Kicked off my first full morning in the new apartment with breakfast and Split Second. Three new contestants battled it out today, but no one came close to the lady who was a substitute teacher. She got the most money, breezed through the countdown round, and chose the right billboards for the car on her first try.
Made a list of everything I needed at Family Dollar today and did the dishes while watching Blockbusters. This one began and ended with the ongoing solo lady champ winning the Gold Rush round, the first time barely. In between, she handily beat a son and father-in-law.
Headed out around quarter after 11. I had a lot to do today, starting with laundry. Picked the right day to do it. They were dead when I came in, and stayed dead the entire time I was around. I chose the largest laundry machine to give me more time at Family Dollar.
Family Dollar was a little busier, maybe because it was past noon by the time I got there. Unfortunately, their kitchen and bathroom sections were really picked over. I would have replaced the shower curtain anyway, and the metal rings are rusted. My dish pan and rack have just about had it, too. Found a decent shower curtain and inexpensive rings...but no dish pans or racks. Also grabbed sponges (needed to replace those too) and more binders for the CDs.
Despite the quiet inside, I still sat on the curb when I got back. It was a gorgeous day. The wind remained, and while it was still a little humid, it was neither as hot nor as humid as it has been the past week. Worked on story notes and basked in the sunlight.
Went to WaWa after I pulled the laundry out to buy lunch. Surprisingly, despite it being almost 1 by then, they weren't busy either. I picked up a sparkling water and a six-inch turkey hoagie for dinner and a pretzel for a snack and was on my way.
The trouble started when I got home. I just could not open the door, no matter how hard I tried. The knob wouldn't turn, and Jodie was at the hospital with Dad. Luckily, Jodie's son Jesse drove up at that moment. He told Jodie he'd continue to do yard work for them. He, Dana, and their dog Nala are very happy in their far larger house in Woodbury Heights about a half-hour from here. Jesse has a massive yard to landscape, and Nala has somewhere to run and play.
He and a neighbor tried to figure out how to get me into the house. Trouble is, none of them had a key to the main house, and the windows were either crank models, or too high off the ground. After 20 minutes of frantically searching, I finally left everything by the door and went back out again with my cart.
The other big thing I wanted to do today was haul more small things over to my place from Manor Avenue. By far the most important were the two small recycling canisters. One will double as a trash can until I can get a metal one. I've had the big trash can since I lived in Wildwood. It's made of plastic and smells terrible in the summer. Other things I brought over included my large brown and orange umbrella, one of the bags of journals (I'll get the other tomorrow), Khai and Finley's artwork, and the few things remaining in the refrigerator.
Jesse did indeed tell Jodie to open my door. It was open when I got in. Put away the food, then had some fresh pineapple while watching Tattletales. Started putting up the new shower curtain rod while the show was still on. I had trouble doing that, too. The big rod just would not stay where I wanted it to or remain level, no matter how hard I tried. Press Your Luck was on by the time I finally got it to stick and was able to put up the rings and curtain.
Finished putting everything away, then had the hoagie and sparkling water for an early dinner as Match Game began. The first 1974 episode had Jackie Joseph sporting a pretty pink dress and a flowered headband in honor of her recent trip to Hawaii, while Gene tried to look tough for fellow host Bert Convy, dizzy Louisa Moritz, and ever-laughing Kaye Stevens in the second. Things got really wild in the 1977 shows, with Brett's chair somehow vanishing and Charles putting in an appearance in his Santa Claus costume (which he hadn't been allowed to wear that past Christmas).
By the time Sale of the Century was on, I'd settled down on my new, very comfortable futon to work on that crocheted pillow case. It was a tight race today, with everyone getting something and no one being ahead of anyone else. In the end, the champ just barely pulled ahead in the bonus round to win. (I don't know if he won the speed round. Verizon cut out briefly on me at that point.)
Called Rose after I gave up on the TV. She still has work tomorrow, though she did mention she might bring the kids over later to say 'hi.' I'll go over to the house and get one more load on my own before Jessa comes. I have to order pizza anyway. She also said to call her or Craig the next time I get locked out. They have keys to Dad and Jodie's house.
Jumped in the shower after that. Ooh, I love my new shower. The tub is longer and narrower, but also deeper, in a pleasant shade of pale yellow. The spray is one of those hand-held ones, and it felt absolutely amazing on my tired back and stiff neck.
Chatted with Lauren tonight. Yeah, as I suspected, we're not getting together this year. Travel is still too restricted, and there isn't much for us to do. We'll try again next May. I'm far less disappointed than I was when she originally pushed back the date in March. We now know more about the ramifications of everything with the virus. Not to mention, I'm still getting the apartment organized and am recovering from a broken elbow. This is a bad time for vacations all around. I might have pushed my trip to later in September to give me more time to do things here even if things were normal.
Finished the night on a more pleasant note with Royal Wedding. I go further into this English jaunt with Jane Powell and Fred Astaire at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
Royal Wedding (1951)
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