The Magic of Friendship

It was pouring when I initially got up morning. Even as I read Spiderweb For Two and wrote in my journal, the sun was coming out. By the time I was eating breakfast, the sun was shining, and the snow and ice was slowly vanishing from my porch. I ran That's Entertainment III as I ate and got ready for errands. The third special detailing the MGM musicals of the past spotlights numbers cut from various films. Favorites of mine includes Lena Horne's "Ain't It the Truth?" in the bubble bath from Cabin In the Sky and Judy Garland's adorable version of "Doin' What Comes Naturally" from Annie Get Your Gun.

I didn't get out to running errands until past noon. I'm glad I waited. By then, the sky was a perfect blue. The warm sun continued to melt the leftover snow. I did my best to dodge the remaining ice, as well as traffic on Cuthbert Road. (They've been doing repairs there up and down the road - they were near Kayla's Garden Center/Ice Cream Parlor today.) Made a brief stop at Tuesday Morning before heading to the Haddon Township Library.

There was a crowd gathered around the Library's back door when I arrived. According to a plain white sign on the door, the Library was opening at 1. Good thing I arrived at 12:50. I waited with the crowd of people who had expected the Library to already be open.

There was a lot to do when I finally got in. They had plenty of media to shelve, movies and CD's. The children's section was still overloaded. This time, there were B titles I couldn't get in, along with the S titles. I couldn't get some M and T titles into the adult shelves. Had an easier time shelving a large pile of CD's and two audio book sets. I also went through the adult movies and pulled out ones that didn't belong, were in the wrong shelf, or that the librarians were looking for.

I took four more DVD's out this week. They're still getting more new kids' sets in. This week, I went pure girly with last fall's Barbie movie, Barbie and the Secret Door, and a couple of horror-themed episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. I thought I'd watch Funny Girl after listening to the soundtracks yesterday, and since they were made around the same time in the late 60's, I picked up Sweet Charity, too.

I didn't get to lunch until nearly 3. It was so late, I just opted for Wendy's on the hill under the Library. I waited patiently behind a line of high school kids getting snacks. I ended up with a North Pacific Cod Sandwich, a side green salad, and a Diet Coke. Surprisingly, the sandwich wasn't bad. It was breaded, which I could have done without, but it at least tasted like fish and was nice and flaky, with big pickles on the top.

Made my way up the hill to CVS next. I needed contact lens solution. They only had the really big or the really small bottles. I went with the big one this time. I'm glad I did. Turns out it was a dollar off - there was no indication on the tag that it was on sale. I also found a small bottle of Dawn dish washing liquid and a bottle of honey on sale.

Went straight home through the park after that. As soon as I got home, I dropped everything, grabbed my laundry, and went right back out. I had a huge load to do, including last month's towels. I wasn't the only one. They were fairly busy with one older woman and several families when I arrived. There's supposed to be more bad weather coming, including more ice and snow. I guess everyone wanted to avoid the ice while they could. At the very least, I was able to get machines. I read Women Who Run With the Wolves and tried to ignore Dr. Phil and his trashy patients in the background. (Couldn't they have put on something useful, like the news?)

When I got home, I put everything away, then put on Barbie and the Secret Door. Secret Door is something of a cross between her modern-set stories and the Fairytopia series. Shy Princess Alexa would rather be reading fantasy novels with brave princesses than dealing with social functions like dancing at balls and making speeches. Embarrassed by her inability to dance, she runs off. Her grandmother gives her a new book to read...one that turns out to open a magical door in her garden. On arrival, she discovers that the bratty child Princess Malucia is stealing all the magic from the land of Zinnia, just because she wants it. She's already taken fairy Nori's wings and mermaid Rory's tail. It turns out that Alexa is also able to conjure magic here. Malucia is after the Queen Unicorn and the other unicorns in the land. With them, she'll have all the magic there is! Alexa is afraid at first, but she finally discovers that the power of friendship and confidence is stronger than any external magic.

I was very impressed with this enjoyable musical. The eye-popping design resembled Dr. Seuss specials. The songs were catchy and fun, especially "I Can Make Magic" and Malucia's "I Want It All." Speaking of Malucia, she may be the most interesting villain from any Barbie special. She's an unrepentant spoiled brat who takes what she wants, enjoys doing it, and isn't even badly punished for it afterwards. Even Mattel likes her - she's the first villain from any Barbie special to make it into doll form.

If your girls are fans of the Barbie movies, they could do far worse than this one. In fact, I think this is one of the best specials they've done in years. Colorful, fun, and with a very original story and unique villain, I recommend this for anyone who loves Barbie, fairy tales, and musicals.

I made Orange Cream Cake while watching Barbie. There was an intriguing-looking recipe for Orange Poppy Seed Cake on the side of the Orangcicle cake mix box. I replaced the poppy seeds (I don't have them - they're expensive) with a squeezed clementine and added a little honey for flavor. Oh, yum yum. It turned out a little crumbly, but nice and moist and very orange.