Spring Out Of Holiday Blues

Headache or no headache, I had to get the Christmas tree and garlands down if I was ever going to get any cleaning done. I did it this morning. Took me two hours to do the tree and an hour to get the remaining items, including the garlands and nativity. I also hung the winter-themed decorations I bought yesterday (including tissue paper snowflakes I was glad to get, because I forgot to finish making my paper ones).

I stuck my head out as I ate a simple lunch of Dannon Light Cherry Vanilla Yogurt, Triscuits, and a banana...and was rewarded with a blast of cool breeze and warmth! It had to be at least in the mid-60s. It was really too nice to stay inside, so I took some cold medicine, threw on a sweater, and went for a nice long walk.

My first stop was my friend Erica's to finally deliver the Christmas cookies I made for her and her mom and kept forgetting to bring over. I saw her car, but didn't see her. I thought she might have been somewhere with her mom or sister and left the cookies on her doorstep.

(I didn't find out why her car was there but she wasn't until later. I thought of knocking, but if she was napping, I didn't want to disturb her...and as it turns out, I did the right thing. Erica left me a message on my answering machine, and through much coughing, I discerned that she'd found the cookies but was feeling absolutely horrible and wouldn't have been able to ask me inside anyway. She sounded horrible, the poor dear. I thought my headache was a pain; in addition to coughing, she sounded raspy, stuffy, and slow. I'll get back to her in a few days when she's hopefully feeling better.)

After I left Erica's, I wandered down Newton Avenue and over the bridge across Nicholson Road into Audubon. It was just such a wonderful day, sunny and cloudless, with the hint of a lovely breeze. There were quite a few people out, too, especially for a Tuesday in January! I saw older people eating lunch in their back yard, and many parents with little kids not ready for school yet. I kept walking, past Market Street, down three or four more blocks to Pine.

I originally visited Act Two Collectibles last summer, but I haven't been able to get back there since. Act Two is an awesome collectibles store, filled with everything from Depression glass to 80s Happy Meal toys. As tempting as some of the toys were, I wound up with three very different books - a 1977 book-and-record for the first Star Wars movie, a 50s German/Viennese cookbook to add to my collection of vintage International cookbooks, and my favorite find, the 1980 children's novel The Adventures of Holly Hobbie. Holly Hobbie isn't a character I'd normally associate with Indiana Jones-style globe-trotting, but this story seems to involve a girl whose professor father has disappeared studying the Maya, and she and Holly, an ancestor who suddenly appears after the girl sees her portrait in a New England farmhouse, go after him. Sounds like a Holly Hobbie version of the Lloyd Alexander Vesper Holly books, which I love!

I went next-door to a lovely little gift shop and found that they had a wonderful selection of WebKinz, including four brand-new ones I hadn't seen yet, the big and Lil'Kinz Penguins, the Turtle, and the Love Frog! They also had a small display of the January "Pet of the Month," the Lil'Kinz Golden Retriever. That tiny yellow pup was just too cute, and I thought the little penguin would go well with my newly-hung winter decorations.

So...meet the babies of the family, Debbie the Golden Retriever and Elvis the Penguin! Debbie is shacking up with Sundance the Raccoon, who'll help take care of her. Elvis is on his own in the winter-themed room, The Igloo, for now. (The room that came with Debbie was made into a conservatory for the Sparkle Plant and Venus Fly Trap, and any other rare plant item I end up with.) Debbie is our girlie-girl; Elvis is the family goofball who loves jokes.

I spent the morning listening to 80s pop and classic rock, so the Lil'Kinz got classic rock names. Deb was named after 80s teen favorite Debbie Gibson and "Blondie" front woman Deborah Harry. Elvis...well, I think most of you know where HIS name came from. ;)

I stopped by Abbie Road on Market Street on the way back to say "hi" to Bob, the sweet owner who is a friend of Erica's. I caught him just in time; he said he was going to leave in 20 minutes to see his teenage grandson play hockey. I chatted with Bob and bought The Best of Linda Rondstat on CD. I've liked Linda Rondstat since I was really little, but I've never had much from her besides my two jazz cassettes.

After a quick stop at a bakery down the street to treat myself to a small but tasty chocolate cupcake, I headed home. My head was back to pounding by then, so I read and listened to jazz for a little while before doing yoga and making chili for dinner.

My knee is getting so much better. I can bend so much further now, and I can almost do that "Simple" Sitting Pose (which isn't simple for someone who's injured her left knee twice in the last two years). I can ride my bike normally, without using just one leg (pushing with one leg until the pedal is almost up, then pushing down part-way with the bad leg - not the fastest way to ride a bike, but serviceable while the knee healed). I haven't worn the knee brace since October.