Vintage Fun

I slept in a bit today; for once, most of my plans were for the afternoon. When I did get going, my first stop was the Oaklyn Library. I had donations for their Book Sale next Saturday, and I wanted to do my volunteering session. While the adult DVDs were pretty well-set, the kids' section needed some going-over. The board books were a mess again. I'm still figuring out the new set-up for the kids' books. All books are arranged by subject matter, regardless of whether they're fiction or non-fiction - fairy tales in one section, series books in another, books for older kids, easy readers, board books, story books, and so on.

When I left the library, I rode straight to the Acme to do this week's grocery shopping. I needed a lot of meat...and it figures there weren't any good sales. I ended up with a small turkey tenderloin that was $3.99 with a manger's coupon, ground turkey, the dollar fish fillet packs, canned salmon, and lamb chops for my dinner next week. The Acme got in the Pillsbury fruit-flavored spring cake mixes. I never did get to try that Key Lime cake I made last month, so I bought that again. Restocked diced tomatoes, sugar, chocolate chips, and whole wheat bread. Bought a ham and cheese hoagie for lunch.

When I got home, I put everything away and ate my hoagie. Ran The Backyardigans and 101 Dalmatians as I ate, then as I took down the general spring decorations and put up the few small wreaths and stuffed animals I have for summer. I just started reading the original 101 Dalmatians book and as I did with The Rescuers, decided it was a good time to get the movie in. Pongo and Perdita, a pair of proud dalmatian parents, are devastated when their puppies are stolen by the fur-obsessed Cruella DiVil and her dumb lackeys Jasper and Horace. With the help of a network of animals from London to the British countryside, the two dogs travel across the country to Cruella's ancestral home to rescue their children and get them back to the city.

Along with The Rescuers and The Jungle Book, this is one of Disney's best of their more comedy/action oriented movies of the 60s and 70s. It's also one of the few times a Disney adaptation was even close to accurate - there were some changes between book and movie, but not to the degree of The Rescuers or many of the fairy tales. Cruella is one of Disney's most famous villains and may be a bit scary for the littlest audience members. For grade school kids on up, especially if they love dogs, this is quite a bit of fun.

I went for a walk after 101 Dalmatians ended. I couldn't believe what a gorgeous day it was! The heat from earlier in the week had gentled back into the mid to upper 70s, helped by a lovely breeze and some fat white cotton clouds. Lots of people were out working in the garden, or playing with their kids. I strolled up to the park behind the Oaklyn School and saw parents playing ball with their son, a girl working on her bike, and two older boys playing street hockey in the skate/basketball park.

My stepsister Jessa and her boyfriend Joe finally showed up around quarter after 5. We had a nice trip to the Cherry Hill Goodwill and Village Mart, the same stores we visited with Lauren last June. Joe only picked up some CDs at Cherry Hill, but Jessa found a real metal scooter, and I bought three of the Garfield McDonald's glass cups that were so popular in the 80s. Jessa and I didn't get anything at Village Mart, but Joe found what he really wanted - a beautiful record player, a really nice old-style one that also had a CD and cassette player.

We had a late dinner at a big Chinese buffet in Blackwood. It reminded me of a larger version of Hunan's Chinese Restaurant, my family's favorite Chinese buffet in Rio Grande in the 80s. They had everything you could imagine, from sweet and sour chicken and spicy mussels to plenty of food straight off the hibachi for Joe, and even Hood ice cream for dessert. (I had butter pecan. Jess had cookies and cream.)

Made a quick stop at the Bellmawr Goodwill on the way home, since it was closing in 20 minutes. Jessa and I split four records - she got Hooked on Classics, I picked up two of the Firestone Christmas records I didn't have and a collection of Ronald Coleman doing "A Christmas Carol" and Charles Laughton doing "A Dickens Christmas." Joe bought four cassettes for his new machine.

When we got home, I got to show Joe around my apartment and show Jessa my new AG doll Whitney. They were both very impressed - said they liked my sense of style. I wish I could have people visit more often.