Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Visiting With Dad

I was up really, really late last night. I had problems with Comcast, which is very rare. I think this marks only the fourth time Comcast has gone down while I was online at night. When I did get up, ran Care Bears The Nutcracker as I had cereal and half of a grapefruit for breakfast. The only holiday special for the late 80s version of the franchise has several bears and two Cousins trying to help a lonely little girl and her brother, who just wants adventure. The kid gets more than he bargained for when a nutcracker appears in his home, followed by The Rat King. The Rat King's boss, the Vizier, wants to take over all of Toyland...but not if the Care Bears and their new friends can stop him!

It was such a gorgeous day, I went for a walk after the Care Bears ended. Started at the Oaklyn Library. It was past 1 PM by the time I made it there. Needless to say, between the late hour (they close at 2) and the nice weather, it was pretty quiet there. I organized the DVDs, looked over the kids' books, and headed out after about a half-hour.

Continued to the House of Fun on the White Horse Pike to do some Christmas shopping. They're our local supplier of Sanrio items. I get most of my friend Amanda's Hello Kitty presents there. I looked over some things for Lauren as well, but I didn't know what she'd want and held off. It was surprisingly busy there, maybe because, for the first time since they moved into larger quarters a few years ago, all of their standing arcade machines were on and working. Someone was even playing Street Fighter Vs. Capcom while I was there.

I made a few other, shorter stops. I wasn't that hungry; just had a quick slice of mushroom pizza and a can of Diet Coke at Capitol Pizza. I ate outside. It was windy, but still warm for the time of year, probably in the mid-60s. I enjoyed watching the cars go by and just being able to walk around in only a sweater.

Family Dollar seems to be in the midst of a major reorganization project. They were even more of a mess than usual. I wanted to buy a broom from them, but I finally gave up trying to figure out where everything was. Had more luck at CVS, where I took advantage of sales and bought Crest ProHealth toothpaste and Secret deodorant.

Since I was in the neighborhood anyway, I dropped by Dad's house to say "hi." I haven't seen him in ages. He was relaxing at home, getting ready to clean his beloved red vintage Corvette and put it away for the season. We had a nice, long chat, for over an hour. He told me that Rose may not be having her Christmas party this year. I'm surprised. It seemed to go really well last year. I guess she just doesn't have the time with the law job anymore. He's upset that he's lost a couple of boat delivery jobs and may not be able to make the kind of money he usually does at this time of year.

I went straight home after talking to Dad. Dubbed the 1949 Little Women while making Turkey Stir Fry from vegetables and leftovers, along with more Cranberry Flummery. I have a soft spot for the first color version of the famous story of four very close sisters growing up during the Civil War. This was one of the first videos we ever bought for the whole family in the mid-80s, and for many years, it was "our" version of Little Women. I like the 1933 and 1994 versions as well, but nostalgia aside, this isn't bad. A blond Elizabeth Taylor makes an especially funny Amy; this is one of her better early performances.

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