Beyond the Blue Horizon

Began the morning with banana pancakes for breakfast and the Johnny Mathis album The Wonderful World of Make Believe. The theme here is songs about fantasy; favorites include the title songs of the musicals Camelot and Shangri-La, the title song from the Disney animated version of Alice In Wonderland, "Sky Full of Rainbows," and "Beyond the Blue Horizon" from the early talkie musical movie Monte Carlo.

It took me longer to clean up than I thought, then took me even longer to decide what I could realistically bring to my apartment on my cart. I didn't want a repeat of the fiasco from earlier in the week with the broken vase. Settled on the two American Girl doll boxes, the vinyl bag of doll clothes, two small boxes of bathroom supplies, and the witch's hat that didn't fit in the bag with my Halloween costumes. Headed out around quarter after 9...and whew! It was already sunny and hazy, with a sky so blue it hurt to look at it and humidity off the charts.

Saw Jodie in her car as I was pushing my cart. She said she was on her way to visit Dad in the hospital. He just had another surgery, but he seems to have gotten through it all right.

Thankfully, I got everything to my place intact this time. I set the boxes, bag, and witch's hat in the bedroom, then went to see what I could unpack. The bathroom is the biggest and most pleasant change. It's huge, with a big closet and a cute white wooden cabinet and a medicine cabinet that's twice the size of my current one. Almost everything went in the cabinet; put the first aid supplies on the bottom shelf and the extra toiletries on the top shelf.

Rose and Craig set up the CD/video rack in front of the door between the bathroom and the living room. I liked it there so much, I decided it would stay there. Rose wanted to clear boxes out of the growing pile in the living room, so I unpacked the DVD boxes. The DVDs and DVD boxes went on the rack; the binders were stacked on the top shelf in the living room closet.

I was just deciding what to do next when Rose called. Seems she corralled Craig to help take some furniture over. Could I come back to my other apartment and keep an eye on the kids? Sure, why not? I'd probably be back later anyway, and I don't get to spend nearly enough time with my nieces and nephews.

Rose said they'd be over in 20 minutes...but even on foot, pushing the cart, and carrying an empty crate, I still beat them by at least five minutes. She and Craig took over my table and chairs and the tall shelf that used to hold my cookbooks (which they had to take apart to get in the car), along with crates of records and cookbooks.

The kids and I spent that half-hour drawing in front of the TV. I'm glad I didn't pack my colored pencils and forgot I left a stack of paper on the printer. Finley scribbled in red, sorted through my button tin, and watched Match Game on Buzzr. Khai drew a nifty Stop/Go/Yield sign in green, red, and yellow and two drawings of animals. I did a scene in Veteran's Park next-door, with a tree, grass, a bench and table, and the gazebo.

Their parents picked up the kids around noon, Rose promising we'd go back later. I made a Chocolate-Coffee-Banana Smoothie for lunch and continued with Buzzr. Buzzr on Pluto TV had a special marathon of Richard Dawson Family Feud episodes from the late 70's and early 80's this afternoon.

I finally got to see more of Richard's hosting style. Yes, he kissed all the ladies...but he may have been justified in the first six episodes. From noon to 2, Buzzr ran a series of episodes that pitted former Miss Universe winners against former Miss USAs. Who could blame him for wanting to smooch all those beauty queens? The Miss USA ladies put to rest the notion of the "dumb blonde" stereotype by being the big winners, winning the regular game four times and the Fast Money bonus round twice.

Made more of those Coconut No-Bake Cookies as Family Feud continued. I decided to experiment a bit, adding lime juice and honey to the mix with less sugar. Oh, yum! Refreshing, sweet, tropical, sticky, and very chewy...and unlike my previous no-bake cookies, they stayed together while cooling in the fridge. I think this might have been my best batch yet.

Worked on writing for a while after the Family Feud Beauty Pageant Winners episodes ended. Lee, Richard, and the fairies swing into the crowds just in time to rescue Gene. Richard's now wearing his Robin Hood outfit again and taunts Ira into a duel. He's the better fencer...but he's still a bit worn from Malade stealing energy, and it looks like Ira may get the upper hand...

I'd just finished around quarter after 4 when Rose called again. She and the kids were going back to Jodie and Dad's house to see Jodie. Did I want to come and check out that rug? Sure. I had no other plans for the night, and I wanted to ask about Dad.

Jodie met us at the door to hers and Dad's side of the house as we came in. First of all, Dad came through just fine. She and Rose are going to set up a bed in the living room so he can recover. Second...darn it, the rug was no good. It was old and stained from years of being in the basement. And Rose said she didn't want to organize anything else in the living room or bedroom until we got rugs to put furniture on. Jodie made the kids chicken nuggets and broccoli in the kitchen while I paged through my Betty Crocker Cooky Book on my new, super-comfy futon.

Listened to the soundtrack to Pete's Dragon while eating leftovers for dinner when I got home. The movie is cute but kind of cheesy, but there is some nice music here. The ballad "Candle On the Water" was nominated for an Oscar. I also like "Brazzle Dazzle Day" for Pete, Lampy the Lighthouse Keeper, and his daughter Nora, and the lovely duet "It's Not Easy" for Pete and Nora as she tries to understand how he feels about his dragon Elliot.

Finished the night online with an episode of Doc McStuffins on Disney Plus. Doc and her stuffed staff is saying "Crikey! It's Wildlife Will!" when they find an explorer toy missing his legs. When they fail to find appropriate legs for him, Doc has to get more creative on finding a way for him to get around. "Rootin' Tootin' Cowgirl Sal" is a cow cowgirl whose arm lassoing function has broken. Doc first tries to find the right spring for her arm, then insists that she knows other rodeo tricks along with lassoing.