Not Quite Spring

I was dreading looking out the window this morning...but to my surprise, it was just cloudy, damp, and gale-force windy. The rain was long gone, and as far as I could tell, there was no snow. The big storm passed us by this time.

Celebrated our luck with some more second-season Sailor Moon episodes during breakfast. "A UFO Appears: The Sailor Guardians Abducted" brings in Rubeus, the head of Dark Moon operations. He'll be replaced by Esmeraude (and her annoying laugh) if he can't bring in Sailor Moon and Chibi-Usa. He does get the Guardians, but is unable to get Usagi, thanks to Chibi-Usa stealing her broach. Chibi-Usa gets it back to her in time for "Defeat Rubeus: Battle in Space." The little girl follows Sailor Moon onto the UFO, and proves to be more helpful than Usagi could have ever believed.

Headed out to run errands around quarter after 10. First on the agenda was my gynecologist appointment at Lourdes Medical Center on the border of Collingswood and Westmont, about a block from Krispy Kreme Donuts and Walgreens on Haddon Avenue. I'm not going to go into heavy details on my appointment, which involved a pap smear and was rather personal. At least the doctor and her nurse were really nice. I'll hear the results in a few weeks.

Next stop was the Westmont Acme. I forgot laundry detergent and toilet paper during my grocery trip on Friday. Thankfully, they weren't terribly busy. I went in, grabbed the two things I needed, and went out.

I was originally going to have lunch at one of the fast-food places on Cuthbert, but after my appointment, I figured I deserved a decent meal. Ate at the Crystal Lake Diner for the first time since they were rebuilt after a disastrous fire in 2014. They're actually a bit simpler inside, all white walls and tile, but at least the booths are comfy. Had a very tasty and very messy gyro. It was so big, I ended up eating the bread before most of the filling and had to finish it with a fork. They were surprisingly quiet for around 12:30; I had expected a much bigger lunch crowd.

The Haddon Township Library is literally right over the diner on top of a hill, so I went there next. They had so many DVDs that needed to be shelved, they had to keep them on two different carts. There were too many to wait for the volunteer who was supposed to do them. I shelved the children's titles and half the adult ones.

Took out a few things of my own this week. Having enjoyed The Poseidon Adventure back in December, I thought I'd try another 70's disaster film, Earthquake. I've read the book My Cousin Rachel and decided to check out the movie from last year based on it. Marty sounds awfully sweet, and I figured I could use something lower-key after the disaster movies and blockbusters I've been checking out. Also found a book about two Irish brothers in New York in the late 30's, The World of Tomorrow, and another Mercedes Lackey Elemental Masters tale, Reserved for the Cat.

It was fairly late when I finally dodged the traffic on Cuthbert and made my way home. Spent the next couple of hours writing. The man does help hold off Tarkin's guards, but barely. As soon as they're done, he passes out in the cart. He awakens to find Leia making a simple stew for dinner. He complains about the accommodations and the food. She points out that this is the best they can do at the present. She tries to ask him about himself, but there isn't much to tell. He has no idea who he is, what his real name is, or why he was in that tower.

Didn't get off for dinner until past 7. I was still full from the gyro, so I settled on yogurt and Cucumber Tomato Salad. Made brownies for dessert from my Hershey's cookbook while watching an episode of Fairie Tale Theatre. "Sleeping Beauty" was one of their earlier stories. Christopher Reeve of the 80's Superman series is the prince charming to stage star Bernadette Peters' lovely princess in this Russian-tinged retelling. Beverly D'Angelo is the wicked fairy who curses the princess to sleep for a hundred years; Carol Kane is the younger fairy who revises the spell to allow for a prince to kiss her awake.