Healthy Balance

Started out a chilly, sunny day with yoga class. Karin had fallen downstairs and bruised her rear a few days before. It wasn't anything serious, but she wasn't sitting down too well...which is likely why we concentrated on standing poses, back bends, and poses on our stomachs.

Went straight to the Collingswood Library after class ended. There wasn't really much to do. I put one DVD away and organized the shelves. I wanted to do some other things in Collingswood, so I just left early.

I had checked out the health food store in Collingswood before...and I remembered why I never bought anything there when I did it again. Healthworks is jammed into one of the older storefronts a block down from the Library. It's rows upon rows of containers of soy and protein powders, vitamins and supplements of every stripe, and every kind of low-fat, low-sugar, sugar-free, salt-free, and gluten-free product you can imagine.

Problem is...what they sell is expensive, especially compared to similar products at the Acme. It's one thing for some items like the soy powders and some of the more exotic items like date sugar that you genuinely can't find anywhere else, and for the dried fruit and beans sold in bulk. But for boxed products like tea, baking items, cookies, and pasta, you're better off buying them cheaper at grocery stores. I purchased a small, fat coconut macaroon and went on my way.

My next stop was Frugli, a brand-new consignment shop that opened a few doors down from Healthworks. I mostly just browsed. There were lots of clothes, including children's clothes, and some toys, books, and DVDs, but nothing else. It was definitely more upscale than the thrift shop, and not as much fun.

I made a quick stop at Rite Aid next to restock my NyQuil, then at WaWa for milk and a Peppered Turkey and Cheese Wrap (saying 'hi' to Jodie on my way in - she was grabbing a bite on her lunch break). Went straight home after that. I took the long way across Newton River Park, enjoying the brisk late winter air and soft sunshine. The chill had cleared out the park. I saw one college student on her way home from classes and a flock of Canadian Geese going for a mid-day swim.

After I got home, I had lunch and went for a nice walk. I went down to end of Goff Avenue for a look at the crystal-clear river and the view that went all the way to the Ben Franklin Bridge. After that, I hiked around behind Kendall Boulevard for a while. The neighborhood is beginning to show the first signs of spring. I can see new grass sprouting under the old, new leaves just developing, and the first flowers poking their heads out of the soil.

Spent the rest of the afternoon at home. I practiced my crocheting on some of the tiny balls of leftover yarn Mom sent yesterday. I cleaned the bathroom, which desperately needed it. It was gross. I finished Scoop to Kill. I worked on editing Bowery Boys stories.

(Incidentaly, I really enjoyed Scoop to Kill, a mystery about an ice cream shop owner whose niece's favorite college professor is accused of killing a student teacher...and then dies herself. I liked it a lot more than the Cupcake or Cooking Class series, enough to look around for the other "Murder A'La Mode" novel and the one coming out in June. The plain-spoken main characters and rough-and-ready Texas setting are refreshing changes from the typical neurotic midwestern sophisticates who usually turn up in these books.)

Speaking of the Bowery Boys, I ran one of the later movies while having salmon, steamed broccoli, and honey-glazed carrots for dinner. Bowery To Bagdad is one of the boys' rare encounters with out-and-out fantasy. Sach discovers a genie in a lamp (the very unlikely Eric Blore - his last movie), but Slip naturally wants in on this. The genie finds himself with two very vocal masters! Meanwhile, a group of none-too-bright gangsters want the lamp for themselves...and so do the descendants of the lamp's original owner.

One of my favorite later stories is quite a bit of fun. I especially get a kick out of seeing two classic character actors, Eric Blore and Bernard Gorcey, get drunk together. My only complaint here is that the villains are some of the most annoying and least menacing of the entire series, including the supposedly seductive molls.