To the Library, Bat-Cucumber!

I started off a sunny, chilly morning with a some memories of Christmas lights for Helium and doing some research online. As of this morning, my Disability still hasn't gone through. I hope they didn't mean 14 WORKING days. Considering that Thanksgiving was in there, if they're only counting weekdays, it may not arrive until next week! I really, really need that money!

Had a quick lunch around 1:30, then headed out for my first Haddon Township Library volunteering session in months. It was absolutely gorgeous today. Cold, but sunny and breezy, with a lovely blue sky overhead. I was surprised at how quiet Newton River Park was. I saw maybe three people and two flocks of Canadian geese.

The library was very busy. I arrived right as school was ending, and there were quite a few people working at the computers and digging around for movies. As they did at Oaklyn yesterday, the kids' DVDs VERY badly needed to be organized. The adult DVDs weren't in quite as bad of shape. I only had to fish a few foreign titles out of the adult movies. There was a nice stack to shelve, too.

The kids' DVDs took so long, I ran out of time to shelve books. I did take out quite a few DVDs, though - the original 50s Sabrina with Audrey Hepburn, the original Rat Pack Ocean's 11, John Carter, a collection of spooky-themed Laugh-A-Lympics episodes, Pete's Dragon, the newest Veggietales spoof League of Incredible Vegetables, and Barbie In a Christmas Carol.

There's a new store in the Westmont Plaza called Tuesday Morning that was just opening a few months ago, when I got hurt. I've never heard of this store and decided to give it a look. It turned out to be pretty much a smaller version of Big Lots - a mini-department store that carries closeouts, odd lots, and overstocks of slightly older items. They had a fairly impressive toy section. I found an adorable WebKinz "'Mazin' Hamster." These tiny stuffed hamsters are supposed to open up an entire section of 3-D games, in addition to being characters in their own right that can wear clothes. (And it was only $1.99!)

My next stop was Super Fresh. They were having good sales on brown sugar, peanut butter, Betty Crocker cake mix, and Mazola canola oil (I had a coupon for the latter as well). I probably shouldn't have bought the Gingerbread Peeps, but they're my favorite Peeps. (And unlike previous years, where the gingerbread-man-shaped Peeps had a faint sugar cookie flavor, this year, they actually taste something like real gingerbread, with a definite spicy flavor.)

I didn't have as much luck at Komfort Kare. I wanted to pick up my new, smaller ankle brace, but the receptionist couldn't get a hold of the insurance company to find out how much they cost. I waited twenty minutes. It got dark out. I finally just gave up and told her I'd be back next week. I ended up making a quick stop at the Dollar Tree next-door instead for a large container of Mr. Clean-esque cleaner a smaller version of the Lifesavers' holiday bag from last year.

When I finally got home, I made chicken soup from leftover vegetables and canned chicken for dinner while running the Veggitales and Barbie. Everyone's favorite Biblical moral-spouting edible plants play Avengers-like superheroes in The League of Incredible Veggies. Long-time Veggietales superhero Larry-Boy (Larry the Cucumber) is joined by Thingamabob (Bob the Tomato,) Vogue (Petunia Rhubarb), and S-Cape (Squash) to battle an evil mad scientist who uses a laser to pinpoint their fears. When Junior Asparagus helps them out, they decide he's ready to join the group as Ricochet. Junior has to overcome his fears of just about everything when the mad scientist freezes all the heroes...and threatens to put Bumblyburg on ice as well.

This is my introduction to the world of Veggietales' in-house superhero Larry-Boy. It was pretty fun, especially Junior's reaction to his new super suit.

Switched to Barbie In A Christmas Carol as I finished dinner. I've rented this one every Christmas since it came out. In this version, the Scrooge is Eden Starling, a popular but spoiled and egotistical opera diva in Victorian England. "In a selfish world, only the selfish succeed," she repeatedly tells her fellow performers when she insists they stay to rehearse her show instead of enjoying Christmas with their families. Needless to say, three ghosts and a group of orphans, including one rather sickly young lady, teach Eden a lesson in charity and giving.