Relaxing Balance

Started off today with my first Yogawood class in two weeks. (I skipped last week to join Linda and James in Philly.) Not bad, 10 people plus the teacher Karin. It wasn't too hard, mostly "heart openers" and work on the back and shoulders. Other than I still can't do full wheel (and can barely lift myself for bridge), I did ok.

Ran some errands after class. The thrift shop was still closed, so I went to the Collingswood Library to ask about volunteering. A guy friend of mine who used to volunteer at Friends In Deed works there and introduced me to the manager, also a young man. They said I could start at Monday from 10-12, organizing the DVDs and books downstairs. That's awesome...and exactly what I was hoping for. I really want to get some more experience - and contacts - in the local libraries.

Stopped briefly at Friends In Deed next to drop off donations and say "hi" to Erica, then headed back the long way across Newton River Park to Oaklyn. Also stopped at CVS to get a bottle of water; I was parched by then.

After I got home, I parked the bike and had tuna and vegetable soup for lunch. When lunch was done, I wrapped and boxed my sister Anny and brother Keefe's birthday presents. (Anny's birthday was on the 10th, but I don't know her new address in the Villas or her phone number.) I took the box over to the Oaklyn Post Office and mailed it...which ended up costing the last six dollars I had until I get my paycheck.

When I got in from the bank, I swept the porch. It really, really needed it. Last week's nor'easter had left huge piles of leaves that I was starting to bring into the house. I shouldn't have let it go for so long, but I wanted the leaves to dry before I tried cleaning up the mess. It took me twice as long as usual to get done.

Spent the rest of the day relaxing, baking Pumpkin Muffins, and watching various holiday films. Ran Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, the Barishncov The Nutcracker, and the two Muppet Babies Video Storybooks I found at the Collingswood Library.

The Video Storybooks are limited animation versions of the Muppet Babies picture books released in 1987. A live-action Kermit reads and narrates a short story about one-or-more of the Muppets. Cute if you can get around the cheapness of the production - the "animation" is barely moving versions of the books' drawings. If I Was Like Kermit, about Fozzie's wish to cheer up his best friend, and the very sweet What's a Gonzo?, about Gonzo's search for others like him, are my favorites of the tapes I found today.

(I have some fond memories of the tape with What's a Gonzo?. That was one of the first videos my parents bought after Dad got a VCR back in the mid-80s, and we had it for at least a decade. I never saw that tape again until today, and I never saw the other two volumes until I picked up Vol.3 at the Oaklyn Library and Vol.2 today.)

Here's two of the stories from that "Vol.1" tape, in full.

Baby Piggy and the Giant Bubble

What's A Gonzo?

And no word yet on how union negotiations are going...