Long Day's Journey Into Balance

Did the morning class this week. I wasn't going to have time for the afternoon class, and anyway, I wanted to talk to the teacher, Karin. Surprisingly, given the cool and sunny weather, it was busier than the afternoon class but not nearly as full as the morning classes usually are. We worked on different standing poses that would allow for risk and pushing our edge.

I didn't get a chance to talk to Karin after class (she had an appointment in Philly), but I did chat with some of my fellow classmates. One is an artist with kids whose husband runs a restaurant; she barely sees him. The other is a journalist who had come from Southern California for a job...only to lose it last year. We had a good chat about difficulties finding a job, especially when you don't know a lot of people. (The girl from Hollywood left her whole family back there, and it was a big one.)

I felt a bit better when I arrived home. I had a quick leftovers lunch while finishing Max & Ruby. The rabbit pair both learned a lesson in "Max's Bath." Ruby wants Max to take a bath after his messy lunch. Max would rather keep eating lunch...and knocking his sticky snacks into the bathtub when his sister's back is turned.

"Max's Bed Time" was rather sweet, and definitely one I can relate to. Max will not sleep without his favorite red rubber elephant. Ruby loans him her toys, but he wants his own...even if he has to search all night to find it! I sleep with a lot of stuffed animals myself. I know I'd miss them if I couldn't find them.

Work wasn't too bad. It was on-and-off busy, not quite as crazy as earlier in the week. Of course, I also worked in the middle of the afternoon. By the time it was getting busy, I was almost done. They wanted me to stay later, but I turned them down. Apparently, there's some big-wig coming tomorrow, and the head manager is going crazy trying to get ready. If he wants to pull everyone from up front to clean the store, that's on him, not me. He's lucky I came in on my day off at all.

I went straight to the gym after work. I'm not really going to have the time tomorrow. I did a really nice session on the elliptical machine. I loved Channel 6 Action News' "Down at the Shore" segments. It looked like they were broadcasting from the Mariner's Landing Raging Waters water park on the Wildwood Boardwalk. I used to go there on occasion when I lived in Wildwood. The guy who was doing the weather for the shore happily tossed his equipment to one of the camera men, then joined the kids sliding down the wide slide that goes into the children's area. Later, I saw him swing on a rope into the kid's pool (doing much better than I ever did on the rope).

It was right before a class, so Lucile Roberts was quite busy. I had to wait for several arm machines. I worked with weights until they were empty. By the time I was finished, the class had started, so I did my stretching in the private training area.

Even with two options closed, it was still really hard to choose somewhere to eat dinner. I finally opted for Chick Fil 'A. I'd gotten my order in when I realized that my wallet wasn't in my backpack. I felt so embarrassed! I had to cancel my order and run back to Lucile Roberts. I got so lucky. The wallet was on the floor near where the class was still going. I grabbed it and hurried out before I really did lose it.

Actually, I'm glad I did cancel that order. I decided that I could get a much better-tasting sandwich and fries combo for the same amount of money or a little more at Applebee's...and I was right. I had a delicious Bacon Cheddar Grilled Chicken Sandwich and yummy steak fries while watching the US Open on one of Applebee's new flat-screen TVs. Applebee's recently remodeled to give it more of a neighborhood vibe. The junky memorbillia on the walls had been replaced by photos of the Phillies, the Eagles, and the Audubon High School's teams, the Green Wave. I also saw two lovely shots of Merchant Street and the clock near the Auction House at night. I sat next to a photo of Audubon High's band that looked like it was taken this year, and one above it that appeared to be a black-and-white shot from the 50s.

After I got home, I sorted through this week's supermarket flyers and coupons, then had slices of Chocolate Mint Feather Cake for dessert while running some Three Stooges shorts. I thought "Three Little Beers" was appropriate, given what I watched during dinner. The Stooges join a golf tournament put on by their beer company in order to win a hundred dollar prize...but let's just say they're not US Open material. "Hoi Polloi" has the trio being trained to be gentlemen to win a $10,000 bet. These not-exactly-fair Stooges are hardly society material, and they prove it by making a mess of their "coming out" dance.