Oh Mighty Balance

I slept in this morning. Read The Clue In Blue for a while, then finished Summer Magic and watched cartoons during breakfast. I didn't get to the Oaklyn Library until around 12:30. I mainly organized their DVDs, which did need it. They've dropped the "New Releases" section as too difficult to keep up with...but someone just tossed them in any old way, and they needed to be put in the right places. The board books, as usual, weren't in great shape either.

Opted to take out two DVDs (well, one DVD and a two-disc TV show set) from Oaklyn for the first time in ages. The Lorax is my favorite Dr. Seuss book and special. I've been looking forward to seeing the movie that came out in March, but the Haddon Township Library hasn't gotten it in yet, and I can't afford to buy new releases. The Oaklyn Library had just gotten it last week. Oaklyn's had the 1975 live-action kids' TV show The Secret of Isis for ages, but I've never had the time to watch the whole thing. I wasn't around when this show was on Saturday mornings, but I love the premise - a science teacher finds a 3,000 year old medallion while on a dig that endows her with the powers of the elements and animals.

I ran the first two episodes of Isis when I got in about an hour later. Andrea Thomas (Joanna Cameron) changes into Isis to save the day and help her friends, fellow teacher Rick Mason (Brian Cutler) and student Cindy Lee (Joanna Pang). The pilot episode, involving Isis discovering the secret behind an apparent UFO invasion, was the better of the two episodes I watched today. The second, where Cindy Lee is dared to climb a fence and discovers a car-theft ring, is a little preachier and less action-packed.

I finally headed out to the Collingswood Library around quarter of 3. There was even less to do there than usual, despite it being busy with kids out of school. I did get the kids' DVDs organized. They needed it rather badly. The adults' section was also organized, though they weren't quite as bad. There was nothing to shelve upstairs. I left a little early to buy a bottle of water from WaWa for yoga class.

The Gentle Yoga class was surprisingly busy today. In fact, there were at least 9 people there, counting the substitute teacher Scott, the most I've ever seen at the 4PM class. It would seem that Yogawood has started to advertise the late afternoon classes to teachers and students looking to wind down after the busy school day. I mostly talked to teachers just out of school or college kids between classes.

Scott put everyone through the gentlest paces possible and still make people sweat. I'm glad I opted for the quieter class. My heel spur is still really sore. I called the Foot and Ankle Center earlier, and they said they are once again having problems getting paperwork back from the union and Amerihealth. It'll be a few more weeks before I get my orthopedics, so I'm going to get another injection on Tuesday afternoon.

I finally sat down on the front stoop of one of the side street buildings after class and called my sister Rose. I called her twice earlier, but never heard for her. Just as I thought, she couldn't get together with me today. She had worked all day and was tired. Plus, she'd just been at Dad's...and found out our Uncle Ken, Dad's older brother, is in the hospital again. Uncle Ken is very, very sick, and this is the second time he's been in the hospital in several weeks. He's been chair-ridden since then. I'm really worried about him.

I was going to go to Haddon Hair Designs to cheer myself up and get my hair done. The girl at the desk rather brusquely told me they were closing and didn't stay open past 6. I just went down the street to the Hair Cuttery instead, as I have the past three times I've gotten my hair cut. I didn't regret it. This time, a cute college-age girl with a perky dirty blond spiral perm did my hair. She did a fabulous job. It's a bit longer than I got in February, and layered just right. (It's not always easy to get my frizzy mop layered correctly.)

After that, I strolled around a little. I peeked in a few stores, including a small thrift shop that just opened a few weeks ago, but saw nothing I liked. I stopped at Cafe Antonio's for a quick dinner of cheese and mushroom pizza slices and a fountain Diet Pepsi. Clouds built up ominously behind me, as they had off and on all day, but it remained just humid and cool.

It happened when I was walking down Haddon Avenue, on my way to the parking lot behind the stores where my bike was locked. My right ankle turned violently. I could hear the bones. I let out a scream and almost fell, but I grabbed a black post formerly used for parking meters before Collingswood put in automatic meter machines to keep myself from going down. I could walk on it, but it hurt like hell. I stumbled into one more store before finally getting to my bike and heading out of Collingswood, dodging the late rush hour traffic.

I was originally going to just go straight home and put my ankle on ice, but my thoughts kept returning to Dad and Uncle Ken. When I got on West Clinton, I swung down Newton Avenue and over to Hillcrest instead of going straight. I'm glad I did. Dad and Jodie were the only ones home when I arrived. I had a nice talk with them about Uncle Ken and everything that's going on there over green tea and slices of Cherry Cake (Rose apparently made it, and it's incredible - she doesn't give herself enough credit for being an excellent cook) and Entermann's new Cinnamon Crunch Loaf Cake.

It seems Uncle Ken was having trouble with his bowels. Not a surprise, given he spends all day in a chair. They just decided to send him to the hospital. Dad's just as upset as Rose and me about Uncle Ken, a man who has been energetic and fun-loving all his life, being confined to a chair. It doesn't help that Dad also saw my stepmother Kaye waste away from cancer before her eventual death in 1997 and has had his own experience with cancer, not to mention Uncle Ken is his brother, and he knows him better than anyone.

I'm at home now, my ankle finally on ice. Maybe it's just as well that it's supposed to pour for a lot of tomorrow. I was going to do the usual gym-groceries-paycheck run, then spend the rest of the day doing chores around the apartment and resting my heel spur. I need my paycheck badly (not to mention my schedule for next week), but I may either cut out the gym or go easy on it. I really want to lose the weight, but my feet have enough problems as it is.