The Kitties and the Papas

Since today was counseling day anyway, I decided to finally bring my donations to the Friends In Deed Thrift Shop a few blocks down in Collingswood. I tried to bring them two weeks ago, but the store was closed for the entirety of the President's Day Weekend. Actually, it may have been just as well, since I added another bag of donations to the pile. I went through my shirts yesterday and got rid of a lot of Land's End, Eddie Bauer, and L.L Bean turtlenecks and mock-turtles I'd had as far back as high school. Most of them were faded, stretched, and waaayyy too big for me by now.

I now had too many donations to carry on the bike, so I walked to Collingswood. It was very cold, probably about 30 degrees, and still windy, but crisp and clear under a blue, cloudless sky. I browsed in the thrift shop for a little while after giving the volunteers my bag, then went across the street to the Collingswood Variety Store to look at their WebKinz selection. They'd stocked some of the new ones since the last time I'd been there, including the first I'd seen of the Himalayan Cat, Schnauzer, Kangaroo, and Pink and White Cat. (For those of you in the Camden suburbs area who are looking for retired WebKinz, they also had the Raccoon and the regular-sized Gorilla.) I debated the Kangaroo before finally falling for the Himalayan's amazing blue eyes. (Linda's right; they DO have blue eyes you can see across the room!)

After I left the Variety Store, I decided to spend a half-hour or so at the Collingswood Library a block or two away. I never got past the main room on the lower level. The front entrance had two tables and several boxes of books and other items for sale...including crates of records. For some reason, the Collingswood Library is the only media center I know of in South Jersey to still carry LPs. I went inside and asked a guy friend of mine who works at the Library how much the records were. He said "25 cents." Sold! I ended up buying a studio cast album for the musical Brigadoon, a Christmas album, a soundtrack album for the MGM musicals Three Little Words and Annie Get Your Gun, and a huge four-album set of songs from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, Memory Lane. (I would have bought even more if many of the records were in better shape. I loved the two late-60s Disney soundtracks for The Happiest Millionaire and The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, but both were badly scratched.)

I stopped at the Tree House Cafe briefly for hot chocolate and a peanut-butter-chocolate cookie (just a small one - I wasn't really hungry) before heading for counseling. Had a lovely chat with a large, good-natured fellow from Camden named Michael before Scott appeared. (Considering it's supposed to drop to 20 degrees tonight, I hope the poor guy got his roof done!)

I told him that the past few weeks had been a mix of frustration (work) and nothing great. I have finally started losing weight again. After being on a plateau since November, I dropped to 194 as of this Monday. I hope this means I'll finally be losing weight again. I was beginning to think I wouldn't be able to lose any more.

I'm now going to concentrate on finding out more about Drexel - how to get there, who to contact, how to get in, what their Library Science program's like - and finding out more about children's and school librarians.

I had just enough money for a quick (and overly sweet) Chai Latte at WaWa before heading home, where I spent the rest of the day. I did my yoga and played with my new WebKinz.

Meet Cassie, the regal Himalayan Cat! As majestic as the mountains her ancestors were reared in, gentle, good-natured Cassie has an air of quiet mystery around her that baffles most of her siblings. She was named in part for singer "Mama" Cass Elliott...and because I like the names "Cassie" and "Cassandra" and think they have the right air of the mystic for an Asian kitty! Cassie came with the Jeweled Table and a Blue Wagon. (I can see the Lil'Kinz Debbie and Elvis begging her for rides now... ;)