Beyond the Gray Horizon

I really slept in today - I didn't get up until 10:30! Probably just as well. Though the rain was long gone by then, it was still cloudy, windy, and cold. I wrote in my journal and read The Night Flyers, then had breakfast while finishing Jammin' With Cherry Jam.

Moved to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while doing a project I've been putting off for ages. I have an old Easter basket my mom gave me that I use for current sewing and crocheting projects. While it does hold scrap fabric and ribbon well, it's not so great for small items like pins, crocheting needles, spools of thread, and measuring tape. I was tired of spending ten minutes searching for everything every time I wanted to work on something. I separated the plastic case into compartments with the little slides that came with the case. There's a place for everything that could fit, even those random tiny balls of leftover yarn Mom sent me last year.

The theme of this Clubhouse DVD set was stories about animals. The title episode had the entire gang running a farm. When Pete's big windmill blows away all the animals, Don, Mick, and Goofy have to chase after them. Something similar happens in "Goofy's Petting Zoo," with fewer animals and a zoo setting instead of a farm. "Clarabelle's Clubhouse Moo-sical" has the crew appearing as characters in Mother Goose rhymes after the chickens who were supposed to perform lose their voices.

The last two involve matching shapes and comparing sizes. Goofy tries to build a house for his old friend Baby Redbird in "Goofy the Homemaker," but Pete keeps blowing away his flimsy materials. The gang finally helps him come up with something stronger. In "Donald Hatches the Egg," Donald finds a large egg that grows attached to him. While the others try to find the egg's mother, Donald keeps an eye on it.

Headed out after "Clarabelle's Clubhouse Moo-sical" ended. I had some errands to run, starting with finding that UPS drop box. I rode a few blocks past CVS, a block down from the enormous Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood. Finally found it in the parking lot of Volunteers of America, right near where the White Horse Pike meets the highway. I considered riding down the highway to the diner I saw on the other side of the road, but I didn't feel like dealing with the traffic.

Rode back down to Collingswood's Theater District instead. The "theater district" on Collings Avenue is really two blocks of restored buildings with a couple of storefronts. There's a 60s building with a pizzeria and a laundromat, what looks like a 70s-vintage convenience store/deli, and several Victorian stores with restaurants, a dance studio, and a much-loved mom-and-pop pharmacy. I took a brief look at the deli to get something warm to drink...but their hot chocolate/cappuccino machine had nothing but hot water in it. I moved on.

Ended up at Sorrento's Pizza, between the laundromat and an empty storefront in the very 60s building on the corner of Collings Avenue and the White Horse Pike. Even the aging sign screams mid-late 60s. The small, narrow restaurant reminded me of some of the pizza joints on the Wildwood boardwalk - a narrow counter/kitchen area, with a small dining area with classic hard red booths in the back, next to a small hall filled with all kinds of junk and kitchen items, along with their TV. The boy behind the counter was really sweet. I bought a slice of cheese, a slice of White Vegetable, and a can of Cherry Coke Zero for $5.60; only Capitol Pizza in Oaklyn has cheaper prices. The pizza was really good, too, nice and salty with a soft crust.

Stopped at CVS on the way home. I was after conditioner, but they were out of what I wanted. I ended up with two half-price boxes of Christmas cards. They were far more than I usually spend on holiday stationary, but still cheaper than they were. I especially liked the smaller cards with the wreath on the snowy red fence.

Though the sun was trying to break out, it was still cold and windy. I spent the rest of the evening at home. Tried a new cookie recipe. The Pillsbury cookie cookbook Anny gave me last year has a Christmas recipe for basic shortbread bars. One half is topped with pecans and chocolate chips. The other half is topped with candied fruit. I replaced the pecans with coconut and the candied fruit with the last of the maraschino cherries. They came out very well, a bit rich but quite tasty.

Put on The Cat In the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas! as I baked. Ralph the Baby Reindeer accidentally winds up at Nick and Sally's house after the Cat's Christmas party. The group tries to return him to Freeze-Your-Knees Snowland, but the Thing-a-Ma-Jig isn't working. They end up in the African veldt, where elephants help them find water, singing with dolphins in the ocean, and dodging marching crabs on Christmas Island. When they finally get him home (and find out who's been causing the Thing-a-Ma-Jig to malfunction), Ralph and his parents have a surprise for all of them...

Very cute, as we learn about the migration patterns of elephants, dolphins, crabs, and reindeer, and how groups communicate and stay together. This is also one of the few (if not the first) time we meet Nick and Sally's parents in the flesh, instead of just disembodied voices.

Ran Ice Age: The Meltdown while making Tuna Casserole from Julie's Cooking Studio for dinner. Sid, Manny, and Diego are now running a day camp for prehistoric animal kids. Scrat...is still chasing his nut. Manny's been depressed about being one of the last mammoths, and the antics of the other two aren't helping. When a turtle warns of an impending apocolypse and our trio of unusual heroes see a rapidly rising sea, they encourage their neighbors and their families to clear out, then do the same.

On the way, they encounter a pair of comic relief possums named Eddie and Crash.  They also meet Ellie, a a mammoth who's been raised as a possum and believes she's one. As the five make their way across the defrosting landscape, Manny finds himself defrosting towards the wacky Ellie, too. Meanwhile, Sid is doing his best to help Diego get over his fear of water...but it's not easy to convince the stubborn big cat that everyone is afraid once in a while.

I think this is my favorite of the three Ice Age movies I've seen. The story between Ellie and Manny is touching, there's some well-done suspenseful moments, and Scrat is as funny as ever. (Including his ascent to nut heaven in the end.) I do recommend that you see the first one before any of the sequels to make sense of the relationships, though.