Summertime, and the Livin's Easy

Actually, today was more like an ordinary day off for me. I slept in, then volunteered at the Oaklyn and Haddon Township Libraries this morning and early afternoon. I finished off organizing the paperback pre-teen and teenager book collection at Oaklyn. I did Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, The Borrowers, A to Z Mysteries, The Boxcar Children, and Paddington Bear. I also weeded out books that really belonged on the regular young adult shelves (like the Judy Blue books and Sarah Plain and Tall), and series they only had one title for (like Katie Kazoo Switcheroo and Captain Underpants). The Oaklyn Library relies heavily on donations, which is why they only have one of some of the most popular series and tons of the older ones. Speaking of the latter, I shifted them to the top shelves and pulled Nancy, the Hardy brothers, the Borrowers, and Paddington down to lower shelves, where younger kids could reach them.

I made a quick stop at Super Fresh (and forgot what I went for, which was a lint brush), then headed to the Haddon Township Library. They were quite busy when I arrived. People were bringing piles of books back during their lunch breaks. I mostly shelved DVDs, for kids and adults. There weren't many on the return cart when I arrived, but the ladies just kept adding more.

I eventually took out two books and four DVDs. My friend Lauren was sending me a bunch of Bowery Boys/East End Kids movies this week, so I limited my adult DVDs to When Harry Met Sally. I'm not normally a fan of romantic comedies, but Rose has recommended it to me for years. I also grabbed three animated DVDs - Barbie and the Magic of the Pegasus, the Disney Tinker Bell movie, and a couple of episodes of the 2002 show What's New, Scooby Doo?

It was almost 2:30 when I finally left the library. I was going to go to the Indian restaurant in Westmont for lunch, but it was just too late. Besides, my trip to the Wildwood boardwalk on Monday left me craving pizza. I stopped at Capitol Pizza on the White Horse Pike and had a bottle of water, a slice of Vegetable Pizza (picked off the olives - I hate olives), and sugar and cinnamon raisin cookies for lunch.

Rode home after lunch, put the books away, and spent the next couple of hours editing this month's Monkees role-play. Lauren's moving in mid-September, so we did this month's role play early, and will be doing next month's early as well.

I decided around 5:30 that I really needed a swim. I'm so glad I did. It was very relaxing. The water was a little colder than it has been, lower 80s, but once I got in it and got used to it, it was fine. I had a wonderful swim. Dolores and Uncle Ken were around, but they were entertaining family on the porch and never came over to the pool area. Dad is still on his cruise ship job. It was delightfully quiet and peaceful.

Watched Barbie and the Magic of the Pegasus while making Chicken with Tomatoes and Roasted Peppers, corn on the cob, and cucumber salad for dinner. Pegasus is one of the better of the Lionsgate Barbie As titles. It's an original tale of a princess, Annika, who loves to skate, but is forbidden to by her overprotective parents. When an evil sorcerer turns her family into stone, she must travel to the Cloud Kingdom with the enchanted winged horse of the title, a cute foundling polar bear cub, and a troubled blacksmith with a shady past in order to create the Wand of Light, the only thing that can reverse the sorcerer's spells.

This was a far more involving story than Twelve Dancing Princesses, another Lionsgate title, and I think it's now one of my favorites. Both Annika and her male companion are excellent characters, and Lionsgate managed some nice effects amid the still-waxy CGI. (There's an option to play this in 3D. Alas, the Library's copy didn't come with the glasses.) And Shiver the Polar Bear Cub is just way too cute!