"The Winter Winds Came Blowin' In..."

It was cloudy and chilly but not that cold or really that windy when I headed out this morning for today's errands. My first stop was the library to do this week's volunteering and finally return the Strawberry Shortcake and Broadway DVDs. I spent an hour putting DVDs away and organizing children's books. I spent about an hour there, but I had other things I wanted to do today.

It had rained a little while I was in the library, but the clouds were starting to break up as I headed over to the Collingswood PATCO. I hopped a train to Haddonfield, but though I saw the bus as I headed into the station, I didn't have the money for it. The ticket machines always give you dollar coins, which the buses don't take, and I didn't have any other small bills. I went to a bank around the corner from the bus station instead, then browsed in Haddonfield for an hour and had lunch at the little pizzeria a few blocks down King's Highway from the PATCO before finally catching a bus to the Deptford Target.

While I didn't find everything I needed today, I did manage to get some things. I bought a new pair of sunglasses (I can't find the ones I bought while on vacation last fall anywhere), underwear, and three of those fancy new incandescent light bulbs at Target. I also found Seasons 4 and 5 of Garfield and Friends for $7.99, far cheaper than I've seen it anywhere else. I grabbed Season 4. I don't think I've ever seen the last two years of Garfield before. These would have debuted after Mom had the cable turned off in March 1992.

I had less luck in the Deptford Mall. Much to my dismay, their FYE was gone. I KNOW it was there when I went to the Deptford Mall with Jessa in July! I ogled WebKinz in various card stores instead, finally settling on a Black Cat for $8 in a half-price sale at Hallmark. I also grabbed much-needed socks at JC Penny and a new pair of cheap sneakers to run errands in at Payless Shoes.

Getting home was a pain. For one thing, the bus that was supposed to be picking us up at the Deptford Mall broke down and had to wait for another one to come. The weather had worsened by then, too. It was still sunny (with lots of big, fat clouds), but the wind was howling and it had dropped at least ten degrees since I'd started out for the library this morning. Riding home from Collingswood was hard. I could barely push against the wind.

When I did finally get in the door, I discovered that the bulb in my kitchen celing light blew out. Perfect! I was going to put the 60 watt incandescent bulb in my porch light, which keeps dying, but I used it in the kitchen light instead. I love it! It is a little less bright than the regular bulb, but it's also less harsh, with a warm, sunny glow. I put the 75 watts in my bedroom ceiling lamp, which also keeps blowing out. I hope these last a bit longer than the regular ones! I'll eventually replace all of my lamps with the incandescent bulbs, but for now, I'll just buy one for the porch light tomorrow or Saturday.

Oh, and meet Luna, my Black Cat! Named for Sailor Moon's Guardian Cat, the virtual Luna will live with Boo the Bat in their Halloween Bed and Breakfast. Her Witch's Brew Tub will be the perfect item to finish my Halloween Bathroom! The plush Luna will stay with the Sailor Moon dolls until (and if) I can find a real Luna on eBay. She doesn't really look like the Luna on the show (her eyes are green instead of yellow and she doesn't have that crescent moon on her forehead)...but close enough.