Free As A Bird

The weather couldn't have been more perfect today. I threw my windows open to a bright, sunny spring morning that was already in the upper 60s at quarter after 9. I made Chocolate Chip-Peanut Butter Pancakes for breakfast and turned on the WOGL Brunch With the Beatles show. "Award-winning songs" was the them today. The last one played was the Beatles song released in the late 90s, "Free As A Bird," that I remember hearing on the radio a lot then.

Called Mom after breakfast. She was looking up other ways to get up here on Google Maps. She was fine. My brother slept in after helping with security at Lower Cape May Regional High's spring musical; my stepfather was (understandably) out riding on his motorcycle. We talked about the baby shower yesterday and her frustration with Craig's odd but well-meaning mother (who seems reluctant to cut the apron strings with her sons), and about my mixed feelings on being an aunt.

We also had a nice, long talk about sewing and crocheting doll clothes. I'd love to make simple shorts, skirts, sweaters, and pants for Molly and Jessa, modern tights for Jessa, and muffs, hats, and gloves for all of the girls. It'll probably be a long time before I can make elaborate Victorian and Colonial outfits for Samantha and Felicity, though I may crochet or sew them capes and cloaks. I have a pattern book for Samantha that I bought forever ago, but never really used. I may have to break that out again. I don't care if the clothes match the books. I've seen some wonderfully creative doll outfit designs online. As long as the clothes look even vaguely right for the time period and good on the dolls, that's what matters.

And they aren't the only ones who need clothes. While I've had no problem finding clothes for the fashion-doll sized Sailor Soldiers, the Cabbies are a somewhat tougher find. Carrie in particular needs a new outfit badly. The Velcro on her original yellow dress from 1984 no longer wants to close, and the green overalls I bought for her a few years ago don't really fit. Dulcie's missing her original tights, too.

Mom and I talked for so long, we were on the phone for over an hour! The Beatles show was more than half-over by the time she finally said she had to do some chores. I did the breakfast dishes, then started dinner. The slow-cooker beef stew I made a few Sundays ago was so tasty, I decided to do it again. I tossed beef chunks, a sliced red potato, a carrot, two stalks of celery, some onion, water, a can of fat-free, low-sodium beef broth, and some pepper and spices into the Crock Pot.

Rose called as I was slicing celery. She said yesterday that she'd like to come visit me and return a book on bread baking she'd borrowed a few weeks ago. Mom had said that she would probably be tired after the baby shower yesterday, and it turns out Mother really does know best. Rose said she badly wanted to take a nap, could she come later in the afternoon? Sure! I rarely make major plans on a Sunday, even on days when I work.

I finally left the the Crock Pot and my dinner simmering away and went for a nice, long walk around Newton River Park. There was never a nicer spring day. By the time I was swinging at the first, red-and-yellow playground across from the Parks of Collingswood condos, it was in the mid-to-upper 70s. A beautiful breeze drifted across the river, cooling the kids running around slides and riding their bikes. I hadn't seen so many boats on the river since the 4th of July! Men fished on the docks. Teenagers jogged with pals or threw Frisbees. People walked their dogs and pushed strollers with sleepy babies.

I walked a little longer this time than I did a few weeks ago. Though the snow is long gone, there's still some muddy spots in places that show the effects of last week's storms and flooding. I ducked around bikers, fishermen, and really big mud puddles as I headed to the narrow, steep stone steps that lead to East Oakland Avenue.

From there, I went back up to the White Horse Pike for lunch. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, pretty much my only lunch choices on the Pike on a Sunday are Taco Bell, WaWa, or a diner. I didn't feel like a big sit-down lunch, and I definitely didn't want Mexican fast-food. I opted for a 4-inch hoagie, a soda, and a bag of the new Coconut-flavored M&Ms from WaWa instead.

Headed home after that. Said "hi" to Miss Ellie, who was organizing recycling and various gardening tools on her front porch. Even she couldn't bring herself to sit inside all day when it was so nice outside! Waved to my neighbor Michael on the way in. He was blowing leaves in his backyard, and I don't know if he saw me.

After lunch, I went right back out again. It was still too nice to be inside! I tossed my red Frisbee around Veteran's Park next-door for about a half-hour. Alas, this wasn't as good of an idea as my walk. Half the park is still really muddy and swampy from the storms last weekend. I slipped and slid a lot. I was only out for about 20 minutes to a half-hour.

Decided when I got in that I needed a rest after all that running around, so I worked on crocheting for an hour and listened to some of my old rock cassettes from the 80s. Rose finally arrived around 4. I showed her the two chain stitch rows and one chain/single crochet row that I'd made into collars for some of my WebKinz. She enjoyed my home-brewed Raspberry Herbal Iced Tea. We discussed her delight over her impending child, our worries about our sister Anny and her ongoing troubles with her sons and being a single parent, how well the baby shower went yesterday, and her exasperation with her boyfriend's mother.

(And yes, she did finally bring that bread book back. Good. I need to make bread rather badly this week.)

My cookie tin was empty again, but I haven't had time to fill it. I finally made Lemon-Wine Sugar Cookies. Used the basic low-fat "Stir and Drop Sugar Cookie" recipe from the Betty Crocker Cookie Book and replaced some of the oil and the vanilla with lemon juice and white cooking wine. Alas, it still tasted more like sugar than lemon or wine; maybe I'll cut a little sugar next time.

I had a delicious dinner of Peppered Beef Stew, a banana, and a Cranberry-Orange Muffin while listening to Broadway cast albums. "The Dress Circle," the other radio show I listen to on Sundays, was on after dinner. The theme was "An All-Star 42nd Street." Most of the selections came from the 1980 original or 2007 revival casts, but they mixed in vintage recordings of Al Jolson singing "About a Quarter to Nine" (which was from his 1935 vehicle Go Into Your Dance) and Bing Crosby singing "You're Getting to Be A Habit With Me."