Rainy Day Balance

It rained overnight, but it was merely cloudy when I headed to Yogawood for this week's class. It was a big one, too, 16 people including the teacher Micki. Good thing she just concentrated on squats, stretches, and Warrior type poses. I can do most of that except for the squats. I just can't lift myself. I'm too big.

There were two Amazon.com boxes waiting for me when I got in. Lauren sent me two small presents. The first is a cord that'll allow me to connect my old printer to my new laptop until I can afford a new printer. (The printer was Mom's for many years and has to be at least four or five years old.) The other is Alton Brown's baking book, I'm Just Here For More Food. Lauren's a big Good Eats fan. She knew I was looking for More Food after I found his first, cooking-oriented book at the thrift shop earlier this year.

The weather behaved long enough for me to head over to the Acme to pick up this week's paycheck and browse at FYE. I was going to get the new Pete's Dragon 2-disc set, but I found something even better. I've seen the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 2 on sale for weeks now, but I never got around to buying it until today. (This means I now have the original 3 Golden Collection sets. The next three don't have quite as many cartoons I really want beyond old favorite Ali Baba Bunny and a couple of specials. I probably won't pick them up until their prices come down, the way the earlier ones have.)

That Sonic that was being built behind the Chick Fil 'A looked like it had finally opened. I considered going there...but then I saw the long lines and full outdoor tables after I got out of FYE. I decided pizza would probably be cheaper and a lot faster. I ended up with slices of pineapple-canadian bacon and tomato-basil.

I was finishing up the pineapple when it started showering. Hard. It was light at first, but it came down faster and faster, until it was pouring heavily. I waited out the shower under an awning next to FYE, watching all the cars pass through Sonic and the waitresses in yellow raincoats bring orders to customers. I felt sorry for the waitresses and was suddenly glad I hadn't opted for Sonic.

The moment the weather looked like it was letting up, I hurried over to the Acme to do this week's grocery shopping. I didn't really need much. I bought chicken breasts, two packs of ground turkey that were on sale, small eye round beef steaks, Acme and Breyers light yogurt, whole wheat flour, and peanut butter (I ended up with Acme's Wild Harvest Organic Chunky).

Went home, put everything away, and headed out to the PNC Bank branch at the White Horse Pike on foot. I received a nasty shock there. I don't have as much money in the bank as I thought I did. I must have mixed up the amount in my savings account with the amount in my checking account. I'll have to take some out of my savings account. My rent will be late, but not as much as it would be if I just waited for my next paycheck.

It started pouring again as I walked home from the bank. This time, I did get wet, despite bringing an umbrella. I could take a hint. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching Looney Tunes and baking chocolate chip "Old School Muffins" from Alton's book. (They came out very well, BTW, chewy but not too sweet.)

While not quite as good as the first or third Golden Collections, there were a couple of bona-fide classics in Volume 2, notably One Froggy Evening and What's Opera, Doc? Other favorites of mine in this set include the live-action/animation You Ought to Be In Pictures in it's original black-and-white, the Bugs vs. rodent classic Rhapsody Rabbit, and a personal favorite from Mom and Dad's old yellow public domain tapes from the North Cape May Acme, A Corny Concerto. (How many times are you gonna see Bugs Bunny in a bra and tutu today?)

(And the rain ended sometime around dinner. It's not raining now, but it's supposed to do the on-off thing for the rest of the weekend.)