Do I Have to Do This All Over Again?

Once again, we were mobbed the day before a major snowstorm. Thank goodness it wasn't quite as bad as Friday, but it was plenty busy enough. Unlike Friday, we didn't really have enough help. No one around here expected two major snowstorms in less than five days! We rarely get two snowstorms of any kind in one winter!

Also unlike Friday, things generally went fine, other than the lack of help. The roads are fairly clear, so there were no call-outs. Dad drove me to work again; he said he had to go to the store this morning anyway. My relief was on time, and even as I left, the crowds were starting to thin out. I was able to quickly buy the last things I needed before the next storm hit - birthday cards for my sister Jessa and my stepfather Bill, batteries, and hand soap for the bathroom.

After Dad took me home, I went inside, changed, grabbed my laundry, and went right back out again to Dad and Uncle Ken's house. Everyone was at home, awaiting the storm. Normally, I do the laundry in the morning, but I really wanted to avoid being out in the weather this time.

It still wasn't snowing by about quarter of five, so I decided to go for a walk and see if the Oaklyn Library was open in the evening tonight. It wasn't. I ended up going for a stroll on the White Horse Pike instead. I stopped at WaWa for a Hot Chocolate that was very rich and chocolate-y, then went in the opposite direction. It was rush hour as I made my way down the sidewalks. Unlike yesterday, most of the sidewalks now seemed to have been shoveled, and the relatively warm day had melted much of the ice. It was much easier to head down to CVS and just hang out than it had been to run my errands the morning before.

I didn't really need anything at CVS, so I headed home after that. By that point, it was dark...and it STILL hadn't started snowing. I had shrimp salad on one of those new "deli flats" rolls and pickles for dinner with Dad and Jodie. Dolores and Uncle Ken had leftover apples, ham, and cabbage. Dad drove me home after dinner.

I called my stepfather when I got in to wish him a happy birthday. Bill seemed to be in a very good mood; I caught him about to settle down for a night of TV. He said he had a nice, quiet day with his son, wife, daughter, and grandsons. They bought him many things he needed - boots for work (he's a commercial fisherman), a new motorcycle cover, a shaving kit.

It still hadn't snowed when I came home. The snow didn't start until around 7:30 - quarter of 8. I had just finished putting away the laundry and was online chatting with Lauren. I went into the kitchen to look out the front door...and discovered the snow coming down hard. There was already a dusting on the shoveled parts of the porch and the steps at that point. Now, they're covered to the point where you can't see the porch again.

With Plenty of Money and Snow

I really, really had to get to the bank and deposit my tax return today. My rent was way overdue. I went out this morning...and am very glad I did. It was a gorgeous February day. Yes, it was still cold and there's still a foot of snow here, but all of the streets and most of the sidewalks had been cleared. Some sidewalks were still icy, especially on the White Horse Pike, but I didn't really have much of a problem running errands. I delivered my rent to my landlady and paid more of my debt to the dentist next-door to the bank.

Dad drove me to work and back. Work was very busy. It was far busier than yesterday, but still not nearly as bad as Friday. People must have heard the reports for the next storm on the morning news. Thankfully, there were no major problems, and my relief was on time.

(And since the roads are so clear, I may end up walking to work tomorrow. They're still too messy for the bike, but I hate relying on other people's schedules.)

My landlady Miss Ellie was just coming home when I arrived. She had her own mail and something in a tube for me. I helped her spread salt on her front stoop, then took my tube upstairs. Turned out to be the first part of my order from Rhino Records, home of the Monkees. They finally put out the Deluxe Edition of one of my favorite Monkees albums. The Birds, The Bees, and the Monkees features one of my two favorite Monkees songs, "Daydream Believer," along with another big hit, "Valleri," and their last top-20 single until 1986, "DW Washburn." The big "Deluxe Edition" that was supposed to have appeared today includes 12 previously unreleased songs.

The Birds, The Bees, and the Monkees: Deluxe Edition

Rhino was selling posters with the first 500 orders and 45 singles of Mike Nesmith's "St. Matthew" and Peter Tork's "Lady's Baby" with the first 1,000 orders. Guess which big fan ordered early enough to get both? I really love the poster I got, too, a shot of the group performing Mike's "What Am I Doin' Hangin' 'Round?" in the early second season.

(Alas, at the moment, it looks like it's either sold out, or they've had so many problems, they've stopped selling it. It took Lauren and me forever to order the darn thing. First, the site wouldn't show it, then it wouldn't show up in the cart. At least it seems to have gone through.)

It was such a nice day, I went for a quick walk in the neighborhood after I checked out the poster. I went down Goff Avenue to take pictures of the river. I'm not sure how well my shots came out. Turns out the landing that leads to the river had been plowed over. I almost went tumbling down the hill trying to get around the snow bank to get some shots!

Walked over to West Clinton Avenue after the batteries on my camera ran out. Visited the Dorias at Doria's Deli and bought a Diet 7-UP. They were fine. Unlike a lot of people around here, they don't mind doing a lot of shoveling and seem to have enjoyed the weather.

Football Wizards

Pretty quiet morning. I made gingerbread pancakes for breakfast and watched snow and football-related cartoons. Ran two more Donald shorts, both featuring Chip and Dale. One, in fact, was called "Chip and Dale"; it was their first appearance, and their first go-around with Donald. Donald's chopped down their home for firewood, and they want it back. "Corn Chips" is a variation on this short. This time, the chipmunks fall in love with the popcorn Donald's making over his fireplace on a wintry day, and the trio go into a prolonged battle to see who gets to keep the crispy treats!

I switched from snow to football cartoons after Donald and the chipmunks ended. Mickey Mouse isn't the first Disney character I'd put in Peyton Manning's cleats, but he did do a very cute football-related cartoon in 1932, "Touchdown Mickey." (Goofy's an even less likely Howard Cosell!) And Hello Kitty proves that girls can do anything, even be a princely penguin's wide receiver, in a very imaginative version of "Cinderella," "Cinderkitty."

I finally got a ride to work from Uncle Ken. The snow was slowly beginning to melt, but it was still pretty icy. Work was steady, busier than yesterday but nothing like last week. I'm hoping it won't be too bad this week, despite another storm being announced for Tuesday night-Wednesday. Maybe people got all their panic buttons hit last week...

Uncle Ken drove me back to his house for the Super Bowl. It was a full party, despite the weather. We had Dad (who had a toothache), Jodie, Uncle Ken, Dolores, Dolores' children and grandchildren, Samantha and her family, and a couple of friends of Uncle Ken's. Erica and her mother Miss Helen and Rose and Craig appeared later, after the game began. There was tons of food. Uncle Ken baked a chocolate cake for Samantha's sons Matt and Ethan, who's birthdays were last month and last week, respectively. (Ethan just turned 13; Matt is 11.) There was a bread bowl with spinach dip, Uncle Ken's sensational ham, a vegetable platter, cookies, macaroni salad, deviled eggs, potato salad, a second chocolate cake Erica and Miss Helen brought, and shrimp from Rose and Craig.

I walked back and forth, chatting with everyone. The game went pretty well, too, and halftime was awesome. I'm a huge fan of the British rock group the Who. There's only two left, but those two, singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist/songwriter Pete Townsend, can still put on one hell of a show. Roger Daltrey's harmonica solo on "Baba O'Riley" was just amazing. And I was thrilled when they played my favorite Who song, "Won't Get Fooled Again," as the finale. Everyone laughed when I sang along, but I loved it.

I left with Rose and Craig after the halftime show, so I didn't see the second half. The Saints were behind after the first half, but they apparently made a major comeback and won, 22-17. There will be partying on Bourbon Street tonight, and it won't just be in preparation for Mardi Gras!

Oh, and the commercials that I saw were much better than last year's. My favorite was the guys releasing the whale into the ocean. I have no idea what it was about, but it was funny.

Blizzard!

Like the rest of Southern New Jersey, I awoke to discover my porch buried under more than a foot of snow...and it was still coming down at quarter after 7. I debated calling out, but I really live too close to work. It wasn't even the money this time. I figured they'd need the help, so I walked.

Once again, walking wasn't really a problem. The roads had been cleared, even Manor. I had a harder time getting to the road that walking down it. My porch and steps were still covered at 8:30, so I slid down my steps. That was fun! Better than sledding down the West Cape May Bridge. Of course, a foot of snow provides a rather soft landing, too.

Work was busier than I thought it would be. I figured we wouldn't have any customers all day, especially after Governor Christie declared a state of emergency sometime in the early afternoon. That's not to say we had a LOT of customers. I still spent at least five hours of my six-hour shift doing returns. I was surprised we had customers at all. Actually, after the last few days, I'm not complaining. In fact, I relished the relative quiet.

Not everyone was as happy with the peace. Though the store and most of the shops in the Audubon Crossings Mall behind us were open (one customer mentioned she was going to open Fashion Bug but close early if they weren't busy), our pharmacy and the bank in the store were closed. One fellow threw a fit when I tried to explain to him that a non-essential bank wouldn't open during a blizzard!

Actually, I got lucky weather-wise. It was snowing pretty hard at 8:30, but by the time I headed home at 3, the snow was down to the barest flakes...and when I arrived home at quarter of four, the snow had stopped entirely. There were a lot of people out, shoveling the two feet of snow on their driveways and sidewalks. A trio of teenage girls slid down Kendall Boulevard on a sled and took pictures of themselves on a cell phone as they giggled. Parents dragged their children past on metal and plastic saucer sleds. Men ran snow blowers, and kids had snowball fights.

I debated going back out to the bank, but my new boots were getting soaked. I opted to stay at home instead. I called Mom right after I got in. I was worried about her. The Jersey Shore got even more snow than we did. Someone at work mentioned that all of Wildwood had lost power! Mom and Dad were fine. Dad was out shoveling another foot of snow off their driveway. Mom was holing up inside. Unlike me, the Michael's where she works in Rio Grande had closed, and she was enjoying her day off. Keefe was with my sister Anny and her boys in the Villas. She said their power had flickered briefly early in the morning, but they didn't have any problems after that. I don't think we even had that.

Spent the rest of the evening cleaning the bathroom. It wasn't too bad, but I wanted to get it done, especially the bathtub. I baked gingerbread people after that with the last of the Betty Crocker Gingerbread Cookie Mix. They didn't come out too bad, considering I forgot the egg.

Watched snow-related cartoons this morning and during dinner. Probably the most famous of Disney's occasional forays into winter-themed shorts would be "Donald's Snow Fight" from 1942. Donald, Huey, Dewey, and Louie have the ultimate snow ball fight when Donald knocks down the nephews' snowman with his sled...and of course you know, that literally means war!

My favorite of the two Looney Tunes snow shorts on the first Golden Collection was "Putty Tat Trouble." One of the better Tweety/Sylvester outings mixes things up a bit with a city setting and by throwing a second cat into the mix. Tweety finds himself the possible meal for not one, but two hungry felines, and uses the snow and ice to his advantage to dodge them.

Snow Mob

Ugh. I wasn't able to dodge the work bullet this time. I got called in at 8:30 in the morning. I let the phone pick it up and waited a half-hour, but I really didn't have any reason to say no. I was going to go over to the Acme anyway this morning to pick up my paycheck and do my weekly grocery shopping.

Work was a total and complete madhouse. There were lines literally half-way across the store, even with every working register open and almost every employee up front. This is a bad day for Mother Nature to decided to dump anywhere from six inches to two feet of snow on us. First of all, we're still in the beginning of the month. Second, this is Super Bowl Weekend, and anyone who can actually get out to do so is going to be getting ready for parties. Third, today is Friday, which is when many people (including me) get paid, snow or no snow.

I told Donna I'd work four hours, 12-4. The snow was supposed to arrive by late afternoon or early evening, and I didn't especially want to get caught riding home in it. It actually didn't look very snowy riding to work. In fact, it looked and felt like an ordinary, damp, cloudy day in early February in Southern New Jersey.

I had a big shopping trip to make after work, too. There was no way around it. I had the hardest time with the Acme Yogurt I wanted. Most of that was almost gone, but I did manage to round up six Light flavors. (Wasn't as lucky with the plain. I decided to try the new Plain Yoplait Greek Yogurt instead.) There were plenty of brown egg cartons left (even with them on sale), and I grabbed one of the two remaining half-gallon skim milks. Tuna was the other problem. I had to really dig for the last of the Acme Canned Light Tuna. Had no problems whatsoever with the fruits and vegetables or canned white beans and cinnamon, and I make my own bread.

Shopping for one person who can't carry much on a bike has it's advantages, too. The express lines were much shorter than any other line, and I was able to get out with only a five-minute wait and a minimum of fuss.

Ironically, despite all the bedlam, it didn't start snowing until more than an hour and a half after I finally got home. It's coming down as I type this. Looks quite pretty, too. The whole world is nothing but white and silver. It looks like it's up to about 6 inches on my porch at press time.

And as it turns out, I didn't need my paycheck so badly, either. My tax refund check arrived in the mail today, all $1,097 of it. I'll deposit it in the bank tomorrow if I can make it there without trouble.

Balancing Storm and Sun

It was a gorgeous, sunny, mid-30s day in South Jersey when I headed out this morning for this week's yoga class. It was a pretty decent-sized class, 9 people with the teacher Karin, though not as busy as I feared it would be. I thought a lot of people would come today to dodge the bad weather we're supposed to be getting tomorrow. (Then again, the storm apparently isn't going to hit us until later in the afternoon tomorrow, either. I guess a lot of people will be going tomorrow morning.)

At any rate, we worked on our shoulders and on balancing. Yes, we did shoulder stands. No, I still can't do them. I did get the half-moon balance for a few seconds, though. There were a few poses I had to adjust or couldn't do because of my sore toe; the big one was Downward Dog. I had to get on my knees for that one, and it's one of the most-used poses in the class.

Went straight to the Collingswood Library after class ended. I spent an hour or so doing exactly what I did there last week. I organized non-fiction books upstairs...when I wasn't reading them, that is. I get distracted rather easily when books are involved.

My next stop was Cafe Antonio II a few blocks from the library for lunch. It was about 12:30 by this point, and they were rather busy. I finally just ordered a slice of broccoli and tomato pizza and water and watched the constant stream of hungry people coming in from offices or shopping or fund-raising for an area elementary school.

Rode straight over to the Haddon Township Library after lunch. I had a lot to return today, four DVDs and four books. There was a lot for me to return, too, piles of DVDs. For the first time, there were more non-fiction DVDs than fiction ones. Maybe a lot of people decided they wanted to learn things this week. I didn't take out any DVDs, but I did take out two more mysteries, a book on nutrition and exercise, and a book on resumes.

I chatted with the librarians after I finished. While they were nice, they really weren't much of a help. Apparently, the only library with openings is in Voorhees, which would require a bus ride. We'll see. I haven't had to ride the bus to work since I lived in Cape May County, and it didn't work out that well then.

Hit Super Fresh next, but that may have been a mistake. We've been hearing anything from 4 to 30 inches of snow for tomorrow afternoon and Saturday here, and it's getting to everyone. Super Fresh was mobbed. Took me forever just to get my chicken cutlets and maple syrup. (Real maple syrup is cheaper at Super Fresh than it is at the Acme.)

Briefly stopped at WaWa for a snack (fountain unsweetened iced tea with cherry syrup and a too-doughy soft pretzel) and at the Doria's for turkey and conversation on the way home. I didn't get in until quarter of 5. When I finally did get home, I took advantage of the nice day to do a few outdoor things I'd been meaning to do - swept the sticks and sticker balls off the porch and took out the recycling.

It turned out to be a good thing I did do the yoga class today. There was a message from the Acme when I finally got to listening to my phone messages that was trying to call me in. First of all, the Acme is the last place I want to be after yesterday. I'm only going there tomorrow morning for my paycheck and to grocery shop. Second, if Super Fresh was mobbed this afternoon, I don't even want to contemplate what the Acme was like!

Shades of Gray

Work was absolutely horrible today, and I was absolutely horrible at it. Nothing I did seemed to go right. People were cranky and upset, and I was cranky and upset. The lines remained long. Not only is it still the beginning of the month, but we're not out of the woods with the snow, either. We're supposed to be getting more - a lot more - starting Friday night.

I tend to be more frustrated with myself when I'm already tired and upset to begin with. Everyone says "don't be so hard on yourself!" It's just that when it happens, I don't see it as being hard on myself. If I was as smart as everyone says, would I have forgotten the stickers, bagged the wrong way, said the wrong thing, or given out the wrong change? Of course not.

There's something wrong with me. There has to be something wrong with me. If there wasn't anything wrong with me, why would I get so upset? I'd have more patience with myself if I'd just do normal things and not get upset around people.

The managers weren't happy, either. One called me mid-way through the day and gently asked me if there was anything the matter, because I seemed a bit slow. I told her about my toe. I thought that was the end of it, and I sped up as best I could after that. It wasn't. I was called into the manager's office after work.

Yes, they said all the usual things - "don't be negative around the customers." (But what if it's true, and I shouldn't have done all those dumb things?) "Don't be hard on yourself." (It didn't seem like I was being hard on myself at the time.) The one manager was frustrated because she thought I'd told people she was angry at me for getting me to speed up. (Actually, I thought it was another manager who had called me - I thought the other one was on the register at the time.) And I got told AGAIN to not ask people if they want the stickers for the free pots and pans and just give them to them. (But what if they don't WANT those stickers? I'm not doing that promotion, either. Not everyone needs more pots and pans.)

I held off until I got on the Black Horse Pike to cry. I cried all the way home after that, and then cried for another half-hour on the floor of my living room when I did get home. I wish I could have talked to someone, but there was no one at home to talk to. Everyone I knew was either at work themselves, or didn't want to hear about my work problems anymore. After all, I have a job. How can anyone who is working and has a job and is making money when the economy is so horrible have any problems?

My stomach is still in knots, I feel so horrible. I feel like a total idiot. Why can't I do anything right? What's wrong with me? Why do I fly off the handle like this? If I'm so smart, why do I do such dumb things?