Troubled Balance

Since I had counseling today anyway, I began the morning with yoga class. I was hoping it would make me feel better, but even after crying into the teacher Karin's shoulder, it wasn't as big of a help as it usually is. I just couldn't concentrate, and it seemed like the other eight students in the class were all doing better. And I still can't do shoulder stands.

Grabbed water at WaWa quick after class, then headed to the Friends In Deed Thrift Shop on the next block over to say "hi" to Erica. As we chatted, a man arrived holding a large shoe box. Turns out the box was loaded with CDs he recently added to his computer that he wanted to donate. Now, I don't believe that you should put all your music in one place. What if the computer breaks down? Not to mention, downloading albums takes up a ton of space. I'd rather have that space for writing programs. I was more than happy to browse through the box and grab a few for myself.

Turns out the guy had really, really awesome taste. I eventually bought The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, The Beatles' Help! and Magical Mystery Tour, Matchbox Twenty's More Than You Think You Are, Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet, and the double-CD sets of Queen's Greatest Hits I&II and Pink Floyd's The Wall. Also bought three little porcelain bears that looked like the duo I bought for Thanksgiving and Halloween last week, only these guys were dolled up for Christmas. All together, the CDs and the bears came out to exactly $10. Cool.

Browsed in the Collingswood library for a while after leaving Friends In Deed. I had lunch at The Painted Cottage Cafe, a little deli/cafe across the street from the thrift shop that's best known for their Sunday brunch. I wasn't really that hungry. Just opted for bean and ham soup and a cinnamon-raisin bagel. The soup wasn't bad, but the bagel was $2.25, highway robbery for something I could get at the Acme for 65 cents. I enjoyed my soup and read the Trivial Pursuit cards in a box on the table before heading to counseling.

I told Scott about my tumultuous month, Rose's pregnancy, Halloween, and my lousy couple of days. We discussed my fear and anxiety about finding a job and how stressful the Acme job is getting for me. He basically said to continue looking into library jobs and make that a goal, to try to work around obstacles like the lack of transportation.

The day had started out sunny and gorgeous. Clouds had slowly begun to roll in around the time I was getting out of counseling. The wind was picking up, and it was getting colder. I had thought of going out to the Deptford Mall or for a bike ride today, but I no longer had the money, my mountain bike wasn't up to it (the gears are acting funny and the seat is broken), and the weather definitely wasn't with me. I made a short stop at a new organic vegetable store a block from Genesis (they didn't have much, but I bought two sweet potatoes from the friendly owner anyway) before heading home.

Spent the rest of the afternoon quietly at the apartment. I did the monthly budget. (I spent a lot on food last month, but just a little over on other items. Should be better this month.) I baked Pumpkin Oat Bread. I listened to Pet Sounds and the second Queen disc. I watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and this year's first out-and-out Christmas special, Muppet Family Christmas. Made a simple greens-peppers-and-cranberry bean salad and pan-fried sweet potatoes and turnips.