Hail, Hail, the Leaves are All Here

It was a gorgeous, sunny, 60-degree day when I awoke this morning. I read The Lost Temple for a while and wrote in my journal. After I got out of bed and got dressed, I had yogurt and an apple for breakfast while watching some Armed Services-themed Bowery Boys. Here Comes the Marines is the only movie where the Boys plausibly join the Services; they're all drafted. Sach proves particularly incompetent...until he gets buddy-buddy with the head of the base, who knew his father. He's made a sergeant and proceeds to flagrantly abuse his power and his whistle. His fellow Bowery Boys, including best friend Slip Mahoney, do their best to try to bring Sach back down to Earth. They finally end up using him as bait to trap a smuggling ring.

Headed for the Haddon Township Library next. It was fairly late by then, almost 11, and I had a lot I wanted to do today. I wasn't at the library for very long. Mostly organized DVDs. There were quite a few today, including a large pile of kids' DVDs. I didn't really feel like dealing with check-out, though, so I didn't take anything out today.

Next on the list was shopping for my sister and brother's birthdays. My sister Anny turns 26 today; my brother Keefe will be 18 next week. I stopped at JoAnn's and got some bath lotion, lip gloss, and a cute necklace with a bell for Anny to wear to her job at Big Lots for Christmas. Stopped at Super Fresh for those cheaper grits. Had a quick slice of broccoli and mushroom pizza at Capitol Pizza on the White Horse Pike.

When I got home, I put everything away and went right back out again to rake leaves. It was the perfect day for it, too. Clouds rolled in briefly while I was running errands, but nothing came of it. By the time I was raking, it was sunny and gorgeous again. It's still windy, but not so bad that I had trouble raking. Once again, I got the entire yard done and my porch swept, not to mention earned 20 dollars. And once again, it felt good to really DO something, instead of just standing behind a register.

Went inside after I finished the sweeping. I made dinner while running the last of the four Bowery Boys Armed Services comedies, Clipped Wings. By 1953, when this one was made, the emphasis was fully on comedy, and the Boys were down to four and soda shop owner Louie. In fact, it's just Slip and Sach who end up soldiers this time. They inadvertently join the Air Force when they visit the base to ask about a friend who was arrested for spying. The highlight is Sach ending up in a barracks filled with women, including an older female sergeant who doesn't appreciate his wandering eyes.

Dinner came out very well, too. I made Baked Chicken Legs in Marsala Sauce and steamed Brussels sprouts. For dessert, I used up the home-made whole wheat bread that didn't quite bake right and made it into a delicious bread pudding from the Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book, with skim milk and egg whites substituting for whole milk and whole eggs. Still came out very sweet and creamy.