Sunshine and Happy Endings

I slept in on a gorgeous, perfectly breezy mid-May morning and didn't get out to the Acme for this week's grocery run until past noon. Much to my surprise, it really wasn't that busy. I'm guessing a lot of people hurried off to the Shore for the weekend the moment they figured out it was going to be nice until tomorrow night. There were more people in line at customer service for that 600 million dollar jackpot than there were buying food! Thankfully, that allowed me to get the things I needed that much quicker. The Oteker mousse mixes and Acme's generic "Essential Everyday" whipped topping were on sale. I bought crust and decided to make a Strawberries n' Cream Mousse Pie. I needed to restock whole wheat flour, crushed pineapple, tea, pads, blood oranges, and bananas. They were having a really good sale on the Smart Balance sticks, and I had a coupon, so despite having bought one last week, I grabbed two more.

When I got home, I put everything away, then went online to get some ideas for my vacation and Lauren's visit next month. It doesn't sound like we're going to do a whole lot this time besides our annual trip into Philly and my treating Lauren to Anthony's for her graduation...and I'm kind of glad. We've both had a very busy winter and spring. As much as I enjoyed seeing ball games together, I think we could probably use the rest.

(And speaking of, congratulations to my best friend Lauren and my stepsister Jessa, members of the 2013 college graduating class! While Lauren's finishing some graduate courses in math and accounting, Jessa's graduating the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.)

I ran The Pirate Movie while having leftover chicken breast with black bean sauce and asparagus for lunch. Mabel (Kristy MacNichol) is a rather nerdy girl in Australia in the early 80s who chases the boy of her dreams...and ends up dreaming herself into the Gilbert and Sullivan musical The Pirates of Penzance. The object of her affection is Fredrick (Christopher Atikins), the boy obsessed with duty. The lusty Pirate King is determined to invade her father the Major General's palace and steal his daughters and his wealth. It's up to Mabel to step in and save the day...and remind us that, even in our dreams, we can take control of our lives  when we stand up for ourselves.

This is another movie that used to run frequently on cable back in the 80s. My sisters and I fell in love with it then, and I still adore it today. Ok, so it's cheesy, it's goofy, the new music doesn't really work with the original Penzance songs, Atkins is stiff as a board (though that kind of goes with the character), and some of the humor is pretty weird for a swashbuckler riff. That's what I like about it - think Airplane meets Pirates of Penzance by way of Pirates of the Caribbean, and you're not far off. Kristy MacNichol has an awful lot of fun as sensible, strong-willed Mabel. The gorgeous Australian location shooting is almost worth the ride alone.

It's not for Gilbert and Sullivan purists or straight action lovers, but if you like your swashbucklers on the goofy side, want to see a rare swashbuckler with a female hero, or enjoyed other campy 80s guilty pleasure musicals like Xanadu or Grease 2, give this one a look.

I was in a good mood when I went to work, and for once, my good mood didn't abate. For one thing, the Acme was steady for most of the night, never really dead or overwhelmingly busy. For another, most people were in equally good moods. There were a few tussles over prices, but nothing like last night. It quieted down so much, by the end of the night, the manager was showing us adorable movies on her phone of her new baby daughter.

Even my schedule didn't dampen my mood for once. I have the best hours I've gotten since at least last year. I'll be working 1 to 6 or 1 to 7 for most of the week except for next Saturday, when it's 2:30 to 7:30. Nothing later than 7:30, and Wednesday and Thursday off. Good. If the weather doesn't get as bad as it's supposed to next week, I'll see if I can get some outdoor cleaning done.