I did some research online before having a quick lunch. I've narrowed down where I want to find a condo or townhouse to either Cherry Hill or Deptford. I did research on Cherry Hill today. On one hand, Cherry Hill probably has the most infrastructure in this area outside of Camden, with tons of shopping, restaurants, and transportation options (including the NJ Transit train) within easy reach. Though it is popular with families, it's also big with professionals of all ages looking for something more single-oriented and with shopping and dining options than the small towns.
On the other hand, first of all, it's huge, likely the largest town in this area besides Camden, with tons of neighborhoods with their own characters. Second, it's not the most pedestrian or bike-friendly. Cherry Hill was designed for the 60's-70's car culture and, unlike the smaller towns closer to Camden, has no real downtown. The Cherry Hill Mall and the area surrounding it are about as close as they get. It's criss-crossed by three of the busiest roads in South Jersey, Route 70, Crescent Road, and Haddonfield Road.
I had just finished lunch when I realized it was time to call Uber for a ride to the Thomas Sharp School. It was way too cold for bike riding today! Despite the sunshine and lack of wind, the high was 22. Thankfully, the one getting me there turned up much earlier than the 13 minutes indicated on Uber, and I arrived only slightly late. It took me two tries to get a driver going home, but when he did arrive, it took him about 10 minutes. No traffic or trouble either way.
We're trying some new things with the kids this week. Instead of all of them running from table to table when they first arrive, we assign a teacher to a group of kids at a cafeteria table, 8 to 9 per teacher. We then rotate toys, so all the kids will get a chance to use them without getting up from their seats. My group had the magnetic tiles first, then built with Duplos and played with plastic dinosaurs and animals, then colored on construction paper. They were all so good! They helped clean up and didn't fuss when they lined up for the bathroom. I'm so proud of them. (It also helped that there were fewer little ones today, only about 20 when we started.)
We moved them to the library after snack time. There was no way they were going outside in temperatures that weren't even above freezing. A few kids joined me at the coloring table or looked at books, but most of them danced to songs from Trolls and KPop Demon Hunters blasting from a speaker one of the teachers brought. (One young aspiring ballerina danced on her toes in her golden strap shoes. I admire her for being able to do that. My toes hurt just watching her.) I cleaned up the library after they moved the remaining kids to the cafeteria around quarter after 5.
After the last kid went home, we had a staff meeting with the head teacher. He mostly praised the job we were doing, but there were a few things we needed to discuss. For one thing, no more tag on the playground. The older boys in particular are too inclined to turn it into a contact sport. No more swings, either. As much as I enjoy pushing them, not only do they cause too much arguing (there's only two), but several kids have already gotten hurt or kicked on or around them. I suspect some of the girls in particular are going to throw fits, but they're just too dangerous for pre-schoolers.
The other problem is keeping them calm when we're transitioning from playing to the bathrooms, and from the bathrooms to snacks, and from the snacks to the library or playground. That's when they tend to get the most injuries from running around. We're going to play games with them in the bathroom halls while they wait to see if they can imitate our poses and call on them in smaller groups for the bathrooms and to get their coats and backpacks when we go outside.
Watched Match Game Syndicated when I finally got home and had dinner. I have no reason why they jumped back to much earlier in the run. I came in for the week with Alfie Wise, Betty White, and Patty Duke (in a luxurious fur coat). In the next week, Jon "Bowser" Bauman showed off his sneaker-shaped bag and everything in it, while Brett objected to Jon's rubber rat and Charles giving her weird "awards."
Finished the night listening to recent record and CD acquisitions while working on The Producers review, starting with two classic rock albums from England. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust is considered to be one of, if not David Bowie's best album. It's certainly his most famous. Despite the gritty cover, Bowie gives us a taste of glam rock with "Moonage Daydream," "Lady Stardust," and "Hang On to Yourself."
As it turns out, Flowers is a Rolling Stones collection, which explains some of the terrific material here. The opening number "Ruby Tuesday" and "Let's Spend the Night" are by far my favorite tracks. We also have "Standing In the Shadow?", "Back Street Girl," and a surprisingly good cover of "My Girl."
The Essential Rosemary Clooney also gives us some of her best-known hits. "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me" comes from White Christmas, and she does another movie number associated with Bing Crosby, "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening." Her best-known hit is probably "Hey There" from The Pajama Game, which allows her to perform a duet with herself. Other familiar standards here include "Come On-A My House," "Half as Much," "You Make Me Feel So Young," "This Ole House," and "Tenderly."
The Bobby Darin Story goes the unique route of having Darin narrate the story of his career via some of his biggest hit songs. The narration is genuinely funny, especially the hilarious end of what would have been side 1 on a record going into side 2. "Splish Splash," "Dream Lover," and "Mack the Knife" are probably the best-known numbers here. We also have "Artificial Flowers" from the Broadway show Tenderloin and the French ballad "Beyond the Sea."
No comments:
Post a Comment