It was gloriously sunny when I got up this morning. Started a nippy day with two spooky episodes of Perfect Strangers as I ate breakfast. Larry has his second of three nightmare sequences on the show in the fourth season tale "Aliens." He stays up all Halloween night watching horror movies, then dreams that Balki's an otherworldly visitor bent on conquering the Earth. "Fright Night" from the seventh season has the duo trying to rid their new home of the ghost of a gambler whom non-believer Larry has insulted.
Headed to the Acme to do what little grocery shopping I could afford and change the coins in my little coin cup for cash. It was barely half-full, but I really need the money. I just paid my rent today. I was able to pay it in full, but it completely wiped out most of what was in all three of my accounts. I got fifteen dollars out of it. I had enough left in checking to buy eggs (which have been a LOT cheaper than they were at this time last year), brown sugar, one container of Greek yogurt, and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. (They're always late putting out the schedule. I'll get that tomorrow.)
Went home for lunch. Put on Tiny Toon Adventures while I ate Cranberry-Chocolate Chip Muffins for lunch. "The Horror of Slumber Party Mountain" from the fourth season spoofs the B-horror movies of the 1950's and 60's (even including a spoof of the old American International movie logo). Babs, Shirley, and Fifi are having a get-together in a cabin in the woods. Buster, Plucky, and Hampton dress as a local monster urban legend to scare them. The girls try to get even...but they all end up on the run when the real monster appears!
Was off to the Oaklyn Library after lunch. Stopped at West Clinton Avenue first to see if Studio LuLoo was open. Not only was it not open, but Viola's International Deli seems to have closed permanently - they were dark and totally empty. Wow, wonder what happened there? That's two local food stores that went out of business without warning in the past two weeks. I can understand Thriftway's demise. They never seemed to be that busy. Viola's was only been open a year, and I thought it was pretty popular. I often saw people ordering hoagies and lunch there.
The Oaklyn Library had quite a few people at computers or reading for quarter of 1. There was quite a bit to do, too. I gave the DVDs a quick look (didn't want to disrupt the people reading), then went over the kids' area. Organized the series books and shelved the board books for babies and toddlers.
Newton Lake Park was stunning today. The weather was perfect for autumn, blustery and chilly and bright blue. The trees are finally turning brilliant shades of crimson, gold, lime green, and russet. The bottle-green lake sparkled under the warm late-afternoon sunshine. Surprisingly for such a nice day, they weren't too busy. The wind and it being about 2 PM probably helped.
Haddon Township Library wasn't really busy when I arrived, either. They were in the midst of doing their book inventory, so I stuck to shelving DVDs. There were a lot to do, too. It took me an hour to do the kids', adults', and non-fiction titles. I didn't take out any movies or cartoons this week (I have plenty to watch for Halloween, and I want to concentrate on finishing my current story anyway), but I did find a really nice storybook for The Force Awakens.
Stopped at Family Dollar really fast on my way home. Their mandarin orange bowls are cheaper than the Acme's. I forgot tissues there, too. I need those badly. My allergies have been a pain for weeks. I've been constantly sneezing and sniffling, even after taking the Acme's generic version of Allegra.
Went on the computer as soon as I got in to do some story work. I revised the confrontation between Ben and Hank to give Rey more of a reason for tackling him. When Ben hits Hank into the railing, the old wood gives way, and he falls over. He's lucky he lands on a couch, but he's still dazed and sore. Finn goes after him first, but Ben cheap-shots him in the stomach. That finally sets off Rey. She's fed up with his bullying and his spoiled, selfish behavior. It takes Leia and most of the kids to drag the girl off him.
Charles runs upstairs in shock, telling them that Hank is gone. No sooner has he said that then they hear rattling chains and the crazy, cackling clown laugh that scared them all off before. Leia knows that laugh is familiar. She separates the kids into teams. Half will go with Charles to find the source of that laugh. The other half will go with her to get Poe out of the basement and find Hank. Ben and his buddies take off in the confusion.
Jodie called me while I was writing. She was making lasagna. Would I like to come over for dinner? Sure! My only dinner plans were leftovers. I finally made it over around 6:30. They were already quite full, with Rose, Khai, Dana, and several neighbors. I enjoyed warm, cheesy lasagna, Caesar salad, and Italian bread with butter. Dana put up 12-year-old Mary's hair into an elegant French braid for a party she was going to. She did very well - the girl looked lovely.
Went outside and watched Chloe, Khai, Emmie, and Bee (one of the boys in the neighborhood) run around for a while as their mothers talked on the porch. My goodness, did they have energy! They finally called them in when it got too dark for playing outside, and they went in the street one too many times.
The kids ran around in the living room for a while, watching SpongeBob Squarepants episodes and playing with Jessa's old Beanie Babies collection and Legos. While I still wish Nick wouldn't run this show to death, they did have a few cute episodes on tonight, including the first Halloween show. Spongebob wants to dress as a ghost, but his square corners make it hard for him to do the sheet thing. Patrick tries to cut him down to make him look more spooky. When Davy Jones, the fearsome pirate ghost, arrives at the Krusty Krab, he discovers that Patrick may have done too good of a job!
The kids had been begging their mothers all night to play Limbo. I had no idea Limbo was so big among elementary schoolers. Jodie and one of the neighborhood moms held a cue stick (leftover from the old pool table that used to be in the den) while the kids, Dana, and Rose went under it. (I'm not that flexible. I watched and laughed.) I can't believe how good Dana was. She was one of the last ones out. Bee finally won, to Khai's disappointment. (He kept insisting Bee cheated.)
And I still have that darn Limbo Rock song stuck in my head. Someone pulled it up on an iPad and played it throughout the game.
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