Balance With a Twist

Since I had counseling today, I began my morning with the second Thursday morning Yogawood class. Once again, it was extremely small, just four all together including me and the teacher Karin. We mostly worked on twisting and standing poses, nothing too complicated. That was fine with me. I hadn't slept well the night before, and I overslept and had to rush to get to class.

I spent most of the time between class and counseling browsing in the small shops in Collingswood. I explored the library. Took a look at the gourmet food shop. Went through the fancy gowns at Marlene's and Veronique's. (The latter has the plus-sized gowns.) Said "hi" to Erica at the thrift shop.

When I found out that counseling was later than I thought it was, I had lunch at Texas Wieners, one of several new stores that had opened on the bottom floor of the new Lumberyard Condos since July. Texas Wieners is apparently an offshoot of a store in South Philly. Like it's Lumberyard neighbor Primo Hoagies, it's a low-cost alternative to some of the pricier eateries in Collingswood. As you can guess by the name, they mostly specialize in hog dogs, but they also sell sausages, burgers, and fish and crab cake sandwiches. I decided to try something a little different - the "Fish-O-Rab," a fish cake sandwich with broccoli rabe and mozzarella. The fish cake was a bit mushy and the roll was smaller than I thought it would be, but otherwise, it was quite tasty...and only $2.89, a steal in a town where a simple burger can cost up to $7.00 without tax.

Counseling went fairly well. I told Scott about everything that's been going on lately, from my wonderful vacation to the problems my parents are having with their marriage. We mostly discussed my job search...or lack thereof. He mostly said to keep reading the books on jobs and job hunting I took out of the library and take out more.

I had briefly debated taking a longer ride. The weather, which had been cloudy and cool all day, was getting worse by 2PM, adding a chilly wind to the mix. I finally decided that, between the early and rushed start and the weather, it just wasn't a biking day. I headed home right after counseling.

Got a few more chores in at the apartment. I swept the sawdust from the branch that was taken down yesterday off the porch. I hung the general fall decorations and redressed the Sailor Moon dolls in their regular uniforms.

I baked a zucchini cake. Mom sent me the recipe a few weeks ago, but I didn't have the time or cool enough weather to make it until today. It only required eggs, sugar, spices, flour, baking soda, and zucchini and/or whatever fruits and nuts you have on hand. I added farm market zucchini and carrots and a can of pineapple chunks. It came out incredibly moist and flavorful, like a sweeter carrot cake.

Called Verizon right before making dinner. My internet has been a pain for months now. I thought it was fixed in the spring, but it's gone right back to going down again. Last night, shortly after midnight, it went down for 20 minutes, interrupting Lauren's and my chat time. Thankfully, the lady I talked to was not only the nicest and most helpful person I've ever dealt with at Verizon, but she was the fastest, too. I only had to wait a few minutes for her to find someone to come in tomorrow afternoon to look at my line.

It had been cloudy all day, but it didn't start raining until sometime between my conversation with Verizon and starting dinner. I had pan-seared salmon, cucumber-tomato salad, and Oven-Fried Eggplant (eggplant in a wheat germ-flour batter baked in a stove at a high temperature - got the recipe from a cookbook a roommate gave me in college) while listening to the rain and watching Grand Hotel. I don't think it's raining now, but I read online that it's supposed to continue on and off for the rest of the weekend.

Back To Business

I more-or-less returned to the daily schedule today. Ran to the bank and did some work on my Monkees fantasy story. I'm going to try to concentrate on writing this week, since there really isn't much else I can do. I'm too broke to do any more traveling or major shopping at the moment, and I still want to rest up that knee (which got bounced around considerably on that Raging Rapids ride at Great Escape).

Watched Grand Hotel during dinner. I have the cast album for the 1989 musical, but I'd only read about the movie until now. God, that was awesome. If the Doctor really thinks nothing goes on in that hotel, he's been looking behind all the wrong doors. The starry cast really delivered, especially John and Lionel Barrymore as a Baron desperate for money and a sweet-natured former accountant determined to live life to the fullest after he discovers he's dying. (I almost cried along with Kringelin and Flammechen at the end, when he offered to take her to Paris. That was so sweet, and Joan Crawford and Lionel Barrymore did so well in that scene.)

Also went back to work, which much to my relief was busy but not much of a problem. A lot of people are probably still on vacation.

The weather behaved, too. It rained this morning, but by the time I was finished with work, it was sunny and 75 out. "Feels like a fall day," said one woman as I headed outside. I couldn't have agreed more. It felt more like a day in early September than mid-July...and I wish every day in mid-July felt this nice.