bananas would be easier on my stomach than apples or citrus fruit; had another online coupon for the organic ones. Grabbed a bouquet of red carnations as a Valentine's Day gift for a friend who loves flowers. 

Went straight home after that. Changed, put everything away, and went right back out again. I texted Jessa two days ago and offered to take her out for a combination Valentine's Day/early birthday gift. (Her birthday is next week.) I know she loves Asian food, so I gave her a gift card to Benihana, the Japanese hibachi restaurant in Cherry Hill. I'd never tried them before and thought they'd be something different for dinner. They were busy when we got in, with a relatively long line, though it only took us about 15 minutes to be seated.

We ended up at a long, wide table with two dads and their adorable six-year-old son and a young-ish couple. You ordered either five or six course meals at a fixed price. I went with a five-course and got chicken with vegetable fried rice, shrimp, and veggies. Everyone got a delicious mushroom broth soup. The kid got chicken fingers. Everyone else waited for a chef in a tall hat and white coat to quickly chop, dice, and slap meat, rice, vegetables, an egg, and Jess's noodles (she had a salmon dish that came with noodles) on a long metal grill. He was hilarious, making quips and flipping bowls of rice to us. The kid was amazed, and everyone else had a great time, including me. Everyone but the kid had green tea after dinner, and then everyone but us had ice cream. My chicken was slightly dry but not bad, and I ate everything but the grilled onions and a little of the rice and chicken.

Jessa and I were the only ones who declined dessert. She's not that into sweets, and a friend of mine gave me a big heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine's Day. Besides, it was getting late, and the line was now three times as long. It was time to head home.

(Oh, and I think I've finally figured out where the stomach problems came from. I don't think it's a bug. I suspect that peri-menopause is to blame. Apparently, fluctuating hormones can create stomach distress. Oh swell. I hope this won't be a regular thing now.) 

My Valentine's Day gift to myself was three more disc media cases from Amazon. The big one will hold  cast album CDs. Soundtracks and jazz artists will go in the smaller ones. I started moving discs from the smaller cast album binder to the book while watching Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown. Linus is so smitten with his teacher Miss Othmar, he buys her a huge box of chocolate for Valentine's Day. Sally is convinced the box is for her. Meanwhile, Lucy wishes Schroeder would leave his piano and acknowledge her existence, Charlie Brown waits in vain for any kind of a Valentine, and Snoopy is putting on melodramatic and messy puppet shows. 

A Charlie Brown Valentine spends its first half watching Charlie Brown desperately attempt to give the Little Red Haired Girl a box of candy, or at least try to drum up the nerve to talk to her. When he actually does call her, he accidentally ends up inviting Marcie and Peppermint Patty to the school dance instead. Sally tries to make a Valentine for her "sweet baboo" who wishes she'd disappear off the face of the planet, while Snoopy tries to keep up with the kids' demand for love notes and poetry.

I went further into the charming and very funny The Bernstein Bears' Comic Valentines on the same review as Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You back in 2023.

The Bernstein Bears' Comic Valentine

Finished the night with the Pink Panther. Pink at First Sight has him searching for a special pink panthress to spend his Valentine's Day with, but coming up short in the funds department. He buys a pile of tapes and a player and becomes a "singing" delivery cat. His Valentine's gets even crazier than mine when he has to dodge a jealous husband who thinks he's after his wife, an angry violinist who doesn't like what he did with his prize instrument, and gangsters who wants his tail after he innocently delivers a bomb. 

Here's even more specials on the funny side of love, for your late Valentine's enjoyment!

Alvin and the Chipmunks: I Love the Chipmunks Valentine's Day Special

Disney's DTV Valentine 

The Popeye Valentine's Special: Sweethearts at Sea

The Smurfs: My Smurfy Valentine

The Woody Woodpecker Valentine's Day Special: I'm With Cupid, Stupid

Buttons and Rusty In the Honey Bunch (A Chucklewood Valentine)

For Better or For Worse: A Valentine From the Heart

Cathy's Valentine

A Special Valentine With the Family Circus

From Disney With Love

A Goofy Look at Valentine's Day (Educational Short) 

And I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day, with a sibling, a significant other, or anyone else who's special to you! 

Isn't It Romantic

Began Valentine's Day with the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology. They only have one long piece for Valentine's Day, but it's "The Valentine Box" by Maud Hart Lovelace. Julia is new in town and fears she won't get any valentines at her school party. She ends up befriending Margaret when her valentine's blow away, and then she leaves her bag with her best friend's valentine in the snow.

Watched Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You during dinner. I went further into this sweet tale of Pooh and the gang trying to save Christopher Robin from "the Smitten" bug at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog last year.

Valentine's Short Subject Special - Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You

Hurried off to work soon as the special ended. I had a far harder time getting there. Some Uber drivers went on strike today to protest their working conditions. Thankfully, they were only those who had to haul people to airports. Got a driver in 11 minutes this morning and 7 in the afternoon. No traffic either way.

All the traffic ended up at the Acme. We were busy the entire morning and early afternoon. In addition to people buying flowers, candy, and fancy dinners for Valentine's Day, it's also Ash Wednesday. They had their traditional 1-day seafood sale for Lent, which is extremely popular. I swept and pushed carts and didn't have the time to do much else. At least it was a gorgeous day for it. Chilly, yes, in the upper 30's, and windy, but not too chilly for mid-February. It was actually quite nice in the sun.

The lines were still long when I finished at 2. I was able to buy a drink and a lovely bouquet of carnations and mums for a friend, but I decided not to wait for a cashier to do a gift card for Jessa. I'll pick it up when I go grocery shopping on Friday instead. 

Soon as I got home, I changed while watching Happy Days. They did their lone Valentine's Day episode, "Be My Valentine," in the fifth season. Joanie, who is enjoying her first real relationship, imagines all of her friends and families in musical vignettes depicting their own romances. Scott Baio did a really cute "Thank Heavens for Little Girls" chorus girl spoof, Donny Most crooned a surprisingly good "My Funny Valentine," and Ron Howard and Linda Goodhead had an even better apache dance, but Marion Ross and Tom Bosley stole the show with their sweet and absolutely spot-on "I Remember It Well." (And no, Henry Winkler did not attempt to sing. Fonzie did a romantic recitation for a group of ecstatic college co-eds instead.)

Headed back out after the episode ended. I had Valentine's Day bags and cookies for Rose and her family, and I never did deliver Jessa's Christmas presents. Besides, it really was too nice of a day to be hanging out inside. I strolled to the other side of town, and seeing they weren't at home, dropped both bags on their front stoop. 

Stopped at Common Grounds Coffee House for a Valentine's Day treat. Their Red Velvet Chai was likely just chai, cocoa, and foam, but it was amazing, spicy and warm and oh so chocolatey. Had it with a small red velvet cake pop. They were busy with high schoolers and college kids just out of class, so I drank my chai on the walk home.

Put on Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers when I got in. A distinctly Elmer Fudd-like Cupid tries to spread love among the Toons. Bugs thinks he's a meddler, but Cupid knows how to get to him, too. This is another collection of random bits and pieces of shorts, but there are some funny moments, including Bugs marrying the Tasmanian Devil to a female devil, Detective Daffy trying to prove a dame is guilty of being something besides crazy about him, and Pepe LePew chasing Penelope around the Foreign Legion.

The Pink Panther has an even tougher holiday in Pink at First Sight. He's so desperate for a pink panthress to love, he ends up squeezing a child's teddy bear. He finally gets a job as a singing delivery boy, thanks to cassettes and a cassette player. That goes even less well when he ends up dealing with everything from a jealous husband who thinks he's after his wife to a group of gangsters who are convinced he sent them a bomb. 

Switched to Sailor Moon Super S: The Movie while job hunting. The Sailor Guardians are excited to make their own cookies for Valentine's Day. Chibi-Usa is delighted when her cookies turn out better than Usagi's, but she ends up giving them to an odd little boy with a flute that can make candies dance. Usagi realizes how precious her daughter - and all children - are when an evil witch steals children to harness their dream energy and open a black hole that can swallow the earth. The Guardians join Chibi-Usa's new friend and head into the Black Dream Hole to make sure their sweet Valentine's Day dreams don't end on a sour note.

I got a very nice surprise at this point. I gave my friend, her daughter, and the neighbor's daughter bags of strawberry white chocolate chip cookies. The kids also got heart-shaped bubble wands and small Valentine's-themed bead craft kits, while the lady got the mums and carnations I picked up earlier. They gave me a smaller rose arrangement in a slim vase, a box of dark-chocolate-covered cherries, and a card. 

Called Mom around this point as well to thank her for the Valentine's card she sent me. I didn't get to talk to her for very long. She was sitting for my one-year-old niece Aurora. All she mentioned is no, she hasn't heard from Rose and her family in a while, either. I presume they're either busy with school and work activities or sick or both.

Worked on writing for a little bit next. Patti admits that yes, the poppies were the Warlock of the West's doing. The bees that attacked them in the woods were, too. Plus, Televisia City may not be friendly to strangers at the moment. They were attacked by the Warlock's army and are skittish about visitors.

Broke for dinner at 7 PM. Watched Match Game '79 as I ate. Fred Grandy made his first appearance during its second-to-last week on CBS. Charles spent the week teasing Brett about her drooling over another younger man sitting next to her. The first episode also featured an appearance by a contestant named Carolyn who would be far more important to the show during the next week...

Finished the night with more Valentine's specials, starting with a Peanuts triple feature. Charlie Brown is nervous about escorting The Little Red Haired Girl to the Homecoming Dance, especially after he doesn't do very well at the game thanks to Lucy pulling the ball away. He proves to be far better at being the life of the party than expected when It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown leaves him in another world. 

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown explores the various Peanuts romances. Linus is hoping to impress his teacher Miss Othmar with a huge box of candy, which Sally thinks is for her. Lucy destroys Schroeder's piano when he ignores her ranting about not giving her a valentine. Meanwhile, Charlie Brown waits for someone, anyone, to give him a valentine, and Snoopy is putting on melodramatic and messy puppet shows.

A Charlie Brown Valentine was created to fill an hour with Be My Valentine, but it has some entertaining vignettes of its own. Chuck wants to ask the Little Red Haired Girl to the Valentine's Day dance, but Marcie and Peppermint Patty think he's taking them. Meanwhile, Sally wants to make a card for her "Sweet Baboo," but Linus would rather be anywhere on the planet but near her.

Smurfette is also feeling less than lovey-dovey in My Smurfy Valentine. She goes to a wishing well to ask for a Smurf Charming to sweep her off her white heels. Unfortunately, a witch and Gargamel had the same idea. Gargamel wants to use his cat Azreal to wish the Smurfs away, while the witch wants to eliminate all love. Smurfette ends up working with Cupid to foil their plans before the end of an eclipse. 

And I hope you all had a Valentine's Day that was equally sweet! 

Home-Bound Valentine

Began a sunny Valentine's Day with the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology. They only have one story for the holiday, but it's the lovely The Valentine Box by Maud Hart Lovelace. Janice is new in town and thinks she won't get any valentines at her class party. She learns that the best way to make a friend is to be a friend when she helps popular girl Margaret retrieve her valentines after they've blown away, and Margaret helps her find hers when she accidentally leaves them outside. 

After writing in my journal, I finally had breakfast while watching Match Game '75. They're down to the end of the year as the panel celebrated Christmas Eve with attempting to figure out "G.I ___" in the Audience Match, Brett insulting Charles for supposedly sleeping through the proceedings, and everyone singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" in the finale. (Also in the finale, for some reason, Brett is hugging Gene so hard, she nearly knocked him over!) The second episode introduces Richard's then-girlfriend Jody Donovan, has Gene admiring the contestant's rainbow bolo tie, and Richard not too happy with Gene's attempt to kiss the "new kid on the block" he happens to be dating!

Called Mom during the show. She was preparing to take Keefe and Julia's two frisky dogs for a walk. She was delighted I sent her a separate Valentine's card. She's been bored, stuck in the house with few places to go. She's apparently waiting to get her library card, so she can take out all the books she pleases. They're going to make a nice dinner for Valentine's Day. Oh, and she says little Aurora is growing like a weed and is so smart! She takes in everything, and is almost ready to start solid foods. 

Honored the holiday by letting Tattletales run. Never knew Rue McClanahan did this show, here with one of her five husbands, Gus. They were joined by two more familiar couples, Ron Glass and future TV villianess Joan Collins and goofy Dick Gautier and his sarcastic then-wife Barbara Stuart. The second episode brought back songwriter Sammy Cahn and his smart and funny wife Tita, Hal "Barnaby Miller" Linen and his sweet wife Fran, and Scoey Mitchilll and his sensible wife Claire.

Switched to Sepia Cinderella while I ate lunch and rested my foot. I go further into this charming "race musical" romance from 1947 at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

My Sweet Valentine - Sepia Cinderella

Read The Bear and the Nightingale in bed for a while, since I didn't get to it this morning, then went online for a while to do some writing. Lee is not impressed with Richard's flirting or his name-dropping. She's even less thrilled when Gene tries to make a pass at her after she introduces Richard to him. Richard can sense that there's something unusual about Gene through the ham, though...

Broke for dinner at quarter of 7. Ate while watching Valentine's Day specials. Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown is an earlier and slightly darker take on the Peanuts romances. Linus is smitten with his teacher Miss Othmar and buys her a huge box of candy that Sally thinks is for her. Lucy destroys Schroder's piano when he's not listening to her ranting about him not getting her a valentine and dodges Snoopy's messy "pawpet" show. Violet wonders what one gives to a male teacher, while Charlie Brown is waiting (and waiting) for someone to give him a valentine, any valentine.

The Pink Panther has an even messier holiday in Pink at First Sight. He wants to buy candy to attract a female panther, but has no money. When a singing delivery boy accidentally leaves a Valentine's gift at his house, returning it inspires him to become a singing delivery boy too. After he's chased by a jealous husband, an angry father, and a group of gangsters to whom he inadvertently delivered a bomb, he's about ready to give up on love...but he finally gets a nice surprise in the end.

Oh, and I got a valentine gift, too. A friend of mine gave me a heart-shaped box of Mars miniatures, and a friend of hers gave me three soft pretzels. Yum! I'd rather have soft pretzels and Snickers than chocolates with too-sweet centers anyway. 

Finished the night on YouTube with more vintage Valentine's Day specials. The Popeye Valentine's Day Special: Sweethearts at Sea has Olive furious that Popeye forgot her on the holiday. She takes a "swingin' single cruise" to forget him. Bluto tags along, hoping to finally curry her favor. Popeye follows...but so does the Sea Hag from the comics, who has her eye on Popeye. When Bluto shakes out all of Popeye's spinach, he'll have to figure out how to impress Olive and duck away from the Sea Hag's advances without it.

Disney did two Valentine's Day specials with the DTV moniker, of which Disney's DTV Valentine is the first and longer. DTV was The Disney Channel's attempt to cash in on the music video craze of the 1980's. They created videos based around segments from various Disney media. The music they used was pretty varied, too, from jazz standards to rock to Disney songs. Here, we get the original "The Shoop-Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)" by Betty Everett, "Hello" by Lionel Richie, "I Just Called to Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder, "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News, "You Give Good Love" by Whitney Houston, and "There Must Be an Angel" by the Eurythmics, along with "Once Upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty and "Someday My Prince Will Come" from Snow White. My favorite segment was Elvis Presley's "Teddy Bear," set to snippets from cartoons featuring Disney bears like Humphrey, Baloo, and Bongo. 

And here's hoping you had a wonderful Valentine's Day with your favorite teddy bear!

No Valentines for Me

Started off a lovely morning with a phone call from Mom wishing me happy Valentine's Day. She's not doing anything for the holiday this year, either, not even sending out cards. Neither of us are really feeling very romantic. I feel terrible for making such a mess of everything. Mom says not to look back, only forwards, but I can't help thinking of how badly I bungled all this. I figured I could get an apartment first, then look for a decent job. I hoped they would count the money in the bank, but too many landlords were burned by people who spent their savings and couldn't pay rent. I figured they'd understand once I explained my situation, but supposedly, a lot of people who can't afford their own homes right now are in a similar situation. 

After I got off with Mom, I made banana chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast while watching Valentine's Day specials. Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers is one of their shows that's a series of segments from shorts tied together by a thin story. In this case, Bugs argues with Cupid (who looks a lot like the early Elmer Fudd) that love will find its own way without his help. Cupid thinks everyone needs a little romance in their lives, whether it's Pepe Le Pew posing as a desert sheik for Penelope, a duplicitous dame trying to snare private eye Daffy, or Bugs saving Granny's fortune from gold digger Yosemite Sam. 

Went right into Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown as I did the dishes and rounded up my laundry. The many Peanuts romances - or what they think are romances - are in the spotlight here. Linus agonizes what to get his teacher Miss Othmar, whom he has a huge crush on, while Sally tries to figure out what to get her "Sweet Baboo," Charlie Brown waits in vain for a valentine in the mail, and Snoopy's putting on dramatic and messy puppet shows.

Rushed out as fast as I could to get the laundry done. Good thing they were fairly quiet and I didn't need to run any other errands. I was able to check my e-mails and send out two messages to apartment buildings in Somerdale and Stratford. Saw an e-mail from the Audubon Arms Apartment building telling me there's nothing open until March 3rd. I e-mailed them and told them I still wanted to see it.

When my laundry was about five minutes from being done, I quickly got it out, raced home, changed, packed a lunch, and rushed back out. Figured that, cold as it was, it was warm enough for me to get by on the bike. Just got to work on time. It was off-an-on steady all afternoon, until the evening rush hour hit and the lines doubled. They just slowed down about an hour before I finished. Once again got out with no trouble. Even got to sample a hoagie from the tray left in in the employee room for Valentine's Day. (They also had fried chicken, which I didn't sample. Too greasy.) 

Was off-and-on with customers, too. One nice old man gave me the number of a friend who might have a studio apartment available when I explained my predicament to him. An older woman wasn't nearly so pleasant a few hours later. She was upset when the whole wheat bread she wanted didn't come up on sale. Turns out the people from the bread companies who stock the shelves put the whole wheat bread in the wrong place. After she went to see for herself, she accused me of removing the tag or moving it so she couldn't see it. I'd had enough. I told her I wouldn't do something like that. Someone just put them in the wrong place. I did give her the sale, but I didn't appreciate her accusations, either. 

Rose texted me around the time of my second break. She wanted to know whether or not I'll be out on the 26th, so she can tell Jodie's landlord. I have no idea. As of right now, it's not looking like it. I'm trying as hard as I can, but I'm not having much luck. In addition to the financial problems, there's too much competition in this area. White collar workers who can now do their jobs from anywhere and families looking for more space are coming from Philly and Camden...and they have the income most landlords are looking for. I hate that this is going to end in a lot of everyone suing everyone else, and it's all because everyone assumed someone else would shoulder the burden...when no one bothered to ask if they actually could. Everyone was too used to Bill, Bruce, and Uncle Ken handling everything, and no one knew what to do when they weren't around to deal with problems anymore. 

Had leftover black bean dip on a bed of lettuce for dinner while watching A Charlie Brown Valentine. This time, the focus switches to Chuck's crush on the Little Red Haired Girl. He tries everything he can to get her attention without actually getting her attention, from winking at her (he ends up in the principal's office) to calling her (he ends up getting a date with Peppermint Patty and Marcie), to asking Snoopy for help figuring out what to say. Meanwhile, Sally is still trying to get Linus to be her "Sweet Baboo," Lucy's having even less luck getting Schroder's attention, and Snoopy spends most of the special writing Valentine's for the demanding kids.

Called Mom again after the cartoon ended. I put off telling Rose what's going on because I wanted to wait until I had something concrete to tell her. I don't want to end up exchanging angry words with her again via text. I really just want to smooth over everything between everyone. We're supposed to be family. Families help one another, as a lot of my customers keep reminding me. At the very least, I need to pick up the bin with my dolls from her house. I left them there for safekeeping, but I don't think it's a good idea to keep anything there anymore. 

On one hand, Mom said she's proud of me for being able to do all this on my own. This is way outside my comfort zone. I really did expect to find something ages ago, and it's just so frustrating that I haven't. I know I'm a good tenant. I don't drink, smoke, party, do drugs, or even have a car to park. I'm quiet. I have two visitors a year. I'm at work a lot of the time, especially right now. 

She's after me about getting a second job...but it's going to have to be an online job. If it was some time before late March-early April 2020, I wouldn't have been happy, but I might have tried to get a second retail job because I only had 20-30 hours a week. Now, I'm regularly getting between 35 and 40 hours doing demanding physical work, and I'm exhausted. I did make a list of jobs I could do last week, but didn't have the chance to pursue it further. I'll do it tomorrow. 

Finished the night online after a shower for Buzzr's Love Is On the Air marathon while I did more research on online jobs. With them having used up their store of Betty White/Allen Ludden Password episodes on her birthday tribute last month, the focus this year shifted to Classic Concentration and Sale of the Century. 

In 1989, Classic Concentration had a "Love Week," with young newlyweds or engaged couples solving two puzzles together. Sale of the Century went with "True Romance," with contestants who had unusual stories of romance. They festooned their sets with huge lace and tulle-covered hearts and flowers or neon hearts and had prizes intended for couples, like scuba diving lessons for two, a honeymoon trip to Hawaii, or a luxury sports car. At least three couples got the cars on Classic Concentration; the car on the end of "True Romance" was won by the unassuming gentleman who didn't have much luck with the bonus round on the previous episodes. (And I still want to see "True Romance" week in its entirety.)

Valentine's Games

Began a cloudy Valentine's Day morning with Double Chocolate Chip Pancakes for breakfast and Pink at First Sight. The Pink Panther takes a job as a singing package delivery boy in order to earn money to find his own Pink Pantheress. None of his Valentine's Day jobs go right, whether it's dancing with a wife whose husband gets jealous, accidentally delivering lingerie to a priest, or bringing a ticking package to gangsters.

Worked on writing for a while after I did the dishes. Richard doesn't want to hurt Gene. After all, Gene was his mentor, even if he doesn't want to work for him anymore. He jumps overboard rather than deal with Gene or Goodson, vanishing completely. While Gene looks in vain for him, Bill Daily runs over, rambling that their forces are overwhelmed, and they may need more help...

Broke to get dressed and pack for work. By 11:30, all I could hear was the plip plop of ice melting off the roof. Lawns remained icy, but the roads and sidewalks were perfectly clear. I got an Uber driver in 7 minutes; arrived at work with time to spare.

Was on the register today. One of the cashiers is on vacation. Work was on-and-off busy. It never got quite as insane as yesterday, but we still had long lines. Men wanted to buy their ladies flowers; ladies wanted to buy their men and children chocolate-covered strawberries and cards. Other than I'm tired, there were no really major problems. I was in and out...

Or I would have been if I could get a ride home. For the second day in a row, I just couldn't get through to Uber. I tried and tried for a half-hour, but nothing was available. It must have been the holiday. The weather was perfectly fine. Cloudy, but with no snow, ice, rain, or wind. It wasn't even that cold. The drivers must have been hauling couples around Philadelphia. There was no way I was going to call Rose during the dinner hour, either. I gave up around quarter after 7 and walked home. 

Put on A Charlie Brown Valentine while having a quick leftovers dinner when I finally got home. Chuck would love to ask The Little Red Haired Girl to the Valentine's Day dance, but he accidentally invites Marcie and Peppermint Patty instead. Sally and Lucy would be happy if their crushes acknowledged them at all. Snoopy spends Valentine's Day writing love poetry for the kids' cards.

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown goes further into the various Peanuts crushes. Linus is crazy about his teacher Miss Othmar and buys her a huge box of candy for Valentine's Day. Sally thinks the box is for her. Meanwhile, Chuck is hoping against hope to get any kind of a valentine, and Snoopy's putting on romantic and very messy puppet shows.

Finished the night on YouTube. Romantic game shows go way further back than reality dating shows like The Bachelor. Probably the best-known is The Dating Game, which began on ABC in 1966. Thankfully, the original runs for these are intact; I remember catching the re-runs when I was a kid and thinking they were the most late-60's thing ever. A young woman would ask three young men who were hidden behind the set questions. She and the one she chose at the end of the show would have an all-expenses-paid date. I went with the original show's 8th episode. Among the bachelors answering queries are a very young, unknown Burt Reynolds, a decade before Smokey and the Bandit. 

The Newlyweds Game is pretty similar to Tattletales, only in this case, the "tattletales" are regular, just-married couples. Though the original show began shortly after Dating Game in 1966, I went with an episode from the mid-80's revival. Though I do remember running across this occasionally in syndication, romantic games like Newlywed or Love Connection held little interest for me as a child. I preferred seeing Bob Eubanks ask high-low questions on Card Sharks to seeing him ask married couples about their home lives. 

He Said She Said was an early version of Tattletales. Here, Joe Gargiola asks the couples a subject, and one chimes in with a story and one word to describe that. The other half of the couple has to have the same answer to get the points. The early episodes of Tattletales in 1974 were similar, only with "Tattletales Quickies" that had each couple answering a question about how the other would respond to a situation. The "quickies" proved to be so popular (and so much less complicated), they eventually became the whole show.

As I mentioned last Valentine's Day, Match Game is even more fun when a married couple...or in one case, formerly married couple...plays on the same panel. In 1978, Jack Klugman and Brett Somers appeared together for the third and last time, even though they may have divorced the year before. That didn't stop the rest of the panel from holding a mock "wedding" for them on the final episode of the week. 

Alas, the second and final week of Betty White and Allen Ludden together on the syndicated show in 1980 is currently lost...except for its PM episode. Jimmie Walker and Jonelle Allen join in the fun, with Allen and Betty obvious enjoying sitting next to each other. This would be their final appearance together on TV. Ludden already had stomach cancer; he died a little over a year after this episode aired.

Spend Valentine's Day enjoying these games with your own perfect match! 

The Dating Game (1967)

He Said She Said (1969)

Tattletales (1974)

Match Game (1978)

Match Game PM (1980)

The New Newlywed Game (1985)

And here's more vintage Valentine's Day specials!

The Popeye Valentine's Day Special: Sweethearts at Sea

I'm With Cupid, Stupid: Woody Woodpecker Valentine's Day Special

For Better or for Worse: A Valentine From the Heart

A Special Valentine With the Family Circus

From Disney With Love

Buttons and Rusty In the Honey Bunch

A Goofy Look at Valentine's Day (Educational Short)

Disney's House of Mouse: Goofy's Valentine Date

I Love the Chipmunks Valentine's Day Special

Muppet Babies (1984): Be My Valentine

Valentine's Match

Considering what the weather this week's been like, it was wonderful to wake up to sunshine and blue skies. Watched the Peanuts Valentine's Day specials while eating breakfast and cleaning up afterwards. Linus is in love with his teacher Miss Othmar in Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown. Sally thinks the candy he buys is for her. Lucy would love it if Schroeder would leave the piano long enough to give her a kiss, while Charlie Brown is desperately hoping to get some kind of valentine from his peers. Meanwhile, Snoopy's staging elaborate and rather messy puppet shows.

The kids don't have much better luck in the later A Charlie Brown Valentine. Snoopy's recruited to write love poem's for Sally's valentine, which Linus refuses to touch. Charlie Brown keeps trying to figure out how to ask the Little Red Haired Girl to the Valentine's Day dance, but ends up going with Peppermint Patty and Marcie. Lucy continues to hangs around Schroeder's piano in the hope he'll actually give her a Valentine's gift.

The Pink Panther has even worse luck in Pink at First Sight. He's so lonely, he imagines everything around him to be a lady panther, including a child's teddy bear. He finally takes a job as a bike messenger to make money, using cassette tapes as his "specialty." Most people don't seem to appreciate his efforts, whether it's a wife whose husband mistakes his crooning recording for an attempt to seduce her or gangsters who are sent a bomb and blame him for it.

Headed out shortly after the end of the cartoon. Things started out pretty well. I spent the first hour doing carts and sweeping. It didn't start to get crazy until later, when people got off of work and headed out to pick up flowers and steak and seafood for their surf and turf dinners. I ended up in a register at least twice, but mainly swept the store and shelved candy. Picked up pads (the generic Acme brand was buy one-get one) and a bag of heart-shaped York Peppermint Patties on the way out.

Worked on writing when I got home. Marcia uses her magic to pry the witch - Malade, the evil queen in disguise - off Brett. Richard threatens her with his arrows to get her to reveal how to revive Brett and lift the curse on Bill, but she's not talking. Charles attends to his fallen friend...and he's the one who realizes what's going on, and how to bring her out of her faint...

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Watched Match Game while I ate breaded fish fillet, roasted potatoes, and the last of the Brussels sprouts. Joan Collins joined Brett, Charles, Gene, Richard, tough Scoey Mitchlll, and Patti Deustch of the oddly creative answers for her only appearance on the show in mid-1975. The champion had stiff competition in Sale of the Century from a young woman and another man, both of whom jumped past him at a few points...but in the end, he bought both Instant Bargains and the Instant Cash and managed to win in the speed round. Did even worse with the bonus round, though, missing one question and messing up another at the last second.

Switched to Sailor Moon Super S: Black Dream Hole while attempting to make chocolate donuts for the Acme's dessert party tomorrow, despite being out of eggs and milk. It's a few days before Valentine's Day, and the Sailor Guardians are all very excited to be able to give away their own chocolate chip cookies. Usagi's hoping her boyfriend Mamoru will enjoy hers far more than their daughter Chibi-Usa's. As it turns out, she has worse problems than whose baking Mamoru likes better. An evil witch has kidnapped children from around the globe and is draining their sweet dreams to energize her Black Dream Hole. If it becomes large enough, it'll swallow the globe whole! Usagi and the other Guardians join up with a gentle dream elf who befriended Chibi-Usa in order to rescue her and stop the witch.

Finished the night with a special Match Game Valentine's Day marathon of my own. Match Game was even more fun when two married people played on one panel. From married dancers Bobby Van and Elaine Joyce to Password king and queen Allen Ludden and Betty White and grumpy Jack Klugman and his salty wife Brett Somers (they later divorced or separated - no one seems entirely sure which), it's definitely more fun to match with a loved one!

Match Game '73 - Bobby & Elaine: This was Elaine's first appearance on the show...and we get a rather interesting question about another famous duo, Batman and Robin, early-on.
Match Game '73 - Jack & Brett: Jack's not happy about one of the questions, to the point where his wife has to keep him from walking out. A blissed-out Mama "Cass" Elliot becomes one of the few rock stars to appear on the show, and does rather well, too.
Match Game '74 - Bobby & Elaine: Elaine is most definitely her husband's "#1 fan," at least according to her t-shirt.
Match Game '74 - Donald & Patti: Comedy writer Donald Ross proves to be a perfect match for his equally kooky wife Patti Deustch as they and Charles help a lady become the all-time show champion at that point.
Match Game '75 - Allen & Betty: Allen comes down to defend his wife's honor after Gene makes a remark about "having Betty"; Brett, meanwhile, is having more fun doing her own idea of belly dancing to the tune of the "Star Spangled Banner."
Match Game '78 - Gene & Helen: Richard jokes that his fiancee is in the audience...to Gene's annoyance, as he's pointing to his beloved wife Helen.
Match Game '78 - Jack & Brett: Check out the end of this one, where the rest of the cast dress the two for their second "wedding"...despite them having already been permanently apart by this point.
Match Game '79 - Dick & Dolly: Married stars of Laugh In Dick & Dolly Martin join in on the fun as Gene avoids an especially excited contestant that Nipsey Russell has no problems embracing!

Here's hoping you had a wonderful Valentine's Day with your own perfect match!

My Tragic Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day! I kicked off a sunny morning with The Adventures of Luke Skywalker and some holiday reading. The Colliers Harvest of Holidays book only had one story for Valentine's Day, but it was the very sweet The Valentine's Box by Maud Hart Lovelace. A little girl who just moved to a new town and is worried she won't get any valentines makes a friend when she helps her classmate gather her valentines that were blown all over the school yard by the wind.

Samantha Parkington has a more exciting Valentine's Day in Changes for Samantha. Her best friend Nellie and her sisters are now in an orphanage in New York. When Nellie tells Samantha that she's due to be sent away, Sam comes up with a plan to help the girls run away and have them stay in her Aunt Cornelia and Uncle Gard's attic until Nellie can get work. They're eventually found out, but Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia have a special surprise for the girls that gives Samantha the sweetest Valentine's Day gift she could possibly have.

Ran the first of my Valentine's Day specials while eating a quick breakfast. Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers has Cupid (who looks an awful lot like Elmer Fudd) spread love among the Tunes via segments from various shorts, despite Bugs' insistence that he's meddling. Switched to "Past Perfumance" as I got ready for work. It's "lights, camera, chase!" when Pepe Le Pew chases a female cat-turned-skunk all around a French movie studio in 1913.

Work was on-and-off steady for most of the day. It only got really bad at noon, when the lunch crowds came in. I ended up briefly taking the register right before break. Otherwise, I spent the day almost entirely outside doing carts and the outside trash and recycling. I had no problems with this whatsoever. Mother Nature was feeling the love as well. It was a gorgeous day, sunny, breezy, and probably in the mid to upper 40's, too nice to be inside all day anyway.

Did a little research when I got home. I thought a mobile home might work well for me. Trouble is, it turns out that most trailer parks in this area are either buy-only, with no rental properties, or for seniors 55 and over. I'm getting so frustrated! There has to be someone with a small apartment in the back of their house or upstairs who is willing to negotiate with me.

Got a little bit of writing in. Leia poses as a princess from a remote kingdom to gain entry, with the guys as her servants. She manages to quell the guards at the gate with just a few references to Sheriff Vader. Thomas is more worried...and Luke senses that something is wrong...

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had leftovers while watching Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine For You. Pooh sees Christopher Robin making a Valentine for a girl, and he and the others automatically think he's been bitten by the "smitten" bug. They go off in search of the bug to cure Christopher, but the child knows that true friends never leave your heart.

I'd moved on to making a Raspberry Triple Chocolate Fudge cake by the time "Un-Valentine's Day" was on. In this episode of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Rabbit cancels Valentine's Day to stem the flood of cards Pooh sent the year before. That works about as well as his canceling Easter and Thanksgiving...which is to say, it doesn't. Someone gives Pooh a pot of honey for Valentine's Day, and he feels he just has to give something in return. This ends up in a free-for-all of flying cakes and Pooh dressed as a mail box, before Rabbit finally comes up with putting on a romantic play. But who did give Pooh the original pot of honey?

Switched to playing Angry Birds Star Wars while the cake was in the oven, and later as it cooled. The second half of the Tatoonie rounds takes you into the far reaches of space. That not only involves dodging Stormtroopers and their guns, but having to make some fairly complicated curved shots through airless space, too. I did finish the round; next time, I'll be taking the birds to the Death Star to rescue Princess Stella.

Moved on to the Peanuts while frosting the cake with the raspberry goo that was originally supposed to be fondant. Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown has Chuck waiting and waiting in vain for any Valentine to hit his mailbox. Linus has a crush on his teacher Miss Othmar and buys her a box of candy that Sally assumes is for her. Meanwhile, Snoopy's putting on very messy and romantic puppet shows.

The kids have slightly more luck in A Charlie Brown Valentine. Charlie Brown wants to invite the Little Red Haired Girl to the Valentine's Day dance, but accidentally ends up taking Peppermint Patty and Marcie instead. Sally and Lucy would be happy if their crushes would acknowledge them even that much.

Finished the night with the tragic opera Carmen Jones, featuring powerful performances by Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte. I go into more detail on this dark World War II romance at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Carmen Jones

Here's some more animated specials that cover the funnier side of love. I hope everyone enjoys them, and that you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

The Berenstein Bears' Comic Valentine
The Popeye Valentine's Day Special: Sweethearts at Sea
Cartoon Planet Valentine's Day Special
For Better or For Worse: A Valentine from the Heart
From Disney With Love
A Special Valentine With the Family Circus
DTV Romancin'
DTV Doggone Valentine 
Cathy's Valentine

Romancing the Cupcake

Awoke to a lovely, sunny Valentine's Day. Celebrated with a tasty breakfast of corn meal mush with peanut butter and honey and Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You. Pooh and the others see Christopher Robin writing a valentine for a girl and think he likes her better than them. Owl tells them that he's been bitten by the Smitten bug, and that they have to catch another bug to fix him. The crew chases after what they think is the bug. Pooh rethinks this plan when he sees how happy his friend is with his new crush, but Christopher Robin knows that true friends never really leave your heart.

Did Un-Valentine's Day while getting ready for work. In this episode of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Rabbit cancels Valentine's Day to try to stem the tide of unwanted valentines they all got from Pooh the year before. As so often happens when Rabbit attempts to put the damper on a holiday, that doesn't go well. Pooh receives an anonymous pot of honey and feels he needs to give something back. One thing leads to another, and there's suddenly cakes flying and Pooh walking around, dressed as a mail box. Rabbit finally coalesces their ideas into a romantic show for Christopher Robin. But who did give Pooh the original pot of honey?

Today was my early work day. Thankfully, it was neither as long or as boring as my previous long Wednesday shifts. We were steady the whole day, not overwhelming busy, but not dead, either. While I did a cart of returns and the outside trash and gathered baskets and bagged later, I spent a lot of the day doing carts. I was glad to. The weather was still gorgeous, sunny and relatively warm, probably in the upper 40's-lower 50's, though windier than yesterday. 

Treated myself to a Dove peanut butter heart after work. A friend of Dad and Jodie's was in line in front of me and was nice enough to buy it for me for Valentine's Day. Awww. That was really sweet.

It was so nice, I took the long way home down Nicholson Road. While traffic has been closed one way, the other way was still fairly busy. I dodged cars until I went over the hill to Atlantic Avenue. I was also glad to note at that point that the city had finished the work on the pipes they'd already started when I left. (The water had just shut off when I left. It was on when I came in.

Did some writing next. Maz points Rey towards a spell in one of Luke's books that will give her invisibility for a short time. It's enough to get her on the grounds of Snoke's castle, but not into the door of the kitchen. She arrives there to find Kylo Ren waiting for her instead of Luke. Luke is tied up in a sack in Snoke's room. He wants to exchange his uncle for her helping him get rid of his master. He'd rather rule the kingdom than continue to feed the giant's appetite...and he really does admire her spirit. She's not interested in either his lust for power or his admiration. She just wants to help his parents.

It was quarter of 7 before I broke for dinner a couple more specials, starting with Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers. A cupid that looks suspiciously like Elmer spreads love among the Toons, despite Bugs insisting that he's meddling. Even Bugs gets hit with the love bug a few times, including the finale where he's chased by a huge European female rabbit.

Cleaned up the dishes while A Charlie Brown Valentine was on, then made a quick, low-fat, egg-less chocolate cupcake recipe I have in a Hershey's cookbook. (Egg-less because I have one egg left.) This is another later Peanuts special that's basically a series of skits. Unlike the Christmas cartoons, this one does have a through-line. Charlie Brown wants to ask the Little Red-Haired Girl to the school dance, but as usual, he's too nervous. He ends up taking Peppermint Patty and Marcie. Meanwhile, Sally and Lucy would be happy if their crushes would acknowledge them at all.

Moved onto Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown as I got the cupcakes in the oven. Linus is the one with a crush in this earlier Peanuts romance tale. He's in love with his teacher and buys her a huge box of candy. Sally thinks it's for her. Chuck's hoping against hope that he'll finally get a valentine, any valentine, this year. Snoopy's just putting on messy and very interactive puppet shows.

Did Romancing the Stone while the cupcakes were baking. Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) is a romance novelist whose life is mostly lived in the pages of her wildly popular books. Her life takes a far more harrowing turn when her sister calls from Columbia and says she was kidnapped. The smugglers who did it want the map her late husband sent Joan in exchange for her sister. Joan heads to Columbia, only to be waylaid by a general with plans of his own for the map. She's helped by a poacher (Michael Douglas) who offers to help her to her sister...if she pays him. She agrees to it only because she's desperate...but as they move across the Columbian jungles together, they begin to realize that falling in love can be an even greater adventure. 

This is one of my favorite movies since I was a kid. Douglas and Turner played so well off each other, they'd do another movie with these characters and a third, unrelated black comedy. If you love old-fashioned adventure like I do or are looking for an action movie with a strong heroine, this is highly recommended.

Finished the night with the last Hannah Swenson movie, Plum Pudding Murder. (Actually, according to Wikipedia, it was the second movie after the currently-unreleased Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder.) Hannah is all ready to celebrate the holidays with her family and her two boy friends, steady dentist Norman and tough cop Mike. Their rivalry has really been heating up of late, from both of them buying her a Christmas tree to the two getting into a bidding war over her cookie baking services at a local fund-raiser. And if Hannah didn't have enough on her plate, she and Norman go to the local tree lot to get the money the owner owed her for the plum puddings she made him...only to find the owner dead, clutching her check. Turns out that the owner was a real sleaze who stole money from unsuspecting business owners until they had nothing left. A lot of people wouldn't cry if he was gone, including his ex-wife, a popular local talk radio hostess. She's accused of the crime, but Hannah doesn't think she's guilty. She has to find who is, or her holidays are going to be put on ice for good.

First of all, I will admit that I haven't read any of the Christmas-themed Hannah books, including this one. I keep meaning to take them out around the holidays...then run out of time to do it. That said, this is pretty much the same as the other movies in the series. If you love cozy mysteries or the book series this is based after, then you'll love this. 

As Time Goes By

Began a soft, sunny Valentine's Day with breakfast and holiday specials. Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers has an Elmer Fudd-like Cupid spreading love among the Toons, via segments from various classic shorts. Bugs is convinced he's meddling, until Cupid takes matters into his own hands. Also on the DVD is "Holiday Highlights," a spoof of various holidays throughout the year (along with graduation).

Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You moves to the Hundred Acre Woods. When Pooh and the others discover Christopher Robin writing a valentine for a girl, they fear he may decide he prefers her to them. Owl tells them to search for a "smitten" who will make the boy as he was. Christopher Robin knows, though, that true friends never leave your heart.

"Un-Valentine's Day" is an episode of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Rabbit's attempts to cancel Valentine's Day in order to stem the tide of card given the year before. After someone gives Pooh a pot of honey, the day becomes a mess of cakes flying, Pooh dressing as a mail box, and everyone putting on a "romantic" play for Christopher Robin. But who did send Pooh the original pot of honey? "The Three Little Piglets" is added as a bonus short. The gang is telling "The Three Little Pigs"...but Pooh keeps inserting honey and Rabbit's not happy to be playing the villain.

Called Mom while Pooh was on. I was hoping she'd have my birth certificate. Darn it, she didn't. I can't find it here. I'll have to go to the State of Florida's website and order it. Otherwise, she's fine...and all for me going to see a doctor, or even several, and find out what's going on with me and get some  kind of help or medication.

I wish I could explain this better. I will go to the doctor's, but not because I want medication. I want a second opinion. I spent half my childhood being ferried to this doctor or that one, and none of them could tell us what was wrong with me. I want to put all that behind me.

It was past 1 when I got off with Mom and finished looking up a few things online. I tried calling Camden County again. I either end up on hold for a half-hour, or I get a full voice mail box. I'll try again. I'm probably going to cancel the appointment or let it lapse and start the application process over when I'm more ready.

Got to the Westmont Bagel Shop around 1:30. They were surprisingly quiet for just after the lunch hour on a nice day. It was me, CNN, and the lady mopping the main dining area. I ate a turkey-avocado wrap, cole slaw, and pickles in a smaller booth along the side of the front counter.

Made a quick stop at Dollar Tree next. They were also surprisingly quiet. I had no trouble picking up cards for Dad-Bill and Jessa's birthdays, counter cleaner, and a new notebook for story notes.

The Haddon Township Library was not quiet. They were the busiest I'd seen them in a while. There was some kind of kids' program going on the children's reading room. I shelved new books and audio books and CDs while the kids worked.

I ended up taking out a lot of stuff. Found The Vermont Country Store Cookbook, which I've seen mentioned in their catalog a hundred times, but haven't been able to afford. Got two books on the art and characters of Rogue One (since it's looking very iffy that I'll be able to see it in theaters as of now) and another on taking charge of your life. Found two books in the kids' section to read, a Snow White riff called Snow In Summer, and a swashbuckling steampunk adventure called Ascension. For movies, I grabbed last year's live-action Jungle Book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azbekstan, and the late 90's Mask of Zorro. I've seen the last two before, but not in a very long time.

I didn't finally make it home until almost 5:30. Worked on the story a bit. The Golden Eagle is excited that they made such a huge haul from the Organas. They'll feed many hungry mouths in Naboo. The Crimson Hawk is more interested in the lovely Leia Organa and in the "secret weapon" he's working on.

Broke around 7 for dinner. Made a stovetop version of the Molasses Baked Beans from The Vermont Country Store Cookbook, with no bacon (I don't have any at home - it's too messy to cook). Ran Peanuts specials while I ate. Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown introduces Linus' crush on his teacher Ms. Othmar. He wants to buy her something special for Valentine's Day, but it doesn't go anywhere near the way he planned. Meanwhile, Sally's trying to make something equally special for her "Sweet Baboo," Charlie Brown is waiting in vain for valentines, and Snoopy's putting on messy romantic puppet shows.

A Charlie Brown Valentine is a series of skits on the kids and their many crushes. Charlie Brown pursues the Little Red Haired Girl, hoping to ask her to the Valentine's Day dance, not knowing that Peppermint Patty and Marcie are pursuing him. Sally and Lucy would be happy just for their crushes to notice them. Snoopy's trying to write poetry for the kids, but it's not easy to tailor it to their specifics.

Finished off the night with one of the most romantic movies in cinema history, the Oscar-winning drama Casablanca. Everyone comes to Rick's (Humphery Bogart) Cafe American in Casablanca, Morocco, during the early days of World War II. Rick claims he "sticks his neck out for nobody"...until virtuous Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) walks back into his life. Rick would be happy renewing their affair, but it turns out that she's married to a war hero (Paul Henried). Rick tries to settle for dealing with the various characters at his cafe, including the shady Captain Renault (Claude Rains) and his long-time friend Sam (Dooley Wilson). When Rick comes into possesion of two letters of transit that could get him out of Morocco, Ilsa claims she'll do anything to get them. Rick would love for him and Ilsa to walk off into the sunset...but he's discovered that sometimes, you have to do what's right for everyone,  not just your heart.

Normally, neither World War II movies nor romantic drama are my thing...but they work so well here, you'd never know the script was more-or-less cobbled together. Bogart and Bergman are simply luminous as the ill-fated lovers, but even minor roles are perfectly cast. If you're a fan of old movies, romantic movies, or Bogart, this should be on the top of your must-see list.

Oh, and I hope you all had a very romantic Valentine's Day!

A Riverside Valentine

Began a sunny, bitterly cold day with Collier's Book of Holidays. They only have one story for Valentine's Day, but it's the charming The Valentine's Box, about a shy little girl who makes friends after she helps a classmate round up her wayward valentines in the snow. I also did a couple of poems and the last two chapters of Changes for Samantha. Samantha Parkington learns about love and compassion when she helps her friend Nellie and her sisters escape from a nasty orphanage shortly before Valentine's Day.

When I finally got up, I moved onto the two Peanuts Valentine's specials. A Charlie Brown Valentine is a series of skits revolving around the kids' various attempts at courtship. Chuck is trying to get the Little Red Haired Girl's attention, but he ends up taking Peppermint Patty and Marcie to the dance instead. Sally and Lucy just wish their crushes would pay at least a little attention to them. Snoopy finds himself drafted to write love notes (bad ones) for the crew.

The earlier Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown is a less-lighthearted take on the perpetual Peanuts love affairs. Linus has a crush on his teacher Miss Othmar; Sally thinks he's bought that huge box of chocolate for her. Chuck is hoping against hope that he might get a briefcase full of valentines.

The Peanuts aren't the only animated characters from the 60's and 70's who had trouble on Valentine's Day. Pink at First Sight has The Pink Panther working as a singing delivery boy in order to raise money to impress a girl. Trouble is, very few people, from a jealous husband to a group of gangsters, appreciate his attempts to deliver their holiday gifts.

Darn it. I didn't have much more luck with breakfast than the Peanuts did chasing each other. My Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Pancakes fell apart, and I burned one. I couldn't finish them. Just as well - I barely had enough time to get ready and go to work as it was.

Work, thankfully, wasn't nearly as busy as last weekend. It didn't begin well. A manager took me aside and said a woman complained about me being rude to her yesterday. I totally don't remember. Ironically, about a half-hour before I left, I got a compliment from two customers who said they liked how I was always pleasant and have a smile on my face, even when I'm riding my bike (they were evidently from Oaklyn). My relief was right on time, giving me the chance to treat myself to a Lindt Strawberry Cheesecake-filled milk chocolate stick bar before I headed home.

Spent the next hour and a half writing. Kathleen tries to rush to Darren's side. Lady Sylvia doesn't like that at all. She considers Darren to be her personal property. She demonstrates her dark magic by knocking Kathleen across the room.

Finished out the night with an escarole and cheese omelet and a slice of banana-chocolate chip bread. Listened to my Hearbeat of the 80's K-Tel album while I ate. This is a collection of ballads from the early 80's, mainly duets like "Baby, Come to Me." The only one I don't recognize is Paco's "Shoot the Moon."

And while my Valentine's Day wasn't terribly exciting, I hope you had one that was a lot more fun and romantic!

No Valentines For You

Unfortunately, my Valentine's Day began with a phone call...and then another. Two different managers wanted me to come into work. I put them off while I finished Anne's House of Dreams, then called them back and said I'd do it. I didn't want to, but I need the money and the hours.

Ran two specials as I ate breakfast and got ready to head out. Bugs' Cupid Capers is one of the Looney Tunes specials from the late 70s-early 80s made up of old cartoons with new linking material. Bugs watches as a rather familiar Cupid does his work with the other Toons, despite Bugs' insistence that he's meddling.

In an episode from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Rabbit cancels Valentine's Day in order to keep Pooh from flooding the Hundred Acre Woods with paper hearts. Pooh, however, gets a pot of honey for Valentine's Day and assumes it's from Piglet. He can't resist giving just one Valentine. This eventually ends up with flying cakes and crazy plays for Christopher Robin. But who did send the original pot of honey?

I rushed out around 12:30. My first stop was the Oaklyn Library. There was one person at the computer; other than that, it was just me and the librarian. I organized the DVDs, then moved on quickly.

My second stop was Abbie Road. I wanted to look over Bob's collection, but I had practically no time. He did offer me some oatmeal cookies. I just chose a two-disc fifties vocal set and hurried out. Half-way to Audubon Crossings, I realized I left the bag with the chocolate sandwich cookies at Abbie Road! I didn't have the time to go back for them. I needed to have lunch. I didn't really have the time for that, either. I scarfed my broccoli and shrimp pizza at Tu Se Bella's as fast as I could, and I was still late for work.

Work was busy all afternoon. If people weren't shopping for Valentine's Day dinners, they were panicking over the two inches of snow we're supposed to be getting on Monday and Tuesday night. It had started snowing as I was heading into Audubon and got rather bad when I arrived in Audubon. Though everyone was in a good mood, I was glad to head out after four hours.

I wasn't happy when I got home. I tried to cheer myself up with a few more Valentine's Day cartoons. Disney did a second Pooh Valentine's Day tale in the early 2000's, A Valentine For You. Pooh and his friends search for the "Smitten" bug in order to cure Christopher Robin after he seems to like a girl more than them.

There are two Peanuts Valentine's Day specials. (Making Valentine's Day the only holiday besides Christmas to have more than one Peanuts special.) In Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, Chuck is hoping for a suitcase load of Valentines, while Linus buys a huge box of chocolate for his teacher. Sally thinks the chocolate is for her. Lucy tries to get Schroeder to give her a valentine. Meanwhile, Snoopy is putting on romantic-but-messy puppet shows.

A Charlie Brown Valentine is a little kinder to poor Chuck. He's trying hard to get the Little Red-Haired Girl to notice him...but somehow ends up taking Peppermint Patty and Marcie to the Valentine's Day Dance anyway. Sally pursues Linus and Lucy pursues Schroeder, without success. Snoopy works on his love poetry.

The Tiny Toons have their own bouts with love during prom season in the first-season episode "Prom-ise Her Anything." Babs patiently waits for Buster to ask her while he tries to learn dance moves. Elmyra gets Montana Max to take her, but he stands her up at the prom. The rabbits finally bring him back.

I ran a few records after a shower and scrambled eggs with escarole and tomatoes for dinner, ending with The Most Happy Fella. This 1956 musical is the closest thing you can get to an opera without actually being an opera. Even my 3-disc cast album comes with all of the music and quite a bit of dialogue. Amy is a waitress in 1927 San Francisco. She goes out to Napa Valley to be the mail order bride of Tony, a kindly Italian winery owner. Tony, however, is an old man. Nervous about how Amy (whom he calls Rosabella) will receive him, he sends her his young foreman's photo instead. Tony gets into an accident on the day of Amy's arrival. She's not happy about the deception at first, but she does grow to love him, even though she likes his foreman, too. Her best friend Cleo also ends up in Napa, where she takes up with Herman, a cowardly ranch hand.

Considered to be the crowing achievement of Frank Loesseur (Guys and Dolls, How to Succeed In Business...), Most Happy Fella did well enough when it came out, but was ultimately overshadowed by the more crowd-pleasing My Fair Lady. Even now, despite hits like "Standing On the Corner" and "Joey, Joey, Joey," the story is a little depressing and melodramatic, despite its happy ending. The music (other than the out-of-place dance number "Big D"), is just as good as is often claimed. If you have a taste for darker or more complex musicals or love Loessuer's other projects, you may want to give this one a try.

And here's some vintage Valentine's Day tales I scrounged up online, as well as the only holiday special to date for Ever After High.

Muppet Babies: My Muppet Valentine
From Disney, With Love
The Bernstein Bears' Comic Valentine
Ever After High: True Hearts' Day

Here's hoping you had a far more romantic Valentine's Day than I did!

The Road to the Super Bowl

I began a beautiful, sunny morning with a couple of football-related cartoons in honor of the Super Bowl tomorrow. It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown has Peppermint Patty leading the football team in the big homecoming game. Lucy makes sure that Chuck will miss every kick...but his mind is really on escorting the Little Red Haired Girl to the dance later.

Move onto shorts next. The Fleischer Brothers put Popeye into two football shorts in about three years. The first, "You Gotta Be a Football Hero," has Popeye taking over for the quarterback on the team opposing Bluto to impress Olive. "The Football Toucher-Downer" is Popeye's attempt to get Swee'Pea to eat his spinach. He tells the baby about a football game during his childhood that he won using spinach. (Mini Olive is so cute in that short, with her little braids!) Mickey Mouse becomes the world's least-likely Tom Brady in the black-and-white Disney short "Touchdown Mickey." Goofy's an even less-likely Al Michaels!

Headed out to run some errands after Mickey ended. Brrrr! It was cold today, probably not much more than the mid-20s. Blustery wind made it feel much worse. Good thing my first stop wasn't far away. I hadn't seen Dad and Jodie for a while, so I rode up to their place to say "hi," see how they were doing, and ask them if they were having a Super Bowl party. I was a bit surprised to see that they were still in their pajamas and robes! They were babysitting Khai - according to him, his mother had a doctor's appointment. Dana came in later with Helio - Khai got to chase him around. And no, they're not having a Super Bowl party. Dad's not feeling well, and the weather is supposed to be lousy tomorrow night.

The Oaklyn Library was dead as a doornail when I arrived. The cold weather must have scared everyone off. It was just me, the librarian, and CNN the whole time. I organized DVDs for kids and adults and gave the kids' series books a once-over.

Despite the deep freeze, I decided to dodge the traffic and took the back way into Audubon Crossings via Market Street. The back road that goes past a baseball field takes you right to Golden Corral and the America's Best/Pep Boys building. I kept putting off picking up my contacts. They've been available since Wednesday, but either the weather wouldn't be right, or I just wouldn't feel like fighting the traffic back there.

Though I was off of work today, I promised I'd bring in cookies weeks ago. I donated my Brown Sugar Bacon Cookies and helped myself to a free lunch. While not as overwhelming as the Thanksgiving and Christmas luncheons, there was still plenty of food. I had a shredded pork sandwich with a broccoli salad topped with bacon, a really yummy tomato-fresh mozzarella salad, bacon mac & cheese, and deviled eggs. I also saw meatballs in sauce, sausage, roast beef, and meat and fixings for tacos. Had a slice of carrot cake and a slice of chocolate cake and two peanut-butter-cup cookies for dessert. Neither cake was all that great - the carrot cake wasn't sweet enough, and the chocolate cake wasn't all that chocolaty. Since I was there, I bought things I forgot yesterday - toilet paper, D batteries, and cooking spray.

My original plan for today was a long bike ride, but it was too cold to be lingering outdoors. I went straight home after lunch and didn't go anywhere else. Spent the next few hours dusting and washing the windows. I can't believe how bad the dust gets, even after just a few weeks. After that, I put up the Valentine's Day decorations. I have two heart tinsel garlands (one red, one white and red), a pink teddy bear tin, and lots of paper hearts and cardboard and Mylar hearts to hang on doors and tape to walls. Tons of old Valentine's Day cards, too.

Finished out the football programming while I worked. Tiny Toons Adventures gives us "The Acme Bowl." The Toons really want to win against rivals Perfecto Prep, but Plucky's defection to the opposing side may set them up for a fumble. Hello Kitty is "Cinderkitty" in Hello Kitty Furry Tale Theater. This little kitty would rather be catching forward passes than prancing in ball gowns. She may get the chance to show what she can do when a little magic allows her to be the heroine of the cheerleading squad and the big game.

The Three Stooges twice found themselves stuck on a playing field without a paddle. "Three Little Pigskins" are thrilled when three lovely mobsters' girls (including a very blond Lucile Ball) show an interest in them. They really think they're college football players who can be persuaded to go pro for the big game. They have "No Census, No Feeling" when they search high and low for people to add to their census lists...even on a football field!

Moved onto making Carrot Muffins and eating leftovers for dinner while watching The Road to El Dorado. Tulio (Kevin Kline) and Miguel (Kenneth Brannagh) are Spanish con artists who find themselves on a boat to the New World after stealing a treasure map to untold riches. The treasure map leads them to the title city, where the natives declare them to be gods. The high priest (Tony Jay) isn't happy to see his position usurped by people who may or may not be divine. They're eventually joined by Chel (Rosie Perez), a sassy native handmaiden who wants out of El Dorado. She may want to leave, but Miguel is beginning to have his doubts. He's come to love El Dorado and its people. He, Chel, and Tulio have to decide if the gold is more important than their new friendships...and their long-standing friendship with each other...when the Spanish conquistadors arrive on the island hoping to find gold.

This is a hilarious gem with a wonderful Elton John song score. (My favorite Elton John song, "Someday Out of the Blue," comes from this movie.) Though Dreamworks tried to aggressively market it to little kids when it debuted in 2000, it's really for older grade school on up - there's some violence, suggestive behavior, and references to human sacrifice. Mom rented this for my brother Keefe when it came out on video, and they both loved it. Keefe went around saying "You da God!" from the ball game for weeks. A highly recommended and very underrated treat.

Finished out the night as I began, with the Peanuts. Chuck sees a girl on TV at a football game for a few seconds in Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown, and instantly falls in love with her. He and Linus literally scour their area from the stadium all the way out in the country to figure out what happened to her.

A Bear-y Busy Valentine's Day

I slept in a little bit this morning, finishing The Elusive Pimpernel and writing in my journal until 9:30. I ran a couple of Valentine's Day specials as I ate a quick breakfast of Cranberry Chocolate Chip Muffins and canned peaches. A very peculiar Cupid spreads love among the Toons, despite Bugs Bunny insisting he's meddling, in Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers. The Pink Panther has less luck finding a Pink Panthress of his own and making Valentine's Day deliveries in Pink At First Sight.

Headed to the Haddon Township Library around 11:30 (after a quick stop at WaWa to use the ATM machine and get a drink). Much to my surprise, it was sunny, cloudless, and relatively warm, probably in the mid-40s. The gigantic piles of snow from yesterday were melting into ocean-sized puddles...and I was getting soaked riding down Cuthbert.

The Library wasn't too bad when I arrived. There were a lot of DVDs put away, and given how bare the shelves were, there were still more out and about. For once, I had absolutely no problem stocking and organizing either the adult or kids' titles. I again opted not to take anything out. Between my usual crazy February schedule and the recent weather, I'm not sure when I'd have the time to watch them or take them back!

I went across the street to the Friendly's in the Westmont Plaza for lunch. I thought I'd like an ice cream treat for Valentine's Day, and I have a couple of 20% off coupons for them. I had the choose-your-own meal that includes an entree, two scoops of ice cream, and a soda. My entree was a delicious Grilled Turkey Tips Avocado Salad, with blue cheese dressing on the side. The ice cream was Viennese Mocha Chunk drizzled with marshmallow sauce and topped with whipped cream and a cherry. Yum - that's my favorite Friendly's flavor. They were pretty busy for quarter of 2, mostly with couples or elderly people.

Friendly's has a play-until-you-win crane game on one side as you exit, next to the freezer with the individual ice cream containers for sale. It's expensive for a crane game, about 3 dollars, but some of the prizes are a pretty good size. I came up with an adorable tan teddy bear with round, shiny black eyes and curly sable fur. I named him "Sunny," after the lovely, sunshiny day and the 60s song "Sunny" that was playing at Friendly's as I was on the crane.

I headed across Audubon to the Acme to do a little grocery shopping and pick up my schedule. This time, I rode over to Merchant to avoid the mess on Cuthbert and Nicholson, going in the back way by Staples and America's Best.

The Acme surprisingly wasn't that busy when I got there around 2:30. I was expecting far more people to be shopping for Valentine's Day and President's Day Weekend. I guess everyone did their shopping before the storm. I didn't need much myself. I was mostly restocking fruit (grapefruit, apples, bananas) and canned goods (chicken, kidney beans, diced tomatoes). I was almost out of eggs and whole wheat flour. Picked up my usual holiday bag of York's Peppermint Patties. The Valentine's Day candy wasn't half-price yet, but the Yorks tend to disappear when they do go on sale. I'll get another bag if there's any left on Sunday.

My schedule next week is about par for the course during the busy month of February. That means there's lots of hours and long shifts, including two 7-hour days in a row. On the other hand, only two of those days are very late (and that just until 8) or very early. I once again have Friday and Saturday off. According to the manager who does the schedules, I get the weekends off because that's when all of the college and high school students who have school during the week have the time to work.

When I got home, I went upstairs, put everything away, then went right back downstairs. I had laundry that really, really needed to be done. I meant to do it yesterday afternoon, but the weather was so bad, I just opted to stay home after work. I got another surprise when I came into an empty laundromat. There was no one there when I arrived but me and Action News blaring about the nasty car pileup on the Pennsylvania Turnpike this morning. (Thank goodness no one seems to have sustained more than minor injuries, but a LOT of cars were damaged.) I had no problems getting another big load of laundry in and out.

I had a quick dinner of leftover chili after I got in, then ran more Valentine's specials while making Orange-Apple Muffins. The Peanuts never have much luck with romance, as their Valentine's Day specials can attest. Poor Charlie Brown fruitlessly awaits an avalanche of valentines while Linus gets a crush on his teacher in Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown. Chuck doesn't do much better asking the Little Red Haired Girl to a dance in A Charlie Brown Valentine.

The Tiny Toons are also attending a dance in the first season episode "Prom-ise Her Anything." While an impatient Babs waits for dance-shy Buster to ask her out, Elmyra cons Montana Max into taking her. Monty's less than thrilled with the idea. When he stands her up, the rabbits go and retrieve him.

In A Valentine For You, Winnie the Pooh and the gang in the Hundred Acres Woods are upset when they see Christopher Robin writing a valentine for a girl and come to the conclusion he likes her better than them. They try to catch the "Smitten" bug to end the romance. Christopher finally reminds Pooh and the others that no matter how many new romances you find, old friends always have a special place in your heart.

And speaking of...I hope you and yours had an equally fun and enjoyable Valentine's Day! : )

Balance With Love

Spent the morning running Valentine's Day specials and romance-themed cartoons as I finished this month's dusting. Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers is another 70s-80s Looney Tunes special made of bits and pieces from shorts stuffed between a thin story. Bugs follows an Elmer-like Cupid as he tries to stir up love between the 'Toons, despite Bugs pointing out that he's really meddling. The DVD includes two additional shorts, the Tex Avery gag-a-thon "Holiday Happenings" and the Pepe Le Pew-does-the-movies tale "Past Perfumance."

The Disney Winnie the Pooh did two Valentine's stories. A Valentine for You has the 100 Acre Woods crew searching for the "Smitten" bug to try to get a romantic Christopher Robin back to normal. "Un-Valentine's Day" is an episode of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Pooh discovers a jar of honey on his front stoop for Valentine's Day, even though Rabbit  said not to send valentines this year. When word gets around about Pooh's gift, suddenly everyone in the 100 Acre Woods is giving each other some pretty wild valentines.

I dug out a couple of shorts, too. Chip and Dale compete for the affections of cute chipmunk singer Clarice in the classic short "Two Chips and a Miss." The Pink Panther finds a magic wand that enables him to help a poor girl win the rock star of her dreams in "Pink-a-rella." Oswald the Lucky Rabbit ducks into the five-and-dime to get out of the rain, but finds true love instead in the Universal Oswald short "Five and Dime" (based around the song "I Found a Million Dollar Baby In a Five and Ten Cent Store.")

Got one Peanuts love-related special in before I left for work. Charlie Brown falls for a girl he sees for five seconds on TV in a football stadium crowd in Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown. Linus thinks he's crazy, but he becomes determined to find her anyhow.

Work was actually pretty decent for a holiday. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Almost everyone was in a really good mood. It was steady for most of the afternoon; I left just as the evening rush hour was beginning. What little snow we got last night was melting rapidly in the relatively warm weather, even as I headed to the Acme around 11. By the time I made it out, there wasn't a bit of snow left on the ground, not even in shady places.

I bought myself two Valentine's treats at work. I love York Peppermint Patties, especially when they have fun with shaped patties during holidays. I waited for the candy to go half-price at Christmas...and by the time I got to them, the Yorks were long gone. I wasn't going to repeat that mistake at Valentine's Day. I picked up the candy for $3.50, not that cheap but cheaper than they normally are. The big bags of red and green tortilla chips that the deli was selling for at least $4.50 at Christmas had been put on clearance for $1.59, cheaper than many bags of chips three times smaller. Great! I'd add spices to the Sloppy Joe mix from Tuesday night and have Burnin' Love Nachos for my Valentine's dinner.

When I got in, I put on a couple of Tom and Jerry shorts while I changed into work-out clothes. Even cats and mice can fall in love. Tom becomes smitten with a pretty girl cat, which doesn't sit well with Jerry at all. He finally encourages another cat to chase her as well in "Springtime for Thomas." Tom's jazz concert to that pretty kitty is keeping Jerry awake in "Solid Serenade."

Moved into yoga after the cartoons ended. I knew I wasn't going to have time for yoga classes this week, due to my odd schedule, so I decided I'd do some at home. I worked on the disc that concentrated on the rear and lower body. I kind of wish the DDP Yoga DVDs concentrated on the mind as much as the body, but I did get a good workout in.

After yoga, I swept the piles of sticker balls and twigs off the porch, enjoying the lovely sunset. When I went back in, I slipped on the two Peanuts Valentine's Day specials. Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, is from the mid-70s. Linus buys a huge box of candy to show his teacher Miss Othmar how he feels about her. Charlie Brown would just be happy to get any kind of card, or just an acknowledgement that someone cares about him. And Snoopy is putting on very messy and melodramatic "paw-pet" shows.

Be My Valentine has always bothered me. I think it's actually a little too mean to poor Chuck. I've come to prefer the 2002 special A Charlie Brown Valentine. This one is mainly a series of gags revolving around the various unrequited Peanuts love affairs. Chuck loves the Little Red Haired Girl, but is too shy to get within a 100 miles of her. Lucy loves Schroder, who loves his piano. Sally loves Linus, who loves his blanket. Peppermint Patty and Marcie both have crushes on Chuck, who is too busy panting over his red-haired girl to notice either of them. Snoopy...just wants to write Valentine's poetry.

The students of Acme Looniversity have more luck with love in the first season Tiny Toon Adventures episode "Prom-ise Her Anything." While Buster is trying to learn the hot new dance moves and Babs is waiting not-so-patiently for him to ask her to the prom, Elmyra finally gets Montana Max to agree to take her. Monty stands her up...until the rabbits intervene on her behalf.

At any rate, I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! : )