Halloween Calendar 2026

Good morning or evening depending on where you call home in this crazy world. I hope this finds you well. Like years past I am rushing to finish this calendar as I am not only fighting the October 1^st deadline but also the deadline in which Microsoft will do away with Publisher, my preferred program to do these calendars. I’m sure they really thought about it and they put all the things on a board that needed to be fixed in the Microsoft portfolio and went yeah …. Let’s do away with Publisher. That’s right the 2026 Halloween TV/Movie calendar has the distinction as being the last one done in Publisher. Still not sure what my plan is for Christmas but that’s future Marcy’s problem. She loves me even if she doesn’t know it. She’ll figure it out, I have faith.

Also as in years past, I have found the main stays that make this calendar work time and time again. That’s right I’m looking at Freeform, SYFY, AMC, who support all of this crazy gory and spooky season of awesome. I also added a few other items cause I thought they sounded interesting from Hallmark, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and the Travel Channel. Otherwise the calendar started felling redundant and lazy. I am anything if not … well not lazy. Ok I’m a little lazy but not when it comes to these calendars. I will also state that it’s been a little difficult cause some of these networks have announced they are doing it but not announced what they are doing and their calendars on their websites only go so far. So that’s been a bummer but we powered through, for the most part.

I am however going to spare you all the rant about how past shows are disappearing from this calendar cause you have all heard it before (well most of you have) and it seems the networks don’t care. Not that anyone listens to me anyway. You know the definition of insanity don’t you? Well there you go. I might be the most insane among you … I just haven’t been caught yet. I’m also not going to bore you all with how Food Network apparently has different calendars than the rest of us as most of their “fall” or Halloween programming started in September. Um… hello super not helpful. I figure by now if you have been interested in those shows you know they are coming on. If you aren’t interested then what you hassling me for, move on please. Halmark did it too by the way but they are re-airing things in October so they got a ticket on this crazytrain.

For those new to this party, and there are several of you, I will re-state the rules, for those veterans out there please forgive me for giving a short explanation and allow your attention to wander freely if you’d like.

The Rules:

• I live in the central time zone, so does this calendar. Adjust accordingly.
• Time Zones are hard. Adjust accordingly.
• Unless otherwise stated the times are PM. This calendar also focuses on after work hours cause that’s mostly when I can watch. My office seems to think it’s a distraction if I watch while at work, I mean I still do sometimes but for full disclosure I don’t watch TV while working. *wink* *wink* For those WFH peeps or stay at home moms feel free to check out these channels throughout the day for more spooky goodness you know between Team’s calls or during naps.
• Lastly this calendar shows things I want to see, movies and specials that take me back to my childhood or that just make me happy, or things that frankly intrigue me. Some are kid themed, and some are more adult oriented. PLEASE be mindful of that before you sit down with your little and they can’t sleep cause Jason might get them. That’s your mess not mine, but kudos to you for showing them a classic. Seriously don’t be that person and there’s always one. This is supposed to be for fun, if you make it not be fun well you will no longer have fun. PS if you don’t get this one you don’t get the Christmas one either so be sure that’s what you need/want before firing off that e-mail/text or god forbid call me. This isn’t the internet people, where you can say whatever you want without consequences. 

If you are a digital user the easiest way to use this calendar is to save it to your phone so you can check it on the fly. I mean who hasn’t gone to the bar keep at the local restaurant to ask them to switch from the game to Nightmare on Elm Street ? Just me ….weird. When I print it, and I do, I print it 11X17 but 8.5X11 is often good enough, especially if you can use one of those cool work printers … not that I do that nor am I suggesting that you do that. I’m just saying that is the kind of printer that prints this calendar really well at that size. If you are interested in doing that.

A few things to take note of :

• As stated above the main OGs are spreading the Halloween love through Freeform’s– 31 Nights of Halloween; SYFY’s – 31 Days of Halloween (with very specific theme nights which is an interesting way to do this honestly); AMC’s Fear Fest is back for all your gory enjoyment and other networks are also joining the “haunt” (see what I did there?) like, TCM   (which I no longer get), FX which focuses on the more “blockbuster” movies, Hallmark with their “fall into love” event and Disney, CBS, ABC, and NBC when they think about it, usually the week of Halloween. My point is there is way more going on than what made this calendar so branch out, enjoy, and if you see something really good I totes expect you to call and share the wealth! Wait no …. Text … don’t call. NEVER CALL! Anyway, that’s what good friends are for … you are my friend right?! Right?! RIGHT ?! OK good whew thought I lost you there for a second.
• I’m breaking a  rule for this year’s calendar … and it’s my calendar so I have that power. Don’t like it … get your own calendar. There’s a new teen-witch drama premiering on Freeform (then later on Disney+ and Hulu cause why not) called Coven Academy. It premieres Thursday, October 1 at 7 my time (8 eastern). Set in New Orleans and created by Tim Federle, it stars Tiffani Thiessen and features a guest turn from Devon Sawa. They had me at Devon Sawa they sold it with bringing Kelly back to my TV! While this calendar is not for established shows that may have a Halloween theme I’m making an exception or for this limited run cause frankly I want to and it’s my calendar.
• Hallmark is again airing a “Haul out the Halloween” as part of their Fall into Love movie lineup in October and features the ever amazing Lacy Chabert. I think it aired for the first time last year or the year before and then they revisited the family from Haul out the Holly or some jazz like that cause if Hallmark has proven anything it’s that when something works they are going to run it into the ground. However, I loved Lacy on Party of Five and will forever support her or Scott Wolf, or any of the rest of that cast of that show (it was that good people and I think it’s on Apple TV+ if you are interested). There are several other Halmark shows that made the calendar this time around. There’s also “The Spirit of Halloween (Oct 10^th) and Pumpkin Regatta Romance which originally aired in September but will re-air in October so it’s gets it’s place too !
• Of course there are streaming options ….. Peacock has just released the full official trailer for the Friday the 13th prequel series Crystal Lake, produced by A24, which I admit sounds really interesting; There’s a new “Carrie” series on Prime Video; and Shutter started airing Halloweenish programing in September and will continue through October if you have that, which I don’t. I believe they call it “Season of Screams” which sounds fun!
• The Travel Channel has some interesting findings such as “These Woods are Haunted” with several episodes featuring a haunted church, haunted mobile home, and a Cabin in the woods … There is also a series that talks about Urban Legend’s  but those are regular episodes and that’s not what this calendar is about. They also have all the haunted/ghost hunter type shows, if interested.
• Finally, AppleTV+ is letting Charlie Brown out of his cage offering free programming for the holiday season Tune in on Saturday, October 17th and Sunday, October 18th to catch up on Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, and all their pals. No Apple TV subscription will be needed to watch on either day. Use that same time frame to watch The Crowded Room and then come back and tell me what you thought cause I love talking to people about that show! They will also do this for the Thanksgiving show (Nov 14^th and 15^th) and for Christmas (Dec. 12^th and 13^th) but that’s another calendar.

So, enjoy a scare, carve a pumpkin, eat all the good candy, eat it all then buy some more for the little beggers who grace your front door at the end of the month (or during your Trunk or Treats) just do whatever you need to in order to keep Mariah at bay a little bit longer. Good lord X-mas back off we still have Turkey day to get through after all! 

Happy Spooky Season,

Marcy

Holidays, weddings, and missing family

Oh my goodness it’s may and we have only had two bloc postings. That’s not going to cut it. I have read lately that a typical blog post is about 1,500 words. I don’t know how often I have adhered to that. I usually just pick a topic and write until I get done telling the story. For instance, today I am focused on the fact that it’s Memorial Day weekend. On a weekend I traditionally have driven to Golden’s house to fart around, watch movies, laugh, talk, play games, sleep, eat good food, see her family, sleep, and sometimes go to a book store. Ok most of the time we end up at a bookstore. Sometimes I even buy but mostly I browse. This of course didn’t happen this year but not because me and my partner in crime have had a falling out but because of a very special reason that I’ll talk about in a few minutes. I think she understands, I hope she does. Lord knows I look forward to these long weekends hanging out together and I think she does too. Afterall, when I come into town it’s one of the few reasons her job leaves her along (kind of) for a few days. She also gets someone that can play with Mighty other than herself.

The reason I didn’t make to see them this time is that my youngest nephew got married. I couldn’t imagine missing that not even for Golden. Love her but love him more. Friday was the rehearsal and Saturday was the big day. Today I am exhausted. It’s been a busy few days but I’ve also been sick all week long. It hit me light a freight train on last Saturday and Sunday threw me to the floor. Monday I went to the doc in a box and demanded a steroid shot which they gave me. That was it. Well they did give me cough medicine but it makes me dizzy so I can only take it at night. Tuesday I lost my voice. Wednesday it was gone completely. Thursday I couldn’t even make a sound. I put them on notice, cause I was supposed to read a passage of scripture as part of the service. At that moment I wasn’t sure I’d be able to. Friday I was making a little noise. I didn’t have a lot of volume tho. I tried to not talk very much but as festivities were happening that was harder cause I didn’t want to ignore people. Friday I was squeakey. I really wasn’t sure I could do it. I asked about an understudy. They really wanted me to do it and I really wanted to do it for them. I forged ahead. Prayed to every God I knew that my voice would come back even for that moment alone. My nearly 2 year old niece knows sign language which fascinates me. She can say more, she can say done, she can say thank you, she can say of course hi and bye, but the one I love most is her saying no more. As in I don’t want any more. I used that one a lot on Friday night. Begging people to stop talking to me so I could hold whatever was left for the reading.

Saturday morning came and I had a little more volume but it would come and go. I was readying 1 Corinthians chapter 13 … the one about what love is and what it means … I had been practicing for months. I walked up to the podium opened my mouth and talked. It wasn’t very confident but it was noise. It wasn’t squeaky and it didn’t crack so I call that a win. Immediately after the service my voice was gone again. I was back to a whisper only even the baby asked if I was ok. I was thrilled cause I had just enough juice to show up for two of the most important people in my circle on their biggest day. It was a beautiful service and the couple is leaving for their honeymoon on Monday. I’m so excited for them as they start this new chapter in their lives. At 22 it’s good to have all the important decisions out of the way. . . education . . . marriage … a job …. The rest will fall into place.

My other favorite human … my oldest nephew got married in 2023. His person had already graduated he was still in pharmacy school and they were ready to start their lives. I admit I don’t remember much about that day. I remember her being a lovely bride and him being very handsome in his suit but the details are fuzzy and not just because it’s been 3 years and a lot has happened in that time. Back in 2003, my mom had just gotten out of the hospital, after nearly dying, on Wed before the wedding. We had approval from her doctor that she could go but we needed to watch her. Make sure she was comfortable and as we drove the 3 hours to the service that we stop several times and let her walk around to reduce the opportunity for blood clots. My entire focus on that day was on her. Making sure she was comfortable, making sure she was able to get from point a to b and she did great all day. She was drug allover that church by the photographer and she took every step she was asked to take and more. It took her days to recover but it was a lovely day. Their wedding was in Montgomery, kind of the half way point between his family and hers. It was a cute church, more grand on the outside and more country church on the inside. We drove up on Friday and spent the night thinking that would make less stress on mom. Drove home that night after the wedding, leaving long before the young couple did. Looking back on the pictures I can remember a few things, like them doing communion with us, the ring bearer putting the ring box on his head and twirling around during the service, Andrew was his best man, as McNeil was to him, and McNeil almost losing it when he saw Tylin for the first time. Andrew too lost it seeing his bride come down the aisle. He was overcome with emotion most of the service but was able to do what he needed to do when it was time. I was really proud of him. You could tell how much this moment really meant to him. I am also taken a back by those at that ceremony who couldn’t be at this one for whatever reason. Grandmamma for one was very missed and yet her presence was all over the place. Someone even gave Andrew a pin to wear that had a picture of him and Grandmamma on it and it was a lovely touch. 

I am very blessed to have seen them both get to this point. I hope to be at many more milestones over the years to come. Watching McNeil dancing with his nearly 2 year old at Andrew’s wedding is something I’ll never forget. Having Andrew and his bride hunt me down to get a picture with me when there were so many others pulling on them makes me cry thinking about it right now. I’ve always said I loved being part of their everyday world and yesterday was just another example of that. I love being their Aunt it’s by far my favorite title.

So, while I miss my bestie…. I was exactly where I needed to be and I’m sure she understands, if not she will when it’s her nieces getting ready to walk down that aisle postponing all her plans.

Until next time, enjoy your memorial day holiday. Remember what it is about, focus on those who gave everything to allow us the freedom to enjoy it and hopefully at some point throw something on a grill get something cold to drink and talk to your family while it cooks. You will never regret doing that. Trust me.

Marcy (@beaslma)  

PS 12,84 words aint bad 😊

Fun Suprises ! #BlogwithaPurpose #RaisingCane

I heart Chicken, mostly when it’s cooked. Especially when it’s fried and served along side French fries.  So Raising Canes is my go to after a bad/long meeting, during a long week, if I’m happy or sad. It’s really good, hot food, quickly served and delicious every single time. Just thinking about the Cane’s sauce makes my mouth water. It’s not too far from my office and I admit to eating there more of than one likely should eat anything deep fried. However that’s between me and my doctor.

Back during the 2025 Christmas season I was on a mad dash to add to my Raising Canes’ plushy collection. See Raising Canes is more than just really GREAT Chicken Fingers (they also have amazing sweet tea), they also give back to local communities where their stores are located. Every year they partner with a Christmas movie and create special plushies of their beloved mascot “Cane” representing that movie. These are usually available from early November until supplies run out. When you buy one you are supporting animal welfare organizations with proceeds benefiting local rescues and shelters. Plus they are always freaking adorable.

Since the store opened near me, I have been able to participate in the Elf and National Lampoon Vacation celebrations. Over the years there have been more, I know for a fact I’ve seen Frosty the Snowman Cane puppies on the internet but I choose to look ahead not back (cause that was all I could find). The point is this is a yearly tradition that I love and fully support with my entire soul. I am always excited  to see what the new plush is going to be. I have the Christmas Tree Cane (from Elf) and the Clark Griswold Cane (from well if you don't know ... we can't be friends) and use them as my office décor during the holidays.

 The 2025 Plushy was for A Christmas Story … it featured Ralphie Cane (in his Christmas PJs), Fra-Gee-Lay Cane (complete with the leg lampshade and the fragile box), and the holy grail …. The Pink Bunny Cane. I was on the hunt for a Bunny Cane cause I LOVE Ralphie and his pink nightmare. This is my all time favorite Christmas movie. I even like the sequel (did you know there was a Christmas Story 2??) and of course I LOVED A Christmas Story Christmas a few years ago that deserves far more love than it gets.

Alas the Pink Bunny Cane alluded me at every turn. I tried online, I called other stores, it was sold out everywhere. I was not destined to get this to add to my collection. I almost got the Fra-Gee-Lay as a consolation prize when it was clear I wasn’t going to get one I really wanted but decided not too. I didn’t need another random plushy that would just collect dust. . . . I was a sad Marcy for a while but the holiday’s came and like Ralphie my mind shifted to other important matters.

Weeks passed and suddenly on my various social media feeds (yes I follow Rasin Cane’s on social media … what you don’t) was a Canes video with Peter Billingsly (AKA Ralphie) talking about the promotion. They raised over $500,000 for pet charities They also donated over 400,500 Cane’s Bikes and Helmets to the Boys and Girls club. Upon seeing this video I just happened to mention on one of the platforms that I tried so hard to get the Pink bunny but was not successful. A day or so later I get a DM from Rasin Canes asking for my address. I usually don’t participate in those things figuring they are a hoax but since I wasn’t giving credit card information I wrote them back. I thought it was ironic that I was answering the DM while eating at a Raising Cane after a particularly long week and a stupid meeting. It’s my happy place what else can I say.

TWO DAYS later, on a Sunday mind you, a giant box appeared on my front porch as I arrived home from Church. Guys. THEY SENT ME A GIANT PINK BUNNY CANE !!!!  He’s absolutely perfect I love him so much and while they already had my heart Rasing Canes has a customer for life. I love when places use their outreach for good. I love when they use their brand for good and Rasing Canes does it better than anyone I know. The way they don’t just open a store they open a location that is truly community driven. My store alone supports the local college and high school teams, has fund raiser nights for various local clubs and organizations. That support is staying within the area that supports the store and I love that the most. I can't wait to introduce him to his "younger brothers" ha! 

If you don’t have a Raising Canes near you, you will soon as they are adding new stores every year. If you do have one check them out the food is fantastic but what’s going on behind the scenes is even better and definately worthy of a #BlogWithAPurpose post 

Marcy

2025 Blessing Jar

So Christmas before last (2024) our “gift” at church (the church always gives the congregation a small gift usually on Christmas Eve, made by the youth) was a Blessing Jar. It’s a little plastic jar with a sticker on it that says “blessings.” The goal being that we’d write down our “blessings” throughout the year and drop it in the jar. On Christmas Eve we are to open said Jar and remember all the blessing we have received over the past year. I liked this idea and fully embraced it. I didn’t drop a blessing in every day but when something good would happen I’d write it out on the piece of paper, put the date and drop it in the Jar. Even tho I got my Jar on Christmas Eve I dropped in a few in December as little Olia made her way into the world. I also have blessings in the jar for January, Feburary, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, and well December. So I did better than I thought I did looking back on them.  

A few highlights include:

• 12-31-2024- Olia has been discharged, everyone is home and a family of three starts this next phase of this journey
• 1-18-2025 Got up super early and made our way to Pittsview to officially meet Olia in person. She is so adorable. She slept most of the day but was a trooper with being passed around so much.
• 1-21-2025 Mobile got 6-10 inches of honest to God Snow.
• 1-27-2025 I turned xx I’m blessed with family, friends and loved ones who reached out in various ways to say HBD. I keep thinking of my cousins Kevin who didn’t make it to this age (brain tumor). Am I living up to my potential ?
• 2-4-2025 Volkert turns 100 today. A great achievement and one that a lot of companies don’t get to celebrate.
• 2-2-2025 Uncle Ernest passed away today. Grateful that I got to see him back in January when we stopped by after seeing Olia. He made it to 89.
• 4-19-2025 Andrew asked Alana to marry him and she said yes. There will be a wedding in 2026, a graduation too for both of them. Proud of them. She’s lovely and already fits in well with our group.
• 5-12-2025 McNeil graduated with a  doctorate in Pharmacy today.
• 6-8-20205 Golden and I went to Atlanta to see the Stray Kids. I’ve never seen her more excited for a thing ever! I admit I didn’t know them before this but I’m glad she introduced me to them they put on a great show. I had to manually control her light stick cause we couldn’t sync them up but she only noticed that half way through the show
• 7-18-2025 McNeil is a fully licensed Pharmacist! I am so proud of him and how hard he works. The kid is hella smart and focused.
• 7-30-2025 – Mrs. Danley’s funeral was today (Paula’s mom). She had a brain tumor and while her battle was short it wasn’t easy. The boys took it really hard. I’m proud of them tho they both held themselves together when it counted. McNeil sang a song. They both were pallbearers. Alana even made the trip down from school for it.
• 8-15-2025 – Mom had bypass surgery today. It was scary but she did really well. Several friends came and sat with us during the surgery which was nice. I think dad really appreciated it.
• 9-1-2025 – I made it to Dragon Con ! Neil and Dad insisted that I go so I did but I thought about mom the entire time. The day I left she was moved to a room. The following day she was moved back to ICU as her oxygen kept dropping for very little reason. I couldn’t fully focus on DragonCon but we tried to do all the things. I ended up coming back early and mom was super excited to see me. So I’m glad I did that.
• 9-6-2025 – mom and dad celebrated their 55^th anniversary in a rehab room, mom’s getting stronger and that’s the best gift she can give him.
• 9-24-2025 – MOM IS HOME!!!!!
• 10-3-2025 – Andrew and Alana drove home so that we could throw a pumpkin party. I got to carve pumpkins with my favorite people and I’ve never been happier. Grateful this tradition means as much to them as it does me.
• 12-25-2025 – OLIA IS ONE!!!  Or as we say around here … Olia is ONDERFUL. Best gift we ever got.

I like the idea of the Blessing Jar … I plan to continue it into the new year …. What to do with the old ones… I want to save them some how … maybe I’ll find an envelope and drop it in the Jar too. It was fun looking back at them this year. Maybe I’ll do better this year about including more things in the Jar not just the big stuff.

Here’s to a great 2026 for everyone far and wide, I wonder what blessings it will hold. 

Marcy

2025 Christmas TV Calendar !

It’s that time of the year again, the pumpkins have been discarded or are being eaten by the neighborhood critters, the bird is being turned into sandwiches, soups, and God only knows what else, and somewhere Hermie is telling anyone that will listen that he’d like to be a dentist. That means it’s time for my Christmas TV calendar which is always more challenging than the Halloween one. For one there’s just so many good classics and unlike Halloween the networks seem to understand that these are part of our Traditions and must be cherished. However all of them seem to need a calendar, I’ll explain why later. . . Bless em.

I have to admit I fear for the longevity of these calendars. Not just cause several someone’s at work reported me to IT for “spam” at Halloween; I asked for names, but they refused. You know who you are and may shame fall upon your head. JK no sweat off my back, but just know I know that you know what you did it! The real issue is that I use Microsoft Publisher on these calendars then turn them into PDFs and send them out into the world. However, Microsoft hates Holiday fun cause they are doing away with Publisher? As of October 2026, it will be removed from Microsoft 365 subscriptions and stand-alone versions will no longer be available for purchase. Just in time to start my holiday fun in 2026. Shakes fist at the sky!  So eventually I’ll not be able to edit or open these publisher files. In anticipation of that I tried to do this calendar in Powerpoint to see what that would be like, because they wouldn’t touch that program right, and even at 11X17 with the smallest margins I could get the font had to be so small even I couldn’t read it blown up on the screen. That’s not going to work. So, I’m going to eventually come up with another plan. I could use my work computer and InDesign but then I’d have to haul out my work computer, and the charger cause the thing might last about an hour and well this is a home project not a work project and I don’t wanna do that. For the record Microsoft suggests using Word as an alternative and I was like just um…no. Have they ever used that program for this kind of thing?! Honestly, Microsoft I use a lot of your projects and PUBLISHER isn’t your biggest concern of the moment. Just saying. If you guys could focus on the actual problems within your suite you might not have to bow down to the piece of fruit as often as you do. PS don’t tell my Dad I said that … IYKYK. My home computer has already told me it’s not Windows 11 compatible. I told it to suck it up I’m not in the market for a new computer at the moment. It told me it can’t guarantee my safety. I’m like sir you’ve seen my computer, we are safe, calm down nobody wants what I have. Hackers everywhere rejoiced (maybe I should be reported to IT)! So, my point is enjoy this while you can cause if the networks and streaming services don’t kick me out … Microsoft just might put the nail in the coffin.

Not this year however, so let’s crack on!

Now for those of you who get the following channels, check them out cause they are showing some fun stuff this time of year, I just don’t get them and thus they didn’t make this calendar …. GAC, UP, TCM, COZI, ION, MeTV, MeTV(toons). MeTV(toons) is showing a LOT of classic cartoon Crimmus (as my bestie calls it) specials featuring the Flintstones, Inspector Gadget, Scooby Doo, Heat Miser and Snow Miser, Cabbage Patch Kids, etc., if you get that kind of thing. I also didn’t include Hallmark Mysteries and Movies cause a lot of what they are showing also shows up on Hallmark. Tricky, Tricky, Tricky (said in the voice of the Magician from Frosty the Snowman).

I’ll also add that just cause it’s not on my calendar doesn’t mean it isn’t worthy of your eyeballs. Like The Wizard of Oz is all over the place, I assume cause of Wicked, but it didn’t make the cut. Same with Frozen and Toy Story, all great films but Crimmus they are not. Also Hallmark has two competition shows that almost made the calendar until I realized what they were. Finding Mr. Christmas is about finding the next Hallmark leading man, yeah no … I’m good. Baked with Love is another competition show that Hallmark is testing out. I almost added that one because they at least waited until December to air it unlike the same crap that was on Food Network in November. Yeah I’m still bitter about that. Both didn’t make the calendar cause that’s not what this calendar is about, but if you are interested feel free to look them up. I’m not so I didn’t include them, as loyal fans of this calendar know it’s all about me … I just share cause I’m cool like that.

Other shows worthy of your time:

·       ABC – Disney’s Prep and Landing is adding another special to their series. To go along with “Prep and Landing,” by far the most creative and original thing to be created for Christmas in a long time, they then added Naughty Vs Nice which was a good companion to the original. This year they are adding The Snowball Patrol but aren’t giving a lot of details about it, which is both odd and intriguing in a world where we know most everything before it happens now a days. Something goes sideways while Wayne and Larry are on holiday together and something about a baby seal. However, in true - nothing makes sense on network TV fashion - they aired all three on ABC the weekend after Thanksgiving. As you know this calendar starts Dec. 1^st. Sad Face. I’m hopeful they will show it again during the December month, but as of now I’m not seeing it on their schedule. However Freeform and Disney Channel have your back. Dec. 13^th they will show the original and The Snowball Patrol back-to-back to back, one in the afternoon (freeform) and one later that afternoon (Disney) why not all 3….who knows…it’s one of the mysteries of life, I guess. I’m also sure it will be on Disney+ along with the shorts they created a few years ago, which are fantastic and feature Betty White as Mrs. Claus. RIP BW! I love this series if only cause its original and new. There’s not enough of that this time of year, so I celebrate it when it happens. I felt the same way about 10 sleeps until Christmas but apparently NBC was done after a few airings and that’s a shame, it was pretty cute too.

·       Freeform – is once again doing 25 days of Christmas and bless them for it! Their love for Claymation, for classic movies, and family fun are commendable. Plus, did you see they are going to show Prep and Landing (see above). It’s a channel that frankly never disappoints. They understand the assignment and are a mainstay on these calendars  every year for that reason. Gotta love us some Freeform! This year they feature several marathons of The Santa Claus (not my favorite), as well as Home Alone (one of my favorites) several times throughout the month. Not all airings made my calendar but since they are showing them in order I applaud their efforts!  

·       AMC is doing their “Best Christmas Ever” again this year which features Christmas programming throughout the month with a mix of popular films, classic cartoons and those movies that make you just wanna sit down with a cup of coco while wearing a warm sweater in 90-degree Alabama weather. Afterall, it’s not Christmas until Clark is trapped in the attic watching old home movies while dressed like his grandma. PS AMC is also doing a December the TwELFth Marathon on Dec. 12^th showing Elf over and over (some of this is self explanatory guys please keep up). So far not a single Walking Dead in sight for the month of December and for that we rejoice!

·       Rankin/Bass Weekend – both AMC and Freeform are celebrating the stop motion awesomeness that is Rankin/Bass Productions with a weekend of their holiday classics like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, The Little Drummer Boy, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, The Year Without a Santa Claus. Not all of the airings made the calendar so if you don’t see your favorite check out AMC or Freeform on the weekend of Dec. 6^th cause I’m sure it will be on at least once or twice or three times.

·       Lifetime is once again doing their “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” which is the PG13 version of Hallmark. I mean nothing all that naughty, but it doesn’t always end up at the alter either. They are even tapping into the pickleball crazy with A Pickleball X-mas on Dec. 20^th at 7 which I find kind of clever and can’t wait to watch. They have romantic comedies, family dramas, thrillers, and good ole Christmas fun.

·       Hallmark took a break from their Holiday programing to bring you some Holiday programing, a joke I reuse every year cause I mean they make me. ALL of their premiers were in freaking October or November … like what is that about? Get a freaking calendar people. Some of these popped up again in December, but not all of them which is just insane to me. I mentioned the competition shows they almost snuck by me, but I did pull some new ones and some old favorites to add to this calendar. I love me some Scott Wolf and will forever add his Crimmus movies as long as they continue to air them. His dimples are just that adorable.

·       Charlie Brown is still being held hostage by Apple TV but you can log into Apple TV on Dec. 13^th and 14^th to watch for free so mark that down on your respective calendars. It’s a classic and deserves to be seen as often as possible. Move aside Clark I have decided it’s not really Crimmus until Linus drops his blanket and tells Charlie Brown what Crimmus is all about! After you watch Charlie Brown, assuming it will allow, watch The Family Plan 2 on Apple TV a Crimmus version of this movie which I’ve heard is very good for a fun family film based in Europe that includes action, comedy, and holiday fun. There’s also “The First Snow of Fraggle Rock” but I haven’t seen that one yet, however it’s Crimmus and Fraggles what could go wrong?!

·       A Christmas Story – I’m really disappointed by how few times this show pops up on the calendar this year. Don’t worry 24 hours of a Christmas Story starting Christmas Eve and running all day on Christmas day is still a thing but otherwise it’s only showing a few other times on TBS and TNT. That’s a shame. I also can’t find A Christmas Story Christmas anywhere. I LOVED it for all it’s nostalgic and original glory and I’m bummed it’s not getting more love. I will tell you to RUSH to your nearest TV with access to HBO Max to catch it before it’s gone forever. Yes, I’m telling you to watch a streaming movie and it’s a good movie so I will likely do it again. It’s that good people! Don’t judge me. Please don’t report me for spam!

·       Nickelodeon is once again having an Nickmas with tons of Christmas themed established shows, and as you all know by now (or should) that’s not what this calendar is about. So tune in for your Paw Patrol Christmas Themed specials, your Loud House 1 hour “movie” or the Rock Paper Scissors Christmas themed shows cause frankly that’s clever. They are also doing another NFL Slimetime which I admit is very entertaining but is soooo not Crimmus. The fact that they don’t haul out the Rugrats Chanukah every year is just sad and should result in some serious jail time for someone.

·       Speaking of Chanukah there are a lot of specials for it on Hallmark they just all air at the crack of dawn like 3am…4am… etc. It’s like yeah we support but um … not really. I’m always shocked that they don’t show Adam Sandler’s 8 Crazy Nights (which used to air on AMC but isn’t this year again). So, to my friends who celebrate ….. sorry. Not my fault.

·       CNN Heroes is always an uplifting thing to watch this time of year. It will air on Dec. 6^th at 7 on CNN. Everyday people using their time and talents to help make the world a better place and getting recognized for it. Well played CNN. Whatever your political stance, this is a show that will make you smile and realize that it’s not hard to make a difference, you just have to get in the game. PS you have the ability to not only nominate people for the award but you can also vote throughout the year and help choose who will get the award which I’ve always thought was cool.  

·       Speaking of up lifting TV, in a time where I think we can all agree it’s very much needed. The Kennedy Center Honors will air on Dec. 7^th 7:30 on CBS. They focus more on the celebrity side of doing good and this year will be featuring George Straight, KISS, Gloria Gynor, Michael Crawford, and Sylvester Stallone. If that’s not a bizarre bunch I’ve never heard of one. Should be interesting.

Now for …the rules. If you are an OG user of this calendar, feel free to skip ahead. If you are new to the party, you will want to read on or face my wrath. I’m not even adding don’t report me to IT for Spam because I mean honestly that can’t happen again, right?!

·       NO E-MAILS about taking Christ out of Christmas, it’s just a really long word and using X-Mas allows for more shows on the already full calendar.

§  Thanks for your understanding.

§  For those that don’t understand I’ll be glad to remove you from the list, just let me know.

·       I live in the central time zone, the times on this calendar reflect that, adjust accordingly.

§  That said unless otherwise stated the times are PM

·       Late Hour Focus, but hour round fun. For you work from home people, stay at home mom’s, or employees with access to good wifi ….  they run these specials all day long, and while my calendar focuses mainly on the after-work hour times since that is when I can watch, fire it up as background noise for that meeting that you are totes paying attention to while you are on mute, or while you edit that really long annoying document that you have already edited several other times but it’s fine you’ll do it again. I also don’t list things if they are on at like 3am…. You insomniacs are on your own, Marcy likes her sleepy time! See note above about this being all about me!

The goal of all of this madness is to get us all to set aside some time to allow the holiday cheer to enter your soul. To give those shows and stories we all grew up with to re-fill your heart with the happiness from your childhood. Most importantly it’s to remind us all during this super busy time of year to stop…breathe…take a minute … recharge…. then jump back out there into the madness that is the holiday season. Teach the new generation that our generation was way better by making them watch the hour-long Rudolph or watch them spaz out when Ralphie well you know *spoiler alert*. Then casually say, “hey isn’t that the guy from the Elf movie …. Or if you are a Marvel Fan Iron Man/Spiderman movies and watch them sit back in awe of how amazing and smart you are for recognizing him. Plus if you play it right you get to watch Elf, or Iron Man or even better Spiderman Far From Home.

Merry Christmas to you all …. and I hope you each have a wonderful and safe New Years. Here’s to a fantastic 2026  for us all even those who reported me to IT I hope your Egnyte goes down hard but comes back quickly ! The JPEG is posted in its original size so that if you save it, and I hope you do it's readable. 

Marcy & Golden 

A month of Firsts, one of them mine

Dear reader, as you know I’m over 40, closer to 50 than 40 if I’m being honest but you’ll have to figure out my age on your own if you are interested. Loyal readers already know, assuming they have been paying attention. My point is that I am at the age where very few new things happen to me. Most of the first’s in my life happen around others for instance my New Niece’s first Halloween was a few days ago and it was most definitely not my first but it was fun witnessing the holiday through her 10 month old eyes. She didn’t really understand what was going on but you could tell she felt the day was different. I look forward to next year when her “first” real Halloween happens cause I think by then she’ll be old enough to know it’s not just about getting in a pretty dress and taking a picture, which we totally did that too. Next year I hope to get to watch her toddle down the street on her way to the first “trick or treat” at a neighbors house. This year we just practiced walking in her living room while Garfield’s Halloween Adventure played in the background. Apparently my little ball of love has decided to just skip over crawling and go straight to walking. She can crawl mind you … she just goes backwards. It is kind of funny cause as she crawls away from whatever she wants she gets mad cause it’s getting farther away not closer. I did my best to convince her to go the other way and my bruised up knees are proof of that. There are lots of first heading her way, first thanksgiving, first Christmas, first birthday, but those belong to her and I’m just there for the ride.

However, October also had a first for me. I had my first reporting for Jury Duty. Not sure why after all these years they decided to call me but they did and I reported and it was definitely a first. I wish I could tell you it was an amazing trial and very interesting but I can’t. I can’t even fully tell you what it was really about other than a wrongful death case. The reason I don’t know these things will be made clear very soon.

So I drag myself out of bed on that faithful day, frankly glad to not be going to work. I get ready. I get in my car. I head to the courthouse at the appointed time I have been told to be there. Now I was told you can’t have a phone in the courthouse. I also read that on the website. So I left my phone in the car. I was the only person told this and most definitely the only person that read it on the website. Lesson learned. That was a long 2.5 hours. I was literally the only person in that room that did not have a phone. I had a book. But no phone. I learned something that day, when you don’t have a phone you don’t have a lot. I didn’t know what time it was. I panicked at one point that I would need my jury number and thought oh it was on my summons. Oh wait I had to runt hat in, no biggie I took a picture of it. It’s on my phone….which is in my car and no help at all. Sigh.

I did however have two battery back ups, I always keep at least one in my backpack (cause I’m too cool for a traditional purse – I use a sling bag) but for some reason today I had two. One of my fellow jurors phone was dying at like 8:30 and I let him borrow it. He still has it. More on that in a minute.

So I sat there trying and failing to not fall asleep, truth be told I think I did actually fall asleep at one point. Then all of the sudden this lady starts telling us what to expect for the day ahead. She also announced that once we were chosen for a Jury our phones would have to be off and in bags but they admitted that Jury Duty participants would need their phone so they were going to let us keep our phones but cautioned us to not use it outside of the Jury room. I was like well that wasn’t on the website. Anywhoooo……. Not too long after that a guy came out to “certify” us as jurors. Then he left. Then they started calling names, if your name was called you were to come up cause that meant you were being added to a “Panel.” Panel one came and went off to wherever a Panel goes (I assume a courtroom) when they are assembled. Panel 2 started and all of the sudden I heard my name. We were off. There were 60+ people in my “panel.” Upon calling everyone they led us out of the room and down the hall to a courtroom already full of people, where we sat in the order that we were called. I had a front row seat to the show. The Judge who was super nice but I can’t remember his name to save my life told us this was a wrongful death case and that we’d know more about that later. Then he asked up a crap ton of questions. By the time he finished it was lunchtime and instructed us not to talk to one another or other Jurors from other panels about what was happening inside the courtrooms. He stressed we were free to get to know one another but just don’t talk about the case. By then my eyeballs were swimming and I and about 40 of my fellow jurors made a beeline to the bathroom. By the time I made it down the elevator I had about 30 minutes left in my “lunch break” so I first walked to the car to retrieve my phone then I grabbed a coke and some chips and just sat somewhere to check my messages and see what the outside world had going on.

Upon returning to the courtroom we had to line back up in our number order then walk back into the courtroom to sit in our assigned seats. We had more questions from the Judge and about 30 minutes in a fellow juror got up and left the room. The judge stopped everything and told the jury to leave the room for a break. Apparently we weren’t allowed to  continue until the juror came back. Yeah no one told us that or she might not have left. So that took about 30 minutes. She was back after 5, but whatever. When we were all reseated it was time for the lawyers to ask questions, as part of the Jury selection process. That’s right we hadn’t even really got started and now it was close to 2pm. So she starts asking questions and when I say questions what I mean is she basically asked the same question about 15 different ways. Then people had to respond and anyone that raised a hand had an opportunity to speak. She’d say will this affect your ability to make a judgement and they would say no and sit down. After a while I thought oh my god just sit down then why raise your hand if you know it won’t make a difference. Two guys god love em said they didn’t care either way and didn’t want to be there. That got a chuckle especially when another guy stood up and said I agree. A few times the other side objected and they had a “sidebar” with the judge. Something was asked that he didn’t like at all and he sent us out of the room for a 2^nd time while he talked with the Lawyers. Man was I glad I got my phone. TWO HOURS … for TWO hours we all stood in the hottest hallway on the planet. They finally called us back in only to tell us that the “jury pool had been compromised and he had declared a mistrial.” That they were going to regroup, get a new panel, and that our services were no longer necessary.

So we literally sat there all day long for nothing. The Judge had told us earlier that if we were chosen for the Jury it was expected the case was going to be at least a week and a half but likely longer. So I guess I dodged a bullet but I would have liked to have seen it through. I did find the process fascinating but also a lot of wasted time and effort. Maybe next time it won’t be so bad.

 

Marcy

 

It's Spooky Season, finally! Halloween Calendar Time

 44 total days, just over 6 weeks human time my mother was in the hospital from Aug 12^th through Sep. 24^th. She’s much better now, and has returned home but for a hot minute we weren’t sure we’d ever get to send a “she’s home” text to our loved ones. She fought like a champ and the text was able to be sent eventually to much fanfare and rejoicing. In case you didn’t know, she had a heart episode, a heart attack, blockage in one of her arteries, (depending on who you talked to) and required a single bypass surgery. She handled the surgery like a pro, she handled the recovery like a scared little baby, but she handled Rehab like a boss and that is what’s important. Very Jekyll and Hyde of her which ironically isn’t on my calendar this year, more on that in a moment. I tell you all that not for sympathy or for you to send your I’m glad your mom’s doing better messages back but to tell you that my heart and mind were not in me for this calendar and frankly I did it more out of obligation than anything else. Like her, I pulled it together and attached is the calendar for another year. I almost had a panic attack cause I thought it was Oct 1^st and I hadn’t sent it out yet, in the hospital days just kind of run together after a while, and realized I had a few more days to try and make it better, talk about stressful, but was grateful for the few extra days to make this worth your time and frankly mine.

It's not entirely my fault tho. Local networks aren’t interested in holiday programing unless it is that fun “Halloween” special for their established shows, which as you know that’s not what this calendar is about. So that’s not helpful. What happened to Icabod and Mr. Toad, or Pooh and his Heffalump, or Alvin and Chipmunks Trick or Treason, Monster House and his awesome kite, The Exorcist (can’t someone think of poor Ragan), The Smurfs and the Legend of Smurfy Hollow (see what they did there), heck at this point I’ll take Shrek in Scared Shrekless. All this gold and none of it on tv, but what’s really sad is that a lot of it isn’t even available for streaming either. That’s just disgraceful. Yet I can watch the same 12 episodes of the Big Bang Theory on just about every channel …. I mean come on what’s that about? Don’t get me wrong I love me some BBT but the point is still the same.

 

AMC, Freeform you guys saved this calendar, hallmark you got invited to the party cause well we needed to add some lighthearted fall fun to the blood and gore. SYFY I don’t know what’s going on with you, I’ll assume your mom was also sick so you bailed completely, but I expect to see you back next year. I miss your Halloween fun. They claim they are still doing Halloween programing, but I can’t find a listing anywhere. I was able to look through their website schedule, and found a few gems (they are airing the original Blair Witch btw) but it only takes me through the first week of shows. Again … not so much with the helpfulness. Don’t make me put you in the corner with Food Network. I’ll do it. Just tempt me.

 

That being said not everything on Freeform and AMC made my calendar. I can’t live in a world in which the likes of say Pirates of the Caribbean, or Alice in Wonderland, are considered “horror” …that’s not to say they aren’t worthy of your time it just not going to take up a slot on my already full calendar. It’s my calendar and it’s my rules (as dictated below).

 

Food Network cut their Halloween programing down to two shows, and they both aired mostly in September. Rolls eyes so hard. However, if you are interested to see who wins …  Halloween Wars airs on Sunday nights, and Halloween Baking Championship on Monday night. Looking for Outrageous Pumpkins? Don’t bother, they didn’t bring it back and that’s a real shame. It was a very creative show and I for one miss it. I’m starting to wonder why I even watch that channel anymore, oh wait I kind of don’t. If nothing else is on I’ll turn to it but it’s more background noises than me really giving a crap who cut an onion correctly or not.

 

The ID channel has some interesting offerings this year namely “Real Murders on Elm Street” which is apparently a series that airs on Wednesday nights alongside “The Friday the 14th Murders” … which both sound very interesting. If you do get the ID channel you might be interested in these, sadly I do not. I mean who would willingly choose to live on Elm Street. That would be like me naming my new campground “Crystal Lake” then being surprised when all the teens get murdered one afternoon and they pull my license and shut down my camp after making me refund all the money. I’m sure there was a clause in the sign up form about that but my lawyers swear it’s missing. I guess you get what you pay for. I digress the moral is don’t tempt faith people, isn’t that what the original Halloween is all about!? I should ask Jamie Lee Curtis that question.

 

As always there’s streaming fun to be had this time of year with a lot of new offerings a Family Guy special on Hulu for some reason, the IT: Welcome to Derry series premiering on HBO, and of course the Great Pumpkin which is still being held hostage by Apple TV (tho I understand it’s available to watch for free – somehow.) Many of the shows I listed from when I was a kid (see above) can also be found on some of the streaming services, but as previously stated not all of them. I highly recommend the Garfield Halloween Special if only for that amazing rendition of “What should I be” cause Afterall a singing cat trying to determine his Halloween costume with his dog friend is always a good time. I believe it’s on Hulu and maybe prime but don’t quote me on that.

 

For those new to this party, and there are several of you, I will re-state the rules, for those veterans out there please forgive me for giving a short explanation and allow your attention to wander freely if you’d like. (thanks for that line Albus! – 10 pts for your house if you can tell me which Harry Potter book that’s paraphrase from).

 

The Rules:

• I live in the central time zone, so does this calendar. Adjust accordingly for the current location of you and your family. Don’t call me cause you missed your “favorite” show/movie, that’s not my mess. Be a big girl or boy and crank up that DVR and find out when it comes on again cause odds are it will. I don’t need 5 e-mails about the mistakes made on this calendar it’s free … suck it up and move on.
• Time Zones are hard and sometimes I screw up the conversion from Eastern Time Zone to Central. See Note above for how I feel about you finding a mistake on the calendar.
• Unless otherwise stated the times are PM, this calendar is also geared towards the after work hours cause that’s mostly when I can watch. My office seems to think it’s a distraction if I watch while at work, I mean I still do sometimes but for full disclosure I don’t watch TV while working but I do listen to music, and this time of year that music is SPOOKY. For those WFH peeps or stay at home moms feel free to check out these channels throughout the day for more spooky goodness you know between Team’s calls.
• Lastly this calendar shows things I want to see, movies and specials that take me back to my childhood or that just make me happy, or things that intrigue me. Some are kid themed, and some are more adult oriented. PLEASE be mindful of that before you sit down with your little and they can’t sleep cause Freddy might get them. That’s your mess not mine but kudos to you for showing them a classic. Seriously don’t be that person and there’s always one. This is supposed to be for fun, if you make it not be for fun well you won’t get it next year. PS if you don’t get this one you don’t get the Christmas one either so be sure that’s what you need/want before firing off that e-mail/text or god forbid call me. This isn’t the internet where you can say whatever you want without consequences. 

If you are a digital user the easiest way to use this calendar is to save it to your phone so you can check it on the fly, I mean who hasn’t gone to the bar keep at the local restaurant to ask them to switch from the game to Friday the 13th ? Just me ….weird. When I print it, and I do, I print it 11X17 but 8.5X11 is often good enough, especially if you can use one of those cool work printers … not that I do that nor am I suggesting that you do that I’m just saying that is the kind of printer that prints really well at that size.

 

Now I must warn you … these networks have some kind of dyslexia cause I have noticed that they will show the movies and their sequels but often in not any kind of order that makes sense in any world that we live in. I mean I get it … you want to show the real popular ones when people can watch and that requires a little planning on their part. If it’s a full night of say Halloween fun I just put Halloween Marathon and it’s up to you to find what you want to watch, that’s right you don’t get out of doing some work on this thing too. I did highlight the ones I want to watch cause as previously stated it’s my calendar I’m just sharing. Please Note: If you pick Halloween Three we can no longer be friends.  

 

A few things to take note of :

• Freeform – is once again bringing their 31 nights of Halloween to the party. Just about every night there is fun and laughter and lots of animation that satisfies both adults and little’s alike. So sit down relax and fall into the fun of your childhood. The joy starts October 1st.
• AMC is where you go for all out gore …. Fear Fest starts October 1st and it is not to be messed with and is to be revered and loved for the wonder that it is. Lots of classics on the list and marathon on top of marathon. Lots of theme nights.
• Hallmark channel is bringing the fall feels with “harvest” theme shows about people falling in love as leaves are falling and pumpkins are on display. There are likely others on the schedule but I focused on the few that caught my eye cause they sounded interesting or fun tho I’m sure they are all the same.
• SYFY is apparently having a 31 days of Halloween but as stated previously good luck finding what they are showing and when. It’s usually fun stuff too like Child’s Play and Jeepers Creepers, oh and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Cabin in the Woods, Carrie, House of Wax,  real psychological fun but oh no they can’t be bothered to share their schedules so go check them out see what’s on then move on if you want.

So enjoy a scare, carve a pumpkin, eat all the good candy, eat it all then buy some more for the little beggers who grace your front door at the end of the month (or during your Trunk or Treats) just do whatever you need to in order to keep Mariah at bay a little bit longer. Good lord X-mas back off we still have Turkey day to get through afterall! 

 

Happy Spooky Season,

 

Marcy