Berries Jubilee

Once again, I had a really hard time getting to sleep last night. I have no idea why this time. It was warm, but there was no thunderstorm, or even clouds. I guess I just have a lot on my mind right now.

I was still tired when I got up this morning and switched on today's American Top 40 re-run. We went back to June 1981 for some really hot tunes from the era where disco went out...and hit both some really hot stuff (Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl," George Harrison's "All Those Years Ago," Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes,") and really strange stuff. (The top hit for that week was the "Stars on 45 Medley?" Really?)

Made a fairly quick farm market-bank-yard sale run next. I got in the bank just after they opened and was in and out. The farm market, as usual, was bustling. People (and dogs) were out shopping for produce, dairy, meat, and honey for their graduation barbecues and Father's Day get-togethers. I saw black and red raspberries for the first time this year and picked up a pint of the latter. Also grabbed spinach (which should be ending soon), cherries, mushrooms, a jar of blueberry butter, a cucumber for my salads, and two pints of blueberries. (One for snacking, one for baking.)

I rode around looking for yard sales for a while. I did check out a few, including two on East Park Avenue on the border of Haddon Township and Oaklyn near where the Newton Diner used to be, but had no luck. I ended up riding home a little earlier than I have the past few weeks.

Maybe it was just as well. I want to finish up the cleaning before Lauren arrives on Thursday evening. When I got home, I put everything away and worked on vacuuming. I've been putting it off until closer to when Lauren's coming, but I just couldn't anymore. The kitchen was a mess, with bits of leaves and rocks (the front door goes into the kitchen) and peanut shells everywhere.

I finished vacuuming with enough time to eat lunch and change into my work T-shirt before heading out again. I made one more yard sale stop at Audubon Park before heading to work. No dice. I saw lots of stuffed animals and videos, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Work was busy all afternoon. In addition to Father's Day, there's graduation parties and birthdays going on all over the place. Not to mention, most kids got out of school this week, and their parents now have to stock up to feed their children all day. There were no really major problems, and I was in and out fairly quickly.

I inaugurated the 2011 summer season a little early with this year's first showing of Recess: School's Out while having leftovers and farm market zucchini for dinner. The only feature-length outing for the hit Disney cartoon releases the misfits of Third Street School - smart aleck leader TJ, wimpy Gus, smart Gretchen, tomboy Spinelli, athletic Vince, and big and sweet Mikey - into the world for the summer. Everyone but TJ is going to summer camp, much to his frustration. He's ready for a boring summer...until he uncovers a strange light in the windows of the school cafeteria. He brings the others back in order to help him investigate. Just what's going on at the Third Street School, and how is their principal and his 60s past involved?

Even if you aren't a fan of Recess, this is still a really fun cartoon. The characters are universal enough that you don't really need to know the show to understand what's going on. (It might help to be a fan of late 60s classic rock, though. They're literally peppered throughout the film, and Robert Goulet - Mikey's singing voice - does a cover of "Green Tambourine" over the credits.)