You're a brave one...today is the busiest day of the year for postal service according to news this morning. Hope you survive with Christmas spirit intact...josh

Ah well - I think we all have it, and with a minimum of clues from me!! The story came to the attention of RKO producer David Hempstead, who showed it to Cary Grant's Hollywood agent and, in April 1944, RKO Pictures bought the rights to the story for $10,000 hoping to turn the story into a vehicle for Grant. RKO created three unsatisfactory scripts before shelving the planned movie with Grant going on to make another Christmas picture, The Bishop's Wife. Grant arrived in Hollywood in 1931. When told to change his name, he proposed "Cary Lockwood," the name of the character he had played in the Broadway show Nikki, based upon the recent film The Last Flight. He signed with Paramount Pictures, where studio bosses decided that the name "Cary" was acceptable, but that "Lockwood" was too similar to another actor's surname. Paramount gave their new actor a list of surnames to choose from, and he selected "Grant" because the initials C and G had already proved lucky for Clark Gable and Gary Cooper, two of Hollywood's biggest movie stars. The Awful Truth (1937) was a pivotal film in Grant's career, establishing for him a screen persona as a sophisticated light comedy leading man. As Grant later wrote, "I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be and I finally became that person. Or he became me. Or we met at some point." As writer/director Peter Bogdanovich notes, "After The Awful Truth, when it came to light comedy, there was Cary Grant and then everyone else was an also-ran." So, there you go!! Ginger Rogers and Olivia de Havilland both turned down Donna Reeds role - in her autobiography, Ginger said,"Foolish, you say?". de Havilland thought the role too bland - what is it they say about small parts? No OW link that I could find. So, for everybody: mnswgal - gravity and balance have been the biggest enemies thus far, I think. lol. As you see though, kitten is rather fascinated. We'll see if we make it to Christmas!! So for bonus points: Billy was quite a character in this film. Previously, he had appeared in the Capra film "You Can't Take it with You", and every subsequent film. Do you remember him? Nancy.

Hi Silvia, so glad you found your way back :-) My mouth always gets watery and could devour most all of your posted pics! Looks like you captured the Sun's Gold for a real Sweet Treat in a celestial blue pleated plate! ;-) I'll have to raid my Santas so the grape can make it's last stand for a respectable picture to keep up with you for the moment ;-). The only nice thing about this cold here is that if the tomatoes are kept above freezing, they can last so long on the plants ... they don't have top be picked every day as long as they are protected from birds and squirrels (!!!) I bet your transplants are quite big by now, and that's a nice cherry tomato trick to have some munching maters to fill in the gap. I'd like to do that but everything is tied up and intertwined, and since I'm also working with seedlings each day. I'm afraid to clean up little by little with the mold spores that will go flying in my hair and clothes if I try to separate the plants. Suddenly I'm hungry! Cheer! PC

Rule #11. Cookies that are ruined because you pull out the lower rack leaning the baking pan too far, and the cookies fall forward...since they're "no good", and get all bent and broken, they don't have any calories... (I did that accidently as I had one rack immediately below...and when I pulled it forward, the first two rows when scurrying on chocolate chip cookies...I saved the 3rd and 4th row, they were OK). As sung in "A Christmas Story"..at the Chinese restuarant..with Ralphie and the hysterical Mom when they cut the head off of the duck at the table..... Fra-ra-ra-ra-ra RA-ra-ra-ra.....