Mall Madness

Began a sunny winter's morning with breakfast and A Charlie Brown Valentine. While this 2003 Peanuts special isn't as well-regarded as some of the earlier ones, I actually think it's pretty cute. Charlie Brown tries to drum up the courage to give the Little Red Haired Girl a valentine, then ask her to the dance. As usual, he just can't make himself do it. Meanwhile, Peppermint Patty and Marcie are both eyeing him, Lucy's trying to get Schroeder to notice her, and Sally's making valentines for her "Sweet Baboo," much to Linus' annoyance.

My first stop of the day was this week's volunteering session at the Oaklyn Library. There wasn't a whole lot going on there. A mother was looking for books in the children's section while her son played with Legos. I just kept it to a quick look at the adult and children's DVDs.

It was a beautiful day. The sky was a pale blue, the wind had gentled down to a breeze, and it was in the upper 30's by 11:30 (according to the sign at Beneficial Bank in Audubon). It was the perfect day for a Moorestown Mall trip. I hurried to King's Highway, locked my bike at the rack at CVS, and went across the street to pick up the bus. It was about five minutes late, which could have been worse, given the lunch traffic. There were only one or two people on the bus to begin with; I was the only one who went all the way to Moorestown.

Since the bus lets off right at Boscov's, I started there. I do need a few new clothes. I first looked at boots. The soles of the wonderful sheepskin-lined boots Mom gave me a few years ago have finally started to crack. Given how frequently I wear them during the winter (I wore them today), it's not surprising. I didn't see anything that came close to a replacement. All the boots were either too tight, or had high heels (not on a bike!), or no lining, or no tread on the bottom.

I had more luck with clothes. While I couldn't find a winter skirt, I did get a new pair of brown corduroys (the old ones were too small) and a really pretty pink, brown, and white rose-print t-shirt. The corduroys were $14.99 and the shirt was $11.99, both massively on sale. I also looked over their toys section. The only Ever After High dolls they had were Briar and a couple of the Hat-Tastic dolls. Nothing I didn't already have.

It was so nice, I left the mall for lunch. Headed around the corner from Boscov's to the Corner Bakery and Cafe. It looks pretty much like the same thing as Panera Bread - high-end, better-made fast food. Here, though, they bring the food to your table. I had half of a Grilled Chicken Sandwich, a mixed greens salad, black current iced tea, and a vanilla cupcake with cream cheese frosting. The cupcake was ok, moist but a little too oily, and the icing was too sweet. The sandwich was delicious, though, seasoned just right, and I liked the tangy vinaigrette on the greens.

Went across the parking lot next to Michael's. I haven't been in a Michael's since I lived in Cape May County. (Mom worked in the one in Rio Grande for a while.) This one was smaller than the AC Moore in Moorestown and Deptford, but it had better prices. The Springfield Collection outfits were at least a dollar to two dollars cheaper than at AC Moore. I bought a cute white ruffled knit sweater and pink polka-dot skirt for my modern dolls and the 2014 Wilton Cake Decorating Yearbook. (It's their special 85th Anniversary edition and has a section on the history of Wilton and the yearbooks that's fascinating.)

Headed to Barnes and Noble next. Alas, no Ever After High dolls there, either. (Tons of Monster High, though.) I did make some good finds. They had the soundtrack for Newsies for $7.99, the cheapest I've ever seen it (I think it's out of print). Found the 1-disk version of the Errol Flynn Adventures of Robin Hood for $4.99 and a journal with a colorful cover of exotic lilies on the Bargain tables for $4.98. Splurged on the George Harrison greatest hits CD Let It Roll and another Sailor Moon manga (Japanese comic book).

It was past 3. I wanted to leave by at least 4:30. It was time to return to the mall. I considered the movies, but there isn't really much playing right now besides Paddington, Sponge Bob, and American Sniper, all of which I could wait for on DVD. Besides, there were massive crowds at the theater, mainly kids there to see Paddington and Sponge Bob.

I was thirsty and hot from walking and was hoping to pick up a water ice at Rita's in the Food Court next to the theater. No dice. The line was half-way back to the theater! There was no other place in the Food Court to get dessert. Half the Court was covered with walls and in the midst of remodeling.

I ended up at FYE instead, across from the Food Court. I'm trying to avoid getting a ton of movies, since I got a lot for Christmas, but I found some surprisingly good CD's. I ended up with the Broadway original cast album for Seussical (which I've been trying to get for a good price for ages), a double CD studio cast recording of the early 20th century musicals Oh Kay! and Leave It to Jane, and a Bruno Mars CD, Doo Wop & Hooligans. I bought three to take advantage of the buy two used, get one for a dollar sale. All three were $7.99; Leave It To Jane/Oh Kay! ended up being the dollar item.

Made a short stop next at Hallmark. Got the adorable WebKinz Pink Iced Penguin. She's a very girlie little bird, with glittery bright-pink plush and a lavender bow. I think she's just too adorable. (And she came in a box and did have her tag.) Finally gave up on the crazy line at Rita's and got a Tropical Twist "Chillatta" at Cinnabon across from Sears instead.

The bus ride home wasn't as pleasant as the one going there. There was no traffic, but the bus was eight minutes late. By the time it arrived, some people weren't happy. There were a couple of women in the back who did nothing but talk loudly and curse over people's heads the entire ride. They weren't really nasty, but they were obnoxious and annoying. Not everyone wants to listen to their conversation.

My last stop was the CVS on King's Highway after I got off the bus. I needed contact lens solution and a new toothbrush. They had better prices on Oral B than the Acme. It was almost 6 at that point. They were pretty busy, but they're also big and was able to open up more than one line. The wait wasn't long.

I finally got home around 6:30. It was so late, I just put on the Newsies soundtrack instead of a movie and had the last of the leftover tacos for dinner. Newsies is a delightful live-action musical about a newsboys' strike in New York in 1899. Christian Bale is the head of the group; David Moscow is one of its newest members. It was a flop in the early 90s; it would be nearly two decades before the world was ready for live-action musicals to make a comeback. My favorite songs are the opening dance number that introduces the Newsies themselves "Carrying the Banner" and the energetic "King of New York," after they just got their pictures in the paper.

I bought the last few things I wanted that I hadn't seen at the malls at Amazon. Got a new record player, a simple Jensen model. I enjoyed the film soundtrack for Newsies so much, I decided to give the cast album for the recent stage version a try. My first LP on the new player will be the two-disc set for the Broadway show Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Somehow, it just seems more appropriate to listen to Carole King's music on records. (I have her Tapestry on record.) Also picked up Cedar Wood. The daughter of Pinocchio, she's a sweet girl who literally can't tell a lie. She's a really pretty doll, and I've wanted to find her for a while.

Oh, and meet my new WebKinz, Valentina the Pink Penguin! She'll be considered a Valentine's Day decoration and will come out with Amoura the Love Frog. Amoura's her best friend; she has an ice-themed room with some of the new ice furniture near her place where they write love poetry and try on fancy new outfits together.

Rainy Day at the Voorhees Town Center

It was pouring when I got up this morning. A Wonderlandiful World inspired me to re-read Alice In Wonderland, and I was in the mood for musicals, so I ran Alice at the Palace while I ate a very late breakfast and got organized. This was a stage show from 1982, with Meryl Streep in the title role as the young lady who falls down a rabbit hole and finds herself in a fantastic world. Here, everything is based around vaudeville and music hall - the Queen of Hearts is a showgirl, the Mock Turtle is an old Russian, the Cheshire Cat brings on a goofy chorus number, the White Knight mimes most of his routine. I think this is on DVD - strange but interesting if you like Streep or Alice variations.

It was still raining as Alice ended. I decided to switch my original plan for Saturday - a short trip to the Voorhees Town Center - to today and go to the Haddon Township Library on Saturday. The Town Center may smaller than most of the other local malls and in the middle of nowhere, but it does make a nice, short trip when you only have a few hours to spare or want to check out Boscov's. I made a quick stop at WaWa to get water and make change, then quickly locked my bike at Oaklyn's City Hall and hurried to the bus stop. I just made it on the bus.

The bus trip to the Town Center was uneventful and rather cozy. The rain just kept coming down. I almost wished I'd opted for a longer ride. The Town Center itself surprisingly wasn't busy. Not even big sales at Boscov's could draw crowds. I looked at another Ever After High 2-pack, the twin daughters of Rapunzel, Holly and Poppy, in the toy section, but ultimately decided I didn't want to pay $35 for them. I'll wait for the price to come down.

I was mainly there for a new pair of winter gloves. The ones I bought at Macy's a few years ago were worn out from being used on the bike. A hole had started appearing in the left one. This time, I went with a pair of Isotoner sport gloves with vinyl padding and very soft flannel lining. Hopefully, these will hold out a bit longer. The price was right, at any rate. Originally $46, I got them on sale for $19.99.

My other stop was a brief one at the large Hallmark. Yes, they still have WebKinz. I looked at a cute pink penguin, but went with the last Rockerz pet I remotely liked, a dance-themed Zebra. (And I later discovered she was missing her code. I can't find it anywhere. I don't remember seeing it at the store. Nuts. I don't have a way to scan the receipt and send it to Ganz, either.) I also bought Frosted Cranberry hand soap on sale for $3 at Bath and Body Works and took a look at Adventureland, which mostly sells comic books. The Game Stop seems to be gone, though. Not the biggest loss - there's 800 other Game Stops in this area, and that one wasn't all that great.

I've never explored the Boulevard, the street of shops and condos leading to the housing area. I either didn't have the time, or the weather wasn't right. The weather still wasn't right - the rain wasn't stopping - but I was bored. Other than a cosmetology school, the Boulevard consists almost entirely of fancy restaurants, a frozen yogurt parlor, and Victorian Savories, a bakery and cafe. The young man behind the simple marble counter boasted of their home-made goodies and beverages that won awards in several local magazines. No wonder - their gingerbread man cookie was crispy and spicy, and though I don't think he quite heated the apple cider up enough, it was still very apple-y and tasty. I sipped my cider and watched the rain fall. The only other person in the fairly large (by cafe standards) store was a girl listening to earphones and plugging away on an Apple laptop.

I was originally going to stay a little longer, but there wasn't much left to do, and the rain wasn't ending. I took the 4:05 home. Not only was there no traffic, but the bus was actually a few minutes early! Once again, I had no problems getting on and off, picking up my bike, and heading home.

Went in the bath after I got in. Ahhhh. That felt very nice. I read Happier at Home and listened to pop songs from the World War II era as I relaxed. I needed that. I hadn't had a bath in a long time.

When I got out, I listened to the Broadway original cast album for Tovarich while making salmon and Brussels sprouts in lemon sauce for dinner. This 1963 musical version of the 30s play casts Vivian Leigh (in her only musical) and Jean Pierre Audmont as former Russian nobles forced to work as servants for American ambassadors. Tatiana (Leigh) has access to 4 million rubles that everyone, from the French government to the Soviets, seems to want. Meanwhile, the nobles have to fend off the affections of the bored son and daughter of the ambassadors.

Leigh won a Tony as Tatiana, but other than her performance, this show is cute but nothing special. It was a minor hit at the time, but isn't well-remembered other than Leigh and doesn't seem to have been seen since. I think the CD is out of print; only worth looking for if you're a fan of Leigh or standard 50s/early 60s musical comedy.

Library Adventures

It was still cloudy and a little humid outside when I got up this morning, but it looked like the rain was long gone. Since it still felt a little spooky, I ran the Winnie the Pooh Halloween special Boo To You, Too! as I ate breakfast. Everyone in the 100 Acre Woods is gearing up for a spooky Halloween filled with tricks and treats...except Piglet. Halloween almost literally scares him silly. Pooh suggests they have a "Hallo-wasn't" and go without costumes in deference to Piglet. No one is happy with that...but after Piglet disappears, they discover that the scariest part of Halloween is worrying about their little porcine pal.

Switched to two 30s Popeye shorts as I prepared a package to be sent in the mail. "Shiver Me Timbers" has the stranded Olive, Popeye, and Wimpy picked up by a boat that's filled with ghosts! The trio have to get rid of them in order to drive the boat home. Popeye notices that "You Gotta Be a Football Hero" to get Olive's attention when she'd rather be cheering Bluto's team. He becomes his own one-man team to prove spinach can fortify the kind of heroics Nick Foles can only dream of.

I had a lot to do today, starting with a stop at the Oaklyn Post Office. My best friend Lauren's birthday is on Monday. Instead of gifts, she requested that I send cookies for her birthday this year. I'm always talking about my baked treats when we chat! Thankfully, the post office was empty and the lady at the desk was really sweet. I paid for regular shipping and headed out.

The clouds were slowly starting to break up as I rode across Newton Lake Park to Westmont. It was getting warmer, too. The trees are finally starting to turn colors here. I dodged dog walkers and joggers out enjoying the nice day.

The Haddon Township Library was the quietest I'd seen it in months when I arrived. I got in at quarter of noon. Everyone must have gone to lunch. There weren't many DVDs to shelve, but I did still organize the children's titles. (Which are still overloaded with the 800 Scooby Doo and Sesame Street collections they won't get rid of.) I had far less to do with the adult titles and the CDs. I did take out four items to watch this week - the shorts collection Toy Story of Terror, the new collection for Care Bears Welcome to Care-a-Lot The Care-a-Thon Games, and the movies Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

I dodged the lunch hour traffic, stopping at WaWa on my way home to pick up money from an ATM machine and buy a chilled cappuccino. When I got home, I put the DVDs aside, grabbed my backpack and a vinyl tote bag along with my money, and went right back out again. I locked my bike at Oaklyn's City Hall, then waited for the bus to the Voorhees Town Center. It was a few minutes late, nothing horrible. The bus was a bit full, but there was no traffic whatsoever.

I got off at the Voorhees Town Center. Though I was there mainly for the Voorhees Library Book Sale, I wanted to eat lunch first. Despite it being past 2:30, I wasn't really all that hungry. I finally went with Juicinator, who sold juices, sandwiches, and salads made with healthy ingredients for a reasonable price. I had a Caprese Wrap - fresh mozzerella, basil literally pulled right off the plant, tomatoes, olive oil, and vinegar on a whole-wheat wrap with sliced vegetables and pickles and a strawberry-banana fruit shake. It was tasty and very filling.

The Voorhees Library is directly across from the entrance to the Voorhees Town Center's food court. The Voorhees Library hosts the Camden County Library System's big spring and fall book sale. I actually did quite well there, even better than when Lauren and I went in June. Picked up two fiction hardbacks (the historical epic Dreamland by Kevin Baker and one of Carol Higgins' Clark's more recent stories, Gypped), one non-fiction hardback (The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin), a Backyardigans DVD (Escape from the Tower), and five videos, The Music Man, Down Argentine Way, The Pajama Game, The Corsican Brothers, and Red Skelton's Christmas Jollies, likely a collection of Christmas episodes from his show.

I took another hour or so in Macy's and Boscov's. Boscov's was busy. Macy's wasn't. Boscov's was having some really big sales. I bought a WebKinz Rooster for $2.99 and a new winter purse - a bright red faux leather "mini" purse with a long strap and lots of pockets - for $19.99.

I missed the first bus home. Did catch the second one, which once again, was only slightly late. I also missed the traffic, which was mostly going in the other direction. It was getting dark by the time the bus pulled up in front of the dentist's office across from 7-11 in Oaklyn. I went across the street, got my bike, and headed home. At least by this point, the weather was gorgeous, sunny, windy, and far less humid and warm.

When I got home, I put everything away, then had leftover hamburger pie and roasted Brussels sprouts while watching the Care Bears. Funshine Bear and and one of their kid friends just want to have fun at his home in "Compassion-NOT." They learn a big lesson in work before play when Grumpy gets stuck, and it takes their help to get him out. Cheer Bear helps Funshine beat Grumpy in the Care-a-Thon Games. Funshine is so boastful about his win, he becomes "Shunshine" when the others get annoyed with his big head. One of the kids learns to be brave in the dark during a "Care Campout" when she and the Bears are all out camping near a local resort and the lights go out.

Oh, and meet Brian the Rooster! I spent most of tonight setting him up in his own farm-themed room. He comes with a cute barn-shaped clock that rings reveals a mini-rooster whenever your pet touches it.

Happy Days at the Voorhees Town Center

Thankfully, it was sunny and a little humid but not too bad when we headed out this morning. We weren't doing as much walking, anyway. We headed to Oaklyn's City Hall and picked up the bus to the Voorhees Library across from the Voorhees Town Center. Thankfully, the traffic wasn't bad, and other than people getting off on every other corner on the White Horse Pike, we had no problems. We got off right across from the library.

The spring Camden County Library System Book Sale was bustling when we came in. It was far busier than when I went in the fall, probably because we went during the first day. This time, I did manage to find the children's books. They were in the Story Hour room just off the children's section. There wasn't a bad selection, for being stuffed in a small room, when I could get around all the parents, kids, and grandparents looking for inexpensive reads.

We both did pretty darn well. Lauren bought Fletch Too, MacBook for Dummies, and a couple of R.L Stein novels she didn't have. I bought The Trumpet of the Swan, the Disney Fairies novel Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand, the Carol Higgins Clark mystery Fleeced. Found the Mario Lanza vehicle The Great Caruso and two James Bond movies I didn't have, Moonraker and For Your Eyes Only, on video. Hers cost $5. Mine came up to $4 - the videos were three for a dollar.

We went across the street to the Voorhees Town Center for lunch. Bassett's BBQ had recently opened in their food court; I hadn't seen it the last time I was there a few weeks before Christmas. Lauren had their bacon cheeseburger. I had the pulled chicken sandwich. We both had dark, earthy-tasting fries, on sale for 99 cents. Mine was delicious, thick and rich and just spicy enough. Lauren said her burger was really good, too.

We browsed through the smaller stores on the first floor first. Hallmark was having a really big sale on WebKinz. Lauren got the stuffed version of Facebook's famous Grumpy Cat and I bought a "plumfadoodle" (a round, sparkly, dodo-like purple bird creature) for around $4.50 each. We didn't have as much luck in their small Game Stop; found nothing interesting. We debated spending some time in their huge arcade, but ultimately decided we didn't want to spend the money.

Our next stop was Boscov's. Lauren loved their toy section on the first floor. We found new version of craft sets like Shrinky Dinks we hadn't seen since we were kids. Lauren ended up with the smaller Spirograph set. I finally found a nice, sensible pair of waterproof sandals upstairs. The sandals were $19.99. The four pairs of thick cotton Goldtoe socks I bought were $2.49 for two pairs!

We went back downstairs and had cookies and drinks from the cookie-selling booth. Lauren had a big sugar cookie; I had a big white chocolate chunk-macadamia nut cookie. (I love white chocolate-macadamia cookies, but macadamia nuts are so expensive.) We browsed around a little in Macy's after we finished our snack. Voorhees has a really nice Macy's. And unlike the Macy's in Philly or the JCPenney's in Deptford, they had a very large, well-stocked women's plus size section that was one of the first things you saw on entering the store.

Our bus home was a bit late arriving, but thankfully, the traffic was going in the other direction. We both felt a few raindrops when we were waiting for the bus, but the rain held off until we were half-way down the White Horse Pike. It was deluging by the time we were passing the Dunkin' Donuts in Lawnside. Lauren looked up the weather on her smartphone and discovered that the storms were numerous but fast-moving. It wasn't raining when we got off. The storm started again when we were just a few inches from my place. We got in only a bit wet.

It's stormed on and off for the rest of the night. Needless to say, we went nowhere else. We played Kirby games for a couple of hours before having leftovers for dinner while watching Happy Days episodes. Though Fonzie's role was just starting to be built up in the early second season, the show still mostly concentrated on Richie and his pals and was far less strange than the shark-jumping and alien antics that turned up in later years. My favorite episodes were the one where Richie got his red car (which may or may not have been stolen) and the cute Halloween show that had Richie facing his fears when Ralph holds a costume party in an infamously haunted house.

We switched to the Bowery Boys movie Ghost Chasers in honor of Friday the 13th. Richie's not the only one who is afraid of ghosts. While the Boys help Louie track down a phony medium, Sach makes friends with a real ghost who turns out to be anything but nasty. When the boys get into major trouble, Sach and his ghost buddy may be the only ones who can save the day.

Tomorrow, we'll be hitting Oaklyn's town-wide yard sale and the Collingswood Farm Market.

A Hint of Spring

Thanks to Daylight Savings, I didn't get up until 10:30 this morning. Brunch With the Beatles was devoted to Beatles songs, solo and together, that won awards. I came around in time for some of the later Beatles winners, which included "Something," "With A Little Help From My Friends," "Revolution," and "Let It Be."

Called Mom even before I ate breakfast. I wanted to catch her before she went outside to do her chores. Apparently, I caught her as she was coming in. She was in a very good mood. Dad was out fishing; Anny was taking advantage of unemployment money and help from her new boyfriend, a fisherman who may be taking over as captain of his ship, to spend more time with her sons. She went to a job fair at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, the boats that carry passengers from North Cape May to Lewes, Delaware. She was interviewed for a position as a customer service representative and ticket taker. She's really hoping to get the job. She said the interviewer seemed impressed with her, especially how she mentioned her years as a mother raising four children and doing many household jobs on her own when her commercial fisherman husband was at sea. I'm hoping for her, too. It'll be good for her to get out and talk to people and make her own money beyond Dad's.

She thinks seeing the neuropsychologist might not be a bad idea. Even if there's nothing wrong with me other than extreme shyness and sensitivity, it might help rule out some possibilities. She also gave me some explanation to some of my troubles. Evidently, I was a normal baby who did all the normal things babies did and developed normally...until the winter and spring of 1980, shortly before I turned one. Then, in rapid succession, Bruce and Mom split up (with him eventually going back to Florida), Mom had Rose, and Mom's mother Martha got very sick and was ultimately diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Mom said I was very close to Bruce and Grandma Martha for the first year of my life. Bruce used to take me everywhere and show me off to everyone he knew in the boatyard where we lived. I wish I could remember some of this. I do remember being fond of Grandma Martha, who was nice when she was well, but nothing else.

After that, Mom said I seemed to develop differently than Rose. My hand-eye coordination was a little slower. I didn't talk in full sentences until I was 4; I didn't really learn to tie my shoes until I was 9, and only because Dad-Bill and Mom pushed me into doing it. Rose tended to do all the talking for both of us for the first four years of my life, which didn't help. The high student turnover rate at Cape May Elementary, where Coast Guard kids would come and go, often after as little as a year, added to my continual feelings of abandonment. Being dumped by my only close boyfriend in an e-mail a year after I got out of college did my ego no favors, either.

I mulled over these things as I prepared a quick brunch of Gingerbread Pancakes with a half of grapefruit. I hurried out to WaWa to get a drink and change for the bus, then dashed down to Oaklyn's City Hall - it's easier to pick up the bus there. As it turned out, the rush was unnecessary. The bus was about 10 minutes late. It was pretty full, though I was able to find a seat. Otherwise, there was no traffic on the White Horse Pike, and no problems getting to Voorhees.

My trip to the Voorhees Town Center was much quicker than the one I made in December. I mainly just needed a few things at Boscov's. The big one was black work pants. Those darn pants I bought at Avenue were too tight and split in the front. From  now on, I spend the money and buy good pants for work. I picked up a pair of black Levi twill trousers for about $34.

The other big thing I needed was a new pair of slippers. The pair of Miss Piggy slippers Anny gave me four years ago for Christmas were faded and worn, and the satin lining on the insides were fraying badly. Dearforms were on sale for $9.99. I went with a really cute pair of ballet flats, made of cushiony-soft red material with sturdy soles and little satin bows on the toes. I also bought a pair of tan Goldtoe socks to replace the ones I bought about three years ago that were starting to go and a teal mock turtleneck that was on clearance for $6.99.

The Town Center was unusually busy. There was a huge Cub Scouts rally going on next to Pay/Half and the Boscov's entrance on the main floor. I think they were having some kind of race or soap box derby. I had to duck around parents watching their kids and head to the escalators near the food court to get downstairs.

My other interest in the Town Center was Hallmark. They're one of the few stores in Camden County that still carry a good selection of WebKinz. I wavered between the Rockerz Disco Poodle and the Flamingo. I finally went with the Poodle when I noticed he was on clearance for $10.50. (I'll get the Flamingo for my birthday - the receipt came with a 30% off coupon that's good from April 1st through the 19th.)

There really wasn't anything else that I needed in any of the stores. I just opted to head home early. I took the 3PM bus back to Oaklyn. Other than it was right on time, the ride was the same going home - full bus with no traffic. The bus let me off across from 7-11 a little over a half-hour later. I stopped quickly at 7-11 to get a much-needed drink (decided to try their new Diet Cherry Coke Frost Slurpee), then headed down West Clinton Avenue.

I was about to cross Manheim when a familiar white van stopped beside me. It was Jodie, on her way back from grocery shopping at the Acme. Jodie drove me to Dad's. I was there about a half-hour, enough to say "hi" to both of them and catch up with them and tell them what I was doing. I'd been meaning to get over there, anyway. I hadn't been to their house since the Super Bowl, and I can't remember the last time I went when it was just them.

When I finally got in, I spent the rest of the evening quietly. I put my new Rockerz Poodle on the site. His name is Prince. I know Prince debuted a couple of years after disco went out, but with his poofy curls and lowered lids, Prince does sort of look like the real thing. I haven't finished his room yet; it's going to be a collection of styles, mainly Rock and Modern. Naturally, he came with a disco dance floor; I may see if I can make my pets their own disco dance hall.

After I got bored with the WebKinz, I made roast chicken thighs in home-made balsamic dressing and vegetable soup (leftover tomato soup, home-made chicken stock, frozen green beans, and various vegetables that were sitting in my veggie drawer) for dinner. Listened to the greatest hits LPs for Tony Orlando and Dawn and Barry Manilow while I ate.

Have a Shiny New Year

Began the last day of 2013 with two quick cartoons as I prepared for a relatively early work day. In Kung Fu Panda Holiday, Po has been given the honor of hosting the big Winter Feast at the Dragon Palace. However, to do so, he'll have to miss his father's family get-together at his restaurant. Po knows nothing about fancy dinners and is run ragged trying to get everything together and fend off a bunny chef who thinks he has to defend his honor...until he remembers the meaning of teamwork and being with the ones you love.

Ruby is also having party problems in "Ruby's Surprise Party." She wants to hold a big surprise bash for her best friend Louise, but Max keeps making her jump out of her hiding spot too early. All he wants is that chocolate-raspberry cake Grandma baked!

Work was a mess all day long. First of all, I took out a full trash yesterday...and found it on the ground this morning. The feral cats must have gotten into it. I had to pick that up and was almost late. Second, it's the beginning of the month. Third, people were preparing for New Year's parties and large dinners. Fourth, all the news stations are blaring snow reports, even though we're supposed to get less than an inch, and the real problem will be literally freezing temperatures. I spent most of the afternoon stressed and frustrated. I was glad to grab cheese on a good sale, along with aluminum foil and sparkling apple-cranberry cider and heavy whipped cream for tonight, and hurry home.

When I got in, I changed into regular clothes, then made my own New Year's Eve dinner. Sliced sweet potatoes and put them in with the ham, along with the leftover sliced apples from Rose's party last week. Defrosted green beans and almonds and made "French Salad" (lettuce with home-made dressing). It came out delicious, perfect and moist and just sweet enough.

Ran cartoons all evening as I baked and cooked. Everyone's favorite red-nosed reindeer finds himself chasing the unhappy baby New Year who has fled because of his big ears in the odd Rankin-Bass tale Rudolph's Shiny New Year. Chuck's not happy with how he has to spend his New Year either in Happy New Year, Charlie Brown. He has to write a book report on War and Peace, even as Peppermint Patty begs him to take her to her big New Year's Eve shindig.

Moved to shorts as I did the dishes. It takes a little spinach to give Olive's grandma enough vitality to join Popeye in a New Year's Eve dance contest in "Let's Celebrake." Popeye and Olive try to get Bluto to stop sabotaging their nightclub routine in "Morning, Noon, and Nightclub." Jerry is a "Mouse In Manhattan" when he flees the country and Tom for the bright lights of New York City. Mickey Mouse proves to be one heck of a party animal when his wild get-together even gets the furniture dancing in "The Whoopee Party."

Did two Good Eats episodes on snack food as I used Alton Brown's method for popping popcorn - a simple metal mixing bowl with oil on the bottom and foil on the top. I ran "Pop Art" and "Pretzel Logic" as I made my New Year's snack. Though I did burn the bottom of the bowl a little (as I feared), the popcorn came out surprisingly edible.

I also got the first items of my Amazon.com orders today. I really needed a new cordless phone. My old Panasonic is from when I first moved in. It was a bit clunky, and the screen had died. (The reviews on Amazon mentioned that's a problem with this particular model after six years or so. I've had it for seven.) I have another Panasonic, this one more streamlined, with larger buttons and a light-up face. I also got the most adorable WebKinz Lil' Kinz Lamb - I named her Sharri, after puppeteer Sharri Lewis, whose most famous creation was Lambchop.

I'm off to make whipped syllabub and wait for the cacophony that is the fireworks over the river. I hope all of my regular readers have a wonderful New Year's and a safe and happy 2014!

Travels to the Town Center

What better way could there be to begin a gorgeous, sunny fall morning than with a classic Halloween special? It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is the Peanuts' second-most popular special after the original Christmas story. Linus wants to spend Halloween in a "sincere" pumpkin patch to await the Great Pumpkin, who brings toys to all the good children on Halloween night. A love-struck Sally joins him. Meanwhile, Charlie Brown has his own problems with trick-or-treating and the party afterwards. Snoopy's too busy fighting World War I to pay much attention to Halloween festivities.

After a quick stop at WaWa for money and a bottle of water, I picked up the bus to the Voorhees Town Center. This is one of four local large malls, and the most changed in the past few years. Originally the Echelon Mall, somewhere around 2007, Voorhees decided the mall was too much in the middle of nowhere to compete with Cherry Hill and Deptford and converted it into a half-traditional mall, half "life center," with condos, restaurants, office buildings, and a cosmetology school.

The Voorhees branch of the Camden County Library System turned out to be on the same street as the office buildings, directly across from the mall's Food Court entrance. The two-story building was much larger than most of the fairly small libraries closer to home, including the Haddonfield and Haddon Township libraries. It was also very busy. While there was no line, the sale's popularity was reflected in the mountains of boxes stacked on either side of the main lobby as I entered.

I was there for about an hour. I never did find the kids' tables. Actually, there was less there than I'd hoped. This was a three-day sale, and I suspect many people may have come yesterday before or after work. I did manage to make a few good discoveries:

Two videos to dub, the musicals Cabin In the Sky and Kid Millions

Two records, the original Broadway cast albums for the 50s/early 60s shows Plain and Fancy and The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Four books: Another Sarah Ban Breathnach self-help book Something More: Excavating the Authentic Self, the Peanuts comics collection Thank Goodness for People, a Reader's Digest collection of fairy tales, and Christmas With Southern Living 1990

All of this cost me 8 dollars all together - they threw in the records for free. : D

I headed back over to the Voorhees Town Center after I finished at the library. It was hard to choose where to eat at their Food Court. There still wasn't a whole lot there, though there was more than there had been the last time I was there in 2008. I ultimately went with Qdoba Mexican Grill, a slightly more upscale eatery that specialized in fast and tasty southwestern fare. While I did enjoy the chicken quesadila, the tortilla soup proved to be too spicy for more than a few quick slurps.

I strolled around the mall for the next hour or so. The actual mall section of the Voorhees Town Center isn't nearly as big or as populated as some of the other local malls, but it does still have that huge Hallmark where I found the WebKinz Bat in October 2008 when Amanda was visiting. And yes, the Hallmark remains one of the few stores in the Camden County area with a huge selection of WebKinz. I chose a handsome WebKinz Rockerz Horse, a blue paisley fellow with a country-western theme. His name is Hank - he comes with a nifty "Grand Ol' Opry" barn and stage.

I next spent some time wandering around Boscov's. (There's also a Macy's, but I figured I could see that anywhere.) Boscov's is one of the few locally-owned department store chains left in the US. I absolutely adored this one. It seemed to have been spared the remodeling that updated the rest of the mall, and I loved it. All the neon signs and mirrored walls reminded me of the (now defunct) Rio Mall of my childhood in Rio Grande. And unlike Macy's or JCPenney's, who mostly just sell clothes, makeup, and linens, Boscov's sells EVERYTHING - clothes, linens, furniture, makeup, accessories, shoes, kids' stuff, toys, seasonal items, pet items. They even had a candy counter! Despite some decent sales, I didn't see anything I couldn't live without and left with nothing.

I headed home around quarter of 3. It took me a while to find the entrance where the bus picked up passengers. I forgot it's upstairs, which is mostly Voorhees Township offices and offices for other "services" like Liberty Travel. I hiked all around the mall, down the "Boulevard" where the restaurants are, and back over a hill. I made it with ten minutes to spare.

Other than some traffic on the White Horse Pike, the bus trips to and from the Town Center were quick and uneventful. When I got in, I put everything away and prepared my grocery list while running the other Peanuts special on the disc, You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown. Linus is in the running for class president, but he may blow his chances when he brings up his Great Pumpkin obsession in his final speech.

I only needed a few things at the Acme, mainly stock-up items like cream of mushroom soup and flour. The real reason I was there was to get my schedule, since I'm off tomorrow, too. It's pretty par for the course for this time of year - one 9PM night, two early days. I'm a little disappointed that one of those early days is Saturday - I could probably squeeze a farm market run in, but I won't be able to hit up any yard sales.

When I got home, I enjoyed the Crock Pot Ham and Potatoes that I started before I left for the Voorhees Library, along with steamed broccoli, for dinner while watching a spooky episode of Wonder Woman from the second season. Diana Prince is in hot water when three ambassadors from an importance peace conference disappears under her watch in "Seance of Terror." The three were lured by a little boy who can take photos of them with departed loved ones. His aunt and uncle hold a false "seance" to make them believe that their loved ones want them to call off the peace talks...but why? And is that little boy really psychic?

I went straight in the bath after dinner. That felt nice. It was just me, the warm water, and Something More. I've wanted so much more for years. I know I can be more than just a cashier. I just wish I could find authenticity and still earn the money to live on my own.

The Summer Reading List

A phone call woke me up this morning. Again. Yes, it was the Acme. Could I come in at noon? No. I would come in at 1:30, an hour before I was scheduled. I'm completely aware that I should be grateful for the extra hours...and I would be, if they didn't disrupt my mornings and continually forget that some of us can't just automatically jump in a car and run to the store when they snap their fingers.

I spent most of the morning doing things on the computer. There were several lists I wanted to print out, including my reading list. There's a big pile of books I've bought over the years from thrift shops, yard sales, or used book stores that I've either never read at all (the Donna Parker books) or haven't read in some cases decades (I'm currently working on Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, which I probably haven't read since I was 11). They include the Carol Higgins Clark mystery Zapped, the remaining Vesper Holly young adult novels I picked up with my birthday Amazon.com card, The Celery Stalks at Midnight, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, three Dear America books, and four show business biographies (of George M. Cohan, Joan Blondell, Louise Brooks, and Russ Columbo). The reason I'm doing this is to see which ones are worth keeping, and which ones I can donate to the libraries and church thrift shops.

(And this isn't even the whole list. It started in late February with that Dewey the Library Cat biography Linda gave me last fall that I didn't get to then. It just kept growing when I realized how many books I owned that I either hadn't read or hadn't read in a long time.)

I finally made it to work around 1:30. When I arrived, work was dead...which is what I figured it would be. Apparently, the woman in charge of the self-checkout line had called out, which would be less of a surprise if she didn't spend more time out than in. They didn't really need the extra help. The only time we were busy at all was during rush hour, when the lack of help was more of a problem. Otherwise, we were on-and-off steady, and I spent the down times shelving candy.

I was delighted to discover before I left that most of my Amazon.com birthday order had arrived! Mom gave me a gift card for my birthday...but before she sent it, I treated myself to a CD collection of songs from various musical versions of Cinderella, including the Rodgers and Hammerstein TV special, the Disney animated film, and the 1976 British film The Slipper and the Rose. It was made by Varese Sarabande, the same company that released the Lost In Boston and Unsung Musicals series. I enjoyed this one just as much as those. I really need to find more from that company; I think they may be long gone, which is why most of their CDs are currently hard to find.

Other things that arrived with the Amazon.com order - a USB drive (I'm out of them and they're cheaper on Amazon than anywhere else, including Staples), the Vesper Holly story The Jedera Adventure (which was in bad shape - I'll keep it, but I'd like to look around for a better copy), a new pair of capris (two of my old ones were too tight), and the Webkinz Rockerz Fox. The Rockerz Fox is a pretty beast - get a load of those huge eyes! She's by far the best-looking of the Rockerz pets. I named her Jetta, as in Joan Jett - her theme is hard rock. She naturally has a rock-themed room near Cyndi's on the edge of the house, where she mostly spends time in her private recording studio.

A Love Froggy Day In Oaklyn

I slept in a little this morning, then finished The Sea Hawk and wrote in my journal until past 10. It was just as well. The view from my bedroom windows wasn't promising. It was cloudy and gray, almost as bad as last Tuesday, though not wet at that point. 

I ran the other Looney Tunes Easter special, Bugs Bunny's Easter Funnies, as I had breakfast. This one goes the more conventional route of mixing parts from shorts with a flimsy plot made from new material. The Easter Bunny has taken sick. When Bugs isn't available,  he and Granny look for a replacement among the Toons. The theme here is more "Oscar winners" than Easter. We have segments from "Birds Anonymous " "For Scent-imental Reasons," and "Knighty Knight Bugs," among others, but not a single Easter or spring short. Ok for major Looney Tunes fans or those looking for springtime entertainment for little kids, not necessary for anyone else.

Oh, and while I did enjoy The Sea Hawk, I didn't love it. I've had it for almost a year now, since my last birthday, and hadn't gotten to it. While the tale of a British nobleman who is betrayed by his weakling brother into slavery, then becomes an Arabian pirate, is exciting and filled with amazing historical details, it might actually be a bit too detailed for me. I was kind of hoping for more action and less loving details of everything in Algiers. I liked it enough to try other novels by Rafael Sabatini, but this probably won't be my favorite.

It was so late by the time I finally headed out, I decided to reverse my usual errands and start with lunch. Besides, it was also still gloomy, windy, and chilly. I made a quick stop at a surprisingly quiet for the lunch hour Capitol Pizza. I bought a bottle of Coke Zero and a slice of mushroom pizza - breakfast was late this morning.

Dodged the noon traffic next to run some errands at the Westmont Plaza. Dollar Tree was crazy-busy, with full aisles and a line across the front of the store. I was mainly there for Easter cards for the family and birthday cards for Mom (whose birthday is Wednesday) and my friend Kelly in Wildwood (whose birthday was last week). A quick peek at JoAnn's yielded nothing but the realization that they're pretty close to done. Most of the back of the store has already been cleared out, and they don't have nearly the spring decorations they usually have. I considered a spring-themed wreath, but decided I didn't need it and headed out. Dropped into Tuesday Morning and found a WebKinz Love Frog for $2.99. I also discovered they'd expanded the store considerably. The side of the store that had once been storage now held large pieces of furniture and Christmas leftovers. 

The Haddon Township Library was my last stop. It was probably just as well that they had plenty of help and not a lot for me to do. I organized the children's books and shelved some adult DVDs. The DVDs were all in the right places - nothing needed to be cleared out. I looked around for some books to give me ideas for hobbies, but it was getting late. I ended up taking out DVDs of Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids and the 2006 Angelina Ballerina cartoons, along with the animated movie Over the Hedge (I read the comic strip when I'm at work) and the Hitchcock film Torn Curtain with Paul Newman and Julie Andrews. 

It was almost 4 when I finally made my way across Newton River Park. It had begun to sprinkle as I left the Westmont Plaza. By this point, the sprinkle was fast becoming a light shower. It goes without saying I had the Park entirely to myself for once. Even the Canadian geese seemed to be fleeing the weather. 

Spent the rest of the evening at my apartment, making a Spice Cake and dubbing another Richard Chamberlain 70s swashbuckler, The Count of Monte Cristo. Once again, Chamberlain plays a man wrongfully imprisoned who wants revenge. This time, he's sailor Edmund Dantes who was thrown into prison by four men who wanted his ship, his money, and his wife. An old priest (Trevor Howard) teaches him about how to escape, but warns  him against vengeance.  An embittered Edmund ignores him and, with the help of the treasure the old man's map lead him to, becomes the nobleman of the title. He discovers just how harsh vengeance can be when it does hurt the men who slandered his name...but also the woman he had almost married who is now wed to his rival.

While I will admit that I did like the somewhat more lighthearted 2002 version better, this one was also interesting. At the very least, it remained truer to the original story, while still condensing an enormous, detailed novel. I will add that this can only, at press time, be bought as a Korean import on DVD in the US. You're better off digging around for the video or seeing if you can catch it on cable. 

Switched to Angelina Ballerina as I cleaned up from my dinner of lamb chops with scallions and mushrooms, green beans and almonds, and spinach and arugula salad with cherry tomatoes. In the "full length" episode "All Dancers On Deck," Angelina and Alice are thrilled when they and their dance class take a cruise to their teacher Miss Lilly's native country Dachovia. The cruise, however, is plagued by problems from the start. Angelina and Alice want to help Miss Lilly's nephew Yuri prove to the stuffy Captain that he's good enough to wed his daughter, but their attempts at helping only make things worse. Meanwhile, Henry is obsessed with boats and will think of nothing else, the Pinkpaws twins left their costumes at home, and poor William spends the voyage seasick. When the ship runs aground on an iceberg and the Captain blames Yuri, Angelina becomes determined to help...and prove that dancing can be very useful on ship.

Oh, and meet my Love Frog, my first (and likely only) Valentine's WebKinz, Amoura! Amoura's name is a variation on "Amour," which of course, is French for "love." Amoura is a poet and a writer with very romantic soul who lives in a small pink-and-magenta room on the edge of WebKinz World. I really only bought her to go with my Valentine's Day displays; after I pick up the Rockerz Fox later this month, I'm going to try to lay of WebKinz for a while. 

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Good Byes are the Hardest Words

Started out a cloudy, cold day with a late run to the Acme for my paycheck. This will probably be my last week cashing my check at work. I switched to direct deposit last week; it should be kicking in by next week or the week after. Had a lot of grocery shopping to do, too. There were a lot of great sales, some only for this weekend - strawberries, tuna, packs of fish (salmon this week), Acme generic "Essential Everyday" toasted oat cereal and shredded wheat (I had a coupon for two, and the oat cereal was on sale), brown sugar, and chicken legs. Needed to replace white cooking wine, apple cider vinegar, and evaporated milk. Restocked apples, eggs, and blood oranges. The clearance racks have been laden with leftovers from Christmas and discontinued items - I found my favorite small packs of Land O'Lakes flavored hot chocolate for a mere quarter each! I ended up with eight of them. Smart Balance put out their "blended butter" in a smaller package. It was probably a gyp to buy two butter sticks for $3.29, but I missed their original sticks and wanted to try this.

When I got home, I ran Sailor Moon episodes while putting everything away, then made "Wonderful Tuna Salad" for lunch to use up the last of the crushed pineapple. Had the pack of French Vanilla Land O'Lakes Hot Chocolate with lunch. I wish it wasn't the only pack they had left - it was really tasty.

I headed out after lunch to quickly sweep the porch and for my last bank run. The Oaklyn branch of PNC Bank closed for good at 3PM this afternoon. I just made it in. I still don't like that they're closing it to begin with. There's only one other bank in Oaklyn (TD Bank down the White Horse Pike), and at least four other banks in Collingswood. Not to mention, I discovered that most of the tellers weren't moved to other branches and are out of a job. That isn't fair. The Oaklyn PNC branch won awards for excellent customer service. They had a plate of cookies, but I wasn't that hungry. I did take a few last Jolly Ranchers from a bowl, though. I'll always think of the Oaklyn PNC branch and how nice the tellers were to me whenever I see Jolly Ranchers.

Strolled home after that, passing lines and packs of kids and parents on their way home from the Oaklyn School. I even waved to a few kids whose parents I knew. When I got in, I ran the original cast of Annie to cheer me up and packed up bags of stuffed animals I don't really need anymore. I'm getting rid of most of my WebKinz, except for the ones that are unique in design (like the Rockerz or the dragons and Pegasus) or a type of animal that isn't often seen in stuffed form (like wombats, American eagles, and possums). There's two coming in March that look interesting, including an awesome hard-rock-themed female Rockerz Fox. After that, I don't think I need more WebKinz, or stuffed animals, for that matter. The Riverside Rest now has no vacancies.

Work was a bit busier than last night, but ended the same way - so quiet, I spent an hour puttering around up front and ultimately left a few minutes early. I found out why we were busier when I walked out onto a wet parking lot. It flurried briefly and lightly right after I got in from the bank, but was doing nothing but looking gloomy when I left for work. Whatever rain or snow we got was done by 10. It was sprinkling lightly, just barely enough to get me damp. There was a dusting of snow on my porch and on the ground, but the streets were completely clear. I didn't even see any ice.

Balance On a Cold Day

It was sunny but chilly when I headed out this morning for yoga class. The class was fairly full when I just made it in, though not as bad as the last time I was there. We concentrated on Warrior poses, headstands, and balancing. I can do most of the Warrior poses just fine. I still can't balance very well, though.

Headed right back to Oaklyn after class, but made a left onto Newton Avenue instead of going straight home. I ended up at the Oaklyn Library for this week's volunteering session there. There was plenty to do. Some of the DVDs still had labels to remove, and there were lots of kids books and DVDs to shelve and organize.

When I got in, I made Whiting Fillets and Brussels Sprouts in Red Wine Vinegar Sauce with an Escarole-Citrus (escarole and a sectioned blood orange) Salad and ran some of my Classic Disney music collection CDs and the Dreamgirls soundtrack. I spent most of the rest of the afternoon quietly online, playing WebKinz World and doing job research. WebKinz World just started letting people use the "hosts" (the characters in charge of various areas) as friends to complete various challenges. That's good news for me, since I try to avoid friend-ing anyone I don't know. I can finally complete these challenges, some of which have been hanging around for months.

Work was surprisingly quiet, given how busy it's been lately. It was never more than mildly busy during rush hour. By 10PM, it was so dead, I left a few minutes early.

A Visit to Philadelphia

Started off a chilly, sunny morning with The Secret World of Arrietty. In this sweet animated film from Japan, a family of tiny people called "Borrowers" live under the floorboards of an old house. They live on bits and pieces of things that are "borrowed" from the main house, like sugar cubes and sheets of paper. Feisty Arrietty (Bridgit Mendler) first encounters a human boy named Shawn (David Henrie) in the meadow outside the house. Her mother (Amy Poehler) is worried that he'll hurt her. She couldn't be more wrong. Delicate Shawn has a heart condition and can barely run, much less hurt anyone. He's at the house to rest for a heart operation. The elderly housekeeper Hara (Carol Burnett) is supposed to be watching him, but she may be more interested in the stories of the little people who live under the floorboards and steal things when no one's looking. The small girl and the sickly boy develop an unlikely friendship that takes an adventurous turn when Hara gets too close to Arrietty's family for comfort.

I have a mixed track record with feature-length anime. I loved Ponyo, found Kiki's Delivery Service cute but underwhelming, and didn't get into Spirited Away. I'm now 2 for 4; this was a really sweet movie. Burnett, Poehler, and Will Arnett (as Arrietty's taciturn father) were the stand-outs of the English-language cast. Some of the animation was lovely, too, especially in the meadow and all the details of the Borrowers' diminutive home.

Headed out after Arrietty ended for this week's Haddon Township Library run. It was around 11 when I arrived, and there wasn't a whole lot going on and almost nothing to shelve. I organized the kids' DVDs (and had a much easier time of it than I have in previous weeks) and put away the few adult DVDs and picture books that were there.

Dodged the noon traffic on Cuthbert Road after leaving the library and made my way to Cafe Antonio's in Collingswood for lunch. By the time I arrived, it was 12:30, and they were very busy. Two sets of men were getting their pizza even as I came in. A family with young kids arrived shortly after I did. I ate my slice of square-shaped Sicilian Pizza and Diet Pepsi as quickly as I could.

Cafe Antonio's is only a few blocks from the PATCO train station. I hopped a fairly full car into Philadelphia for my annual February trip into the city to do some shopping. I got off just a half a block from Russakoff's Used Book Store in Washington Square. There were a couple of men replacing a burnt-out florescent light bulb in the back of the tiny room, so I really didn't get a chance to look at much of the romance or travel books. I ended up with Half-Full: Meditations on Hope, Optimism, and the Things that Matter, a hardback book on having a positive outlook.

I got lost a little bit as I made my way across Washington Square, but I finally did make it to the Avenue of the Arts and FYE. They're still having that "Buy 2 Used, Get 1 for $1" sale. It took me a long time to choose, but I finally ended up with the "4 Movie Collection" set of the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, two Paramount Marx Brothers movies (Horse Feathers and Animal Crackers), and Brave. (Horse Feathers was the dollar movie.) I also splurged and bought The Avengers. I've been dying to see this since it came out last summer, and I'm tired of waiting for it to turn up at the libraries. I grabbed that WebKinz Rockerz Hippie Cow that I passed up in December, too. How could I resist when FYE dropped the price to $1.22?

It was getting late as I made my way through City Hall to Market Street. I wanted to hit Macy's and check out their jeans. My older pair of jeans is too tight for me and is starting to get holes in the back. It figures that the pair I liked was on the wrong rack and wasn't the price I thought they were; I bought them anyway. They were the only jeans in the color blue I wanted. Most of the jeans were black.

I made my way down a busy Market Street to the Gallery Mall. I couldn't resist stopping in Books-a-Million. I found an American Girl historical character mystery there that I haven't seen anywhere else offline, Kirsten Larson's one and only mystery, The Runaway Friend.

It was 5:30 when I finally squeezed into a tightly-packed PATCO car. I was very lucky to find a seat! It was like sardines in there. I'd meant to go home earlier, but I got so caught up in FYE. When the train rolled into Collingswood, I bundled up and rode home.

A box with another DVD set greeted me at the house's front porch. I won the three Warner Brothers Popeye cartoon sets in a fancy Walt Disney Treasures-style tin on eBay last week. Popeye is one of the last major theatrical characters I have any interest in. I was thrilled to get all 3 sets for about $30...especially as I've seen the first, 4-disc set go for as much as $64 at FYE. The back of the tin was really dented, but that was a bonus item. The sets themselves were just fine.

I had just enough time to make chili for dinner and watch Horse Feathers when I got in. As with Hold That Line!, this also deals with nutty comics who make a mockery of college football. Groucho is Professor Wagenstaff, who has just been made the head of Huxtley University. Zeppo is his crooning son, who would rather chase the college widow (Thelma Todd) than pay attention to academics. Chico works in a speakeasy (where the password is "Swordfish," by the way), Harpo is a dog catcher, and somehow, both end up as students. Todd tries to get the Marxes to throw Huxtley's big game, but the boys have more than one way to chase and outwit her at the same time.

Not the boys' best at Paramount, but there's some classic bits - the "swordfish" routine, Groucho singing "Whatever It Is, I'm Against It," the boys all serenading Todd with their own versions of "Everyone Says I Love You," and the hilarious football finale.

Oh, and meet Melanie, the gentle and totally groovy folk-singing bovine! I created her own eclectic room next-door to Cyndi the Punk Cat's. She'll probably be one of the last WebKinz I buy for a while; I have a ton of them.

And even as I write this, it's snowing lightly yet again. The clouds must have come in after I got home. When I was riding from Collingswood, there were not only few clouds in the sky, but a beautiful sunset.

What Casino are You Robbing New Year's Eve?

Started a sunny, chilly morning with computer work. I got a call from Shelly Stahl while I was online. She's booked until after the New Year, and then she's booked in the morning. I couldn't get an appointment until the 14th. Maybe it's just as well. I have other things on my mind right now.

One of those things is getting my Christmas presents done. I continued my current crocheting project while watching the original 1960 Ocean's 11. Same deal as the 2001 remake - Danny Ocean (Frank Sinatra) calls 10 of his old war buddies (among them Joey Bishop, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr., and character actors Akim Tamrioff and Richard Conte) to pull off a heist at five of Las Vegas' biggest casinos. The heist goes off without a hitch, but as in all great schemes, there's a catch. A former crook turned straight (Cesar Romero)  wants in on the take or will turn them in. One of the men died shortly after the heist, and the boys want to give his widow some of the money, too.

This is one of the few movies where the remake is genuinely better. The original Ocean's 11 is really more of a two-hour party with the Rat Pack and their assorted friends and hangers-on than a crime caper. In fact, you don't really see much of the actual caper; the movie is too busy onstage with Sinatra, Martin, and the others. It's a tad bit campy, some of the dialogue is a bit corny, and the treatment of Davis and all the female characters is far from politically correct.

There's only two reasons to see this today, besides a glimpse of Sinatra at the height of his "Chairman of the Board" powers. First of all, it's a snapshot of a very different Vegas when it was the center of all things classy. In fact, of the five casinos featured in this movie, only two are still standing and in operation on the Strip at press time. The second is for the atmosphere. Like the remake, this movie oozes cool. You feel just a little bit more hip having watched it. There's also a nice variety of cameos, from Shirley MacLaine as a drunk girl who gives Martin a surprise kiss to Red Skelton as an irate gambler.

This is a must for fans of the Rat Pack or Vegas in all its 60s glory. Anyone looking for more action (or a more recent view of Vegas) will want to sign up with George Clooney and his 11 first.

Went for a walk after the movie ended. It was just a quick one down Manor and back around to West Clinton, going past the school. I was surprised to see so many kids already out at 1PM. Turns out the Oaklyn School got off early today, for some reason. It was a nice day to get off early. There was a blue sky and a nip in the air; it felt far nicer than it has for the past week.

When I got home, I had leftover lentil soup for lunch, ran the last of the Tom & Jerry Tales shorts, and headed out to work. Work was off and on busy through about 7PM, after which it died very quickly. I was in and out with no problems.

Yet another package had arrived when I got home. This time, it was from Lauren. She mainly gave me Three Stooges-related books, including two biographies on Larry Fine and The Three Stooges Cookbook. (The Stooges are her big thing this year.) Also in the package were gift cards for Barnes & Noble and Macy's and the new WebKinz Sapphire Pegasus. I thought she'd be a perfect mate for my Golden Pegasus, Helios. I named her Diana; she was moved into Heilos' World Cup Soccer room and will share it with him.

Homework and Work at Home

Very quiet day. I once again slept in, then spent what was left of the morning making phone calls. I finally got a hold of Donna at the Acme. She gave me the website and phone number for the State of New Jersey's Department of Labor, which apparently deals with disability claims. I called them a bit later. They put me through to a fellow named Dan, who confirmed that my claim had gone through, and the money should be on its way.

WebKinz just completely redid its site map. It's now interactive. You can move the buildings around, add road wherever you like, and even set up your own forests and picnic areas. I fiddled around with it for a couple of hours. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but once you do, it's really fun. Five of your pets, four random ones and the one you're using at the moment, stroll on the roads. You can even get them to enter buildings.

After a late lunch, I did some reading. This time, I went through the first few chapters of If I Don't Do It Now, a book I picked up from the used book shop in Collingswood a few years ago. It's kind of the same thing as The 10 Laws of Career Reinvention, but geared towards women 35 and over instead of everyone. I did the multiple choice quiz in Chapter 3. I'll do more of the activities in that chapter tomorrow.

Ran one of my favorite movies, The Band Wagon, while making Ginger Cookies and leftovers for dinner. Fred Astaire plays Tony Hunter, a washed-up Hollywood dancer who wants to make a comeback on Broadway. Cranky pianist Oscar Levant and perky Broadway star Nanette Fabray are the married composers and playwrights who have fabricated a light musical stage vehicle for his comeback. The problems start when they engage currently-popular director/actor Jerry Cordova (British stage star Jack Buchanon)  to direct. Uber-serious and egotistical Cordova has his own ideas of how the show should be run, including hiring ballerina Gabby (Cyd Charisse) who is Hunter's complete opposite, in age and dance genre. The show goes badly and looks like it may flop...until Gabby and Tony rebel.

If you're a fan of MGM musicals, Fred Astaire, or musicals in general, you absolutely must look up this one. The two-disc set is worth the cost, especially the making-of documentary that explains just how troubled this seemingly light frappe was.

Uptown Girl

We started out a gloomy, rainy, humid morning with the American Top 40. They headed to mid-July 1979 for some classic disco and R&B. Hits from my very first summer (I would have been about 4 months old at the time) include "Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward, "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" by McFadden & Whitehall, "The Logical Song," by Supertramp, "Good Times" by Kool & the Gang, and that summer's two top smashes, the title track and "Hot Stuff" from Donna Summer's massive hit album Bad Girls.

I was shocked when I opened my door and discovered it was barely in the mid 80s. It was supposed to be in the lower-mid 90s and sunny all weekend! I knew those guys on the broadcast news weather forecasts couldn't accurately call the weather in a paper bag. I ignored the on-off rain showers and headed out for this week's farm market run.

I did make one stop at an estate sale in Collingswood, but besides some ok furniture, there wasn't much of interest. I moved on to the farm market, which was bustling, despite the weather. Melons and the little yellow apples are out now, and everyone has piles and piles of tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini. I eventually bought white peaches (they were cheaper at the orchard booth than the yellow), blackberries, apples, two zucchini, cheddar cheese (I ran out yesterday), Cuban peppers, a really ripe tomato, and plum butter (the blueberry butter in the fridge is getting low).

I rode home through Newton River Park. It was raining even harder than before; I was getting quite wet. I did have one more errand to run in the neighborhood, though. I ran out of dental floss the other day and forgot to buy it at work last night. It was cheaper at CVS anyway, a $1.99 for a two-pack of your basic waxed string.

Spent about an hour or so at home when I got in, having leftovers for lunch and finishing Green Lantern. This adaptation of the very long-running DC Comic book series (he was one of their earliest characters) gives us Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, a hotshot pilot who has just lost his job on a crucial mission after a stunt goes wrong. Jordan isn't feeling very good about himself or his abilities...until he encounters a crashed space ship and an alien in green. The alien gives him a ring and a statue that powers it. Turns out the ring gives him the power to become a superhero and join an elite force of aliens dedicated to protecting the galaxy. Not all of the Green Lantern aliens are happy about having a mere human on their squad. Hal does his best to prove that a human is as good of a superhero as anything in the galaxy when a monster that feeds on fear threatens the Earth.

Not great, not bad. I've never been a real big fan of this character to begin with (where DC is concerned, I've always been more of a Superman kind of girl), and the movie didn't do much with him. Reynolds was pretty good and the special effects were marvelous, but the plot was simplistic and the dialogue only so-so.

Headed out as soon as Green Lantern ended. My first stop was the Oaklyn Library for this week's volunteering session there. The rain had slowed down a bit by this point, enough for me to ditch my blue raincoat (which was hot and sopping wet from that morning anyway) and trade my wet sneakers for sandals that would dry faster. There wasn't much to do at the Library. I pulled a few new DVDs from the older ones and organized some kids' titles. I was done in less than a half-hour.

The rain started to pick up again as I headed to Cuthbert Road to pick up the bus to the Towne Center. The Towne Center is the shopping center/apartment buildings in Cherry Hill that house, among others, Wegman's, Best Buy, Dick's, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Barnes & Noble. I had two things I couldn't hold off on anymore. My old work sneakers were falling apart, and I needed some new underthings, too.

I ended up buying New Balance sneakers (the brand I always use) at Dick's and underthings at Nordstrom's Rack, probably their outlet for the leftovers from the big Nordstrom's in the Cherry Hill Mall. Took a peek at Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Talbot's, and the Christmas Tree Shop. The Christmas Tree Shop was disappointing. I was hoping they'd be a year-round Christmas store, like Winterwood in Cape May County. Alas, at this time of year, they basically seemed to be a more outdoor-focused Bed Bath & Beyond. Talbot's wasn't much better. I liked their elegant clothing, but they didn't carry plus sizes and their prices weren't great. Couldn't find The Artist at Best Buy, and their price for Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows was not wonderful. Was tempted to grab The Three Stooges Scrapbook at Barnes & Noble, but decided it was unnecessary and would hold off on it until later in the summer.

I did get a WebKinz Lil'Kinz hippo for a very good price at Discovery Toys. With my Stooges thing going on, I had to name him Curly. I also treated myself to a frozen dessert at Kiwi Yogurt, basically a smaller, less expensive version of The Yogo Factory in Westmont. This time, I made sure to just buy a small cup of Low Fat Birthday Cake Frozen Yogurt, with a small spoonful of yogurt chips, dark chocolate chips, and sprinkles.

And...while I'm glad I got the chance to check out the whole Towne Center, I think I'll be doing my clothes and shoes shopping at the Cherry Hill or Deptford Malls from now on. The sneakers and underthings were a decent price...but they might have been even cheaper there. I'll mainly hit this mall when I want to browse Barnes & Noble or Bed Bath & Beyond.

Quickly stopped by WaWa for a pretzel and a fountain soda when I got in, then just headed home. I made chicken pepper stir fry and farm market corn for dinner while watching Scoop. Woody Allen directed and co-starred in this cute romantic comedy-mystery set in London. A slightly geeky journalism student  (Scarlett Johanssen) and a magician (Allen) get caught up in a big scoop when the spirit of a dead reporter gives her a message from beyond - a handsome businessman (Hugh Jackman) may be a serial killer. Johanssen is intrigued at first, but Jackman's charms soon have her falling head-over-heels...and questioning why she's even deceiving him in the first place. But as Allen knows well, things aren't always what they seem, even hunky Australians...

I'm not the biggest fan of Allen, but he was really a lot of fun in this cute, quirky mystery. Johanssen was adorable as a Velma-style character; Jackman devil-may-care charms were on full display. I wasn't entirely crazy about the supernatural subplot (including the whole thing with the reporter continually coming from the other side to give Johanssen tips), but the rest of it worked so well, I'm surprised this isn't one of Allen's better-known films. Worth your time if you like Allen, Jackman, or cute mystery-comedies.

Ooh, and I took advantage of the cooler-than-expected weather to turn off the air conditioning and bake a blackberry-blueberry grunt. I wish it came out better. I think I undercooked it, but it was really getting  hot in my tiny kitchen!

A Whale of a Saturday Morning

No sleeping in this time! We were both up bright and early on another beautiful May morning for the Collingswood Farm Market. I ran the second half of the American Top 40 as we got dressed and I ate coffee cake and a slice of grapefruit. Casey jumped forward a decade to 1984 as pop, soul, and power ballads ruled the airwaves. We heard "Let's Hear It For the Boy" by Denise Williams from the Footloose soundtrack, "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins from the film of that title, and "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper. The number one hit was a touching ballad from that week's top album, "Hello" by Lionel Richie.

We finally started out around 9:30. After a brief but futile stop at a yard sale on West Holly, we headed over to East Haddon, the street next to PNC Bank, where several sales were taking place. A group of 6-and-7-year-old kids were calling out their lemonade stand. Neither of us could resist liquid that was a quarter or those cute faces. We each bought a cup, and I purchased a heart made from colorful beads melted together that one of the girls was selling as her "art."

I did better at a sale on the next block. They were selling records in pristine shape. I bought three:

George Winston - Autumn and December

A Winter's Solstice: A Wyndham Hill Sampler, which looks like a collection of New Age and jazz holiday/winter-related songs

We headed for Collingswood next, strolling past Newton River Park. As we did, we passed many people going in the opposite direction around the paths. I couldn't figure out why so many different people - men and women, children and elderly folks, even people in wheelchairs - were doing until I saw their t-shirts. I forgot "Steven's Walk," a charity walk-a-thon, was today.

We made it to the Collingswood Farm Market around 10:30. I didn't really need much. In fact, all I bought was strawberries, turnips with their greens still on, and bibb lettuce. Lauren grabbed apple butter for her parents.

We walked down to the Collingswood PATCO station and hopped a quiet train to Haddonfield. The train was so quiet, the only people in the car besides the two of us was a dad and his two very energetic toddler sons. The boys kept going on about the dinosaur statue in Haddonfield; Dad mentioned taking them to see the Green Festival.

We stopped at the Freestyle Bike Shop first. I wasn't taking any chances this time. One of my bike pedals is starting to come apart. They're good, solid metal pedals, but I've used them continuously for seven years. That's how I got that nasty bruise on my stomach; the pedal broke, and my tummy had a close encounter with the handlebars. It wasn't off entirely, but I figured it was only a matter of time. I told the boy what I needed, and he asked me what kind of pedals I had, if the gear was held in place by a bolt. I ended up buying somewhat smaller, black versions of the ones Dad bought when the plastic/metal pedals I'd had for years broke off shortly after moving here in 2006.

We went to the British Chip Shop next for an early lunch. As the waitress seated us in the small wooden tables on the sidewalk, I noticed some commotion in the common area with the large gazebo at the end. There were several booths and tables, most staffed by people giving out pamphlets or selling plants. I figured this was the "Green Festival" the dad on the train talked about. (We even saw the dad and his boys again as we waited for our lunch.)

I had my favorite Chip Shop Sandwich (chicken, Irish cheddar cheese, sliced apples, spicy mustard on thick bread) again. Lauren had the Ploughman's Sandwich - same thing with ham instead of chicken and no apples. We both enjoyed the earthy Great Mountain of Greens. She had iced tea; I had a can of "ginger beer" (a spicier ginger ale).

I peered around the Green Festival as Lauren used the bathroom after lunch. It seemed to be a combination of booths about environmentalism and Haddonfield's smaller version of the Farm Market, with the British Chip Shop replacing the Treehouse Cafe as the choice food provider. Alas, they were just starting to close up shop as I browsed. One table was giving away free pine tree seedlings. I liked the idea, but I have tons of trees around my apartment, and Lauren wouldn't have been able to carry one to Pittsfield.

We headed for our favorite store in Haddonfield, the Happy Hippo Toy Shop, next. Despite the place being packed, we both found things we wanted. Lauren bought a floppy stuffed frog and dragon made by her favorite toy company, Mary Meyer, as well as two lavender ladybug-themed bracelets for her mother and herself. I picked up a WebKinz I'd always wanted, the sweet Blue Whale.

We browsed in Jamaican Me Crazy and the other games-themed toy shop next, but didn't find anything we liked. Not to mention, the crowds on King's Highway were still pretty heavy, even with the Green Festival over. We hiked back to the PATCO and took a far fuller train to Collingswood.

Lauren loved our trips to the Pop Shop last year so much, we absolutely knew we had to go there again. We got in by ten after 1, hitting the tail-end of a busy lunch crowd. We ended up having our ice cream at the counter. Lauren had a chocolate cream soda. I had an "Aloha Allie"; seltzer, vanilla ice cream, and coconut with pineapple and coconut syrups. Lauren may have been the smart one; my overflowing soda was making a mess when the girl placed it on the counter (with piles of napkins under it). It was pretty good, though.

This morning, we passed by people setting up some tables in the parking lot of St. Mark's Church in Oaklyn, across from the PNC Bank. I completely forgot about their Strawberry Festival! I usually end up working during it. We strolled around tables of strawberry-themed baked goods, some small local crafts, and used items for sale indoors. We didn't buy anything, but we did say "hi" to two of the tellers from PNC who had a table set up under a tree.

There was one last yard sale in Oaklyn I wanted to look at before we went home. A house on Kendall was having a two-day moving sale. We both hit paydirt here. Lauren found a fluffy bear who looked like one of the hand-made critters I've seen at the alpaca booth at the Farm Market in November, a really nice backpack-purse (Lauren says she has a purple version that isn't in nearly as good of shape), and a Nintendo-themed necklace keychain. I bought a beautiful doll-themed quilt, also hand-made. I've wanted to find a nice, summer-weight quilt or comforter for my bed during warmer months. We discovered when we made it back that it doesn't fit the full bed, but the stuffed animals cover most of it anyway.

After spending the morning on our feet, we rested for a couple of hours. I beat Lauren at War; she was ahead for most of the game, but I got the jokers. We each won a round of Bingo. I made Sauteed Swiss Chard, Spinach, and Mushrooms to go with our leftovers for dinner as we watched another Bowery Boys movie, the wrestling tale No Holds Barred.

It was still too nice to sit inside, even after dinner. We saw a Little League softball team being treated to ice cream from Leo's Yum Yums around the corner from me when we were walking home, so we decided to do our own treating. I already had my ice cream at the Pop Shop and settled for an Orange Vanilla Yum Yum (creamier water ice). Lauren ordered a Peanut Butter Sundae, but the harried girl behind the counter must have heard her wrong. She gave her two! She must have been hungry; she ate them both. We enjoyed our cooling dessert while listening to a pack of kids chatter and brag about how brave they were and grab a lot more free spoons than they really needed.

When we got in, Lauren went online, and I hit the shower; I joined her afterwards. Tomorrow, we're going to see the Phillies play the Red Sox at Citizen's Bank Park.

Oh, and meet Big Bertha, my adorable Blue Whale! She'll take the second underwater room I created to use a couple of the more recent water themes.

Me and Lauren and a Wombat Named Wilbur

All the traveling Lauren did and the cleaning I did yesterday must have tuckered us out. We didn't get up until past 10:30! It was almost noon before we finally headed out into the glorious sunshine for a long walk in Audubon.

First stop was my favorite local music shop, Abbie Road. Bob, the store's owner, is a nice guy and really likes both of us. I ended up with:

Two Huey Lewis and the News CDs, Fore! (cassette replacement), and Four Chords & Several Years Ago (I love their version of "Some Kind of Wonderful").

And three records:

Paul Simon - Graceland

Kim Carnes - Mistaken Identity

Those Wonderful Thirties - The Stars of Hollywood's Golden Era - A 2-disc set of songs from movie musicals of the 30s, some of which are rare today.

After a long chat with Bob about music stores and local sports, we headed a few blocks up to the Pine Street Shops. I'd never taken Lauren to Willie the Woodsman's and Wife, a gift shop. Lauren bought a cute plaque for her dad for Father's Day. I bought a WebKinz Wombat; they're the "Pet of the Month" and come with extra online goodies. I named him Wilbur. He looked like a Wilbur to me. (And I did just watch Charlotte's Web a few days ago.)

Much to my delight, Simply Soups was now open in its new, larger location on the end of the block. It took over the storefront that used to be Act Two Collectibles, but you'd never know it from inside, it looked so different and pretty. The round, metal 50s-styles tables and chairs had been joined by more mismatched wood and metal furniture, wooden baker's racks, and shelves to hold the once-cramped knick-knacks. The whole room was painted a soft, creamy yellow, and the long display window was now the front of the dining area. Lauren and I enjoyed a lovely view of Pine Street as we ate a very late lunch. Lauren had a turkey and cheddar wrap, a can of Pepsi, and chicken and rice soup. I had my usual Italian Wedding soup, breadsticks, and can of Diet Coke.

We stopped at Desserts By Design on the way back. I said "hi" to the nice lady who owns the shop, and we made our choices. We both went with cupcakes. Lauren chose Strawberry Chocolate. I had Orange Butter. She put them in a bag for us to have later; we were full from lunch!

I'd always wanted to show Lauren the boat launch at the end of Goff Avenue with the fabulous views, so we hiked there next. The weather was absolutely amazing. It was sunny and breezy, but not too hot or humid, probably in the upper 60s-lower 70s. It was so clear, we could see straight to the Ben Franklin Bridge. There were two people in a motor boat fishing, but otherwise, the river was clear and quiet.

We spent the rest of the evening at home. I won Pokemon Yatzee; Lauren won Memory. I made Chicken Cheeseburgers, steamed green Swiss chard, and Potato-Chick Pea Salad for dinner. (I got the latter out of one of my low-fat cookbooks. I never tried it before, but it was a quick recipe, and it came out very well.) Lauren ran Good Eats episodes while I did the dishes and took a shower.

We're online again, running my Donna Summer records in honor of the disco and rock favorite who passed away today. Tomorrow, I badly need to pick up my paycheck, and we'll go grocery shopping and check out the mall behind the Acme.

Oh, and meet Wilbur, the sweet but slow wombat! He'll probably either get a room of his own or move in with Bernice the Bear.

De-Cluttering

I woke up later than I planned, so I pretty much just did a few quick things around the apartment. I pulled out a lot more things to donate to the Logan Presbyterian Church on Saturday, including several more WebKinz, holiday tins, and another porcelain doll. I've pretty much decided I'm going to drop several collections that don't really do much for me anymore. I'm keeping four porcelain dolls I really like - sweet Lisa in her desk, Cindy Lou the sock hopper (who once belonged to my late stepmother Kaye), and Candi and Brandi, the turn-of-the-20th-century girl twins. The others never really thrilled me all that much. I'm getting rid of the majority of my Beanie Babies except for Gigi, the black poodle who was the star of a film project in college, a rabbit and chipmunk who sit on top of the baker's rack, and a few bears. As for the WebKinz, I probably have about 95 of them now. I don't need to keep all of the stuffed animal versions! In fact, I cleared out a bunch of WebKinz not long before the Collingswood thrift shop shut down. Time to do another batch.

I went online and checked out the business courses at Camden County and Stockton not long before going to work. There's a lot of small non-credit business and writing-related courses at Stockton that I wouldn't mind checking out, including a whole series on freelance writing. The online company used for Camden County College's non-credit courses have more expensive business management courses. I think they sound more like they're preparing you for managing a big company or being a secretary, not running a small at-home business. I may have to call them and ask for more details.

Thank goodness after the last few days that work was no trouble whatsoever. It was fairly busy during rush hour, quiet the rest of the day. My relief was on time, and I was in and out without a problem.

Believe In the Magic of Christmas

I had a lot to do today on this, my only other day off besides Christmas Eve. I began with a fairly early run to the laundromat. It was very quiet when I came in around quarter after 10, just me, an older woman, and Let's Make a Deal. It got much busier later on, but by that time, my clothes were already in the dryer.

When I arrived home, I put everything away and headed right back out again. I wanted to get to the Haddon Township Library to return the DVDs and donate videos. I rode through Newton River Park. It was a gloomy, chilly day. It showered lightly on-and-off all day long, not enough to keep me at home...but enough to at least make me damp. There were only a few people in the park, strolling along with umbrellas, but the ducks and Canadian geese were very happy.

Stopped at Wendy's for lunch. I tried their Baja salad this time, with a potato with chives and a little bit of butter spread and a small cup of chilli. The salad came with a spicy Jalapeno dressing, seasoned tortilla strips, and sour cream...all of which I left off. I don't do spicy. Alas, without the condiments, the salad was pretty much just cheese, lettuce, a dollop of guacamole, and tomato bits. The nice, warm chilli and the filling potato were much better. I felt so cozy, enjoying a warm lunch in the prettily-decorated building. Despite it being about 1PM, it wasn't terribly busy. I think the McDonald's next door gets a lot of the families, thanks to their indoor playground. Most of Wendy's customers seem to be elderly people, executives on their way to work, and high schoolers looking for a better-tasting meal than the one in their cafeteria. Shame, because I like their food and prices much better than McDonald's.

Pushed my bike up the hill to the Haddon Township Library after lunch. They were very busy, but they also had quite a bit of help. I did shelve and organize the children's DVDs, easy readers, and some picture books. I didn't take any DVDs or books out myself this week. I have plenty of Christmas movies to watch, and probably will be getting more this weekend. I did find a really cute paperback novelization of Mickey's Christmas Carol in the book sale section, though.

Went straight home after leaving the library. I took the shorter route down Cuthbert Road. Cuthbert is one of the busiest streets in the whole county, and it takes me a while to cross. When I did finally arrive, there was a large box from my best friend Lauren Miller waiting for me. I carried it upstairs and put it aside until I went online.

Spent the rest of the rainy afternoon and evening baking bread and cupcakes and watching Christmas movies. Two of my favorite holiday comedies involve the existence of Santa and the importance of faith and kindness. The original Miracle on 34th Street from 1947 concerns a young female executive (Maureen O'Hara) who is dismayed when the Santa she just hired for Macy's insists that he's the real deal. She doesn't believe in fantasies like Santa and reindeer, and doesn't want her daughter (Natalie Wood in her child-star days) believing in them, either. When Santa defends a young man who enjoys giving out gifts from the troubled store psychologist, he accuses the old man of being violent. A kind-hearted lawyer (John Payne) takes it on himself to prove to a skeptical New York court that Santa Claus is alive and well in the hearts of children...and jaded Manhattanites...everywhere.

Ernest Saves Christmas is a somewhat less-conventional variation on the same theme. Good-natured but dim-witted Ernest P. Worrell (Jim Varney) finds himself helping Santa Claus seek his replacement on Christmas Eve. If they can't convince the man Santa has selected to take the job, the magic of Christmas will fade away forever! Meanwhile, Ernest has his hands full dealing with a tough-minded young teen runaway who cares about no one but herself, not to mention driving Santa's sleigh!

Miracle is pretty much required Christmas viewing. Edmund Gwen won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as Santa. If you've ever wanted to check out Varney's long-running series of Ernest vehicles, Ernest Saves Christmas is one of the better ones and not a bad place to start. Ernest driving Santa's sleigh is hilarious. Miracle is easily available in several DVD versions. Ernest is out of print, but used DVD stores and some online stores like Amazon may still have it.

I had tacos and green beans for dinner, took a quick shower, and then went online. When Lauren came on, I opened my gifts from  her. Most of what she gave me were DVDs to replace the videos I wasn't able to dub (including Ernest Saves Christmas). I also got a Beatles tote bag, my first iPod Nano (to replace the portable MP3 player that died last year - Lauren is an Apple Computers devotee), the American Girl Samantha Mystery The Stolen Sapphire, and the adorable WebKinz Arctic Polar Bear. His name will be Whitey - another BoweryKinz. She also gave me gift cards from eBay, FYE (on a huge card in the shape of a credit card), Barnes & Noble, Macy's, and JCPenney's. Lauren is the best best friend anyone ever had. I can't believe she bought me all that. She's truly wonderful. :)

Oh, and the Cranberry-Orange Bread and Candy Cane Cupcakes both came out splendidly. The cupcakes will be split between several people. The bread will go to my neighbors.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I slept in a little today, not a lot, until about 8:30. I ran Disney cartoons from two of the Cartoon Classics videos while I ate my Life cereal and strawberries. Since Mother Nature is saying it's summer, I ran the "Happy Summer Days" tape that features the classic Goofy-as-suburban-father 50s shorts "Father's Lion" and "Two Weeks' Vacation," the Donald short "Tea for Two Hundred," and Mickey's last theatrical short until the 80s, "The Simple Things."

After the cartoons, I headed out to the Acme for this week's grocery shopping. I picked up a nice paycheck, then got what I needed. I lost my list somewhere between Oaklyn and the Audubon Crossings Shopping Center, so I had to approximate what I needed. I picked up chicken legs, single packs of fish, baking powder (which I was almost out of), brown sugar, and the Duncan Hines Angel Food Cake mix, which was on the clearance rack.

Headed home next to drop off my things and have lunch, then went out again for a quick run to the bank. I couldn't put it off. After I worked all those hours last week, including Memorial Day, my paycheck was just too big.

I'd been debating what to do with my afternoon. I wanted to go to the Deptford Mall, but the bus that picks up on the Black Horse Pike doesn't come back to Deptford until 9:19 on weekdays! That's way too late to be at a mall. I finally decided that, since it was a nice (if a bit humid) day anyway, I'd ride my bike to Barrington and catch the bus that went past Haddonfield, Barrington, and Runnemede. (I could have ridden my bike to Haddonfield, but not only would that have taken a little longer, but with Barrington, I'm going in a straight line. Getting to the bus/train station in Haddonfield requires more twists and turns.)

I'm glad I did. I had a very nice trip. When I arrived at Barrington, I had enough time to buy an unsweetened iced tea and treat myself to a black-and-white cookie at the Barrington Coffee House. The bus picked me up only a few blocks down from the cafe.

I did really well in Deptford. My first stop was Target. I only needed a few things there and was in and out in less than an hour. I headed straight for JC Penny next. They send me coupons in the mail all the time. My most recent coupon for them was for $10 off an order of ten dollars or more. Between that and the money remaining on the last gift card Mom and Dad gave me at Christmas, I whittled a $69 order down to $32. Bought two pairs of bermuda shorts (one khaki for work), a turquoise tank top to replace the olive one that's getting stretched and a little bleached under the arms, a pretty peach blouse, and a nice red canvas St. John's Bay purse to replace the heavy leather one I've carried for the past few weeks. (I'll keep the leather purse in case anything happens to the canvas one or the knit one I use in the winter.)

After that, I walked around in the main mall for a while. I was hoping to find a graduation present for my brother Keefe, who will be finishing Lower Cape May Regional High School on Thursday. I couldn't even find a card I liked. I have no idea of what to buy an 18-year-old boy who is about to join the Navy in the fall. He probably won't even need the housewares and cleaning items everyone bought my stepsister Jessa when she graduated high school and went on to college in 2009. I did find a small present for a friend and a the WebKinz Tomato Clown Fish on sale for myself at American Greetings.

I had an early dinner at Burger King in the food court. I haven't eaten at Burger King since I lived in Wildwood. The closest Burger King here is in malls and on the Black Horse Pike. My siblings and I ate at Burger King all the time when we lived down the street from them in North Cape May...and tonight, I'm wondering why. I had a plain old Whopper with no cheese, Diet Coke, and fries. The Whopper was an obvious processed patty, without even the smoky taste some of Arby's sliced meat sandwiches have. The fries still weren't as good as McDonald's or Five Guys'.

After a peek around Lane Bryant, I headed out to the bus stop between Lane Bryant and Lens Crafters early. Good thing, too. The bus showed up more than ten minutes before it was scheduled. This also means that I was able to get in ten minutes earlier, too, and get home a little earlier than planned. When I got in, I went right in the shower after I put everything away. Whew! I needed it.

And meet Jersey, the Tomato Clown Fish! As my first (and likely only) underwater pet, he'll get his own Underwater Room, complete with sunken furniture and waving coral plants.