Happy Birthday To Me!

Thank goodness after the stormy weekend that I opened my eyes to a gorgeous birthday morning! It was chilly and windy, but nothing abnormal for April in Southern New Jersey. I treated myself to Chocolate Chip Pancakes and strawberries, then watched two Disney birthday-themed cartoons (the 1942 Mickey Mouse vehicle Mickey's Birthday Party and the blockier Pluto's Party from 10 years later) and the original 1980 Strawberry Shortcake special, The World Of Strawberry Shortcake, which was set on the title character's 6th birthday. My ride to work was a bit windy, but otherwise just lovely.

(Incidentally, if there's one thing I'd love to find, it's more children's records. The only ones I have are my two Disney book-and-records. As kids, we had a Care Bears album, a record version of The World Of Strawberry Shortcake, two Raggedy Ann and Andy records, a record of the fairy tales Thumbelina and Hansel and Gretel, two large book-and-record versions of the Disney Cinderella and Snow White, and smaller book-and-records of Sleeping Beauty and Peter Pan. I can still sing some of the songs from those records and recite bits and pieces of the dialog.)

I worked early today, 8:30AM to 2:30PM, and while it was quiet when I went in, by the time I got out, it was steady but otherwise not a problem. My co-workers were so sweet. Marlene announced my birthday over the intercom, and Anne-Marie, who had the register behind me, bought me a birthday cupcake. :)

I saw my landlady Miss Ellie going in her side of the house when I came home. I told her I'd be glad to work on raking the front yard and doing the garden tomorrow afternoon and Wednesday and Thursday morning. She said the forsythia bush in the front yard needed pruning, too - it's about ready to EAT the front yard, it's so big. (I know. I've run into it many times coming home from work.)

When I came in, I got a quick birthday greeting from my mom, then headed out for a long bike ride around Oaklyn, Audubon, and Haddon Heights. I forgot most of the little stores around here are closed on Mondays, but Willie the Woodsman, the lovely little gift shop on Pine Street in Audubon that carries WebKinz, was open. I bought a WebKinz rabbit and two packs of the cards. The owner recommended a nice Italian restaurant/pizzeria near-by. It was only about 4PM then, so I rode around a while longer.

I ended up on East Kings Highway. I rode past all the fancy, huge mansions and wound up back at the White Horse Pike. There were more little shops and an ice cream parlor, and while the shops were closed, I'll have to remember they're there the next time I'm in that area. I stopped quickly at the big CVS on the corner of East Kings Highway and the White Horse Pike for Sensodyne toothpaste (which the dentists recommended for my poor, sensitive teeth) and wound up treating myself to another new-style Care Bear, a modern version of True Heart Bear. She can be found in the Classic line, too, but I liked her little half-smile, which seemed rather rueful for a Care Bear. (Quite a difference from Oopsy's big, eager grin!)

I made it to the Italian place around 5, by which time I was starving. I had a tasty Chicken and Broccoli Rabe Sandwich with Smoked Mozzerella. It was probably more expensive than it should have been, but not bad. I took home half the sandwich and a few slices of garlic bread. (They also gave me a dish of some spicy tomato-olive concoction to start off with. Whoa! That was TOO spicy for me to take more than a few bites.)

It was quarter of 6 by the time I got out, so I just headed home. I spent the rest of the night playing with my new WebKinz and ordering birthday presents for myself off Amazon.com. Amazon seems to be the cheapest place to get the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD sets. The original Golden Collection was my first animation set and my third DVD set (after the two Monkees TV sets), but they're so expensive I haven't bought one since then. FYE has them for as much as $70! I finally opted for a used copy of Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Three, which has two of my favorite Looney Tunes cartoons, Porky Pig's Feat and Robin Hood Daffy. I also bought two of the adorable Strawberry Shortcake fairy tale adaptations (The Little Mermaid and Rapunzel), and several of the Parker Brothers Strawberry Shortcake books of the 80s, some of them for pennies.