Balance and the Family Get-Together

I slept until nearly 10, then had a late breakfast and finished the Scooby Doo cartoons. While the majority of the episodes on the Around the World set came from The Scooby Doo Show, a couple came from it's late-70s follow up that introduced Scrappy Doo, and the last was from the early 80s New Scooby Doo Mysteries featuring Scrappy, Scooby, and the gang. Scrappy doesn't bother me, but I know how other people feel about him, so if you have problems with him you might want to stay clear of some of the shows on the second disc.

Scrappy did figure into one of my favorite episodes on the second disc, the New Scooby Doo Mysteries two-parter "The Ghost of the Ancient Astronauts." You read the title right. Velma's archeologist Uncle Cosmo discovers a jewel that will lead to a treasure guarded by the ghosts of thousand-year-old astronauts. A female smuggler and her men are after the jewel and the treasure, too. Mystery Inc finally solves the case...with a little unexpected help from space creatures!  (And yes, it does feel like George Lucas saw it before making Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.)

Another good one was the earlier "The Ozark Witch Switch" from the mid-70s show. The gang take shelter from a storm in a cabin that belongs to a family of hillbillies. They believe the ancestress of their feuding ancestors has come back to life to turn them into frogs. They seem to be right, until Scooby and the gang find out what she's really after.

I finally headed out around 12:30. My first stop was the Oaklyn Library for this week's volunteer session there. It was fairly busy despite being a gorgeous day. The big clouds in the sky were holding off, leaving sunshine and fresh wind. I had other things to do today, so I just did a quick check on the DVDs and organized the children's picture books.

It was a lovely day for a ride to Haddonfield. The back bike tire had been rubbing against the frame ever since Richard changed my tire last month. He said he thought he might have knocked it out of alignment. After several wrong turns, I finally made it to King's Highway and the Freestyle Bike Shop. The boy needed all of a few seconds to tighten the tire. (The back tire is really too wide, but it was the only tire I could find when I changed it.) A little oil, and I was on my way.

I had expected fixing the bike to take a LOT longer. I had more time for a decent lunch. The trouble was, I didn't have a lot of money on me, especially if I wanted to do yoga later. I rode down Haddon Avenue. Checked a nice little coffee shop with lots of people eating outside, but they had $6.40 for a slice of quiche! No way. Maybe on a day when I had money to burn. I moved on and over the train bridge into less-tony Westmont.

Most of the restaurants in Westmont are attached to bars. Westmont is one of the few towns in this area that allows liquor. (In fact, the only other one is Oaklyn.) I did finally find three in the same strip mall as the Yogo Factory. Opted for the pizzeria, Finzio's. They were pretty much a smaller version of Tu Se Bella in Audubon, with slices of gourmet pizza tantalizingly calling on the counter and seating in front and to the side.

I sat in the seat directly behind the TV. Ordered a slice of white pizza with orange-ish chicken and peppers and a large bottle of water. I ended up needing the water. That chicken was HOT! And I don't mean temperature-hot. I mean melt-your-mouth-kill-your-tongue SPICY! I hate spicy food. Turns out it was buffalo chicken. I picked it off and hastily ate the rest.

Good thing I planned on visiting Primo's Water Ice on the next block anyway. A small chocolate-peanut butter cup went a long way to soothing my fiery mouth and running nose. I love their water ice, and this one was divine, nice and soothingly chocolatey, with real chunks of peanut butter. The girl at the counter said the director of the movie Tuesday at Morrie's once tried some and loved it.

After a quick stop at Walgreens', I moved on to the Collingswood Library for some more volunteering. This time, there wasn't much to do. I shelved a Wii title and a few movies. School was out by then, and there were a lot of people around, too many to get much else done. I browsed in a guide book on New York City until it was time for yoga.

I enjoyed yoga class today. It was a smaller class today, only five people with the teacher Lee, and two were new. We concentrated on basic standing and balancing poses. I really like the afternoon Basic and Gentle classes better. It's easier to concentrate when there's fewer people in the room, and going slower makes it more intense. I never sweat this much in the morning classes! I had a nice chat with Lee after class about getting out of the Acme and trying to meet people, too.

Dad had called during my class. I called him back while I was outside, but got the answering machine. I decided to swing by Uncle Ken's house anyway. I hadn't seen him and Jodie in a while. I rode through Newton River Park, enjoying the lovely weather. I dodged dog-walkers and teenagers on their way home from sports practices.

Dad, Jodie, Rose, and Khai were all in the driveway when I arrived. Dad and Jodie were having pizza, and Rose and Khai were visiting. Did I want to join them? Sure, why not? I didn't have any big dinner plans. We chatted over pizza and mozerella sticks. Khai went in the pool for a little while. Dad opened the pool last week, and it's still really cold, barely in the 70s. Khai had a wonderful time splashing about, but his lips were blue when his mother and grandmother finally pulled him out. We warmed him up over slices of mushroom and cheese and episodes of Team Umazoomi and Jeopardy!

I finally left after Jeopardy! They mentioned during the show that a thunderstorm was headed this way. Indeed, there were dark clouds rushing in, even as I swiftly got my bike home. Someone must have read the radar wrong. At press time, I haven't seen anything but clouds and wind.