Where's the Storms?

I got up early today in order to volunteer at the Haddon Township and Oaklyn Libraries. I won't have time for the rest of the week! I work 7 hours tomorrow and 8 1/2 hours Friday and Saturday. This will be the last day this week I'll really have the time to get any regular chores and errands in. (Though I will be grocery shopping on Friday.)

When I headed for the Haddon Township Library around 10, it was warm, but a hard wind and pale gray clouds kept it from feeling as hot as yesterday and Easter. Perhaps this is why I saw so many people in the park today. I dodged dog walkers, elderly couples out for strolls, families pushing strollers, and joggers. The park is absolutely gorgeous this time of year. The daffodils are disappearing, but many of the trees are in bloom. Our trees are so amazingly green this year. I've never seen such a bright shade of pale green.

The Library was fairly busy when I got in, perhaps because of the iffy weather. Though there was a big pile of DVDs, they also had more volunteers than usual to put them away. A lot of teens who were off of school were around to help out. I concentrated on the kids' discs. Found three to take out - more Max and Ruby and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, along with a Rugrats spoof of "Jack and the Beanstalk." The only books I picked up were two more Calvin and Hobbes comics, Homicidal Jungle Cat and The Days Are Just Packed.

Next stop was a quick one at Dollar Tree. I needed sponges and a container for brown sugar. I saw that they had cheap bags of dried cranberries and grabbed one of those, too. Went down a few doors to the Westmont Bagel Shop for lunch. I had a Turkey and Provolone Sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes on a Cranberry Whole Wheat Bagel. I sat in the back, next to the Flyers' memorabilia, of course.

The Oaklyn Library wasn't nearly as busy. It was an hour before their 2PM daily closing when I arrived. I organized DVDs. I noticed that the young adults' hardback shelves had been massively paired down. This was a good and bad thing. Now I wouldn't have to strain to put anything away...but many of the ancient classic titles you can't find anymore were gone. I pulled some paperbacks that didn't have scan bars and will pull more next week.

The clouds were getting darker and starting to gather on the horizon. Between that and the library being very close to the afternoon closing, it was time to head home. The local forecast on the TV at the Bagel Shop had mentioned possible storms for this afternoon.

We did have a storm today, around 3...for all of five minutes. I did see some lighting and hear thunder, but it wasn't around for very long. It was mostly just warm. I put on the air conditioning again.

I started a crocheted skirt for Jessa. I cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen. The bathroom really looked awful. The tub was so disgustingly scummy. I would have put it off until next week if the bathroom hadn't looked so bad. Since I had the cleaning items out, I did the kitchen, too.

Ran cartoons during and between cleaning. Minne's Masquerade let Minnie and Daisy solve mysteries and learn about shapes, days of the week, colors, and the importance of teamwork and being a good friend. My favorites were Minnie's Calender Pages and Super Spy Daisy. The Calender story had Minnie and the others chasing after pages of her calender after a strong wind blows them away and learning about the days of the week in the process. Super Spy Daisy spoofed James Bond tales. Daisy, the two mice, and Pluto chase Big Pete, who is after Clarabelle Cow's secret cookie recipe. Loved the car chase!

Once again, most of the Max and Ruby stories were repeats. The new ones were the ones I ended up enjoying most. In Max and the Three Little Bunnies, an annoyed Ruby tells Max the story of "The Three Little Bunnies and the Big Bad Max" after he blows down hers and her girlfriends' paper doll house. Ruby's Water Lilly is a pool-bound variation on the "Max inadvertently teaches Ruby to do something" plot with Grandma thrown into the mix. Grandma is the coach for Ruby's synchronized swimming team. Ruby and her friends are delighted to show Grandma their cute Esther Williams-esque routines...if Max and his floating toys will get out of the way!