Winter Was Warm

By the time I got up this morning, the fog had lifted, but the clouds remained. It was ridiculously warm for this time of year too, probably into the lower 60s. It was so warm, I was fine in my red Cape May hoodie sweatshirt throughout the day.

Needless to say, I dodged a rather large crowd in Newton River Park this morning. There were all kinds of people out and about, despite it still being wet and humid. I rode past joggers, fishermen, walkers, and one college-age woman with the cutest dog; it had whitish fur with brown and tan patches.

The Haddon Township Library was fairly busy. I didn't do much with the kids' section, mainly because I couldn't. The three shelves are so overloaded, it's hard to keep series and letters together anymore. They either need to buy a fourth shelf or weed out their children's collections. (Do they really need 30 different Bob the Builder, Pokemon, and Sesame Street sets?) I had an easier time pulling foreign and kids' titles from the adult shelves. Wound up taking out more Jake and the Neverland Pirates, along with Time After Time (I STILL haven't gotten to it), the recent theatrical 21 Jump Street (amazingly enough, I heard it was pretty funny), and Quantum of Silence (with the most recent James Bond film in theaters, I figured I'd finally get to the last one).

I rose straight to Haddonfield after leaving the library. Well...almost straight. I usually cut through Westmont, but the bridge that leads from the Westmont neighborhoods to Crystal Lake Roads was being repaired. I finally found another road that worked and had no more problems.

Had lunch at Amino Juice and Burrito Bar when I got in. I ate at this unusual organic foods eatery on a visit to Haddonfield last year and enjoyed it. Alas, my "Porky & Petunia" petito (small burrito) wasn't nearly as tasty as the one I had last year. It was pork, lettuce, and pineapple salsa...but other than the slightly spicy salsa, the pork was really kind of bland. It also made a mess; my sweater smelled like pork by the time I got home. The juice was much better. It was a "Jersey Girl" juice blend, a sweet, frothy mix of peach, banana, and strawberry.

I browsed in Haddonfield for a little while after lunch. I was disappointed to find that the Happy Hippo Toy Store had heavily reduced its stock of WebKinz. They only had a small basket of them, mostly Yetis. And sometime in the last six months or so, the gift shop Jamaican Me Crazy renamed itself to the less-imaginative Forever Young and moved to the campus of Rowan College in Glassboro.

Thankfully, the therapist's office wasn't hard to find. Ms. Stahl has two rooms on the side of a large Victorian building, just a few blocks away from the main shopping district. I was surprised to walk in and see a small room overstuffed with toys, books, papers, a big, soft futon chair, and a huge stuffed teddy bear in the window. I arrived a little early, so I settled down with a book on classic toys and read until she was ready to receive me.

My appointment went very well. Ms. Stahl turned out to be a cheerful blond woman in her early 50s. Her office was even smaller than the entrance, but a bit brighter and better organized...though she did have a closet filled with toys, including what appeared to be a vintage 70s-80s Little People House, like the one my sisters and I had when we were little.

We mainly discussed the basics. I outlined the reasons I was there - to improve my confidence, work on social skills and networking so I could find a better job, and learn to deal with events and problems in my life that have crippled me for decades. I explained about my complicated family situation, my trouble in school, the early puberty (I developed at age 9; had my period a year later) and being moved to the Special Services School District, my parents' marital troubles and how that impacted me, and how I ended up in Wildwood and eventually moved up here. I also told her about my difficult fall and how it lead me to seek counseling for the first time in three years.

Ms. Stahl was really sweet and upbeat. She said she could understand why I was having problems making use of my communications degree; the Internet was eliminating many communications jobs even as I was graduating college. And I just don't have the confidence to go more aggressively after jobs. I'm quiet, introverted, and prefer to take life at my own pace...exactly the opposite of what most jobs at sites like Monster.com are advertising for. I don't want to end up at another job that will make me as crazy as the Acme.

I still really want to work from home. Though I was sometimes bored being stuck at home for two months, it did give me a chance to start writing again and finally move towards becoming a freelance writer. The trouble is, I still don't have much of a portfolio. There's the whole "I don't sell myself well" thing, too. Not to mention, those two online business courses I took last year only ended up freaking me out. I didn't want to start a retail business; I just wanted to figure out  how to sell my writing.

There's also my weight to consider. I've had weight problems since my early development between 1988 and 1990, and they've just ballooned since. I'd like to go back to the gym, but I don't have the money. Paying for yoga classes costs enough as it is. There's also the fact that, as Mom reminded me in the fall, a lot of food that is good for you - especially fruits and vegetables - aren't cheap. (And they certainly aren't at this time of the year!)

I'll be going back to Haddonfield on the 29th. Ms. Stahl pretty much said until then to try to eat better and work on my writing. We'll probably go more into my past and my hobbies next time.

I made a few stops on the way home. I wanted to see if JoAnn's had any Christmas yarn on clearance. They had Christmas yarn, but it wasn't part of their clearance sale. I did end up getting a few other things on clearance, though - two more containers of cookie and baked good holders (one a Wilton, the other Martha Stewart), another clearance crochet pattern book (this one themed with "comfort" items to donate to those in need), and a cute little bear bobblehead who was also on clearance. He had a chipped ear, but a little paint should fix that.

As I rode across the Westmont Plaza parking lot, I saw cranes removing Super Fresh's signage on the building and on the mall entrance signs. Sigh. They officially closed last Friday. I'm going to miss them. Their produce was terrible and they didn't always have the best prices, but they did have decent sales on some things, like maple syrup, grits, and cooking spray.

Managed to get across Cuthbert Road at rush hour long enough to pick up money and milk at Rite Aid. (I gave Ms. Stahl all the money I had on me for my co-pay. Unlike Genesis Counseling, she doesn't accept credit cards.) After that, I finally headed home.

Dubbed the 1954 Beau Brummell as I made Teriyaki and Ginger Pollack with Escarole and broccoli and cheese for dinner. Stewart Granger is Brummell, a famous dandy who rose up from poverty to become the adviser to the weak-willed Prince of Wales (a very young Peter Ustinov). He attempts to woo the fair Lady Patricia (Elizabeth Taylor), but she's already engaged to a rather dull politician. What goes up must come down...and that includes careers. A quarrel with the Prince ends with Brummell leaving England in disgrace.

This is actually a remake of a 1924 silent film with John Barrymore. Neither Granger nor Taylor are particularly convincing as dashing lovers in big hats. Ustinov and Robert Morley are much better as the childish Prince and his insane, paranoid father. It doesn't appear to be on DVD at the moment; fans of Taylor will want to catch this one on TCM.

Oh, and the clouds finally burst shortly after I got home. It's been raining hard on and off ever since, and looks like it will continue to do so for the next two days.