One Tired Woman

I kept busy on what turned out to be a warm but not humid day. First thing on the agenda was the arrival of the house inspector at 10:30. Before he came, I made my bed, changed the sheets, did the dishes, and vacuumed the whole apartment. I was airing out rugs when I heard a commotion at my front door. Not only had the inspector arrived, but so did a middle-aged man and a 10-ish boy. The latter turned out to be Andrew's brother Mark and his son, who have been cleaning up the yard. They were working on taking down some of the more unnecessary trees, including an older one that had been blocking my window on the music area side of the apartment and Miss Ellie's kitchen window overlooking her garden.

Oh, and the inspector said everything was fine. The only problem were loose boards on the steps leading up to my place. Mark actually fixed them later in the afternoon. The kid was even nice enough to bring up my mail before I left for the Haddon Township Library.

Haddon River Park was busy today! There were tons of people around, enjoying the still relatively dry weather. I dodged a dog walker and her two sons with a huge brown sheepdog who looked more like a big, fuzzy bear, other bikers, and kids and their parents at the playground. For all that, Cuthbert Road wasn't hard to cross at all, and McDonald's wasn't too bad.

Neither was the Haddon Township Library. While it was pretty busy with people getting things done before the holiday, they had lots of help and not a lot for me to do. I organized kids' DVDs, pulled foreign titles from the adult ones, and shelved the few DVDs coming in. I didn't bother taking anything out today. I had plenty to watch at home, including more Three Stooges.

I made a really quick trip to Super Fresh on my way home to pick up maple syrup; their prices are cheaper than Wegman's or Acme's. I also grabbed Cool Whip and a graham cracker crust on sale to make a mousse pie. On my way up to the Westmont Plaza, I pushed my bike past what appeared to be two cop cars and an ambulance cleaning up a car accident. One of the cars was ok, and it didn't look like anyone was really hurt (though I heard complaints about someone's back) ...but the smaller dark blue/black car had a really smashed front bumper. I've always thought the back entrance to the Westmont Plaza across from the Library was dangerous. I've had a few close calls. The street is narrow, and visibility isn't great, especially coming from down by the schools. People pull out of the library and the Plaza often without looking or slowing down.

I went straight home after Super Fresh. Spent the rest of the afternoon at my place. I made a Strawberry-Blueberry Swirl Mousse Pie. Used French Vanilla mousse mix, swirled Strawberry-Banana Jello mix through it, and added fresh farm market blueberries. After that, I continued cleaning. I scrubbed the bathroom, which badly needed it. I probably should have done it last week, but I ran out of time. I swept cobwebs out of random corners, including a gigantic one attached to the light fixture in the kitchen!

Continued running more Stooges shorts all afternoon as I worked. Some of Shemp's best-known shorts are in Volume 6. In the oft-seen public domain short "Brideless Groom," he has to find a wife by 6PM, or he loses his inheritance. He and the others capture a bank robber using nothing but their tailor equipment and their wits in "Sing a Song of Six Pants." The trio want to prove themselves as reporters in "Crime On My Hands," but they have a lot more than a scoop to deal with when Shemp accidentally eats a diamond that a robber wants back - NOW. And in "Heavenly Daze," a departed Shemp finally gets to give out the smacks to his buddies when he's sent back to Earth to keep them from swindling a society couple.

Sick though he was, Curly did manage to get a few good shorts of his own. "Monkey Businessmen" sends the three to a sanitarium for relaxation...but the scam the owners have going is anything but relaxing. "Uncivil Warbirds" pits the Stooges on opposite sides of the Civil War. Will they finally make it back to their sweethearts in one piece? It's Three Stooges and a Baby in "Three Loan Wolves," when three pawnshop owners discover an infant in their store and raise it themselves.

I wish I could have stayed with the Stooges. Work was awful all night. The four and a half hours I worked felt way too long. It was busy right up until 9PM! We didn't have nearly enough help that late, either. How long have people been putting off their holiday shopping? It's still the beginning of the month, too. Then there was that guy who whined to the manager because we dare to shut the self-checkout lines down at 9PM. What's wrong with standing in line with two items? Does it kill you? I was so happy to finally get out of there.